The sun set too quickly. Shadows falling over the world like a closing curtain, flushing the sun from sight and ending the day before she was ready. Her hands were covered in paint, as they always were after she had covered a canvas. Many different hues flecked her fur, and yet Mati cared little about cleaning them. She figured all the best wore the pain of their art on their hands. Why not she? Trivial as it was, it was all she cared to keep in her mind as she walked. No one was welcome in her thoughts, for it was anger that still consumed her. Anger that masked sadness that filled the emptiness. She felt abandoned, though if she tried, company would be easy found. Still those that matter had in some aspect left her.

She walked west, too much displeasure in her heart to notice the danger of walking alone in the dark. The moon hung above, large and round it work just as well as the sun for a guide. Mati could ignore the shadows, the glow still bright enough to show the lighter paints on her fingers. That was all she wished to think about. Though she wandered towards the pack lands that her brother called home. She wanted to see him, wished to speak to him and yet at the thought of an actual conversation Mati’s stomach turned and twisted. The forest parted, showing her the entrance to a great ocean of grass. She walked among the strands, under the glow and with no trees to guard her.

In the emptiness she was drawn to the center of the meadow. A lone oak stood, and Mati allowed her wonder if he was as alone as she was. All the rest of his kind had receded to the edge of the great forest, and yet he still stood rooted in the meadows soil. The Church girl sat beneath it, and though her feral form would more likely urge her to do so the Optime wolfess tipped her head back. A song, low and heavy called through the branches and foliage of the grand ancient beast. Her voice fought to find the moon, the dark show of sky and perhaps the stars beyond.







300+

Haven had wanted to go to her, to go find her and try to make things right, but he had been a coward. Seeing and hearing that anger from her directed at him had nearly undone him and he wasn't sure if he could survive another blow. Mati meant so much to him and he had hurt her and hurt her badly. Perhaps even worse than when he had left his once home. The thought made him sick to his stomach. It made him feel worse that that night with Princess had actually made him feel better. It had actually healed some of the hurt that Siobhan had done to him. Jacquez had been right where Haven had never thought he would be. Where he had never wanted him to be.



He hadn't had a good night's sleep in at least a month. Images always haunted his dreams and made him jerk in his sleep. That would aggravate the wounds on his body and wake him up. His appearance was incredibly bedraggled, but one thing he hadn't done was returned to the bottle. He had brought no alcohol home with him from the city and what he had won in the race he had given away. When he drank it only seemed to hurt as much as it helped. It felt great at the time but after there was always guilt and remorse, now more than ever. Maybe he really was no good though. Maybe his fears had been right all along.



Weary the hybrid wandered away from his home, walking with no particular destination in mind. Jade eyes were hollow as he walked. He had even lapsed in bringing his sword with him. A small, morbid part of him almost wished that something would attack him. If he died then he would never hurt anyone again, and right now that seemed a pleasant prospect. A scent came to him just as a voice rose in the air and a chill ran down his spine. Swallowing he found himself pulled in the direction even as part of him wanted to run away. He approached the tree slowly, head hunched, ears back, and tail tucked. When he was about fifteen yards away his feet stopped and would go no further. He looked at her with fear and was ready to run at the first sign of her rejection to his presence.

Her voice flowed and the stuttered as the end of her call. The release made her feel at ease, for a brief moment. For a second her head was clear, the distress gone and the worry over. For a single minute she was alone and she didn’t need anything or anyone in the world. Mati inhaled, and with the breath came the scent and with the scent came the realization that she was alone and in the dark. Beneath that large oak Mati found no true comfort, only a hollow presence that began to creep up her spine. Silence surrounded her, and she was almost lost to the fact that she felt tears on her face.

There was a rustle in the sea of grasses, a noise among the daunting quiet. Her eyes lifted, her head rose from the hands that had been cradling it. Her knees were hugged close to her chest, and yet at the prospect of another being so close Mati unfolded her body and rose quickly. On her feet her violet eyes looked out beyond the foliage of the great oak. The wind was to her back, and it did not bring the scent of the stranger to her nose. Fear gripped her, the unknown bringing a chill and making her fur bristle. She took a tentative step, now feeling the safety as well as the captivity that the large tree provided.

