Your opening of that post made me LOL. As you so often do! WC 400+

When all she received in reply was a terse answer, her nose wrinkled and she snorted indignantly. Certainly she didn’t expect Niro, in the state he was in, to spin the yarn in great detail, but he didn’t have to be so short. Then again if thought were really put to it, “hunting accident” was a perfectly acceptable explanation. Being both werewolf and a hunter of his caliber, any number of things could have gone wrong during one of Niro’s forays in the wild. Still, something about the answer pecked at her heart. Perhaps it was the way he said it? She hoped it was only because of the pain he was obviously in.

There was the small warning growl, too, but Niro rumbled and grumbled at her all the time so that wasn’t out of the ordinary. She did take heed and moved her hand off his nape, though, not wanting to distress him any further with the thought that she might start poking and prodding him.

Her first instinct was to get him off of this porch. The wolf instinct in the back of her mind nagged at her to move him, get him upstairs and to a room where his injuries could mend. Showing weakness was never a good idea for a wolf. Yet her instinct was contradicted by the safe balm of Pack mentality, and the community that she relied on in the Court of Miracles.

“When did it happen? Have you been seen by a healer?” She leaned around him, but was sure not to jostle him. Her eyes locked onto his injured leg. “And what are you doing out here?”

She settled in cross-legged next to her brother, her face pursed with worry. Nimble hands snatched her pack and soon produced the leather-bound journal Niro had gifted her on their birthday. She set it on the boards next to her and wildly flipped through the pages, not pausing to search for a table of contents. The content within her journal was a mishmash of information, but she knew exactly what page she was looking for.

“How much pain are you in? Have you eaten?” Though her tone and movements were classic Orin, the level headedness with which she approached the situation was a little more mature than could have been expected of her in the past. As she skimmed the pages with her eyes she idly tied back her thick hair using one of the dreadlocks as a tie – wherever she had been, it was probably someplace without a mirror. Her hair was in need of maintenance and a color refresh, it had faded to a light baby-pink and her roots were showing.

WC 500+

Ivory ears tipped back in irritation. She found the page she was looking for but whatever was scrawled onto the paper was not making her happy. She flipped back and forth through a cluster of three or four pages and chewed her lip in annoyance – she did not have the information she had hoped to find. The book was lying open to her records of the day she met Alaine, but the only herbal entries were Rosa Gallica and Feverfew, nothing to soothe pain or aid mending. The rest of the entry went on to talk about the Apothecary’s other attributes, how much Orin had liked her, and how Orin hoped of having the honor in the near future of sharing her wisdom with Alaine, teaching her to read and write in turn for a transcript of the book Alaine would write. She breathed an epithet and suddenly wished that was what she had spent the last month doing instead.

She closed the journal with an irritated thud and turned her eyes to Niro. “I thought I had an entry in here for a pain-reliever, I guess not. If Alaine’s seen you then she’s probably given you something for it already.” Although it was a statement, she arched an eyebrow in question. He did not look like he had taken anything for the pain – or maybe it had worn off by now. She inquired with her eyes, her face calm (for Orin) though her body caught in a peculiar position. It was as though she was undecided between staying put, or leaping up and seeking out more help for her brother.

His words caught her off-guard though, and had all the effect of a slap. She fell back onto her rump and looked at him for a minute, her head cocked to the side. Orin didn’t have a clue how long she had been gone, but she was beginning to get the hint real fast. Something like guilt pursed her face, then mutated into a flash of indignant rage. She couldn’t resist the defensive words that flooded in. “What are you talking about? I should break your other leg! Or did you hit your head in the accident, too? I didn’t leave you. I’ve been right here the whole time.” ‘Right here’ meaning somewhere in the general CdM domain. “You’re the pack’s best hunter. If I had wandered off for too long, you’d have come and found me.” She shrugged. “Easy as that. You didn’t think I’d actually left you, did you?”

In her mind, it really was that cut-and-dry. She didn’t leave Niro or her pack. Not once had she stepped outside CdM boundaries, and she was pretty much counting on Niro growing curious and coming to find her. That was the only reason she failed to realize that she had been gone for over a month; Niro hadn’t come for her. She wasn’t offended that he hadn’t sought her out, she merely thought she had only been gone for about a week. Growing suddenly curious, she began flipping through her journal again, skimming the slew of pages she’d marked up while she was gone, and began counting the dates. “Are we… at the end of August?” Her naive forgetfulness was returning; she was so distracted in thought that she forgot her brother was sprawled out next to her in pain.

