From the moment that Mortis left, Aslatiel was angry. She'd killed some things. Shredded a pig beyond recognition. She'd even had it out with her father. And yet, nothing seemed to tamp down the ire that had been raised within her. As such, she had been avoiding Naiche. The feelings that he'd confessed were too much on top of the already precarious stack of emotions that were weighing down on the young Reaper. Last night, she hadn't even gone back to her den to sleep. The young woman had simply slept in her aunts cottage that was now empty except for foot traffic to take advantage of the collection of herbs within. Avoiding him wasn't the best course of action, but talking to him when she felt like this was a one way ticket to fighting and hatred. If she'd spoken to Naiche in her current state, he would have likely ended up hating her instead. So Aslatiel spent the night in the cottage along and hoped that she would feel differently in the morning. Morning came, cold and snowy as ever. Yet another storm had hammered the land during the night and there was a fresh coat of white powder littering the ground. It was difficult to cut through some of the drifts but in time, Asla managed. She was tired by the time she made it all the way back across the territory to her den. The sun had barely risen and was struggling behind the storm clouds overhead. She hoped that Naiche was still within the den. They had a lot to talk about. "Speech"

Naiche wasn’t blind to Asla’s foul mood but he didn’t comment on it.  Asla had proven she knew she could speak openly to Naiche when she felt like it.  If Asla wasn’t telling him her problem then clearly she didn’t want to.  His focus during the days was put firmly on his work.  Between working on giving lessons, sharpening his own skills, and patrolling he kept his days perfectly busy.  It was still noticeable how it felt he saw less of Asla than normal.   When he was alone the question would eventually come to his mind of why?  What was it that upset her?  Was this something to do with Indigo?  Was there some other issue he was unaware of?  Of course, the last question was if it had to do with him.  The moment he wondered about the possibility was generally the same moment he shook away such thoughts.  His focus would move back to finding a task to focus on. She was still there at the end of the day to curl up to and she hadn’t chased him out of her den yet.  Funny, it hadn’t been all that long ago he’d been hesitant to even step into her den.  However, last night Asla hadn’t even come home.  Naiche wouldn’t admit that he stayed awake well past when he would normally sleep waiting on her.  Oh, his eyes were closed but his nose and ears had been keenly paying attention for any sign.  His mind remembered her sinking under ice-cold water all alone even as he assured himself with bitter amusement she tended to be with him when she found dire trouble.  Great. Thus it was when Asla arrived Naiche was indeed still present. He had only recently woken up and was reluctantly starting to step out, face not bothering to hide the distaste he felt at the snow, and just as clearly it showed surprise when Asla showed up.  So, was she ready to talk? The desire to ask her 'where she’d been' came to his mind and nearly thrown out.  It was a reasonable question to ask casually, Naiche wouldn’t have asked it casually had he given in to his first thought.  “Asla,”  what the hell to add on?  Should he offer to go back to his den if she wanted to sleep alone again?  “Did I miss some fun last night?” There, a casual question and it was possibly true, maybe he had missed out on something?  Something that took the entire night?  Things were easier when he didn’t like her. "Naiche"

She was filled with determination as she entered the den. Swirling purple eyes fixed on the golden male as she moved into the space. His words brought her ears tilting backwards for a moment and she shook her head. "No, nothing fun. I just needed to think." Really, she just slept on it, but in the morning she knew what she needed to do. She had enough care for Naiche to be transparent with him. Aslatiel first took a drink from the basin by the door, wetting her tongue. She then moved and seated herself upon a fur in the main chamber. "There's something that I want to talk to you about and I don't want you to say anything until I'm finished, okay?" The young woman's brow furrowed as she stared hard at the yellow wolf. There was a big chance that this was going to hurt his feelings. He could very well hate her after today. She was willing to accept this. She respected him enough to be honest. It was something that he needed to hear. Taking a deep breath, she let it out long and slow. "You told me that you love me." She let that hang in the air for a moment, acknowledging what he'd said to her just in case he doubted that she'd heard him. "I'm flattered. I hold a great deal of respect and affection for you as well, but there are things that you need to know." Moment of truth. Would he be disgusted like her father? Would he shun her? Would he hate her? Would the relationship that they'd built crumble to dust? "Naiche, for me... Indigo holds the top place in my heart. He's my brother, but he's also the love of my life." Brows pulled inward and she gave her head a slight shake. "We were born holding on to each other and that bond never left. I love him and he loves me." Aslatiel rolled her shoulders, trying to rid herself of the tension that had built between them. "We both know that we can't be together and we've agreed to live separate lives, but we'll always be in love." Again she shook her head, not knowing what else to say. "You deserve to know. What you do with that information..." the woman trailed off, looking away from the white marked brute. "Speech"

