Aggie was restless, but then again winter had never agreed with her. Cold, bleak and lifeless, offering her nothing more than shriveled plant life and a growling stomach. Prey was holed up and wary, the skies cloudy and gray, and the biting wind that accompanied all of the above had done little and less to improve her mood. Today was one of the rare occasions when Aggie had become sour enough that even Ylva preferred to wander off on her own, and had done so at her earliest convenience. The wolf couldn't blame her companion and somewhere deep in her heart she might have been remorseful for being such poor company lately, but for the time being she had worked herself into a blissful sulk and was content with it. There would be time enough for apologies later. This winter seemed to be more forceful than others she could recall; even in the southern lands of Boreas snow mounded and drifted, leaving patches of bare earth and brown tufts of grass only where the sun saw fit to actually do its damn job. Aggie kicked through one hummock, sending a puff of snow up and drifting away in the wind as she walked and mused. Fireside's lands agreed with her more or less, yet moreso when the days were warm and the vegetation in bloom. Being allowed to stay as their guest while she recovered was more gracious than Aggie probably deserved, and it rankled her to think what she would owe the pack as repayment. Demanded or not, it was due all the same, and while better than death it was still a thorn in her side. Aggie shook herself, scattering the scant snowflakes that had flurried down onto her back as she went. She knew she was being unfair. To herself, to Ylva, to the pack residents she had done her best to avoid and most of all the whole nature of 'Pack' that had done their best by the simple merit of structure to see her healed. Being surly about her dependency was no way to even the odds, and she knew that but... still. The dusky shewolf sat, and tried to still her mind. Yes, it was strange to find herself in pack lands for so long and no, she wasn't entirely comfortable with it, but that was her own cross to bear. Even though she yearned to slip away into the night without another word neither her conscience nor her morals would allow it. So she was just going to have to figure her shit out. "Talk" "Listen" Think

When Tyrian had proposed marriage (haha), Chaos had been delighted with the idea of joining to the fierce viking woman Valkyrie. Marriage wasn't really a family tradition, and he knew that his nephew was much less pleased to be married than he was, but Chaos had always been one for getting attached. And he was happy about it, he was. He'd thought he was just fine with the idea of having a one-and-only he could settle down with and raise children together with. But he was, with some bemusement, watching his children grow up as vikings, not Saxe. He thought it would be easy when he'd agreed to the pups being Finnvi - after all, he had Lyra and Ares out there presumably - but it was surprisingly difficult to look at his children and see so little of who he was in them. For Valkyrie's sake he was glad they were growing up proper little vikings, and he was prous of how strong and fierce they were.

But it left him surprisingly lonely.

He felt more and more like he had little left of his family. Rhys was gone somewhere, playing pirate with Ashmedai's gang. Rhyme had been disowned, and had had very little interest in the brother he'd been practically born with even before then since he'd run off to join the Destructions as soon as he had returned and the whole relationship had disintegrated from there. He'd never been particularly close to Ash, who had inherited all the wildest tendencies of the family and seemed to resent Chaos for having left that behind. He did have his younger siblings, though he still privately thought they were more likely Vana's babies that she dropped on them without a word, but the years between them felt like a gulf that was too big to close. Of his full siblings, Vana and Phim had vanished years ago, and Angel was dead. He felt every second of time ticking past knowing that his father's time could be up at any minute, felt every year in his own bones.

Fuck, when did he get so old? Worse, when did he start accepting it? What an awful, horrifying thought, that he would just give up and be old. Just lay down and die as the docile husband and father of vikings, not to go out in a blaze of glory like his own mother had years ago.

In that mix of melancholy and self disgust he very literally almost stumbled over Asgeira, and he jerked to a halt face to face with her, blinked the cobwebs of thought away before he could grin and say, "We have to stop meeting like this. Next time you can run me over, just out of fairness." His mood made him more determined to be charming, as though to let himself believe the lie that you could 'fake it til you make it'.

