Is All As It Seems?
He was supposed to be resting, after the long trip home. But sleep was not coming easily to the pale man, not that he was home again. Breathing in the night air, he shivered slightly at the chill in the spring air. Man, it sure was cold still. He would have thought that it was going to be a bit warmer when they got back from their trip. Sighing and shaking his brown marked face, he found that his paws at led him to the rapids. The rushing of the water filled his ears as he paused, taking a seat a few feet away from the bank. Golden eyes blinked sleepily as he watched the water splash against the rocks, memories of times of old filling his mind. His pups were already a year old now, and he was going to be turning four next season. His ears flickered as he got the uncomfortable thought that he was getting old. For three years now he had led this pack, as a yearling he had laid claim to these lands with so much hope in store. My how times have changed. He grew stronger and stronger, building up a pack with a family like relationship. They were not lacking in closeness, although Bass felt like the idea of Abaven had been lost. He had started this pack wanting to be mercenaries, and yet only one pack had made use of that. Pale ears hugged his skull as worry started to gnaw at his belly. Was he even able to pull this off? Poor Allen had been dumped with everything, having to deal with a pack of mostly younger wolves who apparently didn't like to listen. Bass' lip twitched slightly, it would seem that he was going to have to change things again. Get more strict, and tell his wolves just want he wanted out of them. It was probably a lack of communication on both his part as well as the others. Everyone seemed to be a little more self involved than pack involved -- himself included. But that was going to change, as soon as he was well rested Abaven was going to go through some changes.
"Wren's Speech"
"Bass' Speech"
Rest came easy these days. After the long, tiring trip home, she and her husband had been burdened with exhaustion. She could usually get the much needed rest she deserved, but Bass had seemed...a bit irritated ever since he visited with Motif. She must have discussed and updated him about the recent doings of their pack, which apparently had made Bass bubbly? It was definitely concerning to her as his wife. But also as his best friend. And she wanted to help him in any way she could...no matter how much she would have to struggle. It was peaceful and quiet, and she was snuggled up against Finch, when suddenly she felt the source of her warmth shift and move away from her. At first, she thought it was Sparrow...but when she turned, she saw the pale form of her husband disappearing from behind a patch of tall grass. Wren frowned. She was tired, exhausted. But she loved her husband much more than she desired sleep. The small woman nuzzled Finch, before slipping to her paws and leaving the warmth of the den. Despite the freezing rush of air that enveloped her form, she sprinted after Bass, but made sure she was far enough that he would not notice her. That is, if he wasn't paying attention. Before long he stopped at the rapids and sat at the edge, staring downward. His ears were flat against his head...and he was slouching. Body language could speak better than words ever could...the slim woman crawled out from hiding, trotting up beside Bass and seating herself right next to him. She planted a gentle kiss onto his ear before turning her gaze down to the crashing water below, sighing. "Something is bothering you," She whispered, eyeing him. The pale girl slowly moved close to him and leaned into him, careful not to completely knock him over. "but you know I'm here for you. Even though we have children now, and you have a pack to run, I still love you more than I could ever love anyone else." She finished, rolling her shoulders forward and pressing her nose into the pale fur that made up his neck. "Burn Baby Burn" |
He wasn't alone with his thoughts for very long, apparently his getting up had roused his wife from her sleep. He leaned into her kiss, glad for her form at his side. It was so amazing to sit here in their territory with her, and memories came rushing back to him about their first few meetings here. He turned to her and let out a sigh, burying his nose into her soft cheek. "Non volevo svegliarti, il mio amore," he whispered, pulling back to meet her minty gaze. "But you're right, there is something bothering me. You always have been able to read so easily, haven't you?" He didn't really need an answer, it was the truth. Even when they were younger and courting, he couldn't keep anything from her. She looked right through the tough guy at he tried to put on and saw him for what he truly was. That is what first made him fall in love with her, that and so many other reasons.
