Y halo thar ;D 300+

Fall was the busiest season of the year for the tribe as they prepared everything to survive through the winter moons. It was certainly not the time of the year that the Utina would have picked to begin courting someone since there were always things around the lands that needed to be done, but it did make both he and Liliana cherish the time they got to spend with one another even more. Nayati's feelings for the doggish woman were growing more and more each day and he knew that his affection was turning into love. It was amazing how she had so quickly come to mean so very much to the man. All thoughts and heartache over Asha, his first childhood crush, had disappeared. There was only room in his heart for the darkly painted lady now.

The Enagayahe Kanati had been out patrolling the borders and catching whatever prey that he had come upon. It had been a rather successful morning as he returned to where the tribe was building up their winter stores with a pheasant and three plump hares. He skinned, plucked, and cleaned his kills before putting them with the rest of their winter meat provisions. He and Iye rode to the nearest bend of the river and he washed himself up before they headed off to the stables. The man dearly hoped that he would find Liliana working there. With his tasks accomplished for the day, perhaps he could help her with whatever she was working on.

Nayati arrived at the stables and put Iye in his stall with some oats. Liliana wasn't inside, but he could smell her scent fresh which meant she had been here just recently. The man walked just outside the other end of the building to see her working with two horses hooked up to some sort of contraption. "It seems to be used to cut down the wheat." His pale gaze looked to the side to see Onawa, sitting statuesque while watching the harvesting. The puma gave him a knowing look and he smiled as he left her to go over to see if he could help out the process. "Lili!" he called out heartily. "What's all this? Can I help?"

short :x

Her smile brightened his day, no matter how brilliantly the sun shined, and he could feel his heart give a little jump in his chest as their eyes met. Honestly now he couldn't even imagine how his eyes had ever been enamored with anyone but Liliana. She was wonderful, and all the man had ever wanted. Now was no time to be swept away by the power of his feelings for her though, there was work to be done! He eyed the contraption more critically as she explained what it was. "Ah, yes, I guess I have seen these before. I just have never paid much attention to them as I didn't help much with harvesting the crops back in the Great Tribe." Most of his autumns had consisted of going out nearly daily on hunting trips. Sometimes they would only be out for the day, but at times it would be days before they would return back to the village.

The Utina grinned at her suggestion as to how he could assist the process. "I should be able to manage that." The Kanati quickly finished off the rest of the distance between them and gave Liliana's hand a quick squeeze before he moved up in front of the pair of horses. They seemed eager to work, so Nayati clapped his hands and walked backwards while facing them, hoping that that would be enough enticement to get them moving and pulling the harvest machine forward.

short posts are fine, not much to talk about with harvesting XD

The little bit of coaxing forward was all the two horses needed and soon everything was moving forward well. Nayati kept walking backwards, making encouraging noises to the animals and praising them for their work when Liliana called out to wait for a moment. The hunter stopped and put his hands up flat in front of him to signal the horses to stop as well. He watched curiously as she rushed back to the barn. Soon she reappeared with a rake in hand and started rake the mishmash of wheat into a pile.

Even though she had given him all the all-clear to continue in his own task, he could see even from this distance that the raking was the more difficult of the two jobs and his honor didn't want Liliana to be doing the hard, manual labor. "Would you like me to do that instead? You are the one who works with the animals, after all," he added quickly, not wanting her to think that he thought her weak. To him it was just natural that he would do the tougher work and spare her the toil of it.

I like saucy Lili! Haha X3 A little PP, lemme know if you want it changed!

Nayati waited, a bit nervously, while Liliana considered his proposal. He certainly didn't want her to be offended by what he had said; offending the hybrid woman was about as low on his list of priorities as possible. Thankfully though she nodded and came over to hand the rake over to him and he let out a short sigh of relief. The man would have kicked himself if he had gotten her to be upset with him. When she reached him she handed the rake out to him, a slightly mischievous smirk on her face. Nayati didn't think much of it until he reached for the tool and she pulled it away teasingly.

