[html]  The moon peered out from behind a blanket of clouds, casting a soft glow down across the lands that made up Clouded Tears. The wind blew softly outside, slipping through bare branches and across snowy terrain. It was quiet for the most part, well into the night, and Conri and Naniko were nestled comfortably inside the den. They'd curled up together earlier that night, snug beneath the soft blanket that Conri had given to her as a gift some time ago. It had been easy for him to fall asleep there with her, which was hardly ever a problem. His problem was keeping his sleep peaceful. It had proven quite the difficult task at times.
Tonight was one of the bad nights, images filling his head as he slept. Splatters of blood and mutilated flesh, screams and cries of pain. They filled his dreams all at once and no matter how hard he fought it, they continued. It started out as a quiet whine, bubbling from the depths of his chest. It was a constant sound, extended and tinged with panic. Eventually it grew louder, exploding into an array of yelps. His chest heaved for breath as he lay there, his single arm jerking back and forth while his hand searched frantically for something to hold on to. "No. No. NO!" The words came, starting out quiet and growing into a full blown yell. The hybrid kicked and thrashed about, all the while still being asleep.
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Naniko was very, very happy that Conri had found his way back home. She didn’t know…if it had been her in that kind of a position, she didn’t know if she would have been able to do that. To live through everything that had happened and then come back to face wolves that might not have accepted her back. She hated leaving Clouded Tears for long periods of time, and could imagine how he’d felt, stuck somewhere, in pain, away from her and from the pack.
Lately she had been keeping busy during the day, for more reason than one. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be around him—quite the opposite. But whenever she was around him, she felt something that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Helpless. She wanted to be able to magically fix everything for him, to make him feel better, but she couldn’t. She was used to being able to heal everyone that came to her door…but she didn’t know how to heal emotional injuries. And that frustrated her sometimes.
Her breathing came in steady movements as she lay there, caught in a deep sleep. She was a fairly heavy sleeper, something that had benefited her since Conri had returned. He often woke up with nightmares, memories of the past. She’d read about a certain disorder, one that involved stress and recurrent dreams after a traumatic event…Post Traumatic Stress disorder. Maybe that was what was wrong. But the book hadn’t said what to do about it. Most of the time she tried to settle him down, which wasn’t an easy job, then got him back to sleep.The white wolf had chosen to sleep in her wolf form, as she didn’t have a lot of herb-work to do the next day. She enjoyed her four legged form better, most of the time, unless she really needed the hands.
At the first nudge to her side she woke briefly, then fell back asleep almost immediately. But then it came again. And again. She opened one eye, trying to see what was going on in the half darkness of the den. Conri? She began to shift, changing into her werewolf form as soon as she realized what was happening. She grabbed a hold of his shoulders, shaking him a little. ”Conri—you must wake up!”
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[html] Throttle me if you want me to take the PP out. XD
Eyes fluttered briefly, jerking back and forth behind closed lids. At times his mouth would open, sometimes to let out a shrill whine, other times nothing at all would come out. A silent scream, perhaps one that was inside of his dreams that had carried over to his body. Claws drug across the blanket beneath them, hanging up in the small threads that had come lose from old age, and when he felt like he couldn't move his arms, like something was holding him down, he only thrashed more until they were free. During all of this he was unaware of the sleeping Angel at his side, the fact that he was disturbing her.
There was a sudden pressure against his shoulders, fingers against his flesh, shaking him. The motions caused him to rouse slightly, stirring from his sleep and yet still caught halfway between. It was a panicked sort of reaction, the way that his arm jolted to life, hand grabbing at her arm. He grabbed her hard, wrapping his hand around soft flesh, something he wouldn't have done had he been completely awake. Finally his eyes snapped open, muzzle parting to gasp for breath as if he'd just broken the surface of water. Foggy and confused, jade eyes snapped back and forth through the darkness until the moment that they found her face, focused on her, and a faint whine escaped him.
It was only when he realized where he was, that Naniko was over top of him, holding on to his shoulders, that he felt the grip he had on her. His hand released quickly, trembling, and he laid it against back against her arm for a moment. "Nani.." It was pathetic sound, the way that it rolled off of his tongue, tired and defeated. Fingers moved across tender flesh, gently rubbing the area of her arm where he had grabbed her, shaking as they moved. "I'm sorry.." Conri's voice cracked, shattered, and in an instant he was sobbing.