WC 500+ . . . WotD: Couchant - Lying down; crouching; reclining

While Niro explained why he could not find her, her expression slowly morphed from indignation to understanding. The white ears, now off-colored and in need of a good scrub, swiveled back as her mouth rounded. Orin rarely required words to communicate, her face and body being animated enough, though she was sure happy to have words at her disposal, too. She stared ahead a moment, then turned her eyes back to her couchant brother and her fingers returned to his hackles. She gently worked her fingers through the fur and scratched at the place on the back of the neck that was so hard for a wolf to reach.

“I didn’t think about it that way. Sorry. . .” She hummed without melody while she tallied up the days. “I was gone longer than I thought. One thing just led to another and I kept wandering farther and farther. There’s so many fantastic things to see and study out here. I don’t even feel like I covered a quarter of it.” Her concerned expression became a warm smile. “It’s good to see you, too. I want to go again, but you should come with me. I think you’ll like it. Roughing it, it’s your style.”

She noted Niro’s failed try at a smile and retorted by digging her fingers in a little deeper and really scratching that spot good, without making jerky or harsh motions. She didn’t want to jostle him if he was in pain, but she didn’t know a wolf alive who didn’t appreciate a good scratch between the shoulders. It was her assumption that his melancholy was simply due to his injuries. Yet there was more, more of which Niro was happy to relieve himself of and share with Orin. She was silent as he told her what had happened, what he had done, and she studiously kept her eyes forward staring at nothing in the Chien garden. For a couple beats more she was quiet and motionless, letting his last words hang and digest. . .

Then she giggled. And away flew the new, mature Orin.

A hand flew up to her mouth trying to cover the snicker before it bloomed, but her efforts were in vain. It wasn’t a raucous laughter, nor did she try to mock him, but it was a giggle that was more befitting of an awkward preteen. Her eyes shot to Niro and no amount of effort could control her Cheshire-grin.

“You did it?! With Liliya?” Amusement peppered her every word and she squirmed under the uncomfortable thrill of the news. Well, Niro was always the first to partake on the more corporeal adventures. Orin herself was still as innocent as the day they were born – though Niro was largely to thank for this, having rescued her from some less-than-savory men more than once back in Florida. She leaned in as though a conspirator in a masterful plot, grinning, and asked, “how was it?” The question, though, was sorely placed for he already explained that something had gone wrong.

“So, why do you think you scared her off? And what about this stranger? What do you think you did? Who was it?”

WC 500+

She was good at reading her brother, and could tell she was coming across all wrong. Okay, maybe she was just acting all wrong. But really, he was talking about sex here! She wanted to help, but with her inexperience it was difficult to broach the topic without a measure of immaturity. Her brother was also always her closest friend, she had never had any girlfriends to prattle on about sordid love affairs, and neither she nor Niro had any experience to speak of. . . until now. The only people who ever talked to Orin about lovemaking, sex, mating, call it whatever they will, were long dead authors, and most of the time it was either romanticized or vilified. She worked to contain her expression, and managed to coax the laughing cadence out of her voice, though it was obvious she had to work to keep herself steady.

“Well, have you seen Liliya at all since then? Or did you just go out and get yourself injured right away and haven’t had the chance to find her? Women are doing that all the time in the books. Either they get embarrassed, or want to seem mysterious, or really like the guy so they leave so he’ll chase after her. There’s all kinds of possibilities other than ‘you scared her.’ Maybe she just had something to do? You know the Russo’s, they keep busy.” She wasn’t sure if any of this speculation was really helping Niro feel better, but it didn’t slow her down.

She paused for a moment to consider the incident on the Shattered Coast, and wondered which had happened first, Liliya or Lola? It sounded like the Lola thing (whatever it was) had happened before his mating with Liliya. Orin had her own suspicions of what went on that day, too. Thanks to Rurik, she too knew the pleasant yet disorienting effect that drink had on one’s body and mind. Note to self, see if Rurik has any more of that vodka to share. . . the wayward thought surprised her, but she folded it into her subconscious for later. But knowing what little she did from her personal experience with alcohol, and the array of information she understood from books both fictitious and scientific, often a day of drink can lead to a night of. . . she bit her lip to keep from giggling.

