A couple of weeks had passed since the transgression he had against Ikigai and the subsequent altercation he had with Alastor as a result—long enough apparently for Ikigai to feel that they could remove the bandages from around his head for good and instead just keep the healing scars medicated. He couldn't see the marks himself and had avoided doing so thus far, but he trusted Ikigai's expertise and followed her lead when it came to the care of them. At the very least he knew that the lingering pain had dulled and the area was only ever really tender when she was applying more medication or cleaning them so that had to be a good sign.

For the most part he had kept himself fairly secluded to their den since that fight, not exactly jumping at the opportunity to have others see him with half of his face covered in bandages, leaving Ikigai as his only real company whenever she was here. Of course his sister did have to make at least one appearance the day after everything happened to have her turn ripping him apart for what he had done, but he hadn't fought her on it. He had laid there and taken the less physical lashing he had received from Manea. At this point he knew very firmly that he was in the wrong here and he had no real defense for himself so all he could really do was take his punishments and start planning for how he would atone for his sins.

After Ikigai pulled the bandages free for the last time he tentatively opened his eye, blinking a few times as he readjusted to the full range of vision and the light filtering into the den. He was certainly relieved that Alastor hadn't managed to take his eye—though he had no doubt that the Commander had wished to. He held still, laying on their bed while Ikigai did her examinations and began to do her treatments and in the mean time his gaze wandered the space, testing his eye that had been covered. His aqua gaze landed on some of their various belongings and supplies that were organized on one side of the cave and he looked curiously to the instruments that Ikigai had brought with her from Ashen.

His attention turned back to Ikigai, peering at her face while she prepared some sort of medicine or the like. It had occurred to him more than once in these weeks that he had been left with nothing but his own thoughts in their den that he knew so little about what Ikigai enjoyed or desired. She always seemed so poised and dutiful that it made him wonder what it was she found enjoyment in. However, he had also come to understand that he hadn't exactly done his part in trying to find out either. "I haven't gotten to see any of those instruments in action yet," he mused with a small smile. "Would you want to play a little something when you're done with this?"

"Deimos Medacium"

Things had been better over the weeks following the incident with Deimos. She felt as though they may have actually been growing closer. Ikigai didn't mind being around the man. In fact she found herself craving his presence; his touch. Not only that, she craved his approval and his attention. Iki wanted to please him. She wanted to make the man proud to call her his mate. And so Ikigai did what Ikigai did. She went above and beyond, carrying out her daily duties, but also doing special little things for Deimos such as crafting new, plush cushions for their bed. She would bring special little treats like spiced or honeyed meats and fruits. Iki just wanted him to be happy. She wanted him to be happy with her.

The pale woman had decided that it was time for the bandages to be removed permanently. The wounds were closed enough that they wouldn't become infected and now they needed to breathe. Standing before him, Iki removed the bandages, setting the pile aside as she inspected the wounds. She'd prevented massive scarring, but the telltale lines would always be there to mar the perfection of his fur. Iki dipped her pads into the ointment and put one last, thin coat on the wounds. As she did so, dark ears swiveled to catch Deimos' words. She found herself turning her head to look at the cases holding her instruments. She hadn't played them since her arrival. There was too much going on. Too much responsibility and not enough time for herself.

"I did promise that you'd hear them at some point, didn't I?" The woman released a breathy chuckle, a lazy, happy little smile on her maw. After wiping the remnants of the ointment from her paw, Iki crossed the room and began setting up her koto. The long instrument was heavy, but she'd packed it so that it could slide easily enough out of the case. It took her a few minutes to get everything in order and it took longer still to make sure that the strings were still in tune. Once that was done, she motioned for Deimos to get comfortable.

The woman's toes flexed above the strings. She didn't touch them yet, she was simply preparing, remembering the feel of them beneath her pads. Ikigai was connecting with her instrument. Inhaling deeply, the woman's pallid eyes closed and she began. Delicate digits moved expertly over the strings, eliciting a lovely yet heart wrenching song from the instrument. Ikigai's movements were practiced, honed to perfection. It helped that she loved her koto and had a connection with the strings. The tempo rose into a fever pitch as though some unspoken battle was being waged, then it all came crashing down and the tune took on a new, somber note. This was where the surprise came in.

As she played, Ikigai kept her eyes shut, feeling the music and losing herself in the moment. Once the tune shifted, the woman's obsidian lips parted and she began to sing. As expected, Ikigai had a lovely voice. Haunting, some might say. It was strong and robust when necessary, but it could also be delicate and soft. As all things, she had practiced to attain such perfect pipes. The woman's voice echoed softly within the den and out the door. No doubt others of the pack would hear the music as well. Though she sang in her father's tongue, the emotion would still be there and would be understandable.

When her song ended, Ikigai gently placed both sets of digits over the thrumming strings to silence them. The woman took another deep breath, recovering after singing for so long. Only then did her eyes open and slant upwards to search the face of the man before her. Had he liked it?

