The night sky was more obscured here and yet Crux found himself lounging in one of the less dense parts of the forest, watching the fuzzy light of the moon. Another year and this time he was facing down his first birthday without his father or siblings. Crux would admit to it feeling bitter sweet. But it also raised a few questions in him. He and Triss had been sharing their hillside den since that first day together and Crux was more than happy to continue to do so but he also wasn't naive to the possibility the smaller wolf had other wishes. Wishes for more.

There were things he'd rather discuss before her next heat season. There was also the question of possibly making their relationship more official, more binding. But Crux had no desire to push Triss into anything.

Crux gently brushed a forepaw along the bracer, taking a deep breath and whispering to himself. "Birthdays without you never get any easier. I'm not with everyone this year, but I'm with someone very special to me. I think you'd have both gotten on well. I wish you could have met her." Crux let that thought linger. Okay maybe he was feeling more melancholic about being away from his family than he'd previously thought.

"Speech"

Art by MarkLix

Cryptis was out and about, ranging the Hellborn territory and learning the strange forest. She took note of any herbs she came across from Crux, and made a mental note to learn a little more about them herself. If they were going to be living together, she should understand his pursuits in life a little better.

When night time came, and Crux wasn’t home she went looking for him. His scent trail led her along the forest to a clearing, where the boy sat, looking up at the stars. She moved along until she was beside him, scooting closer and leaning against his long right foreleg. “Hey” she said gently, looking at the stars that held his attention. “What are you thinking about?” She asked gently. She had a few surprises to share with him for the evening, resting back in their den.


"Crux" & "Triss"

"Hey you." Crux smiled down at the smaller woman as she came to join him, leaning into him and he reached down to gently ruffle the top of her head with his muzzle. Her question remained unanswered for a moment as he lowered himself onto his stomach so he was closer to Triss. "Lots of things." Crux admitted, turning his attention back towards the sky. "It's my first birth season without father or siblings." Crux wasn't audibly sad, it was said more with an understanding that this was a truth, one he'd chosen for himself. "Thinking about my mom," that one was more solemn but he followed it up quickly, "and how I think she would have adored you." Crux turned back towards Triss, grinning at her.

"Which is good because I certainly do." Crux wound a foreleg around Triss to hug her affectionately. And speaking of: "What have you been up to beautiful?" Crux wasn't eager to dwell on the bittersweet thoughts. Triss just had such a way of chasing away his less optimistic thoughts.

"Crux" & "Triss"

Updated 04/30/23: Still on indefinite scarcity, please do not remind me of threads I am behind on right now.

Crux has a 6 inch long burn scar on his throat, most of his art does not reflect this.

When the larger wolf lowered himself down to her level, it teased a smile out of her. She shuffled a little, so her frame was leaning against his neck and head instead. She, too, kept her eyes on the stars. He spoke out loud what he was thinking and while she didn’t have either of those things (She still struggled to think of that later birth as siblings) she understood where he was coming from. He’d made a lot of big changes. He’d chosen to follow her here.

“I think I would have adored her, too. She made you after all” Triss said, and let out a little startled sound when Crux wound a foreleg around her and pulled her close. She returned the affection, and kissed one of his long teeth. “I've been preparing something.” She said mysteriously.

"Crux" & "Triss"

Crux couldn't help the way his stomach seemed to flutter at Triss' words about his mother. Something about the way she verbalized her affection made him feel like his bones were turning to jelly. In a good way. They hadn't known each other a super long time all things considered but he'd yet to get tired of the feelings Triss always seemed to summon. Crux hoped he never would.

"Oh?" Crux lifted his brows at Triss' mention of her own task. He leaned down to playfully plant kisses on whatever parts of her face he could reach, one after another, after another. "Do I get to know what you've got planned or not just yet?" His tone was playful, and when he finally pulled back he had a boyish grin on his face.

"Crux" & "Triss"

Updated 04/30/23: Still on indefinite scarcity, please do not remind me of threads I am behind on right now.

Crux has a 6 inch long burn scar on his throat, most of his art does not reflect this.

She leaned into his affections, letting her eyes flutter closed as she felt him plant kisses across her face. The feathery touch of his lips was almost enough to make her forget entirely what they were talking about. “Hmmm?” she said, voice distracted before her eyes fluttered open again. Oh, right. Crux’s birthday, her preparations. She also wanted to distract him from the way he was reminiscing about the past, clearly missing things he couldn’t have again.

