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 Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 6:45 pm
Embry actually snorted at the last bit. “It’s a good thing Kithara isn’t here to hear you say that, or she’s had pinned your ears back,” she informed her mate, then elaborated. “We’re a tribe of healers. You think we don’t know the dangers of exposure to an illness, or that we wouldn’t take precautions to ensure that no got unnecessarily exposed? We know how to take care of babies, after all, and it’s actually one of my jobs. We don’t let the young go anywhere near the sick dens, and we keep an eye out all the time.”
She thought over his first objection. “Since you’re not trained and obviously have a problem with it, we wouldn’t ask you to help out with the sick themselves if it really became a problem. You could easily help by gathering or fetching water.”
Embry gave her mate a stern look. “You’re one of the nicest, most caring foxes I know. Trust me on this; if the time ever came when we really needed your help, I’m sure we wouldn’t even have to ask. You’d be right there doing whatever you could, cause that’s just who you are.”
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Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 6:54 pm
Now Boni did squirm a bit uncomfortably at both his mate’s reprisal and praise, muttering incoherent disclaimers about how he should have thought of healers foresight for sanitation and that his mate was being too kind in her praises for him.
He was also fast running out of any sort of viable excuses. He was also becoming aware that that’s exactly what they were, excuses.
“So I can fit into the structure of the tribe, but what about the members,” he said, trying the last excuse he could think of. “I mean wanting to living off away from the main body and not really helping except for occasion, they must think I’m a selfish eccentric who’s wasting your time. How do you know they’d approve of me at all?”
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Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 6:57 pm
Embry stepped forward and gently nuzzled her mate, putting as much love and reassurance into the gesture as she possibly could. “Cause I know them, and I know you. Just give it a little time, and they’ll come to see what a wonderful person you are. You just like your privacy, that’s all. It’s hardly a crime. We’ve got plenty of those types in the tribe. No one will think any less of you for keeping to yourself.”
She pulled back and smiled. “Besides, I also know you. I’m sure that you’ll surprise yourself and make many new friends before you even know it.”
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 10:07 am
Boni sighed and let his mate try to reassure him. She had slowly worn away at his protests, but there was still a single wall of resistance. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was, only that it wasn’t responding to logic or else Embry would have knocked it down with all the others by now.
He examined it closely, questioning himself and his every motive, leaving no corner unturned even for the sake of personal comfort. There wouldn’t be any true personal comfort anyway, not until his resolved this.
Finally he identified the emotion fueling the wall. It wasn’t doubt, but it was equally strong and poisonous.
“I’m scared,” he admitted in a soft voice, and it cost him a lot to reveal the emotion and not try to hide from Embry for telling her. Opening up was almost never easy.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 10:27 am
Embry felt a surge of surprise at the words from Boni’s lips. In all the time that she had known him, she didn’t think she’d ever once heard him ever admit to fear, nor had she ever seen him afraid. He’d just always been this calm, cool-headed, warm-hearted, gentle being that could weather any storm.
She scolded herself now for not realizing that Boni was just as susceptible to fear as any other creature. And of course this would be a bit frightening for him. This was his home, the place he’d lived for literally his entire living memory, and she was asking him to leave it forever. Even with all the love she had for him, and all the love she knew he had for her, it was still a lot to ask of anyone.
Embry searched within herself, trying to find the words that might wash away the fear.
“It’s okay,” she whispered quietly into the gathering darkness. “No matter what happens I’ll be with you. I’ll always be with you.”
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 10:38 am
Boniface sighed silently, relaxing muscles that had gone tense without his noticing. Embry’s words were his answer. Maybe not to banishing the fear entirely, for nothing but time could properly do that, but it was an antidote against the fear and allowed him to move forward despite it.
He had Embry. He would always have Embry. As long as she was with him, the place shouldn’t matter. He could learn a new territory, get used to just about anything, as long as she was beside him. After all it wasn’t like his heart was here in this land. Maybe it used to be, but not anymore.
Now it belonged to a beautiful soul that brought light into a world he had never thought of as dark before.
“I hope you weren’t thinking of moving right now,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit with some humor.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 10:44 am
Embry also relaxed, and laughed at Boni’s words. “No, not right now,” she said in a teasing voice. “I mean it would be a waste of all this lovely new den material that we gathered up and spread out. I think we should at least get the full enjoyment from it before we consider moving entirely.”
She looked out to the mouth of the den. It was fast growing dark, with only a dusky blue light still in the sky. She was hungry, but not enough that she really felt like moving and hunting in the dark. She’d survive ‘til morning. Besides, hunting and eating with hunger in the belly made food seem just that much better.
She nudged Boni softly with her paw, then moved back to the sleeping part of the den and laid down, wiggling to make an indent in the foliage and stretching out to a comfortable position.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 10:56 am
Boni waited until the sounds of Embry settling quieted, then moved slowly back in the den to join her, taking care not to accidently step on her. He delicately settled down, shifting his position so that he was snuggled up against his mate.