"Ikigai"

A slightly wider smile tugged at the corners of his lips when she replied favorably to his request to hear her music, enjoying the sound of the little chuckle she gave in response. He found that he enjoyed her much more when she smiled and laughed than when she was more serious as she had mostly been when they first met. It seemed as though this time that they had secluded to themselves as he was healing had actually been a small blessing in disguise. He sincerely wished he had just taken the chance to actually see Ikigai beyond her beautiful exterior before he doomed himself to faltering so dramatically, but here they were. Now all he could do was try to repair what he had done and continue to find ways to make her smile. Once she was done with the ointment she was applying to his healing wounds, he watched her go over to one of the instruments and begin to pull it out of its case, revealing the stringed instrument inside. He watched with curiosity as she plucked at the strings, seemingly testing them for something or another. He knew quite literally nothing about the art of music aside from hearing a few songs sung here and there in his travels so he hadn't the slightest clue what to expect.

When she eventually motioned for him to he settled on the furs and laid down on his stomach, giving her his full attention. He got the sense that this was something special to her and if he was genuinely going to put an effort behind getting to know her and what made her tick then he wasn't going to do it half way. Then she began to play after a moment of pause. When he had asked her to play him something, he had expected a quick tune or some sort of simple melody. Instead, she presented him something worthy of a far larger audience than just himself, the emotional song filling their den and spilling out into the mountains outside. He blinked with surprise, his easy smile fading into rapt attention as he watched her fade into the music, the rise and fall of it carrying him along on an unexpected journey. That alone would have been enough to completely blow him away, but then she began to sing, adding her feminine voice to the pluck of the strings. His head tilted slightly as he listened, the words formed into a language he didn't recognize, but still somehow conveying the emotion behind them. He never labeled himself as a sensitive man or someone that took great interest in things like art, but for this moment and for Ikigai he supposed he could make an exception.

Deimos realized as the song came to an end and she placed her unique paws on the strings to silence them that he had, at some point, held his breath as he got caught up in the music himself. He let out the breath he was holding in a soft sigh, a small grin tugging at his lips as he gazed at his mate with a mix of disbelief and amazement. Every day he spent with her he managed to find something new and spectacular about her. It was almost as if the Ancients that crafted her found every special trait they could to pack into such a delicate frame to make up for anything she might have lacked in physical strength. When her silver gaze peeked up at him his grin widened and he rose to his paws, stepping over to where she still sat at her instrument. His paw lifted to brush across the side of her face and cup her cheek as he looked down at her affectionately. "You are always so full of surprises, my little songbird," he rumbled quietly before he lowered his muzzle to hers, pressing a slow kiss to her lips. The feeling of her lips had slowly become more familiar and their affections more easily and readily given as they found their way back to one another over the last couple weeks—something that he had been so sure wouldn't happen in the immediate fall out and guilt he had found himself in. Still, there was a line he hadn't crossed as he made himself focus on taking this rebuilding slow and steady, but as they shared a long, lingering kiss and he rode this wave of emotions she had pulled out in him with her song he felt himself tip toeing ever closer to that line.

When he eventually pulled back from her lips, he didn't go far, lingering as his aqua gaze reconnected to the silver of hers and his large paw lightly stroked her cheek. He paused for a moment, searching her expression for a moment before he let his paw lower from her cheek and stepped around her and the instrument, going to the wall of the cave that was just behind her. He turned and settled back on his haunches, smirking a bit as he slipped a strong foreleg around her slender sides as he leaned back into the wall so that he was resting back against it. He pulled her into his lap in the same motion, turning her to face him as he did. He held her steady there, his bear-like paws tracing down her back and over her hips and thighs. "You'll always be more than I deserve," he mused after a few moments of simply letting his paws roam appreciatively over her sides and hips. "Beautiful, talented, and brilliant... And yet you've chosen to stay with me. I'll never understand it, but I'll always be thankful."

"Deimos Medacium"

As the lingering emotions of the song faded away, Ikigai's mercuric gaze found that of her mate. There was a smile on his maw and she replied in kind, the corners of blackened lips lifting slightly. His words made her smile grow and as he reached up to stroke her cheek. the pale princess leaned into the brutes mighty paw. A moment later Deimos was leaning in to place a gentle kiss upon those selfsame lips. He'd been terribly gentle over the past few weeks and Iki appreciated his efforts. She knew that he was a carnal being, but he was showing restraint with her. The woman's body no longer hurt and she was quite healed from the ordeal both mentally and physically, but perhaps this was her way to extract a little payback; forcing him to realize that he was capable of restraint.

Deimos' paw slid from the woman's silken cheek and he stepped back, positioning himself against the wall. Iki raised one brow curiously, amusement on her delicate features before she took a step towards him. He was pulling her along with him, afterall. Once the galactic man was comfortable, he pulled Ikigai atop him with such ease that she wondered if she weighed anything to him. The brutes giant paws trailed easily over her body and she quite liked the feel of it. She'd been missing this. Ever since the first time they'd been together and he'd been so gentle with her, she had wanted to feel that fire again. Perhaps she'd made him wait long enough.