Bass hummed thoughtfully, gladly allowing his wife to lean against him to heavily. She was so slight that he hardly felt her pressure, but it was much needed in his brooding moments. His ears were pulled off his his head, it was hard to be in a bad mood with Wren around. Tail tip twitching thoughtfully, he enjoyed the silence for a few more moments before he finally got his thoughts off his chest. "I guess that Abaven just still isn't sitting where I truly want it to. There was so much more that I wanted to achieve, to be able to offer other packs. But... Allen struggled so much just to get the wolves to training. But in some way, I feel that its all my fault. That I wasn't hard enough, that I didn't stand firm on our rules and customs. But I want that to all change, I want that to finally become what Abaven is. We're almost four years old, I should have been at that point a long time ago." He stopped, letting out a soft laugh. "Io non intendo annoiarvi con la politica." He said quickly in Italian, easily swapping languages with her. It was so easy with Wren, how they traded languages half way between what they were trying to say. He had gotten used to using more English with the kids around, so that they would grow used to using two different dialects.
He bumped against her shoulder softly, looking up to the stars above them. "E 'stato un po' da quando abbiamo appena seduti sotto le stelle, tu e io mi manchi il nostro tempo insieme da soli, mio carissimo Wren," He turned back down to her, golden eyes alight in the love that he felt around her. "Ma niente di tutto ciò è bella come mia moglie prezioso." The pale man said with a muted chuckle, leaning forward to softly bump his damn nose against hers.
"Speech"
'thoughts'
He was not the only one that was struck with memories. She, too, felt her heart swell as those days came back to her, when she rarely ever left his side. Having pups had basically drawn a line through them, and they became more and more isolated from each other as the days went on. But now...she was sitting beneath the stars with him.
Wren smiled weakly, turning her head slightly so she could look into his bright flame-colored eyes. She had always adored them so much...along with everything else that adorned him. But his looks were only one of the reasons she loved him so much. It was how loving, caring, strong, and courageous he was. And she could never see anyone better for her. Her children had a loving father, this pack had a wonderful Azat...she had an amazing husband. The small woman continued to lean herself into him, staring into the distance as he explained why he was so irritated. But she listened so closely that every word sunk into her skull and was repeated over and over again. She wasn't one for politics, but she knew how much Bass cared about his pack. And right now, even she knew that it was beginning to fall apart.
He apologized at the end, which was completely unneeded. She understood completely. "Ho capito, il mio amore." She hummed, burying her nose into his neck. Italian...she was so grateful for it. It connected them both, as husband and wife. She could still remember the night they sang together in Italian...it was long ago, several years...but she could remember it like she remembered her children's names. Wren got distracted when he bumped her with his shoulder, and she glanced up at him, giggling quietly. "E 'stato un po' da quando abbiamo appena seduti sotto le stelle, tu e io mi manchi il nostro tempo insieme da soli, mio carissimo Wren. Ma niente di tutto ciò è bella come mia moglie prezioso." The girl instantly felt her heart swell. She moved in closer to her husband, so that no space was left in between, and she placed kisses along his jaw.
"È passato troppo tempo..." She whispered, thinking back onto the time she had given birth. He had lied back and supported her through the pain, but she never knew that whole time that having children would mean separation from her dearest. Not that she didn't love her children...ah, that was definitely not the case. They meant everything to her. But she hasn't been able to spend time with Bass at all. The woman slowly pressed her face into him, her ears falling back against her head lazily. "Voglio passare più tempo con voi. Ti amo troppo per essere lontano da te per così tanto tempo. So che è una richiesta egoistica ma..."
She fought for the right words to finish with. She felt so selfish right now, and yet so needy for his love. What would she do? He was busy with training and other political stuff...she shouldn't be requesting something so time-consuming. Wren huffed and pulled away, gazing up into his golden eyes. "Mi mancano quei giorni. Eravamo giovani, e Abaven era proprio così nuovo... ma, pur essendo i bambini più grandi e hanno, mi piacerebbe essere con voi di più." Wren's smile vanished, and instead, a worried look played onto her face. She knew he needed it, the release of stress. Running a pack was definitely nothing easy. But she wanted to be there with him. To help him, to help the pack, but to also be there beside him...so he knew he wasn't alone.
