[PRP] Misconceptions (Thrush x Magpie)

[In Good Faith]

Thrush took a deep breath of fresh air. The pack was finally settling into a semblance of routine in their new territory and he was feeling some of the knots in his stomach slowly loosen. Then again, there were new, smaller knots that had formed since discovering he was indeed a father. A father.

The pack put in a group effort in rearing young, of course. At this moment, the three pups were with the caregivers. Thrush himself should be back in the center of the territory, doing... alpha things. The thought caused him to shake his head and neck, as if brushing off dust and dirt. No, he needed a moment.

He wanted peace in this grove which now was a beautiful golden scene. The leaves were dying and raining from the trees when the wind blew through, creating pools of gold scattered about the forest floor. The smell of decaying vegetation, a sickly sweet smell, was everywhere. Despite the sun shining bright overhead, there was a cool crispness to the air. It was his favorite time of year and the only thing he felt was amiss was someone to share in it.

Ruler of Everything

 

[RuIerr]

Maggie had just finished her shift as a caretaker, working with the others of her station on caring for the brand new pups that had been brought back to the Swiftfell lands. It had made her stomach curdle, just a bit, when she'd seen the three of them. They were absolutely beautiful, undeniably so, but they held so much of Thrush in them that it made her feel just a bit sick.

Of course, as she headed out to clear her mind, the first wolf she sees after freeing herself from those precious bundles of fur that made her mind whirl, is Thrush. The one and only.

There he was, alone and likely decompressing over the fact that he was now a father. Magpie had been there for her brother, Willow Bark, when he was in a similar position: ended up with puppies with a rogue female they met once. It was a lot for him to handle, and so even though her hard was a bit hardened to Thrush, she felt it soften at the sight of him.

Without fully deciding to, she padded forward into the golden-lit grove, and meeky greeted her alpha. "Hey, Thrush. How are you doing?" It hurt to ask. It hurts to talk to him, really. Knowing that his heart wasn't where she wanted it to be. Really, they seemed to spent much of their lives dancing around one another, parrying with this flirtation and that playful insult back and forth. But something felt different now. And she knew she didn't like it.

In Good Faith

 

[In Good Faith]

Thrush had heard the rustle of leaves before realizing whose voice it was; though a jolt of electricity shot through his chest from rib to rib when he did. He did a good job, or what he thought was a good job, of hiding it, not immediately turning to greet her.

“Oh. Hey Maggie.” He smiled in welcome, turning in her direction. “What brings you my way?” Well that was a dumb way to say that... he mentally smacked himself with how lame it sounded to his own ears. “I, ah, mean, can I help you with something?” God, now it was as if running into her automatically meant she needed something from him? How narcissistic. Okay, you’re done now, he mumbled internally.

There was an underlying sense of guilt that surfaced when he would see her in passing, or see her when he saw that the pups were delivered safely to the caretakers. He couldn’t identify it exactly but he knew it had to do with his recent anointment to Fatherhood... he wasn’t betrothed to Magpie or anything but... all the same. Clearing his throat, he brushed the thoughts aside for the time being.

Ruler of Everything

 

[RuIerr]

The she-wolf padded further into the grove, noting immediately the casual, disconnected way Thrush seemed to speak. Had he really changed that much? Was it the mother herself, or fatherhood that affected Thrush so? She couldn't be sure, but she figured it was as great of a time as ever to ask about it now.

"I... don't need help. I'm just... confused. Curious! I mean curious." Magpie could feel her face heating up, her mind muddled at the sign of her nickname. Most in the pack referred to her as Maggie, but it felt so personal coming from him. "First of all, congratulations on such a beautiful, healthy litter. Those little pups really are incredible," she said softly, slowly getting a little louder until she spoke at a normal volume. "I'm just... hm. I don't really know how to ask..." Magpie continued to trail off, the gears in her mind feeling like they ground to a halt at the sound of Thrush's voice. Why couldn't she will her brain to work?

"Their mother," she started, daring for a second to meet his eye before dipping her head and staring awkwardly at the ground. "Is she now your... oh, mate isn't the right word, but..." Her expression was pained as she looked up at Thrush, willing him to draw meaning from her jumbled mess of words so that she wouldn't have to continue talking. She was just so sad that Thrush hadn't chosen her. They'd eternally had a back-and-forth, ever since puphood when he became close with her brother, Willow Bark. Even though she had shirked any advances - she really hadn't been sure she even wanted a family - she had realized more recently that he was what she wanted all along. And this hurt. It all hurt.

In Good Faith

Omg sorry I totally didn't see this!

 

[In Good Faith]

Thrush quirked an eyebrow up at Magpie's nervous speech. Swiveling his eye down to look at her, he purposefully didn't interrupt. At the mention of his children, a prideful warmth seemed to glow in his chest and he smiled with a genuine expression. She still seemed to be struggling, and he almost opened his maw to ask what was it she wanted to know... when she spoke again.

"Well, I..." his ears flicked down a moment, taken aback and he looked away from Magpie. With a slight frown, he seemed to be puzzling something out in his mind. After some hesitation, he tried again without looking at her. "Ah, no... She isn't my mate. I actually don't know much about her, to be honest." He was a little embarrassed about that, still not meeting Maggie's eyes.

It had been a struggle. The pack was smaller than any one of them could remember and the need for new life was strong amongst the pack. As alpha, he felt it was his priority to replenish the pack's numbers. In doing so, he had met a lone female that was willing... and low and behold, there were three new pups of Swiftfell. Then of course, there was Willow Bark. The beta seemed to always one up Thrush at everything. Five puppies... five. Thrush had rolled his eyes heavenward when he found out.