“Alcohol has a history of erasing people’s memories when too much is consumed. It also lowers your inhibitions. If what you were drinking was alcohol. Was it? Do you think there might have been something else in what you drank? I see two possibilities. Maybe three. It was alcohol, and you. . .” she cleared her throat, “mated with her too, but can’t remember because you drank too much. Or you didn’t, and you can’t remember because you drank too much. Or she drugged you because she thought she could get something out of you.” She peered down at Niro with an inquisitively arched eyebrow, wondering if that idea had crossed his mind as well.

WC 500+

Turning over the situation in her head one more time, she could only think of one more thing to add. She sensed that her brother was humiliated and fretful about what he did. He was nearly torturing himself over it. Back before the virus it probably wouldn't even have been an issue for a wolf. Yet with the evolution of wolf into Luperci, their kind had developed a far different viewpoint of sex than they had ever known before when they were only semi-sentient wolves, suppressed by the humans that led the world. Ages ago, a wolf had to obtain the alpha’s permission to mate, or worse, could only mate with the/as an alpha, depending upon the pack. Here and now, things worked differently, and Luperci took on more responsibility with mating than ever before.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, you know,” she said genuinely. “Not in either situation, I don’t think. The way I see it, you didn’t attack or try to hurt either of these girls. Even if you can’t remember what you did with Lola, if you had hurt her you would have known the next day because she probably would have gotten in a good scratch or bite. Plus, that’s not you, even if you were drunk. And Liliya. . . It’s good that you’re worried about her, but you didn’t do anything wrong. The way I see it, she’s hurting you right now. I ought to hunt her down and drag her back by the scruff for an explanation! Why would she disappear like that? I don’t know, I don’t get it. But even if it’s because of your mating, you still didn’t do anything bad, people freak out over nothing sometimes.” She shrugged and looked away. Her jaw worked as she grinded her molars together, an idle sign that she was immersed in thought.

Why would Liliya do that to Niro? Even if she had gotten cold feet after their time together, she could have said something to him, left a note maybe. But instead she left him to squirm, injured, alone, and confused. Surely she would know by now that something had happened to him and she couldn’t send word? Orin snorted, growing ever more tense and displeased with the Russo who just a moment before she held in high regard. Her fingers twisted together as a thousand and one bad ideas sashayed through her head.

Niro was halfway through whatever he was saying before she realized he was talking. Usually he noticed when she wasn’t listening and jabbed at her in some way to catch her attention, but he was just as sidetracked as she. One ear swiveled towards him and she caught the tail end of it.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Wait, what?! Months before you can change? And walk?” Her jaw dropped and she gaped at him. Niro was such an active wolf, it was going to drive him stark raving mad! “There’s nothing anyone can do to speed up your healing time? Alaine? Maybe someone in another pack?”

ooc Little bit of assumed action/pp based on the questions I just asked you in AIM. If any of it's not ok just let me know and I'll edit. <3 WC 694

Her head bobbed in understanding that her eyes didn’t mirror. She would not be so quick to believe this world held no magic, but she would concede that if there was any such power in Cour des Miracles, the bearer would have already been called upon to assist him. To her knowledge, Alaine was the closest thing to a magic-weaver in the pack, so she tucked any protest away to be brought back at a more opportune moment.

“Okay, well then, have you been sitting on this porch long enough?” She glanced around the garden, eyes searching for the eagle. “Where is Marahute? Is someone taking care of her?” Yes, Orin had taken it upon herself to deem the companion a ‘she’ despite it being too young yet for Niro to determine. Raising to her feet, Orin leaned out over the railing and peered around, though did not offend Niro by bothering to call the bird herself. Niro was it’s master, and Orin knew better than to expect it to obey her; especially if she had been missing for the better portion of a month. Marahute probably didn’t even know her anymore.

“You can’t lay out here all day, wolf. It’s got to be bad for healing, or something.” She turned back to him, her arms crossed and a determined, maternal look crossed her face. It was clear from her expression that she had internally volunteered herself to be Niro’s personal nurse. Though another thought toiled in her head, Niro didn’t need to be clued in on it just yet.