A figure stood in the distance, and though Mati was unsure whom it was she called out the name of the only one that she wanted to see. “Haven?” as much as she didn’t want to confront the feelings that outraged her, and as much as she wished she didn’t have to talk about all that had happened Mati hoped it was her brother.







300+

The howl that was coming so strongly from his sibling was so filled with pained emotions that he felt his heart begin to tear at the seams. It might not all have been due to him, but a good chunk of it was. Knowing he was one of the causes for her howling in such a way made the boy want to retch. Why did he always have to screw everything up? No matter what he did, things just seemed to turn to ash in his hands. He couldn't even preserve the most important relationship in his life. He had been acting selfishly and it had come back to slap Mati in the face. Would she ever be able to forgive him? Haven wasn't sure if he were worthy of her forgiveness, even if it was given.



The hybrid watched his sister nervously, watched her curled up form with her head down. It was almost too much when she must have heard his movement and her face shot up. In the moonlight he thought he caught the light of tears on her brown cheeks and it was just another hot poker in his side and the grimace on his face deepened. She stood up and was silent and only after a few moments did he realized that he was downwind and she would not be able to catch his scent. Despite that though, he heard his name called out in question.



"Y-yes...it's me..." Haven's voice was full of shame, as if even admitting who he was was such a shameful thing. That's certainly how it felt. He took a tentative step towards her, but then stopped again. Even though he hadn't heard distaste in her tone he still didn't know if she actually wanted to see him or not. There was no confidence in him at all. He fit the role of Omega much better than that of a Knight.

        
The wind was not in her favor, but the scent of him filtered to her nose as they stood in the dark. A step closer and she caught his face in the moon’s light. It was her brother for sure, and yet relief did not come over her until he spoke. Mati felt darkness come over her as she closed her eyes. She hated the sound of his voice, hated the things that it told her. She didn’t want to be angry, not the way she was at most of her family. They were a pair, and she could not find another that she held more dear. Haven had always been the one that was most important in her life and the moment she had begun to replace him with another she found that she needed him more. The pain Ares had instilled in her stung more sharply then Haven’s actions had, but there was a common factor that each hurt shared. Mati didn’t understand them. She pushed Ares aside, the confusion and the feelings that so greatly contrasted with each other. The anger and then the other warmer feeling…

        
She didn’t know what to say, but she approach him. He looked ragged in the dark, and his eyes sunken and tired in the shadow of the moon’s glow. He had first left her, left her to be the one to deal with their mother’s addictions, to live with the memories of the family that had once been. He left to go and live a life that was seemingly full of sex and alcohol. Was he having fun? She thought as the anger spiked at the thought of him sleeping with a female he hardly knew. Was that what he had been taught? Was that the way life was supposed to be, Ares seemed to think so too. Mati didn’t understand, couldn't comprehend why he did not come to her instead of hurting himself while he tried to recover.

        
He wasn’t proud, never had been about his endeavors. But the thing that she hated most, the thing that scared her was the thought of loosing him. She wasn’t able to understand him, or the actions that led to the confrontation on the outskirts of Crimson Dreams. And she feared that it was just one more step away from her. She felt an arm cross her stomach, and a hand uneasily pull at the fur of her other wrist. She felt the scars that blemished her skin; rough strait lines that Mati could never forget existed there. I.. she stumbled, not knowing what to say to him. can’t loose you. Not like she was loosing everyone else.

         400+

After he had spoken he stood there still as death, not willing to make another move until she did. Her eyes closed and she also stood still for what seemed like an eternity. The space between them currently was a perfect representation of the space that had grown between them emotionally and he hated it. Haven had never wanted things to be this way. He had never intended this. How had it happened so quickly? The male was so very conflicted. While he wasn't happy about the way things had gone down, he did not regret what had happened between Princess and himself. After that encounter the pain from Siobhan's abandonment had been numbed to an extent and he could see something developing between himself and the Chance girl. He wasn't sure why it had hurt Mati so much, though he didn't question whether she should be or not.