Of course, he couldn't say all this to little Maggie. He had grown up playing, fighting, and protecting her. How was he supposed to talk to her about replenishing the earth with random females??? No; it gave him a tenseness in his stomach at the thought. Without realizing it, Thrush simply didn't want to lose respect in her eyes.

Ruler of Everything

 

[RuIerr]

"Really?" The response on Maggie's side was immediate, incredulous, disbelieving. Her eyebrows raised. "Are you sure about that? I really... didn't peg you as the kind of wolf to just, well, knock up anyone. I..." She was staring at him, but soon diverted her eyes once more. The words on the tip of her tongue burned as soon as she started speaking. Not the most forthright of wolves, Magpie didn't feel she had the confidence to outright state that she thought he'd been interested in her. Their whole lives it seemed like his piercing yellow eyes had been focused on her.

The she-wolf decided to start again, attempting to choose her words carefully, but that never seemed to work out the way she wanted it to. "Honestly - and I know I've been... aloof in the past - but I... I really thought..." Taking a gulp of air, she dared to look at Thrush's face, frank and direct. "I thought it'd be me." These words were spoken softly, sadly — holding the weight of all of the depression and stress she'd been feeling since his precious pups had arrived in the packlands. She certainly didn't anticipate this conversation going well by any means, but he deserved to hear it. And she deserved answers. (Or so she thought.)

In Good Faith

 

[In Good Faith]

Thrush was not pleased with Magpie’s description of “knock up,” which he pursed his lips in incredulity. He was about to respond by saying that wasn’t very fair, when he began to feel a creeping sense of dread. As if she was going in a direction he didn’t like. Then she spoke the last thing Thrush would have expected.

You could have knocked him over with a feather. “Maggie!” He had to look away, unable to meet her eyes in embarrassment and nervousness. In fact, his first instinct was to run. Very far away. Sputtering and unable to form new words, he simply repeated, “Maggie!” What he was really doing was trying to hide the fact that at many points along the way, he had thought the same thing.

“You, you—you know that. That that’s...!” Thrush now facing her rather than at her side looked at her with... well hell, he had no clue what he looked like. He knew in his heart and his mind that he had wanted her from the first. Always wanted her. But she had been treated as his little sister and therefore... he had dismissed the option that she could be his.

“You... thought that... we...?” He now had an expression of hopeful curiosity on his expression now after the initial waves of shock and surprise were beginning to fade.

Ruler of Everything

 

[RuIerr]

Whatever level of awkward Magpie had expected this tenuous moment to be was made even worse when Thrush started sputtering, nearly shouting her name as if he couldn't believe the words out of her mouth. Her ears flattened involuntarily, tail tucking itself between her legs. If he didn't want her, that was fine. Well, not fine. But she would understand and deal with it however she needed to. Now that he'd shown interest - or not really, according to him - in another wolf made her feel as if she needed answers.

It didn't help that her brother had recently fathered his second litter, this one with his lovely new mate Minnow. Watching it tugged at a rather soft spot in her heart, one that always urged not to waste her time with romantic entanglements or pups of her own. She had a job to do, and she intended to do it as well as she could. After all, being a protector hadn't quite worked out the way she wanted it to, so she really needed to thrive in her role as caretaker. And Thrush... he was a distraction. But could he be more?

Now, Thrush was looking at her, still aghast. The wolf didn't seem to be processing Maggie's confession, which she didn't altogether expect - after all, she hadn't been planning on things to go this way. It just happened.

As his brain churned through what was happening (slow as molasses, Magpie felt), he slowly started speaking once more, his expression changed. There was something in his eyes that made her soften. There was always something in his eyes that made her soften. This time, however, felt different.

Her ears slowly pointed back up and her tail relaxed as she took a deep breath and responded with a playful roll of her eyes. Voice shaky, she emitted a very awkward laugh. "Oh, c'mon Thrush. You know very well that that's not... out of the question. We have always, always been there for one another. I know I tend to run from this kind of thing, but... I don't know, Thrush," she sighed, giving him man exasperated, pleading look. Would she really have to spell things out, point blank for him? "You're special. I recognized it as a pup, and I just... I can't stop thinking about it and now your pups have just... gods, I don't know." There was a pause where she gathered her courage and spoke gently, "I didn't know I wanted this. You. The whole... family thing." Maggie closed her eyes tight, refusing to look at him. "I didn't know I wanted you. But now I do, and just... you don't want me back and that's fine, I just... I'm lost, Thrush. I'm lost."

In Good Faith

 

[In Good Faith]

Thrush felt a mixture of thrill and irritation with Maggie. What, it took her this long to tell him? And only after she'd been jealous of his one night stand? On the other hand... this was Maggie. The forbidden fruit. The person in his dreams as a young adult. And god she was beautiful right now, right in this moment. It hurt to look at her, and so he didn't.

Heartbeats passed. Then, with any almost hesitant expression, Thrush spoke. "You... want me, Maggie?" His expression was now soft, eyes like liquid gold. His posture relaxed and his almost seemed to resign himself to his fate.

Ruler of Everything

 

[RuIerr]

Everything inside her melted.

The tone of his voice, so soft and tender, felt as if she had been struck in the heart, and could feel the sensation pulsing throughout her body. He didn't say much, but he didn't need to. His voice held it all.

Maggie could feel her lower lip quivering, the corners of her eyes starting to sprout tears. She had been keeping so much feeling locked deep inside her for so long, and now here it was, just leaking out. Realizing she had been holding her breath, she exhaled a long, shaky breath and whimpered, "Oh, Thrush," throwing herself forward, her nose directly into the fur on the side of his neck. If he had been communicating what she thought he was, this was a new beginning for her. Something she had never dared to want until it seemed it was completely out of reach. One could only hope it would work out.

Magpie drew her breath in deep, taking in the rugged smell of his coat. She could smell nothing else for the rest of her life and feel completely, deliriously happy about it.