reunions [Hektor]

It did not take long for the sound of approaching footsteps to reach her ears; A’ia drug in a slow breath before she turned towards the noise, her gaze settling upon the familiar form of Hektor. If she expected to see anger in his eyes, there was none. Rather, she was surprised to see that he looked pleased to see her as he moved to settle onto the bank of the water at her side. It seemed as if no matter how much she avoided him, he still genuinely was happy when she at last allowed his attentions, and she felt a pang of guilt settle in her stomach. The small, stubborn part of her brain that refused to be quelled scoffed at the feeling – why should she feel guilty, when she had not asked to be his? But A’ia found that that portion of her brain seemed to be growing quieter by the day.

He spoke then, and her ears flickered at the title he gave her. Beautiful – it was clear that he meant it, from the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes. Why had she called him? She wrestled with telling him the truth for a moment, but what good would it do to lie when she had beckoned him here? ”I’ve been avoiding you, as I’m sure you’ve noticed,” she said at last, a little frown tugging at her features. ”I supposed I began to feel…bad. I know you spend a majority of your time ensuring that the land is safe – that I am safe. I assumed that maybe you’d like some company.”

She had not forgotten how she’d taken comfort in Hektor’s presence when Poseidon had appeared, how she’d radiated towards him with the knowledge that he would allow nothing to befall her. Just as she had then, A’ia found herself shifting towards him then, until the edges of their pelt brushed one another. And it was then that she smelled it, nostrils flaring as she paused, blinking at him. The scent that covered his pelt was…familiar, and after a moment, she remembered the strangely colored female she’d met near the borders – Avacyn. Her scent hung off of Hektor now, and A’ia recoiled a fraction, until they no longer touched.

”But I see that perhaps you haven’t been as lonely as I’d thought,” she commented, unable to stop the slight bite to her tone. She did not know why her stomach had suddenly lurched when the scent had hit her, or why the implication that had followed made her blood heat. It wasn’t as if she cared if he took another femme, was it? She should have been relieved – with the breeding season upon them, it meant that perhaps he would look away from her and towards this new female instead. But there was not glee in her, strangely. There was an odd, primal sort of desire to fiercely press against him until her scent was the dominant one instead.

She clenched her teeth hard at the thought, the confliction and confusion flickering clear as day in her eyes. Kairos customs, as she’d always known, were different – but in that moment, with her thoughts a strange whirl, she did not think of the more likely probability that high ranking males were allowed to have multiple femmes. Instead, before the part of her mind that was screaming for her to be quiet could win, she blurted, ”Does this mean you’ll be putting me aside? I don’t…I don’t know how things work here. My faction was different…” She trailed off then, ears splaying flat against her skull as she waited.

The frustration in his voice was evident when he spoke, his gaze slipping away from hers as she glanced up at him. Despite the frown that pulled at his muzzle, he never raised his voice to her, never snarled or snapped at he made his points. She had not known that Kairos Generals tended to take harems – but the knowledge did not exactly surprise her. And besides, her ignorance was her own fault, wasn’t it? If she’d taken care to ask, he certainly would have told her. Her ears flicked against her skull in consideration as she silently mulled over his words.

She was glad he was not forcing himself on her, of course; she’d worried days ago when she’d felt her body changing with her heat, but he hadn’t once attempted to force her into anything. And though he might have taken another, she still could not deny the little flare of triumph and delight that surged through her at the words, ”as you were and always will be my first choice.” Why did that please her so, when she’d spent so many days telling herself that she did not want him? She’d suspected for some time now that she was warming to him, after seeing how well he treated her despite the circumstances. But it did not make it any less alarming.