"I'm so sorry.." He repeated in broken words, sliding his hand away from her arm, beneath it, and moving it to rest across her back. He gave a small pull, very gentle, and then nothing at all. He wanted to hold her, to bury his face against her and know for certain that he was alright.
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[html] Psh. x3
She'd been hoping that the nightmare he'd had the last time, a few nights before, was going to be the last one. She had made sure that he was peacefully sleeping before she had fallen back into her own slumber. Naniko worried about what he saw in the dreams...they had to be horrific.
"I'm here. It's okay" Even though things were obviously /not/ okay, that seemed like the right thing to say. To try and reassure him that he was safe. She didn't plan on letting him go any time soon, for any reason. Last time he had been torn away from her...that wouldn't happen again.
And then his eyes were open, searching around the place wildly. It seemed that his body was still caught up in the scenes from the dream he had been having--his hand tightened on her arm, squeezing...harder and harder.
And just when she thought that she was going to have to yank herself away from him, when the pain became too much, it stopped. She opened her eyes slowly, unclenching her teeth. Her ears went down when she saw his expression. She shouldn't have shown that it had hurt--he looked really upset about what had happened. She opened her mouth to try and answer, but he was already apologizing. She couldn't stand to hear him say it, for him to think that it'd been his fault, when it hadn't. "No, it--" He apologized again. "Listen to me, would you?! This isn't your fault! You don't have anything to apologize for, so stop worrying about me so much. You should spend that time worrying about yourself, Conri. It would make me glad to see you happier."
The snow-colored werewolf sighed, then submitted, following him down onto the furs, resting her head on his chest. She felt him breathing, could hear the flow of air. In, out, in out. Didn't he see it? The thing that she wanted most of all, more than anything in the world, was to see him smile again. She did miss how things used to be...but now she was realizing that things wouldn't ever be the same again. Could she get used to things the way they would be now? She waited a few more breaths until she spoke again, when his breathing had slowed down a little. "I want to make things better for you so much..I just want you to be happy. So please...don't worry about me"
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[html] He never wanted to see her in pain, not even when they were young, but to see her in pain and know that he had caused it was torture. It was worse than anything that Stygian had done to him and he could feel his stomach twisting in knots. It killed him to see her like that and he would apologize a million times over if he could. She wouldn't let him though, obvious by her words and the tone that she spoke them. Conri, for a brief moment, wasn't sure if it was worry or irritation that fueled them, perhaps a bit of both. He settled, ears laid back, and stared up at her face. He wanted to touch it, to kiss it and tell her things were fine, but before he got the chance she'd followed his urge for her to lay.
With her head against his chest Conri pressed his muzzle into the area between her ears, inhaling deeply to drown himself in her scent once more, something that helped to calm him. He was no longer heaving, breathing normally, and then she spoke again. His hand moved against her back, tracing small patterns in her fur with gentle motions, and he listened to her words. He hadn't been the same since before he left, even he could admit that, but he'd thought that he had been doing better than what he actually was. Frowning, only for a very brief moment, he shook it off, snaking his hand up her back and toward her neck.
It rested there for a moment, stroking at the soft fur before finally finding it's way to her jaw, which he cupped gently. He slid his head back, moving his hand to bring her muzzle toward him, nose to nose with him. Jade eyes sought out hers and when they finally caught them he smiled. A real smile. "Naniko.." He spoke her name quietly, searching her eyes as he lay there. "I am happy." His words were the truth. Perhaps he hadn't shown it well enough since he'd returned, but the moment that he'd seen her when he first returned, that was the happiest moment of his life. Not even a million nights of nightmares could make him unhappy as long as he was with her.
"I love you." His words were soft, meaningful, and his fingers splayed out across the side of her face as he spoke. His tongue snaked out for a brief moment, placing a gentle kiss against her chin before disappeared back where it had come from, smiling at her again.
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[html] I sort of imagine Naniko's voice to be like Kiara from The Lion King 2. o_o
Sometimes Naniko wondered if she saw people differently than others did. She was used to trying to interpret speech that came from the lower creatures, like birds and rabbits...it took a lot of work. She had to look at their body language, what expression they had, and their tone of voice. Subconsiously, even when she was having a conversation with another werewolf, she was in tune with these aspects of the exchange. Maybe it was small hints like that that cued her reasoning.
