The new mother found herself laying regally on a fallen log not far from her den site, gazing out around the orchard as night fell around her in the peaceful land she'd made herself at home in. Her life had been turned inside out, rearranged entirely in such a short time that she was still recovering from all the drastic changes. Perhaps the biggest alteration to her usual schedule was there was so little time for rest. It was difficult to be lazy when there was always something to do. Care for pups, hunt, scout the territory she was residing in, threaten the occasional innocent passerby to release some pent up stress. Busy life, this mom stuff. Once her offspring were older she'd have an easier time relaxing, but for now there were always things to do. This was why she was so thoroughly enjoying the peaceful moment as birds began ceasing their chirping and the light fled from the sky above. Soon her dark form was sinking lower and lower, draping long limbs over the log more and more. Spark-colored eyes were soon hidden below dark lids as she took her first opportunity of the day to actually relax, though not fully. Never fully when her pups were still so small. If there was one thing that Mara was coming to understand it was what being a parent was. Her own parents hadn't been all that... Nurturing. Those thoughts pushed her to do her best to at least always be there, and even try her best to get along with Ruthgar. Not always a successful endeavor, but then she'd yet to meet anyone she could get on with entirely. Yawning, she lifted her heavy head. Must stay awake. No sleep for this woman. Sliding down to the ground, she stretched languidly for a while, enjoying the feeling. Even with frequent hunting trips she felt like she wasn't getting quite enough exercise to stay in shape. Ah well, soon enough the time would come when she could go out more often. For now she was happy to wander the orchard, never straying too far from her sleeping pups. Repeatedly the familiar urge she used to sate so regularly would surface and she'd push it to the back of her mind. Not now, not unless she had good reason. Wouldn't wanna wake the kids if she didn't have to. "Talk" "You" Think

OOC; Hoping this is open? To his surprise his nightly walks to clear his head had become less and less frequent after Crew had disbanded. The memory of Orsus and Isis seemed like a lifetime ago and the only thoughts he ever had now were about his sons and how to keep them protected. His nightly walks had been appropriated into patrols but this night in particular that he had seen Mara alone outside of her den. As proud as he was of being father to three boys he knew he had at best done the easier half of the work. He had been more than happy to give her space and had developed a strange sort of respect for her. It hadn’t been the burning passion he had felt for Isis or the swelling pride he’d felt for Orsus, the closest he could attribute it to was the comradery he had felt with Chaos. He approached her as quietly as his large paws could manage his head low, far from submissive but cautious. “Oy.” He said softly, his eyes fixed as he waited for her reaction. He wasn’t quite sure what he expected; a snarled warning, a demanding ‘What’ maybe even the reproachful “Oy yourself.” Chaos had given him when they first encountered one another. "Talk" "You" Think

Getting used to always having others around was a bit of a struggle for the ill-tempered beast that was Mara. If it weren't for the children she'd be long gone by now. The children... Her feelings about every part of this situation, kids included, were mixed. Shaking her head, she cleared her mind of muddled thoughts that Ruthgar's approach had brought on. The man was becoming much less of a bumbling fool with Feli's training, however his approach still wasn't quiet enough to go entirely unnoticed by her from a distance. Turning her ember-hued gaze to settle over the man, Mara studied him a moment wordlessly. Her gaze would likely betray the warring thoughts in her head; to respond by letting out her inner tension and use him s a target to let off steam, or to welcome the distraction from her own thoughts? Settling on the more diplomatic approach, she halted and waited for him to come closer, at first only answering his arrival with a yawn that stretched out for an unnecessarily long time. "Yeah?" it was a characteristically short response, but for once drained of the usual venom she delivered with her words. "Talk" "You" Think

He was caught off guard by the lack of animosity in her tone; something he had grown accustomed to very quickly. He cleared his throat to settle his nerves and hopefully regain his composure before he uttered a gruff “Mind eff a join ye?” He sat as he waited for a reply, a strew of insults would have at least been something he was used to dealing with and he could fire back just as easily with a blue streak of his own, but this? The look on her face was almost forlorn; uncharacteristic for the woman who just a season ago inspired him to strive for strength and bravery. He supposed she could still tell him to fuck off while his proposal hung in the air and he would if she did, but some strange part of him believed she wouldn’t. He looked down at his paws momentarily, flexing the digits nervously as he waited for her to say something, anything. "Talk" "You" Think

Canting her head a few degrees to the side she debated a response. Her mind was overtaken by this strange sensation she liked to call a painful sort of numbness, swirling and mixing with her irritability. Ugh, fuck this. She turned and took a few steps, then glanced over her shoulder and muttered, "I might mind." The words hung in the air a moment until she added, "I won't stop you, though." With that she would continue her little walk, weaving through massive gnarled fruit trees at a medium pace. Her strides were long but not all that difficult to keep up with. She didn't stop till she came to a small clearing, not too far from the edge of her normal limits for wandering. She glanced up at the pale, shimmering moon surrounded by a crowd of stars and let out a soft huff. Without looking for him she spoke quietly to Ruthgar, "So, how's the training with Feli going?" It was the only thing she could think to bring up. Mara could bet with that old man for a teacher Ruthgar would be whipped into shape in no time, unless he was entirely hopeless, though despite all the insults and the pervasive annoyance she still felt towards him at times, Mara doubted that was the case. "Talk" "You" Think