”I don’t know what I want,” she said helplessly, her wide eyes imploring him to understand something that even she did not. ”I should hate you; I tell myself that every day. But I can’t, now when you continuously treat me better than I expected – better than I deserve. I am constantly warring with myself when it comes to you; my mind so stubbornly insists that I cannot allow myself to fall for someone who took me forcibly from my home. But you make it so easy to be around you. You have never forced me, or hurt me, and I know how lucky I am to have been claimed by someone like you, as opposed to someone like…”

She trailed off as she thought of Poseidon, a little shudder going through her. Surely he would not have been so patient with her stubbornness as Hektor had been. ”I tell myself that I should be angry with you for taking me from my home, but if I’d stayed, I’d be dead anyways. I had nothing left but my sister, and even before the war resumed, she was gone. I have nothing, nothing, but you.”

He’d moved away from her, likely because of her scent – had it not been such a temptation, she might have moved closer to him again. But as it was, she simply remained seated, gazing up at him. ”I don’t mean to tease you, or torture you. I’m just…I’m trying to figure this all out myself. But I can’t deny the fact that it has become easier for me to be around you. I even longed for your company today, so I called for you. I’m sorry if my…” She hesitated over the word, before blurting it with a little cringe. ”…jealousy ruined that.”

A’ia knew, of course, that she was being difficult. And because she recognized this, she also realized that Hektor was being…well, beyond patient with her. She knew that she was a frustrating thing, and the fact that had he given her so much time without ever pressing her…it made it very nearly impossible for her to continue pushing him away. She’d told herself for so long that she would be fine on her own, that she did not need anyone in this strange place that was not her home…but that hadn’t been true, had it? Loneliness had set in, as it did, and the only person that she could turn to had been the one she’d pushed away for so long. It was a bittersweet realization.

And what was this feeling, then, when his first set of words reached her ears? It was clear to her in that moment that though he would be turning to the other she-wolf for his physical needs, he wanted something more from A’ia – something he was willing to wait for, even if he thought there was no possibility she would give it to him. He would not force himself on her; he wanted her willingly, body and soul. Did he want her to…love him? It both scared and intrigued her; admittedly, it also made her pride sing. For he saw her as something more than just a body for his pleasure; he saw her as a true prize. No one had ever done that before.

He called her beautiful, and try as she did, she could not stop the little smile that spread to her lips. She’d always been the one enamored with beautiful things, and yet here someone else was, appreciating her as one of those. "Thank you - for the promise, and for the compliment," she murmured almost shyly, her head tilting a fraction. Her gaze followed his movements as he stood to stretch, unable to stop that, either. She would have been blind indeed to not have silently appreciated the way he moved, though she was quick to drop her gaze when he glanced towards her. She could not deny that he was handsome, and some strange, foolish part of her wondered if it would be possible to begin a new chapter between the two of them. Perhaps, if she gave him the chance, he would prove that life with him could not really be as dreadful as she’d told herself it would be.

So enraptured was she with the strange picture that her thoughts had conjured, she had not noticed him enter the water. As cold droplets suddenly showered across her muzzle, she yelped in surprise and leapt to her feet, eyes wide…only to see Hektor there in the shallows, paw lowering at that exact moment. Her eyes narrowed in mock-indignation, and she leaped forward before she could think better of it, dashing towards the water and pouncing. Her body landed not terribly far from his, the force of her jump causing a small wave to splash towards him.

”Oops,” she echoed with a wide smirk, and then she was moving, prancing little circles around him, each purposely forcible step causing more water to splash up around the brute. It was so cool against her warm skin beneath her pelt, which had seemed to be constantly heated ever since she’d come into season, like her body was burning for something that frustrated her. ”Oh, I’m terribly sorry. Am I soaking you? It’s entirely unintentional.”

His deep, booming laughter at her silly prancing only made her smirk widen into a grin; it seemed almost effortless in that moment for what had originally started as a tense, serious meeting to have morphed into something lax and playful. A’ia had always been the type of wolf who enjoyed life for what it was; she’d always wanted to have the best moment that she possibly could, constantly, and the time she’d spent brooding in Kairos had taken so much of that desire for life away from her. But if she would only let it, she knew it would return in full, just as it was creeping back into her now. She wanted to appreciate the world around her. She wanted to live.