Not having missed anything fun wasn’t an unsurprising answer but it did give him the real answer he’d wanted, at least to a degree.  So she wanted to think and in a way that company wasn’t wanted.  That could add up to a slew of other questions but, it seemed she might already be planning to answer all his unspoken questions.  Certainly, by her determined demeanor, she had some important information to share. Naiche was good at silence and at Asla’s request for him to not talk he only gave a silent nod to show he understood.  Naiche sat with tail wrapping around his side, while his muscles were relaxed it was clear she had his full focused attention.  Her stare and deep breath were signs that had Naiche fairly certain he wasn’t going to enjoy the conversation.   She brought up his admitted love and then a pause.  Did she have to leave that hanging? Admitting his loving her somehow made him feel more vulnerable when it was brought up.  Somehow it left him more open to the possibility of being hurt.  Asla who could mock him so easily wasn’t mocking him over it though.  No laughter and brushing off thankfully.  What did it really matter anyway?  Still, with it being brought up he was glad it wasn’t taken in jest. Respect and affection.  Respect and a solid friendship were all that was necessary anyway, nothing more expected.  This was too serious of a tone and on a subject he’d never been good with.  A part of his mind wanted to leave, some part of him apparently worried he wouldn’t like what was coming.  Since when was he a coward?  Naiche kept his focus clearly on each word of Asla’s, this was too important to blow off for later and apparently in her mind the same. Her brother?  Naiche’s face turned to puzzled as she brought Indigo into the conversation.  What did her love for her brother have to do with this?  It was natural for siblings to love one another and, a good thing.  It took a few sentences before the puzzlement left, eyes opening a bit wider with the realization of what she meant.  She loved her brother?  In that sort of way?  Uh.  Nope, no words on what to think of that.  Her brother? Oh well, Asla was weird.  She liked collecting skulls and had seemed to enjoy being coated in her prey’s blood once.  This was one more way in which proved she was, uh, different than the other wolves he’d ever met.  Her brother?  Yup, definitely different.  He’d been too absorbed in determining what to even make of the concept to consider how it affected him at first. “Oh.” First words that came out of his mouth as he tried to take that all in.  Ah, that’s why she was hurting about Indigo’s leaving. “That’s why you’ve been so upset over…” He let that drag off to turn away from that statement.  His mind was working better as he spoke, “Well, can’t say I’ve ever heard of falling for your own sibling before but I’ve thought you were weird from the first day I met you.”  His words were relaxed, no insult meant by the word.   His mind rolled back to remembering her first words about how this came from Naiche admitting his love for Asla.  So that’s why this was so important.  “Look, Asla.  I said it because, well I figured you deserved to know when I thought we were both about to die.” Ok, so maybe he should have said it anyway but expressing emotions wasn’t his best area.  Naiche let out a short huff at having to talk about emotions again at all.  “I didn’t say I’d love you if you loved me.  I wasn’t trying to lock you into anything, or expecting anything.” It was true, why should he?  How long had it taken for him to even enjoy curling up with her? Naiche was hardly the romantic sort to fall for.  “I love you,” It was still hard to admit, dragged up as a truth that needed to be made right now but, still left him feeling vulnerable.  “It’s not conditional.  I guess it wouldn’t mean so much if it meant you having to change anyway.” Some part of him, some deeper part he denied to acknowledge hurt a bit but considering he hadn’t expected her love it was a faint thing.   "Speech"

Asla was instantly angry when Naiche's first response was to call her weird. So he was just like her dad? That was great. That was all that she needed. The young wolf was about to give Naiche a piece of her mind when he began to speak again. Wow, she was glad that she hadn't gone off on him. Aslatiel listened as he continued to speak, watching his golden features intently. He claimed to not care that she loved Indigo. He just wanted her to know that he loved her. He didn't want her to change. He even said it out loud again. When did he turn into such a sap? "Naiche..." She had stopped bristling and sat by the door where she had been standing. Suddenly the young woman looked tired. "Thank you for loving me." It was an odd thing to thank someone for, but Asla knew that she was difficult to get along with, let alone feel affection for. "I don't think I'm capable of being a one wolf woman. Even aside from Indigo." She wanted him to know that they would never be exclusive. That he would never be the only one. Raising one paw, Aslatiel rubbed at her face as though she was developing a headache. "I'll tell you the same thing that I told Mojito... If you can accept that I'll have relationships with others, then we can try this. If you can't..." She left the rest unsaid. Sadness had taken its hold upon her. The prospect of not having Naiche around was depressing. She didn't like it. Maybe she couldn't say that she loved him aloud, but if she didn't, then why did the idea of him abandoning her make her stomach clench and her blood run cold? "Speech"

Thank you for loving me?  What an odd thing to be thanked for.  The golden pelted wolf listened to Asla quietly surprised at how much she had apparently thought over his admitting to love her.  Naiche honestly hadn’t thought more than a thing to admit more than expecting to gain something in return. Asla was willing to try a relationship with him?  Like she had mentioned to Mojita, wait to Mo also? Naiche pictured the white dog with some irritation but it faded quickly.  The guy was so polite and friendly and it had been amusing watching him with Asla that one time.  It was less amusing now.  Before this conversation came up the idea of sharing Asla hadn’t been a thought because Naiche hadn’t imagined any form of relationship at all.  They just shared a den for warmth and all that.  Try a relationship?  How would that work?  Sharing her, but a single den, but a relationship being different than just? Naiche was quiet for a while watching her, his mind working through all of this.  “Mojito’s a nice guy,” true enough though some inner part of him wanted to sulk over having to share Asla with someone else besides Indigo.  Hillarious when he didn’t expect anything from her more than close friendship moments ago.  “I’m not going to say who you can and can’t be with.” Was it really love if he added conditions for her to follow to be loved or just some sort of bargained pact?  “So, that’s why you’ve been around so little lately?  You know, this was your den first.  I could have stayed away if you needed some time.”   Naiche could have pointed out again things about loving her and all but he’d stated it often enough that she was well aware.  No reason to overstate a thing, besides it was still weird to openly admitting those types of feelings.  At least they hadn’t been rejected when spoken.  “Though uhm, he’s not going to be staying here to, is he?”  One den wasn’t meant for three wolves.  Well, it could be and Asla’s certainly had space but Naiche wasn’t going to be sharing his sleeping space with any others, at least not if curling up together was involved. "Speech"