“Are your ribs hurt?” She didn’t wait for an answer before she swooped down over him and wrapped her arms around either side of him. At first her fingers led her grip carefully, waiting for any serious yelps or protests, then she wrapped her arms around him more tightly and hoisted him into the air. It was almost comical, and surprising that the tiny sibling could even manage this feat. She never would have been able to lift Niro in any of his other forms, but her sisterly determination combined with her stubbornness made this far less of a struggle than her usual peppy, girlishness would have purported. She was stronger than she ever let on, and her natural grace was a crucial aid in maneuvering back into the hotel with her injured brother in her arms.

She crossed the main hall and made a direct path for the stairs, her steps quick and determined to accomplish her chore before her strength wavered. She could probably make it, either way, but she wanted to have him securely in bed long before she was in danger of dropping him. “Don’t wiggle so much, you’re making this difficult.” She chided, but the customary smile on her face belied her tone and exertion.

They were up the stairs in no time, but she didn’t stop at either of their rooms. Instead, she whisked right past them as if she hadn’t even noticed them, and stopped at one of the rooms at the end of the hall. Sticking out an index finger and performing a ballerina-style squat to unlatch the door, she was soon through the entrance and gently laid Niro out on the bed. The room was modestly furnished and, thankfully, had been recently cleaned. It was a little larger than her own, so, she assumed, a little larger than Niro’s too. At some point, she began humming a little tune, and carried the melody as she floated across the bedroom floor (despite having just almost over-exerted herself, her movements were still fluid and elegant) and pulled wide a shuttered door – then it became apparent why she took Niro to this room. It had a sunbathed, if not modest, balcony. A place for him to still get some fresh air, and for Marahute or any of his other companions to come and go, if he permitted.

She spun back around to face him, sunlight spilling into the room and surrounding her form. Her smile contended with the rays. “So, do your teeth hurt too? A healing brother needs to eat, so what’ll it be? Meat, or soup?”

ooc End post? WC 400+

It was as though she could read his thoughts through his eyes. She glanced over her shoulder for a moment, peering out onto the balcony. “You can get your fresh air and sunlight out there. And Marahute can still come and go as you wish. If you want anything from your old room, I’ll bring it over for you. In fact,” she gave the room a surveying once-over, “this place is pretty nice. Maybe you should make it your new, permanent room.” She arched a brow to punctuate her observation as she moved away from the balcony doors, leaving them open to let the light and gentle breeze in.

A warm smile spread across her face when Niro recognized the song she was humming. She wasn’t sure if he remembered it anymore. And with the memory, a glint of pained sadness touched her eyes though spread no further among her countenance. She nodded proudly. “Yes, it is. It just came to me one day, I had almost forgotten about it completely. Then next thing I knew I was humming away, and all of a sudden the tune became familiar. I wasn’t entirely sure I was right until now.” She cocked her head to the side, her eyes reflecting memories long ago of their dear, gentle mother. She reached out a gentle hand and scratched Niro lovingly behind the ears for a moment as the memories of the wolfess filtered through her mind.

Shortly, though, she sighed contentedly and moved away from him. The task she offered to do returned to mind; Niro needed some lunch. She nodded once, determinedly, and made her way to the door. “Right! You stay here while I plunder the kitchen. I’m half starved myself.” Delicate fingers closed around the doorknob and the door was halfway open when she turned to give her brother a warning glare. “And don’t you even think about going anywhere.” She shook her finger at him. “You’ll just hurt yourself more if you try to get back on that bed, and if I wasn’t already way faster than you to begin with, you bet I can catch your slow ass now,” she giggled. “I’m sticking around, I’ll get you anything you need. When you need to go somewhere, until that leg can support your weight, I’m taking you. And don’t think you can complain enough to scare me off, Niro Takekuro, or I’ll read Romeo and Juliet out loud to you again – the sappy parts - and this time you can’t run away.”

The threat was only half a joke, and her face remained stern while her mouth grinned and snickered. With that, she disappeared out into the empty hall, her paw-steps disappearing as she hurried down the corridor to fetch food from the kitchen.