He had asked so much of Surreal in their time together. He knew he hadn't been the easiest husband to be with and he certainly had tested her love more than once, but it seemed like he wasn't going to stop now. He had come back to their den as soon as he had finished talking with Athena and the whole trip he had tried to figure out how he would even bring up this question to her. Really he had nothing to be nervous about since his life wouldn't change at all if she told him no, but he was afraid that just the fact that he was really considering it would offend her. He followed her scent to their alcove, actually a little surprised to find her there. Ever since she had gotten better it was hard to keep her in one place. Luckily it looked like he had caught her during a down time. "Hey, beautiful," he said with a smile as he followed her scent over to her and quickly found her scruff with his nose to nuzzle into her thick fur. He settled down onto his stomach next to her and kissed her cheek. He was glad that he had finally gotten more comfortable with maneuvering without his sight. It made loving on his wife much easier. "You're not going to believe who I just ran into." Speech Thought Others

Surreal Adravendi

Surreal was taking a nap. A lovely, short nap, where no sneezes woke her up, and she could breathe. The very thought made her give a happy subconscious wiggle. She was wakened by Falk’s arrival, his voice bringing her out of the haze of sleep as he nuzzled her scruff. His words came to her, and she lifted her head, blinking drowsily. ”Wuh? Who’d you meet?” It took her several blinks to get the glaze out of her eyes. Damned stuff always was hard to see through first thing. Finally, she turned her head to look at her sightless mate. She took a careful sniff, checking to see if she could maybe identify whom he’d encountered from any residual scent, but could only pick up… ”Someone from Fiori?” She gave his nose a lick and shifted to where she was facing him, all the better to see his face. Was that a vestige of nerves around the edges? Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

He chuckled softly at his drowsy mate as she began to wake up enough to speak to him. Before he could answer her first question she added a second, listing off one of the characteristics of the wolf in question. Ah, that's right, the pack was called Fiori. He made a mental note to ask about these things more so he would have these facts on hand. He had known that she had relatives, Epiphron being one of them, that all lived in a pack together, but on his way here he couldn't for the life of him remember the name of the pack. Mentally pushing that aside, he nodded in agreement. "That's right. I was out looking for herbs by Wolfpaw Lake and I happened to bump into a woman out there from Fiori. Not literally bump into her, mind you. I've gotten a bit better at getting around than that," he joked, chuckling softly to himself. Joking around a bit helped his nerves some. "Anyway, she turned out to be a relative of both of us in a way. Her name is Athena Armada, one of my half sisters, who is married to Amalia Adravendi-Mathis. You'll have to forgive me for not knowing Amalia's exact relation to you, but I figured with Adravendi in the name she had to be related in some way." He gave a little apologetic shrug at that. He knew he should really know his wife's family a bit better than that by now, but to be fair they hadn't really mingled with much of them since their time in Valhalla, with the exception of that family gathering they had a while back. "She was very nice and it was good to find an Armada I actually got along with for once. She did have a very odd problem that she wanted to see if I could help her with though." Speech Thought Others