She approached him and as she neared he could feel himself flinch and cower underneath her shadow. Haven didn't think he'd feared anything more than what was about to be said or happen. Not even the fear of becoming like his sire quite compared. If they could not be fixed he didn't think he could continue to live, he honestly didn't. The Aatte had lost so much already in his life...he couldn't lose her. Not his sister who meant the world to him. The sister he would give his life for in a heartbeat, that he would do anything for. Losing her would unmake him, if he was sure of anything, he was sure of that. Hollow jades stayed focused on the ground, unable to meet those violet orbs. He looked more like a guilty pup compared to her now than a sibling. "I never thought that this would hurt you..." he whispered. A pathetic excuse, but it was an honest one.

        
What had she done to deserve all of this? What did she do to be left by three members of her family? It hurt so much, to know that their mother was gone. It hurt even more that it reminded her that Haven was gone aw well. She missed him, and now it felt like it didn’t matter if she existed. He didn’t need her, and she figured that he was mostly embarrassed that his sister knew that he was sleeping around. It sickened her to know it, and yet she only said that she believed him. She told him that she knew he wouldn’t hurt anyone, and now he stood before her with the same amount of sadness as she held. He spoke, and Mati could not believe the words he chose. She did not show her surprise, and she began to hide her sadness. Calmly she wiped the tears away, and the sniffle was covered by the clearing of her throat.

        
She stood her ground, and fought the foolish feeling that his whisper had brought her. Maybe she shouldn't feel bad, but she did. Everything was falling apart. Ares would whiling throw her aside, or so she thought, Haven no longer sought her out, though even as he stood before her he looked shamed. She wished she understood if what he had done was a mistake, or if it was how every relationship began. Torn between anger and pure unhappiness Mati settled on anger. She had said that she didn’t want to loose him, and he only figured that she would be untouched by his actions. He had taken the bottle from her hand when she needed him to, she had gone to him the moment she had begun to unravel… She felt replaced by alcohol, and that had left him vulnerable to poor decisions. “Tell me how to feel then.” She spoke, keeping resentment from her voice.

         300+

He was embarrassed that she knew that he had slept with Princess, but he was ashamed that it had ended up driving a wedge between them. Haven never even thought that she would somehow come to the conclusion that he didn't need her because that was unfathomable to him. He would always need her and he would always love her. Nothing in the world could ever change that. It might change things between him and his other family members, but never her. She was so pure and good and right now he felt the exact opposite of those thing. He was wretched and bad and no good. Why had she even put up with all his problems for this long? Maybe he wasn't any better than their drug addicted mother. Maybe he was just as bad with alcohol as she was with her drugs. The thought made him want to vomit, but there could be some truth to it.



The male had thought of going to his sister after Siobhan had left, but he never had. Everything had seemed so meaningless and nothing had been able to dull the pain. Hitting Jac and talking to him hadn't helped. Even talking to Ruri hadn't helped all that much. It seemed that nothing could reach him, nothing could make it go away, so he had gone to the one thing he had known would make it go away. He knew it wasn't a permanent solution, but he had needed to forget. He had needed to not think about it, to not feel like his whole being was being torn apart. It had helped...and Princess had helped as well. He didn't think he could ever admit that to her though, not after all that happened.



Haven closed his eyes and could feel the tears threatening. If possible he moved his body even lower, wishing the ground would just open up and swallow him. "I don't know..." he said, his words accented by a quiet whine. He just didn't know.

        
She waited for his answer, holding her breath in anticipation. She needed to know, because she didn’t want to feel this way any longer. She wanted a way out, and if he had a suggestion she was whiling to hear it. If she should just go on and not feel the hurt then fine, Mati would close herself to him and they would be nothing but passing strangers. But did her brother want that? She couldn’t imagine that he did, but he was surprising her more and more. He was a knight, noble and honest. He was not an alcoholic, he was not a guy that took advantage of drunken females. Mati did not think of Princess as a loose woman, she didn’t know her and judgment such as that was wrong, but what if she was? She could be someone that just jumped from bed to bed, and how was Mati supposed to know any different? But then maybe he was in love. She had no idea if it was something that one easily fell in and out of, just as their mothers had. Her knowledge of love and lust had once been only skewed, and now with Haven’s example it was becoming deranged.