The man cocked at eyebrow at her for a moment before he caught on that she was being playful. A sly grin made its way onto his own visage. "Oh ho, so that is how it is?" Liliana had hidden the rake behind her with both hands, making his access to it minimal. Well, two could play at that game! Nayati quickly closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her smaller form, grasping the rake and pulling her close to him. He looked down at her, his eyes sparkling as well, their noses just barely touching.

adorable warning!

This kind of proximity was not something he was used to either. If it were anyone else he likely would have shied away from getting so close, but this wasn't just anyone. It was Liliana, the woman who made his heart beat like a war drum in his broad chest. There was a challenge in her eyes and Nayati wasn't one to walk away from a challenge, but at the same time he had no intentions of wanting this moment to end so quickly. He tugged a little bit on the rake behind her back but it was clear that he wasn't really making any effort to get it away from her.

Her laughter was like the sound of chimes and the sound made his tail wag behind him. Liliana pressed her nose against his for a moment before she pulled back and hid her face, looking down. He didn't know why she had suddenly changed her mind. Did she think she was being too forward? One of his hands left the rake and moved to her chin, urging her face back up to his. "Do not hide that beautiful face," he said warmly. This time he was the one to purposefully press their noses together, his smile broad and happy, a warmth filling his abdomen.

300+

Nayati didn't know everything that she had been through. He didn't know that she had been told that no wolf would want her. If he did know he would have immediately claimed that such a thought was completely preposterous. Even before he had realized that his feelings for the woman went deeper than friendship he had never viewed her as lower than himself. Liliana was a wonderful person through and through who had a beautiful spirit. A spirit that was displayed just as beautifully on the outside as it was on the inside. There was not a single flaw or shortcoming that he had ever seen in her, appearance or otherwise. Even if she would still be uncertain outside of their relationship, he wanted her to know that she had no reason to feel inadequate in his eyes. Such a thing was impossible.

Her hand moved to come up and hold his. His hand left her chin and their fingers intertwined. The man's heart thudded in his chest. He wanted to ask her to come and stay with him tonight, but the words would not pass his lips. His intention was mostly pure, but it was not right for an unmated pair to sleep together, even if nothing physical happened. Nayati's feelings for her were growing with every moment that passed though, and he knew that soon he would want to ask her the question that would change the course of both their lives. First though, he wanted to talk to Dawali. The chief was the closest thing to a father that he had here and he wanted the man's advice.

Reluctantly a sigh left his lungs and he squeezed Liliana's hand. "We should probably get back to work." By his voice it was clear that he did not want to part from her. "After we are finished though, perhaps we can take a walk?" A stroll through the lands with her seemed to him the perfect way to spend the evening.

It did nearly feel like a dream, standing here with her like this. Once again he so wished that she could meet the rest of his family. He knew that they would love her and accept her just as he did. The Utina could so easily picture in his head what it would be like. Hopefully one day that picture would become a reality, just as this moment had. His smile strengthened as she agreed to his idea to go for a walk after they had finished the work of harvesting up the wheat.

He took the rake with both hands as they parted and she moved back to the horses that were pulling the large contraption. The man moved over to finish raking up the wheat that Liliana had started with. Of course he had the strength to do it, but it did require a bit more effort than he had imagined. It didn't take him long to finish that up though and he waved over to her, letting her know that he was ready for her to start the horses going again.

<3!

Liliana got the horses moving again at a slow pace and Nayati worked hard to get the wheat raked up into piles as fast as he could without wearing himself out. It was a slightly slow-going process, but their walk together that they would make at the end of their work was plenty of incentive to keep the man going. His strong arms worked the rake in the unfamiliar motions and by the time they finished the first strip of of the field he could feel a light burning in his muscles. Nayati was not one to complain though, and definitely someone who liked to get as much work done to help the tribe as he could so he had no issue doing one more pass before they finished their work.

With more experience behind them, it didn't take as long to finish the second strip of wheat, but by the end of it Nayati was definitely glad that that was all they would be doing today. His arms were definitely tired from doing all that raking and he was glad to put the rake down and be done with it. After he put the rake back though he went to help Liliana unharness the two horses and bring them back to the stable, eager to move onto their walk together as soon as they could. There was a smile cemented on his face and every chance he got he cast his gaze towards the dark beauty.