He stretched up to his muzzle and kissed it lightly. “Maybe you’ll never know.” she said teasingly, but she really did want to show him. “Do you want to come back to the den, or did you want to stay under the stars a little longer?” She asked him sofly.


"Crux" & "Triss"

Crux was glad Triss seemed to enjoy him showering her with affection, because he wasn't sure he could stop. He smiled, lips brushing against her cheek as it seemed she had let herself get distracted and he was maybe a little bit pleased with himself. But she seemed to bring herself back to the present quickly and he leaned down to let her more easily reach his own muzzle. And what a question! Crux thought for a moment, looking at Triss as if she could discern what she had planned just by sight. But it was not obvious to him. Crux hmm'd himself, tilting his head slightly.

"We can go now, but I still want to stargaze with you later." Crux gave the smaller wolf a wink and slowly started to get himself up, stretching out his limbs, clearly in no rush. For as melancholic as his thoughts had been only moments before he was struck by how much he felt it was all still worth it. He could not imagine Triss not being in his life anymore, and he knew that awkward as things were he could still see his family. They weren't totally gone. And in Triss he saw the promise of his family expanding. He hadn't been lying to her mother when he'd said as much. "After you my dear." Crux smiled and gestured with his paw for Triss to take the lead.

"Crux" & "Triss"

Updated 04/30/23: Still on indefinite scarcity, please do not remind me of threads I am behind on right now.

Crux has a 6 inch long burn scar on his throat, most of his art does not reflect this.

She gave him a moment to think it over. She didn’t want to pull him away from his moment with the stars, but she was also very eager to show him what she had been planning. She could be an impatient little minx sometimes. She was glad when he agreed to come, and her tail picked up a little speed behind her. She kissed the muzzle he had lowered for her sake, and trotted a couple of steps away.

Waiting for him to stretch and pull his thoughts away from the stars and back to the present. She smiled, and set off in earnest when he indicated for her to take the lead. She led him back to their little den. It was still a work in progress, but it was there's and one day, she would look back at the changes and remember the moments they had worked on it together.

She slipped inside, to where a small meal was waiting. She had set a couple of wax candles safely in little rock holders. The light wavered with the movement of their presence. Laid out around the candles were some cuts of meat and fruit. A birthday feast. She settled down by the food, and looked at Crux, raising a paw for him to hold. Taking a breath.perhaps she could have waited at least a few more moments, but the words tumbled out of her, “Crux. Will you marry me?”

"Crux" & "Triss"

Crux was more than happy to follow behind the smaller woman, following her into their den, their shared home, and taking a moment to observe the setup. He smiled as he followed Triss to the food. Though he stopped when she held out a paw for him, he quirked an eyebrow and then accepted her invitation, gently resting one of his much bigger paws atop her own.

It took a moment for the words to really process though. Shock sometimes did that. His eyes had widdened and his heart had started hammering in his chest. Then all at once the meaning crashed into him and he stumbled towards her, aiming to fish a foreleg around behind her and gently push her over, keeping himself close but not putting his weight on her. "I don't think it's fair you had the advantage of my birthday being earlier." He said, a playful growl to his tone. "I was going to ask you on yours!" Carefully considered plans laid to waste, but he couldn't exactly say he was actually all that upset.

He grinned at Triss, a familiar fluttering in his stomach, now joined with something more primal, a desire to claim her. Let the world know she was his and he was hers. Maybe he was slightly more like a Fatalis man than he'd realized. "Cryptis Nightwing, it would be my honour to marry you."

"Crux" & "Triss"

Updated 04/30/23: Still on indefinite scarcity, please do not remind me of threads I am behind on right now.

Crux has a 6 inch long burn scar on his throat, most of his art does not reflect this.

Triss giggled at that, letting him tug her closer. She leaned into his chest and looked up at him. “Well, I’m impatient. You should probably know that about me.” She teased lightly, flicking him with her tail.

It would be my honour to marry you. “Is now good? I think we should get married right now.” Her eyes were filled with laughter. She had seen the shock on his face, and a part of her had wanted to tease him even further, to push at him. She was only mostly joking. Her mother would probably kill her if she got married without talking to her.


"Crux" & "Triss"

Triss was going to be the death of him, and Crux would enjoy every moment of it. He continued to playfully growl as she teased, planting kisses in an almost aggressive manner. But it was her next question that made him break character as he chuckled and pulled back slightly. "I think we both have a parent that would prefer to attend our weddings than find out after the fact."