She had changed since before, since back then. Most everyone in her life had left, or been taken away...and she'd had to fend for herself for a while. Lucifer had helped when her leg had been all mangled, bringing her food and company, but he hadn't done any more than that...he had gone home each night. She had wondered back then if Conri would come back, but most of those wonderings had been dismissed rather quickly after the first couple of months had gone by. She'd hoped, prayed for it. But after a while, she'd had to give up...or face holding onto those sad feelings.
His breathing was becoming more even--he seemed to be calming down. "I'm happy too...now. I was sad for a while...but now I don't have to worry any more either" They were meant to be together. That's what this had shown. The more she thought about it, the more agreed with it and believed it. The Gods had brought them back together, despite seemingly impossible odds.
She let him lift her chin, not protesting against the action. She looked down for a moment, then up at him. She wanted, needed him to know how she felt. There was nobody else out there for her. He was the one. Maybe she had needed some time to figure it out again...but now she was more sure of it than ever. "I love you too." She hadn't been expecting the kiss, and her eyebrows raised when he pulled back. The act, however small it had been, made her heart race. She leaned toward him, placing a soft lick on his cheek, one that led down the length of his muzzle, mussing his fur up a little bit.
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[html] I only just realized how awkward this might be so let me PM you. XD
He couldn't imagine how hard it had to have been for her. The things that he'd written in that note had been very vague, perhaps to the point that it seemed like he would never come home again, and he wouldn't have blamed her in a million years for thinking that. She could have moved on, should have, but she hadn't, and it made him feel both horrid and good inside at the same time. He could've accepted it had she found someone else, no matter how hard it would have been for him, because in the end all of it only came down to her being happy. Everything that he did by his own free will all came back down to making sure that Naniko was happy, that everything that had been built up between them was secure and right.
"I don't ever want you to have to be sad again." He whispered quietly, brushing the fur on the side of her face with tops of his fingers. He hoped that she knew that, that she had always known, and wouldn't ever forget. He'd always known in his heart that they were supposed to be together. Even as a child, since the first time that they had met, he had known that she and Conri were supposed to be close to each other always, but he hadn't completely understood it back then. It was always the two of them against the world and when he'd been taken away, simply put, it had been the hardest time of his life.
She returned the kiss then, soft and drawn out longer, and Conri smiled at her, both with his mouth and his eyes.
"You're the reason I'm still alive." He spoke after a few minutes of just watching her, his voice quiet and threatening to crack. Perhaps it wasn't nice to refer to what he'd gone through, far from romantic even, but the meaning behind his words was more than most would ever know. Naniko had been the reason that Conri hadn't given up. He could've let himself die, he could've done it himself to get things over with if he'd really tried, but the thought of having her in his arms again was more powerful than anything that his brother could have done to break him.
He moved suddenly, careful to make sure that Naniko would move with him. Using his hand, he pressed it against the ground and scooted the two of them up and back, to the point that his back was now against the wall and he was sitting more upright than before. Making sure that he could support the weight of the both of them just by leaning, Conri removed his hand from the ground and wrapped it over her back, running his fingers across the soft fur where his hand rested. He blinked once, twice, and then leaned forward in a sudden urge. He kissed her again and again, trailing from her chin and down across her muzzle, the side of her face, and finally the area of soft fur just beneath her ear.
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[html] Did you get my PM back? :3
She didn't think of him any differently, even though his leg was missing. If anything, she was even happier to see him again. Even he'd lost his leg, the rest of him was still intact...and was here, with her. She was upset that he'd had to lose it, but she was still a bit selfish about it--just glad that he had returned.
They had already gone through a lot together...and that proved it more than anything else. What else could happen to them that they wouldn't be able to handle now? Low on food? Somebody gets sick? They'd already gone through that, more than once. His words made her feel light, full of even more joy than before...if that was possible. "I don't know what to say.." And then she didn't have to say anything. He took control of the situation, and before she realized what he was doing to do he was already doing it, kissing her over and over again.
Her entire body flooded with warmth, her heartbeat quickening. She leaned into it a little, welcoming it, moving her body in ways to make it easier for him to kiss her wherever he wanted. She leaned her head against his shoulder, wrapping arm around him to help stabilize him and keep him balanced. She was seeing a new side of him, one that she'd only seen once or twice before...but a side that she was definitely open to.
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