Despite his instincts warning him that any moment he could incur her wrath Ruthgar followed her, his head leveled with his body as he followed her at an even pace. It had occurred to him a while ago that he had no real idea of what she was like aside from the fact that she was very very easily annoyed. He wasn’t fully motivated to change that, but to some extent, he felt she had at the very least deserved to be treated as a living creature as opposed to a brood mother. He stepped into the clearing and raised his head at her question. “owlroyt A suppose.” He said, diverting his line of vision to the vague silhouettes of trees surrounding them as if he expected something to leap out at any moment. “Werth eet fer th weeans.” He said with a soft smile his tail making a subconscious wag o the side as he did. speaking thinking you

Yawning, she found herself slowly sliding down to flop on her stomach, still looking up at the stars above them. Stealing a glance at Ruthgar, she had to admit she wasn't entirely sure how to deal with whatever this was. She'd spent more time with him than she usually cared to spend with anyone. He'd made it out of this time together in one piece, too, so he wasn't too terrible in her mind but... Ah, fuck all the getting stuff in her head crap, she was done with that, no more. No thank you. She chuckled to herself at his reply, memories of her time being trained by Feli flashing through her mind. What a time that had been. "He's one hell of a teacher, not one to go easy on anyone, but if you stick with him long enough you'll learn a lot." her tone grew softer, unconsciously growing fonder the more she spoke of Felicien. At his next words, she hazarded a glance towards him, spotting the expression and the little tail wag. Mulling over how to express the words that flitted around below the surface, she murmured, "You really do love 'em a lot..." the whole parent-child relationship deal was a mystery she was still struggling to unravel. Mara knew she'd cared deeply for her young even before they came into the world. Apparently the maternal instincts that she figured skipped her own mother somehow managed to find a place in her. It was still so... Ugh, she didn't even know what to call it. Expressing this was nearly impossible. "You're.. Good with them in a way I'm not used to." Her own relationship with her parents was, well, nonexistent. Now that she was thinking of them, the old fools probably died in that raid they never returned from... Oh well. "Talk" "You" Think

He smiled to himself and settled down safely out of her reach but close enough to be in her line of sight even from beside her. She needed space, he understood that the other beta in the other pack had been the same way- what was her name? What was the pack called? It all seemed so distant to him now even though it had only been a year ago that he left the highlands the cliffs but already he only seemed to remember Orsus’s name and the night he took his life. And of course the damned wall they had built together.  “Aye, A dun think A’ve evar loved anythin’ more en ma life.”  He said pushing away the vague memories to focus on the much more present and considerably more alive members of his family. “Not that thar’s mooch competition.” He said with a warm chuckle. “Ma wus a coont ‘n Da wood get phished ta the point tha’ he woodent eat. Old bastard turned ta bones ‘n stank a piss ‘til he died.” He yawned and shook out the sleek fur of his neck.   "You're.. Good with them in a way I'm not used to." He sighed at that. “Aye, well A knew how A was gonney bring ‘em up long befare we met.” He said wistfully. “A had a wife once.” He mumbled, his voice barely audible. He caught himself staring at a flower directly In front of him, a small blue daisy that at the worst possible moment seemed to be the exact color of Her eyes speaking thinking you

Flame-like eyes had by now wandered skyward, taking in the many twinkling stars that hung far above their heads, more and more becoming visible as the darkness consumed the land, pulling all traces of the sun from the sky so that the moon and its many companions could have their time to shine. Normally Mara was not the type to spend time observing these happenings. Ah, but what was normal anymore? "Aye, A dun think A’ve evar loved anythin’ more en ma life." That was... What was the word? The right word... Eventually she settled on 'sweet'. It felt uncomfortable for her to use such a word to describe anything, and she visibly shuddered though gave no visible indication of why. Glancing towards him she asked, "Did you have siblings?" Back when she was just Mara and not 'mom' it would be odd for her to show enough interest to feel a need to ask questions and engage. Life was chalk full of surprises. Of course she'd never be someone who was adept at the art of conversation. Not that she gave a shit. At first she was going to say something regarding their very different levels of preparedness for this whole pup thing but she lost the words at his next statement. A wife huh? Mara supposed she could see it, though the snarky little asshat within her couldn't help but wonder what kind of woman might have been his mate. Luckily she seemed to be growing more capable of using tact when it came to interactions especially with Ruthgar. Eventually there was no choice but for the woman to concede that it was best not to purposefully create friction with the father of her children. Regaining composure and refocusing on the pale sliver of moon above her head Mara simply murmured, "What was her name?" That was an acceptable response right? Tact; acceptably mastered. Conversational skills; still left much to be desired. "Talk" "You" Think