Crux gently pulled Triss back into a more upright position before he extricated himself from Triss. The problem of course was that there were so many more things they needed to talk about now. Maybe he ought to just rip that Band-Aid off. "Though I suppose that opens up some questions. Triss, what do you want for our life?" Children in particular flashed across his mind. But he didn't assume that was the extent of her dreams for their future.

"Crux" & "Triss"

Updated 04/30/23: Still on indefinite scarcity, please do not remind me of threads I am behind on right now.

Crux has a 6 inch long burn scar on his throat, most of his art does not reflect this.

Triss sighed softly as Crux pulled back. Sounding very hard-done by as she replied. “Responsibilities.” She grumbled, before her grin slid back into place. After all, she had only been joking. But that sparked a few questions. Crux was somewhat at odds with some of his family, who would he want to be there? How would she feel about his family? She knew some in his family had been cruel to him and the others that hadn’t been born ‘right’.

But Crux had a different question in mind. One that brought her up short as she considered the words with some trepidation. What did she want for their future? “Honestly, I haven’t thought any further past us. What do you want, Crux?”


"Crux" & "Triss"

Crux chuckled again at Triss' teasing complaint but he admittedly wasn't expecting her to turn the question on him. He paused for a moment and gave an audible "hmm" as he thought. "I was raised with certain expectations in mind." He began carefully. "The Fatalis family has something of a legacy, I've never been particularly concerned with our political history but I guess it's sort of akin to royalty? Expectations on behaviour for sure..." Crux cocked his head to the side. "I don't really remember any expectations about political marriages or anything, not sure if that's because we've never done them or because I was less than ideal for that purpose..." In truth he hadn't really thought about it before but so much of his life has changed. The words weren't said with any bitterness, it was a simple acknowledgment about how others may have seen him in that light.

"But I guess there was always a sort of encouragement to continue the Fatalis legacy?" Crux gave Triss a smile. "I've never really thought about my future much outside of those expectations." He paused for a moment. He'd always sort of casually assumed if he ever found someone he would make a family of his own but now with the woman he loved in front of him things felt much more tangible. "I think I want to change my expectations, keep only things we both want and ditch anything else. I want to make sure we're on the same page before we make any big decisions."

He was pivoting slightly, mostly because he still wasn't sure how ready he felt to discuss the possibility of making their own little family. He barely felt older than a child, it felt hard to believe he'd be ready to parent... "I want us to be open with each other." He stalked back towards Triss, lowering slightly so he could go back to bombarding her with kisses. "I want you to tell me whenever I'm being too annoying." His tone was playful, though his words carried some truth. He didn't want to let issues fester out of control. If there were things that could be fixed he just wanted to fix them.

"Crux" & "Triss"

Updated 04/30/23: Still on indefinite scarcity, please do not remind me of threads I am behind on right now.

Crux has a 6 inch long burn scar on his throat, most of his art does not reflect this.

She watched as he received the same question. He gave it a little more thought, or at least was prepared to in the moment. Triss needed a little more time before she could answer that one. Crux had a lot to say on the matter, and it was clear his family was heavy on his mind. Widow hadn’t laid the same expectations on her, and she hadn’t been raised as royalty. Finding herself daughter of an alpha came more as a surprise than anything, and she hadn’t taken the time to consider what that might mean for her.

Would her mother expect a political marriage for her oldest? Would she want Triss to carry the line, and hold herself a certain way now? She hadn’t talked to her mother about it since she had become Alpha. Was that a mistake? Crux words had placed the thought on, and it lay heavy. So when he came back to her and moved to kiss her, she paused him. Raising a paw and placing it gently on his nose. ‘Hang on, I’m thinking” she told him, trying to assemble these new thoughts. “I don’t want to be the person that turns around and says ‘what about me’ after you’ve bared your heart to me.” Her voice was suddenly small. “But I just realised I don’t know how to be the Alpha’s kid.”


"Crux" & "Triss"

Crux gave Triss a brief pout as she put a paw up to stop him but he moved back easily enough giving her the space to think. Cryptis mentioning that she suddenly realized she didn't know how to be the child of a leader earned only a nod from him. He knew his own upbringing wasn't typical and with Hellborn so new he doubted there had been much time to really establish expectations. "My experience isn't universal Triss." He started, wanting to reassure her. "My family's history is tied in with an old empire, older than any living wolf. That brings certain expectations with years of tradition behind them. Newer powers don't have that baggage." And it was baggage, a heavy weight that he expected had pulled all his siblings down in their own ways. Though even Crux did not know how new the Fatalis as their own power really were, built up by his father. Still though the Klein empire had diminished quite a bit by his birth their relationship was well established.