        
He didn’t know. She didn’t know. He seemed to shrink below her tall stature, and Mati found a sick satisfaction with his submissive posture. Good, she wished to yell. It was time that he knew how she felt. How degrading the comment Ares had spoke, and how it was Haven’s actions that led to it. It was the drinking that brought this on, and a hatred for the woman he once loved boiled in her chest. No one could hurt him, not like this. Mati would deal with the bitch if she returned, whatever the reason for her departure. But now she was left with a broken brother. She softened at the thought. He was far more hurt then she, she needed to know and accept that.
“Is it supposed to be like that?” She asked, her defense slipping and her harder shell melting. She had always looked up to him, always followed his example.
“Do you love her?” She didn’t understand, because it was an act of love and as awkward as it was to ask Mati needed to know. No one else would tell her, and those she trusted were falling away.

         300+

Haven could never presume to tell his sister how she should feel. No one could ever tell anyone how they were meant to feel. But at the same time that didn't mean that he was not allowed to be surprised by her reaction. Maybe at one point in his life he had known that Mati looked up to him for an example, but he didn't see it that way anymore. Why would she look to him? He was broken, he made mistakes. His past actions had proven as much. Unknowingly he was carrying the burden of showing her what was right and what was wrong. How things were supposed to be and how they were not. The Knight had never intended to lose himself in such a way. He had gone to the city to drink and had intended to spend the night in solitude. Princess had appeared completely unexpectedly and what had taken place between them had been just as unexpected. Yes, he wished things had not happened in the way that they had, but he did not regret what had occurred. Now he was just set on fixing things and acting as he should.



Cowering as he was, his legs began to shake under that unnatural position of his body and soon they could not bear his weight any longer. Haven sunk to his knees, head still bowed and unable to make eye contact with his sibling. He was grovelling. Begging her to forgive him and his mistakes and not to cast him out from her life. The next question she asked he could answer with at least some certainty. "No." He had never believed so anyway. He had never intended for something like that to happen. His views were becoming skewed as well though. He had thought he was doing everything right with Siobhan and she had walked away from him as if it all meant nothing. And the thing that Jac had told him to do to help that he hadn't wanted to believe had actually helped. Was anything he believe in right?



Did he love her? No, at least not right now. He did like her though and there was always the possibility of love to develop from there. "Not right now, but I think I could." But then all those questions and misgivings attacked him again. "But I don't even know what love is anymore. Not that kind of love. I don't know if it's real, if it can actually happen..." While Princess had helped to numb his pain, there was still a gaping hole in his heart. Where once he had blindly believed in true love, now he wasn't so sure.

        
But he was the only one. At times she felt like Haven was all she had left. It wasn’t their fault, not entirely. Anu was a leader, her time consumed with pack affairs and affairs of her own life. Salem was absent, Brook off with her own life. Naniko was the mother that Mati would never have and unstable in her violet eyes. Haven was it. He came to her mind when she thought of family, and it would be impossible to remove that. She couldn’t walk away from him, no….she had decided. She wanted him to always be the one she saw. She needed him more then he would ever know. Brother, she wanted to call him. Say his name and let the tears fall. Why would she judge him, how could she? He was one of mistakes just as she was, and it had passed though her mind that he could be capable of the mistakes of their sire. She hadn’t said the words, but she thought them. He could never know that she had faltered in her belief in him. God, she had made it so obvious already. How could she have been this way?

        
Haven crumbled before her, falling to the ground as if the weight of her judgment was finally too much for him. She followed, moving to the ground and knowing that she was the one that should be lower then the dirt that stood on. As the small word slipped from his mouth Mati felt a small relief fill her. There was another way, a way that she had always believed in that was the way of love. Her heart had told her that, but it was only their nature to go against the worlds of the soul, to follow the mind or body instead of the heart. She was victim to that way of thinking and she felt that Haven had fallen as well. As her brother spoke again she averted her eyes, not able to decipher the feeling that Princess brought her.