Tall ears flexed, swiveling forward as he spoke again. His words roused a sadness in Ikigai. Did he really think he was worth so little? Deimos complimented her and spoke of her choice to stay with him, which he didn't understand. He really didn't know anything about her, did he? Or perhaps he didn't know anything about himself. Well.. the mood was already nice and easy. The perfect opportunity to talk.

Her back curving, Iki spread herself up the length of the purple brutes body. Forelegs found their way around his sides, dainty claws pulling lightly through the mottled fur. Her long, silken tail snaked downwards, curling around his own. "Deimos Mendacium..." she began in her delicate, breathy tones, "You're very deserving. Despite your somewhat rough nature, I have seen what you're capable of. Being thrust together as we were, it's been a bit of a learning experience for both of us." Ikigai's paws began sliding upward until she was embracing him, holding him against her. The woman's maw was so close to his that she could feel his breath on her obsidian lips. "I'll always strive to be my best for you." The black and white fae's eyes seemed to glaze over somewhat as her lips parted, allowing her tongue to push free so that she could run it over her lover's lips. Ikigai's snakeslit eyes stayed locked on Deimos' aqua pools. "So try to be your best for me."

"Ikigai"

Feeling Ikigai's slender, feminine form shift against his own as she relaxed into him and feeling her dexterous, talented paws moving across his sides, it pulled a low rumble from the large brute, a content, pleased sound that he hadn't made since the first time he had her. His tail willingly wound with hers as her long tail met with his and when she breathed his name his attention was fulled wrapped up in her gaze made of liquid mercury. Considering how uncertain and timid she had been when he made those very first physical advances with her, even this amount of forwardness from her was entrancing and made the pent up desire in his core start to find traction and kindling. He listened to her words with a bit of disbelief. The older he became and the longer he lived on his own the more he had convinced himself that somehow he had failed himself and his family and even now that he had at least accomplished the one goal a Mendacium male had in front of them of finding a mate, he still felt a bit like he had swindled his way into finding a selfish solution for his goal. And yet here was Ikigai, claiming he was deserving of her. Deimos wasn't certain that this young woman who had, for some reason, given him so much devotion really understood who he was when she spoke so kindly about him, but she gave him a reason to try and perhaps that was the most miraculous thing about her.

As she pulled herself tighter against him with her embrace, Deimos' large paws rested over her hips and thighs, his claws lightly combing through pale fur while he felt her breath on his lips. He watched the subtle shift in her gaze and his breath caught as her tongue ran across his lips while she told him of her goal to be the best of him so that he should try to be the best for her, the unexpected return of his affections making his paws flex and squeeze lightly at her hips. "Ikigai..." he breathed in response, his voice a deep, rumbling whisper as he took just the briefest of moments to just take in the way her eyes glazed over and the feeling of her holding him the way she was, feeling real desire from her for the first time. Ikigai was delicate and held such a gentleness about her that he would never be able to match, and yet somehow she had managed to get him wrapped around her paw without him even realizing it. His paws shifted a bit to feel over her rump a little more firmly while his muzzle dipped to hers, his lips gently brushing against her own as if it was one more silent question to reassure himself that he wasn't misunderstanding what she wanted, and then he brought their lips together, that low sound of delight rumbling in his chest once more and his paws squeezing over the curve of her rump.

His kiss was lighter at first, letting her set the pace as he tested the waters and gave her as much of the power as he could bear to give her for a while, but eventually that kiss did grow more passionate and more hungry the longer it went on. Going from the lifestyle he had previously lived to giving no one but Ikigai his affections he had certainly been far more pent up than he had been in several years and it certainly showed in how easily and eagerly he grasped for this opportunity to have another more positive experience for his mate. Loosening his grip on her hips, his paws roamed across her body once more, savoring her while he tasted her mouth and tongue, aqua eyes disappearing behind amethyst eyelids. He traced her sides where the darker patterns followed her spine, one paw slipping up to stroke across her cheek and feeling her elongated ear under his coarse paw pads. For someone that felt like he could break her if he squeezed a bit too hard, she had proven herself far more resilient and powerful than he had ever anticipated and he was eager to see how else she would continue to grow and bloom before his eyes as long as he managed to play his cards right.

As that need and desire continued to build with the heated kiss they shared, his roaming paws eventually shifted back to her hips. With his hips rolling up into hers and holding her steady, he slowly joined their bodies together for the first time since he betrayed her trust and the feeling pulled a low groan from him that was slightly muffled by her lips. There was very few times in his life despite all of the various lovers that he had been with over the years that he had felt this kind of deep, all encompassing, hungry desire, but Ikigai brought it out in him as if it was the most effortless thing in the world. Slowly he brought her hips to his, his lips only parting from hers once had fully found himself joined with her again, another quiet groan passing his dark lips. His eyes blinked open as the side of his muzzle brushed against hers, his breathing heavier and more heated as his paws started to guide her hips, rolling his own hips up into hers in time with the motions he created, beginning this steady, slow build of heat and intoxicating need.

"Deimos Medacium"