Crux settled himself onto his stomach, keeping his attention on her. "I can't answer what exactly your mother expects from you, if anything at all." Crux wasn't worried, for as much as Widow made him anxious she seemed mostly concerned with her daughter's happiness and had seemingly accepted the possibility that was him. And he wasn't even sure there would be any pressure on her. Lineage wasn't always important to everyone. Maybe it would be for Hellborn... Maybe it wouldn't. "But I can try and give you some perspective on anything you're worried about if you want." What Crux wanted to do was wrap her up in his bulk, hold her and reassure her with her presence but he remained where he was, not wanting to crowd her.

"Crux" & "Triss"

Updated 04/30/23: Still on indefinite scarcity, please do not remind me of threads I am behind on right now.

Crux has a 6 inch long burn scar on his throat, most of his art does not reflect this.

She sighed softly, his confirmation of the great Fatalis lineage was itself a burden. It helped, to know that Crux wasn’t as involved with the politics of his family. That he wasn’t looking for his family might want, but what he wanted. She had never doubted that about him. He loved her before she became a ‘Princess.’

She sighed, and wiggled forward until she could press her forehead against one of his giant paws. Closing her eyes for a moment. She didn’t want things between them to get complicated, she had never wanted that. “I think I want kids one day, but what if they are born with even greater challenges? What if we can’t have viable kids? I’m not.. Not sure I could deal with that.” They were each of them broken. How did her thoughts get so heavy? Only moments ago she had been excited, trapping him in a corner with her sneaky little proposal. Making him hers.


"Crux" & "Triss"

Triss scooted towards him and when she placed her head on his paw Crux leaned forward to gently nose at her head. There it was. Crux sighed. He didn't exactly have an answer. He took a moment to manoeuvre himself to curl around her, using that space to try and think. "Triss..." Crux took a deep breath, wanting to make sure she was listening. "I love you. If you want kids then I want to try." He spoke slowly, doing his best to keep his own worry from his voice. He'd carried a fear he'd killed his mother for years now... And he couldn't deny a worry that if a child of his had the same issues he did that it would kill Triss too... Yes his mother had been older, but she'd also been bigger, hadn't had the same breathing issues Triss did. It was a risk he'd not keep from her but it was for their future consideration. Right now he was going to comfort the woman he loved, was going to make sure he was there for her.

"Can you honestly tell me if our children had their own difficulties you'd not bend heaven and earth to give them the best life you can?" He gave a small if melancholic smile. Triss was probably the most willful wolf he'd ever met, if anyone could fight nature itself it was her. "And I'd be right there with you." Crux paused again. The idea that maybe they couldn't even have children wasn't one that cut him as deep as it did Triss, not because he didn't care but because he knew that family wasn't always blood, and he'd not love his new family any less for it. That said he could understand why it might hurt her, neither of them knew if they were even capable of it. Maybe it'd be him, maybe he would be the problem. That would hurt, because it would mean being the thing that hurt her. "Cryptis Nightwing," he began trying to catch her eye, "I chose you. I moved continents for you. I left behind the only life I'd ever known because I knew the life I wanted had to have you in it. I love you. Nothing will change that. " He wasn't trying to guilt her in any way, simply emphasize what he was trying to say. "If it comes down to it I'll never stop reminding you of that. I'll be right there to remind you every day that you're not alone, you don't need to deal with anything alone. I'm big, I'm strong and I can carry whatever weight you need until you're ready to face it head on, together." As he talked Crux started to be convinced himself. He couldn't deny a fear of failure, of being a bad parent... But dammit if he didn't want to try! Crux wanted to face every challenge with Triss. "And frankly, I don't think even a god could stop you from creating a family, one way or the other. Nor would they, if they were just, Triss you are the strongest wolf I've ever met. You'll make a great mother." You will, not you would. Sometimes... Sometimes you just had to put the intention out there, had to use language that indicated more hope than you might have. Had to hope that if there was any sort of greater force out there, it would hear you.

"Crux" & "Triss"

Updated 04/30/23: Still on indefinite scarcity, please do not remind me of threads I am behind on right now.

Crux has a 6 inch long burn scar on his throat, most of his art does not reflect this.