        
She wanted to tell him it did. Mati wanted to assure him so badly that of course they would each know the love that would each bring them happiness. But he was right, how were they to know that such a thing could exist? She was unsure of what to say, knowing how wrong she had been and how right his words seemed to be. “I’m sorry Haven,” Mati spoke in a voice that preached her honest and sincerity. “that she left.” He didn’t need to hurt like this, and it was all that coy’s fault. “I want it to be real, I want it to happen.” She spoke, unable to look at him.

         300+

He was surprised when his sister finally moved and followed him to the ground. He had expected her judgment of him and her anger at him to continue. The male hadn't been sure if it would stop, as much as he wanted it to. There was no way he could have asked her to stop being angry, to stop criticizing his actions. She was his sister, and once again he had let her down. So he would take whatever abuse she threw at him. What else could he do? It was his punishment. Even though she had moved to be on his level he still kept his eyes on the ground. It was like an invisible rope was pulling his gaze to the floor and would not allow him to look anywhere else, especially not up. Perhaps he was too afraid of what he might see in those deep purple orbs. If he saw even an inkling of what he had seen that day it would break his heart even more and he didn't know if he could take that. There would be no heart left in him.



Flattened ears twitched a little at her sincere voice, though they stayed in place. A deep sigh was issued as he thought of her again. Rage mixed with the pain of abandonment and half the time he couldn't decide which he felt more acutely. He did know that his love for her had been shattered though, and blow away like dust. If she ever came back, he would not love her any more. The Knight could even see himself being hostile with her if she did. He wanted nothing to do with the albino anymore and he hoped that he would never set eyes on her again. She was a liar and a deceiver in his mind now. One who went around pledging loyalty and throwing it away just as quickly. "I did everything for her. Everything. And she still left me." His voice was a mixture of sorrow and bitterness.



Another sigh. "I do too, I just...I don't know anymore..." Everything was mixed up and he didn't know what to believe anymore. Haven wished he could bear the burden of these doubts himself though, and allow Mati to believe without hesitation. Then at least she could be happy.

        

She sat, not able to hold herself up any longer. The weight and the burden was too much. She was too young to know that life would be full of pain, too inexperienced to just accept that their time on earth was not fair and so little was under their control. She could hardly control her own actions, at times she just felt things, did things because they felt right or because she knew no other option. The feelings for Ares were uncontrolled and not as innocent as she wished or cared to admit. She was too young to know that a heart that hurt was a heart that worked. If it bled, it was living. If she could feel pain she could feel something. Mati did not know that feeling nothing was possible and far worse a fate then being hurt.

        
With their mother gone, to a place they knew not of, with the single situation that had brought them here, with their sire’s past, with the scars that Mati wore and the broken heart that Haven held they were certainly less the whole. Brother and sister, broken and hardly pieces of a shell they sat on the ground as if they were less then nothing. His voice came to her, and Mati looked at him. She was strong, always had been in body and mind. The Church girl gathered the fragments and looked at the one person in the word that she never lost faith in. He had been so hurt, and his pain was her pain. She was not mad at him, never should have been, she only felt the crushing feelings he did and knew not where to place the blame.

        
Forever, they would share the hurt. Mati finally realized it now. She reached for his hand, but only held his wrist to gain the sight of his eyes.“You could come home.” to Crimson Dreams She said, though she knew the answer he would give. She words were light and soft, just incase it was what he had been waiting and wishing for she would always welcome him. He wouldn’t, even with Naniko gone. He was too important in the Miracles pack, perhaps it would do him good to remember that.

         300+

Silence surrounded the pair of siblings like a shroud once more. When had it all fallen apart? They had been so happy, so carefree, and then the illusion had shattered. Their happy little childhood was gone as if it were no more substantial than a dream. Back then he had been so confident of everything. Everything was so certain in his young mind. He had been a prince and had wanted to be a knight. He knew his family had loved him and would always stick together. When he had learned what it was to want to share your life with another, he had been sure that that would stay. None of it had proved to be true. He was a knight now, but that was the only thing that had worked out. If it weren't for Jac and Cour des Miracles he wouldn't even have that. For a moment his sister's offer was tempting, but thinking on it, it seemed too much like giving up. Shedding his responsibilities for an easier path. He wasn't strong, at least he didn't feel it right now, but he couldn't do that. He owed it to his packmates and to himself.