"Speech"
'thoughts'
"Italian"
As he rambled on about rather nonsensical things to his wife, he couldn't help but say sorry. He knew that it wasn't what she was here to listen to, but it was just so easy to talk to her like this. It always had been, a lot of the time the words just fell right out of his mouth. He figured that that is why they had been so awkward when they were younger, it took them ages to finally tell each other that they loved each other. And now? Now a day did not go by without him hearing those special words. Just because they said it more often now did not mean that it had lost any meaning, it held oh so much more. Wren really was the love of his life, mother of his children, and his dearest friend. He would truly be lost without her. The woman beside him said that she understood, and Bass chuckled softly. Of course she did, she always had. In fact there wasn't anyone out there who really did understand him more than his wife. "Lei ha sempre capito." He said softly, a smile on his maw as he tipped down to lick the top of her head. He would be nothing without his wife and kids, they meant more to him than anything else in the world. When Bass spoke of the stars and being alone togther, Wren agreed with him. Lately it seemed that they had to give up their sleep if they wanted to spend any quiet time together, it was the only time that the kids were asleep and the pack generally did not call for him. These few stolen hours was all they had together, and it had made him feel torn apart from his wife. He longed for the days when they hung out from the time that the sun rose to when it set. They were inseparable, nothing could wedge the two apart. But to have to borrow time from their rest just to sit here like this... It was silly. Bass knew it, so when Wren started talking and hesitated he looked at her, frowning as concern filled his eyes. He did not try to speak until his wife was able to sort out her thoughts, his jawline still burning from the tender kisses that she had placed there. When the woman huffed in frustration when she could not quite find the right words, he dipped down and nibbled at her cheek, patiently waiting. But as always, it would seem that there thoughts were not far apart. She looked so worried, so vulnerable that she would offend him with her words. "Oh mio caro Wren ..." he started, the corners of his lips pulling down even further. He wanted to erase that look on her face, to take it all away and see that carefree smile of her's once again. "Non è essere egoisti affatto il mio piccolo fiore. Hai il permesso di voler trascorrere del tempo con me. Suppongo ... che è stata colpa mia e per non vederlo. Non rendendosi conto a che punto questo sia effetti di noi." He said softly, jaw working as he too thought. There had to be something that he could do to fix this... Wait, Bass was the damned alpha. That was the reason that he had Allen to help him out, bless his soul, so that he was able to spend more time with his family. But had he? The entire trip they had been surrounded by his family, and at night they had collapsed, exhausted from the events of the day. Trying to handle Finch being shy and Sparrow attacking every relatives she met, as well as bringing them the gift of bugs. They had been more than a pawful, but their grandparents had helped. And now that he was back and saw that thing in Abaven weren't as he wanted them to be, he knew that he was going to be busy trying to set things straight. But that look on his wife's face... he could not leave her alone again. He could not see her only when they both crawled into the den for the night. They had been like two separate entities, just floating past each other without really touching. Perhaps it had been Bass who was being selfish, devoting his time more to his pack than to his family. Both were so close in his heart that perhaps he had tried to mix the two, which had clearly failed. "Cosa ne pensi di questo. Un giorno alla settimana mi metterò da parte per solo due di noi, tutta la giornata insieme. Dopo tutto, è per questo che Allen ha offerto i suoi servizi a noi. E un altro giorno a settimana io mettere da parte per la nostra famiglia, dove possiamo tornare ai nostri piccoli viaggi e avventure insieme. Lezioni. Canto. L'intera cosa." Pausing, he searched Wren's face to see how she felt about that. "So che un giorno alla settimana non è sufficiente ... ma è un inizio. Meglio di queste ore rubate sotto le stelle. So quanto stanco tu sei il mio amore, e non volevo svegliarti. Anche se io non rimpiango questa notte." Bass whispered, leaning down to plant a loving kiss on the top of her skull. "Burn Baby Burn" |
"Che suoni meravigliosi, Bass." She hummed, her easy smile returning to her lips. She continued to nuzzle up to Bass, burying her nose into his neck and even adding playful nips here and there, to signal to him she was in a much better, relaxed mood. "Cioè abbondanza, mia cara. Abbiamo un giorno intero per noi stessi e con i nostri figli ... questo è ciò che conta." She hummed to him, her tail swaying back and forth as a slow wag. Having a whole day to love on her husband sounded exciting, as well as having a day with her five beautiful children. Bless Allen's soul...without his help, Bass would be so busy.
After a few moments of silence, thinking, Wren would finally return to reality, only to reach up and plant a loving kiss onto Bass' jaw. She loved him so much...to the point where she could spend the rest of her life sitting here under the stars with him, day and night, talking in a soft voice...telling him how much she loved him. "Le parole non possono descrivere quanto sei importante per me, Bass. Potrei sedermi così per sempre, se tu fossi qui accanto a me." She whispered, gazing up at him. "Spero che tu lo sappia."
"Speech"