Finding herself lost in her thoughts, as was often the case, Asgeira was numb to the approach of any other living creature. She wasn't hunting so the rabbits and birds could do as they pleased, and she was in pack lands, (words thought with a scoff she would chastise herself for later once her mood had improved,) so what point was there in keeping vigil? In any case the confines of her mind tended to be leaps and bounds more entertaining than the mortal plane, so could you blame her for her surprise? When a bulky figure nearly trampled her into the handiest drift her first thought was '??!!" and the close-at-hand follow up was equally elegant, and more or less translated to 'REALLY? Now is not the time!' Her dignity was spared by the intruder having 2% more awareness than she herself could currently boast, and when he pulled himself up short before her she found a familiar face. Aggie forced her hackles to lower in a conscious effort, very nearly hair by hair. After a chance meeting in the drawing evening moons and moons ago, Ylva's snark in her ear and witty rapport bouncing from all sides, she could count Chaos as familiar... and not entirely unwelcome. She didn't know the man so much as she knew of him, which was more than she could say for the other scents that clogged the air in these lands, ones she had taken pains to steer clear of. "Catch me in the right mood and I'll do so gladly, if you're offering." Honestly, what wouldn't she give to bowl over some lout just for the sake of blowing off steam? Asgeira had never been a fighter, but in recent months had begun to see the appeal. Even if he had a head's height over her... push come to shove, why waste an opportunity? The she sighed, and tacked on, "No, the fault is mine. You weren't the one standing around mooning about, so... Sorry about that. Off on business, or just wandering?" As discretely as was possible she tracked a careful eye over him. Apart from passing glances on Fireside grounds it had been over a year since she could properly consider him. Not much was changed. Chaos seemed to be on the latter end of the cusp between youthful prime and his 'golden years,' conservatively speaking. Still large, still daftly charming, and newly married if the fluttering chatter she had overheard was anything to go off of... Okay, she definitely knew recent events, but as a point of pride she would pretend she was unattached and call that good enough. "Talk" "Listen" Think

She seemed tense, and the way she looked at him at first reminded him of Valk with all her fire - but he carefully set that thought aside. He didn't want to be thinking about his wife and his own emotional crisis when he could be completely pretending that it didn't exist and burying his problems deep in someone else's problems. "Just wandering aimlessly. I'm happy to find that fate brought me to you." He tilted his head thoughtfully. She had struck him as such a fun loving, free spirited woman that he was frankly surprised to see her hanging around at all. Someone like that, she must be going stir crazy by now. "Were you on your way anywhere in particular?You look like you could use a distraction from whatever's on your mind." He knew he could. He cast his mind around for a distraction and could only think of the barrow nearby that he and Tyrian had opened treasure-hunting. They hadn't emptied it before the volcano erupted and as far as he knew no one had touched it since then. He grinned at the woman. "I bet I know someplace you haven't seen the likes of, if you're game," he coaxed. "I have it on good authority that there are dragons in there."

Well... at least she wasn't the only one wasting the day away. Not that wandering was ever a waste in her book, even if currently the notion was a bit of a sore spot. Chaos seemed to appraise her just as she had him, but whatever the male found she couldn't guess. Aggie didn't know what sort of image she was currently presenting to the rest of the world and found that she didn't much care either. If he was happy to stumble upon her, well, more fool him. She was poor company and she knew it, but if he was happy with that she couldn't complain no more than she would begrudge him that assessment twenty minutes from now once he'd thought better of it. Of course, the prospect of unexplored locations and dragons, if he was to be believed (which she doubted), was enough to perk her right up. "I'd say the same. I'd also give you my left paw to see something unusual right about now," she snorted, casting an appraising glance over the hillocks and mounds that bordered them on all sides. "In fact I'd give all of 'em if there are actual dragons about. Lead on, I've got nothing better to do." And it was the truth. She hadn't found anything better to occupy herself with for weeks, no matter how hard she'd tried. Aggie didn't know or care what Chaos would do with four extra paws either, but that was besides the point. She gestured forward as dramatically as she could, indicating for the male to lead on. It was a turn of events she couldn't have accounted for but was eager for any break in the monotony. Anything to separate herself from the sun up-sun down cycle of boredom she had found herself in lately. "Talk" "Listen" Think

Chaos grinned at her agreement, and swept into a bow. "Your wish is, of course, my command." With that, and a jaunty grin that was less forced than his first, he set off at a trot towards the barrows. As he moved, he wracked his memory for which barrow it was, and shifted his mismatched eyes over them. Ah-ha - there. The hole he and Tyrian had dug into it was intact, though a little disreputable looking. He stopped beside the hole, turning a Very Super Serious look back towards Aggie. "Be careful not to wake the dragon. We are, apparently, very tasty snacks. I'm not sure a dragon could resist someone as good looking as you." He immediately slipped into the hole in the hill, snake quick, without waiting for a reply, and stepped to one side to get out of her way, crouching beside a shiny silver shield that with a quick polish would serve well to light the room when pushed in front of the beam of light from the entrance.