She touched his wrist and he looked up to her finally. "I can't Mati. I'm sorry." Haven worried that those words would cause the same thing they had the first time. He didn't want her to feel like he was choosing anything over her. He never would. "I need to stay. I owe it to Jacquez. I owe it to myself..." The Aatte male would always love Crimson Dreams. Part of it would always be home to him, as long as Mati and Brooklyn and Anu were there. But he had other loyalties too. He had sworn himself and his service to the King and the members of Cour des Miracles. He had not been a great knight so far, he needed to prove himself. He needed to prove that he could be and do more than his parents. That he would not fall into their same pitfalls. It was one of the few purposes he had and he needed to cling to it with all his might, no matter how hard it was. "I will always love you though, and I'll always be here for you. No matter what. Nothing will ever change that." If there was anything he was certain of, it was that.

        
She was tired of being unhappy. So very tired. Just the thought of continuing as she was now placed a weight on her shoulders and made her wish that it would just end. There was a distance that was threaded through their closeness, and it hurt Mati more then she cared to understand and truly realize. It was painful that he said no to her offer, and yet the woman was growing wiser each day and with each hardship. With that glint of wisdom she knew that it was best that he stay where he was. It was not the same, but similar to his first downfall. Returning to Crimson Dreams would be a step backwards for him, a step closer to the safety that Mati believed existed there (even if that was a hollow belief), but not in the direction that Haven needed to go in.

        Mati nodded, and even attempted a small smile. She knew that he did. She knew that he would refuse, and yet why did her heart sting? Her own mother refused to return home, leaving, and in Mati’s mind, never coming back. To know why she left and to know what kept her away would break her heart. But at times ignorance was certainly bliss. Perhaps it would have been better knowing that Haven had not gone back to drinking, not slept with the female that had twisted his sense of love another wrong turn. He did not need such influence. If he had only come to her first, she could have saved him the heartache, the humiliation that Ares had put him through. The humiliation that she had been put through. But Mati couldn’t make it right for her brother, especially if he didn’t seek her help.

        With his next words the Church woman did smile, softly yet fully. “I know.” She said, with honestly behind it. She wanted to believe that he would always be there for her, wanted it bad enough that she did believe. He had in the past, and though everything changed maybe that could stay the same. One thing in the world that could be true and honest and unchanging. “Will you come to me, if she ever hurts you…?” She asked softly, speaking of his newest romance. He would need to come to her first, for Mati would deal with her rightfully, in a way a male with as much honor as Haven possessed could not deal with a female. Mati smirked slightly as she thought about it.

         300+

He never wanted to hurt her, and had never intended to do anything to bring that onto her. He knew he had though. On this occasions and ones before it. The worst was when he had decided that he could not come home the first time. The male had known that he had needed to do that to save himself but knowing that it had hurt her so severely had been horrible. It had made him want to abandon his decision and just do what she wanted and be where she wanted him to be. Deep down though he knew that that wouldn't have made either of them happy. Maybe they would have been for a time, but Haven would just used his family as a crutch, not being able to stand on his own. That would have inevitably been something he would have been unable to hide and it would have made him miserable. Mati would have sensed that no matter how much he would have tried to keep it from her. No, as difficult as this was this was what was best. For the both of them. It didn't seem like it all the time, but he knew it was. He hoped she realized that too, and if not right now that she would with time.



That small smile gave him hope though. Hope that she understood and would not hold it against him. Hope that she knew that she was still one of the most important, if not the most, things in his life. He was relieved to see that smile grow with his last words. "Good. It would kill me if you didn't." Haven needed his sister to know that even though they lived in separate packs that didn't mean that he was gone and that he would not be there for her. He would always be there for her, for whatever she needed of him. If it was just to have fun or a shoulder to cry on. Anything she needed of him he would gladly give. He hugged her then, not wanting the physical distance any longer, not able to stand it. His muscular arms held his larger sibling to him tightly and securely.