Hektor began to move towards her then, and though the dark, angry part of her brain that had been born when she was taken screamed for her to move away, she did not. Rather, she forced herself to remain where she was, watching him as he approached. Her heart was thumping away noisily behind her ribcage, both due to her spirited movements and the male that was growing closer and closer to where she stood in the water. It was a dangerous game that she played with herself now, opening a fraction when she’d previously been so stubbornly closed. She could only hope that she would not regret it.

”Don’t you dare,” she warned in response to his words, her tone playful still – but there was a nervous tremor beneath it that she could not hide. What would he do when he reached her, she wondered? She did not fear that he would attempt anything - he'd promised just moments ago. No, there wasn't an ounce of worry, but rather...anticipation. That scared her worst of all.

Still, she did not flee. Instead, she lifted a paw and brought it down in the water again to create a small warning splash, promising a soaking if he tried to drench her. ”Have you ever seen an Isles wolf wet to the bone? I’m all fluffy now, but I’ll look like a drowned rat if you do, and then you won’t think I’m so beautiful.”

Despite her warning, he continued towards her, his smile almost devious as he laughed at her words. A small giggle of her own escaped her, which escalated into a laugh at his words. But just as she went to open her mouth to point out the pun he’d made over dampening her beauty, he suddenly sprang towards her, his body nudging hers just hard enough to send her sprawling to the side. She slipped under the water, the depths of it covering her, forcing her to clamp her jaws shut so that she didn’t do something stupid like burst into laughter and inhale half of the lake.

She did not immediately emerge, but instead began to swim to one side, planning to emerge a fair distance away from where he’d dunked her. It was only when her lungs began to ache that she finally popped above the surface of the water, breathing deeply as her eyes opening, searching for him – only to find that he was now on the shores, still laughing. ”I warned you,” she called in the most threatening voice that she could muster – which was not very threatening at all, considering she could scarcely contain her laughter.

She swam until her paws touched the damp earth beneath the depths, and then she sprang forward onto dry land, charging towards him with her head down. Her pelt was completely slicked against her body now, her long legs no longer seeming quite as slim as they did when her coat was dry and full. As she approached him, she slowed just enough so as not to truly injure him – or, more likely, herself- as she plowed into him, rolling a little afterwards, not quite able to tell who’s legs were who’s when she at last came to a halt.

She leaned towards him to snap playfully at his ears, a little growl slipping from her muzzle. ”See what you’ve done? Now every time I try to be cross with you, you’ll think of how ridiculous I looked drenched, and you’ll never take me seriously again.”

It was a strange feeling, to be complimented so frequently and shamelessly flirted with. Back on the Isles, A’ia had never caught the eye of anyone from her faction. In fact, she had seen very few mated couples within Foeir, though clearly they existed here and there. But from the males in her age group, none of them had ever batted an eye at her, much less called her beautiful – and yet Hektor seemed to truly believe it when he said it. It put her at easy to know that he did not tell her such just to placate her; no, she could see the truth of it in his eyes.

For a moment they simply lay there in silence, and she did not bother to pull her legs away from his or make any move to shift at all. She was oddly comfortable, and when he pointed out the state of their pelts, she could not keep from laughing again. It had been so long since she’d laughed so genuinely and so frequently. ”I had to get you back for pushing me under the water. I can’t be blamed,” she murmured deviously.

His next words made her ears perk atop her skull, and once more her heart gave one of its funny jolts as he moved to partially crouch over her, beginning to groom her face. For once, she entirely shut out that damned annoying part of her brain that urged caution, simply letting him clean her. No one had ever touched her so tenderly, and it had been so long since she’d felt affection. Though she’d tensed originally, she felt her muscles relaxing slowly, and A’ia gave a little sigh, letting her eyes drift closed.

”It feels nice to be touched,” she admitted quietly to him, letting her eyes open just slightly until they were half-lidded, even daring to land a quick lick to his own muzzle in retaliation. Her thoughts were growing softer, drowned out by the strange warmth that was spreading beneath her skin, like an ember slowly growing into a flame. ”Though a part of me thinks maybe I shouldn’t enjoy it as much as I am. I’m ignoring that part, however.”