For a moment the pair was content to lay there in silence, wrapped in the darkness of night and serenaded by the sounds of nocturnal creatures stirring from their sleep and warming up for a night of activity.
It was Boni who finally broke the silence.
“How are we even going to start this,” he asked. Now that he’d accepted the idea of moving and being part of the tribe, the task seemed like a daunting one.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 11:03 am
Embry, who had been starting to drowse, came back awake at the question. She considered it for a moment, sorting through the various ways they could achieve the moving, discarding the ones that seemed a bit hurried since this was going to be hard enough on Boni as it was. Why make it worse?
“I don’t think there’s a rush for this to happen just yet. I mean the main reason would be because of having children, and I’m not even pregnant yet. I think it might be best if we start upping your visits to Yasashii, getting you used to the land around the tribe and starting to feel more comfortable with it. That way when we finally do make the move permanent, it won’t feel so overwhelming.”
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 11:13 am
Boniface turned over the idea in his head, and found to his surprise that he actually liked it. It might seem easier to make the transition cold turkey rather than dragging out the process, but with his old home within only a day’s distance Boni knew that feeling miserable and out of place in a strange land might well tempt him to journey back to the land he knew.
Embry’s way would give him time to adjust and start to think of the new place as home, and this place as just somewhere to maybe visit some day when looking for herbs or to take the kids to play. It wasn’t like he’d never come back here. Just by having a solid, stone den, this place was worth keeping an eye on as a shelter or storage, and to keep out anything that might try to take advantage of the vacancy.
“Any ideas of when we call the move permanent,” he asked. It seemed like they should have a deadline of some sort, otherwise dragging the process out would be worse than cold-turkeying it.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 11:25 am
“I do actually, now that you mention it,” Embry said brightly. She’d actually had a deadline in mind before she even fully had plans for how to acclimated Boni to living in a new place, and was quite pleased with the ideas she’d come up with.
“I was thinking we call the deadline when either one of two things happen. The first is if I become pregnant.” The very thought made her just a bit giggly and happy. “I doubt it’s going to happen immediately which should give us some time to get you settled. It would be the perfect time for you to switch over since I don’t think I should be making long journey’s when I’m pregnant and I wouldn’t want you to miss out on anything with the babies.”
Another happy flutter at the thought of children. She wiggled a little, making the pine needles and herbs under her a bit more comfortable, and continued.
“The second deadline is when it’s time for you to change out the bedding in here again.” She made a face. “Fertility is so hit and miss with our kind that that deadline might come up first. I figure that also gives up plenty of time, and you get the full use of all the stuff that you took the time to gather.”
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 11:48 am
A small, sad smile crossed Boni’s face. “I could wish that were less true, but it does seem like our kind does give birth rarely. At least we have large enough litters to often make up for it.” He sighed, then leaned into his mate and rested his head on the floor between his front paws.
“So until the bedding needs to be changed or until I become a father. Both seem so close and yet so far away at the same time.” Given a choice he knew which one he wanted to come first, even if it did mean less time to adjust, but like Embry said it seemed more likely that the slow degradation of foliage would be the time clock they would run by.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 2:31 pm
Embry felt a silent surge of agreement for both her mate’s statements. “I know what you mean,” she said, curling her long tail around the both of them and shifting her head to stare towards the dark mouth of the den, barely able to make out the shadows of trees cast by the moonlight.
“We can start after I’m supposed to head back, if you’d like,” she offered. “I have a couple places in mind that you might like to live, I can show you around a bit.”
Of course first she wanted to get some alone time with Boni! She still had a couple more days of free time before she had to be back, and it was going to be hectic enough after that that these next few days would be a welcome chance to relax with her love.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 2:36 pm
Boni hummed his agreement, ears flicking curiously towards Embry. “What kind of places? Anywhere I’ve been before, or completely new to me?” Boni had been to visit Embry a couple times after all, when it had been awhile since he’d seen his mate but when her tribe duties forced her from being able to make the trip to see him herself.
Despite his curiosity a wave of tiredness washed over the patchwork male, causing him to yawn. It had been a long and busy day followed by a tough decision; he’d definitely earned his rest! He struggled to stay awake, not wanting to be rude and just fall asleep right after asking a question.
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Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 2:41 pm
Embry smiled softly as her mate tried to be subtle and not yawn, but she could tell how tired he was so she tried to keep it short. “All new places, since you’ve only really seen the land that’s between the tribe and here. There’s one in particular I’m sure you’ll like, but I want you to visit them all just in case.”
She leaned over and gave Boni a tender nuzzle. “Go to sleep, my love. Morning won’t wait on us, and we can talk more after we’ve both rested and hunted up a breakfast to fill grumbling bellies.” And with that Embry took her own advice, moving her head so it rested against Boni’s and quickly dropping off in a peaceful sleep.
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