"Yes, I will, I promise." He would not fall into his vice again. He would not turn to the substance that only caused problems. He would go to her, just as he knew that he would want her to come to him in the same situation. Haven could sense the humor in her and almost the willingness to teach Princess a lesson and he couldn't help but be amused, but he did not want animosity between the two. "I know you don't really like her right now, but give her a chance? She's not so different from us..." The atrocities in the Chance girl's past were not so different from the skeletons in their family's closet.

        
Some day Mati would accept that Haven was just never coming back. Truly accept it, believe beyond the veil that she had placed over her heart and mind that hid the hope that he would return. She was happy for him, and it was an honest feeling. But it coincided with hope that he would come back and the dependence that she still felt for him. Who else did she have if she did not have Haven? It hurt to be alone, to feel so abandoned and to feel like there was no one that stayed for her. Anu remained for the pack, she remained because there was no other place for her. Everyone else left at the change of the wind’s direction. Or so it seemed in her mixed up mind. Mati dug deep, and spoke the truth to the last remaining bits of hope. He isn’t coming back. It stung, as it always did. Mati soothed it with the truth that; He had reason, such good reason. He was happy, he needed this more then she needed him. He would always be there for her no matter the distance. He loved her.

        Her brother took her into his arms and she happily hugged him back. She needed to know that he would not look to booze to fix his problems, not again. It was a habit that he needed to break, so very badly. At his next words Mati leaned back to look at the male’s face. She smiled, and felt that he was speaking with a humor in his words. No? She looked into his eyes and saw that he was indeed serious. Mati placed a few strands of wild mane behind an ear and nodded her head. If it meant so much to him, that she would try. Her thoughts of the little queen were not pleasant ones, ones that held similar adjectives that might be used for a woman of the night. But Mati would try, and felt that she couldn’t argue with her brother about the female. They had just made up and the idea of breaking the peace was out of the question.

        
“I’ll try.” Mati promised, her smile returning genuine. A weariness over came her, and she remembered that she hadn’t slept for what felt like days and days. She felt it run through her form and the large wolfess deflated at the overpowering feeling.
“Can I stay on your couch?” she questioned him, not wanting to return to the dreaming lands this night. In the morning home would look more like home and the comfort and security would return to it. But for this night she wanted nothing more then to walk with her brother, and sleep without worrying that she might see Ares or his sister.

         300+

Alcohol could not be his crutch anymore, he knew that. He had turned to it in his weakness, but he could not afford to do so again. It clouded his judgment too severely and made him act in ways that he normally wouldn't. A casual drink every now and then wouldn't hurt, but he couldn't turn to it as a solution. It wasn't a solution, it was only a way for him to hide and he ended up hurting those he cared about when he did that. He wouldn't put her through that again, he couldn't. Haven never wanted to disappoint his sister. He wanted to live up to her expectations and be someone she could trust. The Aatte would rather die than break the promise he had just made to his sister. It was binding and he would not forgive himself if he were ever cruel enough to break it.



At his request his sister searched his face for something that she did not find. No, things between him and Princess were not exactly serious, but the girl did mean something to him. Whether it had been in the right way or not (which it hadn't) they had taken a first step together and it meant something. They had connected their lives that night and it was not a connection Haven was willing to have fall apart. He didn't know what could come from their relationship, but he wanted to try it. He felt he owed it both to her and to himself. He had gotten them into this and the least he could do was give them a try. And he did feel something for her, it was nearly impossible not to after what they had shared. When his sister agreed to try his smiled broadened. "Thank you."



Weariness seemed to overtake her and he felt a similar thing happen to him. His own insomnia had been longer lived than her's and they could both do with a good night's rest. "No," he said, a light that had been long absent coming to his eyes. "My sister isn't staying anywhere except a nice comfy bed in the extra room." Haven rose to his feet and held his hand out to his sister to help her up from the ground. Even if his house didn't have the spare room and bed, he would have let her sleep in his own bed while he took the couch. The boy was glad she wanted to come with him and not return back to Crimson Dreams tonight. They needed more time together.