Surreal Adravendi

Her mate nodded, confirming her guess, then went on to tell a bit of his story at a time. A soft chuckle left her as he joked, though her eyes were reading his expression, taking note of any small tics or twitches. What was he nervous about, if the interaction was friendly? It was a mark of their love that her mind never made the jump from ‘I bumped into a woman’ to ‘I cheated on you with another woman’. That thought never even crossed her mind in the slightest. She may have had her trust shaken by him in the small things he had hidden, like learning healing, but it had never wavered since they had given themselves to one another after she and her family had returned from Atlantis Island the first time after the Challenge. “Amalia’s my niece, Epiphron’s daughter. From the first litter, I think?” She offered thoughtfully, adding “And Athena Armada sounds familiar.” From where, exactly, she wasn’t sure. Her ears turned forward as he went on. What kind of problem would get him so nervous? At least he was talking to her about whatever it was. She didn’t want to be mad at him every other week. This was also a good time to broach the subject of something that was looming just around the corner, but she chose to hear him out first. “What’s the problem? Does Fiori need help?” Was Epiphron okay? Her heart hammered a bit at the thought of something happening to Pip or her nieces and nephews. But if something was wrong, Falk wouldn’t be smiling, even to cover his nerves. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Falk nodded with understanding as she explained the relation she had with Athena's wife. Epiphron's daughter then, that made sense. He quickly shook his head 'no' in response to Fiori needing help. "Oh no, nothing like that. She didn't mention anything about Fiori really so I'm sure they're fine. No, her problem was a more personal one." He paused, trying to figure out what was the best way to word this. He just reminded himself that there was no reason to be so nervous and pushed forward with it. After all, what could she do, say no? That really was the worst that could happen. He'd feel bad for Amalia and Athena, but he was sure they would understand as well. "Well, Athena was telling me that she and Amalia would really like to have more children. Athena has a litter from her previous marriage that she and Amalia have apparently raised together, but they're feeling that empty nest syndrome with their boys all being grown. Since Athena had their last litter Amalia is really wanting to have this litter so she can have that experience. Athena said they'd like for these pup's genes to be as close to their own as they can so Athena has been looking for any of her brothers that might be willing to help. So far she knows where one of her littermates are, but she said she'd rather not have him be the father and she's found me." He paused, letting it all sink in for a moment. He hadn't really paused when he was speaking, really just wanting to get it all out there. "I told her that I had to talk to you about it first of course. Athena seemed so concerned for Amalia and this can't be something they're taking lightly. She just really wants to make Amalia happy and that was definitely something I could understand." He shrugged lightly and wished he could see his wife's face to judge her reactions. "What are you thinking?" Speech Thought Others

Surreal Adravendi

Surreal’s worry for Fiori and her family eased as Falk shook his head, reassuring her that they were alright. The problem was more personal. Surreal’s ears tipped back on her head as she watched him while he paused to think. His next words came in a rush, with barely a pause for breath, and she waited once he had finished, letting them all sink in. Gods above and below. They were looking for a male to impregnate Amalia? And not just any male, mind you, but someone related to Athena. Someone like Falk. Half brother through Isardis. The same gender mating didn’t bother Surreal; Syrinx and Eos, full siblings, had mated and had their litter of little hellions, after all, and she was pretty damned sure at least one of them had been among the stale scents from Arcanum. It wasn’t an unusual thing that Amalia wanted children; Adravendis were family driven creatures, usually. Pip had seven kids, for goodness sake, and Erani, Surreal’s own mother, had been notorious for adopting those who had been thrown from their own family, like Taurig, maimed and disowned by his own father for leaving the pack to claim his own, or those who had lost their family. Chrysanthe had followed that strain, and so had Pip, Chrys with adopting Odette, and Pip with Arian. Her mind races, and she stared at Falk’s anxious visage for a long moment, before saying, softly, ”I’m thinking that I will need time to think on this. If this were anyone else, Falk, you would be gone from here. We would be through. But… this is Amalia. Family. I need to think.” She pushed to her paws and brushed past her sightless mate, padding quickly from the den and out into the plains, breaking into a fast run, trying to outrun the racing, swirling thoughts. If it were anyone else… If it were anyone else. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Falk waited anxiously for his wife to say something, anything really, and when she did it wasn't exactly the reaction he had been hoping for. He knew that she wouldn't jump up and down at the idea, but he had hoped that she wouldn't be mad at him for bringing it up either. Honestly, if it hadn't been his half sister as well as Surreal's niece in need of his help he wouldn't have even considered the idea, but since it was he wanted to at least pitch it to Surreal. His ears flattened at the idea that she would have actually sent him away for even thinking about the idea if it hadn't been for Amalia being part of the deal. Suddenly he felt her move away from him and heard her paws click against the rocky floor of the den. "Surreal, wait! Where are you..." But she was already gone. A heavy sigh passed his lips as he listened to her paw steps quickly retreat from the den till the sound faded into silence. His ears folded back against his head and his eyes closed tiredly as his head settled down on the ground between his forelegs. He was going to be in the doghouse for ages for this one. He almost wish he hadn't brought it up, but if there was one thing he would never do it was turn away from family who needed him. He didn't care if he had only just met Athena today. She was still his blood and Amalia was as good as blood to him because of Surreal. He sighed again and waited to see if Surreal would come back... or if he would be sleeping alone tonight. Speech Thought Others