She'd said yes! Gunnar had never been so estatic before. Then again, he'd never actually gotten what he'd wanted before, either. And the night before last, his beautiful princess had agreed to marry him.
Why had his mother discouraged such feelings?
Still, with a proud triumpth beating in the back of his head, the hybrid boy couldn't find anything wrong with anything. The mornings since had been brighter, happier, the days had been warmer and even the work had been easier. His hunting the night before had brought back a decent sized doe, much to his delight. Nothing could possibly make him upset. Nothing.
Except...
Fia will probably want to make sure everyone in her family comes to the wedding... but what about Lorenzo? He remembered the girl's brother quite clearly. He'd glared and sulked at the party, and though he hadn't paid it any attention at the time, it had all been pointed towards his sister's date. Gunnar had upset him and he could understand why; the Knights were all a very tight-knit family. Lorenzo probably thinks I'm no good for her...
So, he'd decided to try and make things right between himself and his bride-to-be's brother. After all, they'd be family soon, right? They were already co-members in a pack, but stepping into the family through marriage was a big deal... right?
He found himself at the other male's door, not really sure of himself for once. A hand hovered to knock, but he couldn't find it in himself to actually make any sound. ...he's bound to rip my throat out if I get on his bad side... but I could take him, right? Fia would kill me if I hurt her brother, though... With a heavy, rough sigh, he let his head drop forward, irritation finally nipping at him.
...here goes nothing. He murmured as he finally brought his hand down to trum the door firmly, returning it to his pocket shortly after and righting himself to wait. Why does Fia's family have to be so damn terrifying? Gah. Why couldn't she be an only child? Through his troubled, annoying thoughts, he forced a casual smile and slouch, a tell-tale sign that whatever he was doing was in his spare time and not at all work related. A casual visit. That was all.
The behemoth was in his room as he had been for the past several hours. The block of wood had been hacked to pieces in his attempt to carve it into something resembling a flower, his bird abandoned and the knife he used was now embedded four inches into the wall where he had thrown it in his anger. As a result he was seething quietly to himself. He had no where he wanted to go, the only person he did want to see he wasn't allowed to, Orin had made it quite clear that she was wary of him and his intentions towards Juliet, her task she had presented was nay on impossible. Where the heck was he supposed to get a diamond from? He had no clue, the only idea he could think of was to speak to some local traders and when he had mentioned the high quality material he sought they had chucked together and said he would be lucky to be able to procure such a thing without giving over his arms and legs as payment.
As such the boy was in a sour mood, for once he was not thinking of Fia and her new man, which would have been sure to send him into a rage and drive him to destroy yet another desk. Which he needed to stop doing because the old human shop he was getting them from was running out, subsequently when the knock came upon his door and the smell of he wire haired doggish man came through for a minute or so the only answer was a loud and large band as Enzo drove his fist into the drywall well up to his wrist. The door rattled on its hinges and the wall shook alarmingly. Underneath his anger Enzo was actually very ashamed of his behavior and how he was acting towards Gunnar and Fia, but he just couldn't help it. It was wavign a red flag towards a bull when he saw them together, when he thought about them together. She was his baby sister! No man was allowed to touch her, EVER!
And yet as soon as he thought it he realized how utterly foolish it sounded, small minded, petty and mean. This wasn't Enzo at all. His sister had found someone to lean on and it wasn't him, that was the problem. Obviously Jazper at least in partial approved of Gunnar or he would have warned him off and chased him away. The harsh snarled lines of his face relaxed somewhat and the man boy breathed out a great sigh. He would have t accept this, that his sister was involved with this guy, she was getting mated to him. Enzo was no idiot he knew what that meant, children, babies, tiny little balls of life that would come from Fia's stomach to run and play and gambol about.
When he really thought about it he found that he didn't mind this. Mini Fia's to look after and teach. He loved his sister dearly and would do anything to help her out, to remove any obstacle from her path. But what about when it was he who was the blockage, the impassible object. Well perhaps it was time to remove himself. He pulled himself from his bed with a grunt, and spoke in a low voice,
"Joost ahh second." He brushed off the plaster and dust from his paw and pushed his hair back before striding to the door in two steps. Having to suck severely to get through the doorway he made a note to try to extend it upwards a bit when he got the chance, if only to save his back a world of trouble. He was taller than the boy by quite a bit but was well aware his own rank was above Enzo's. But they were not here to settle rank matters, they were here to talk. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, the structure groaning under his weight.
"waht do you whant?" His mouth was pressed into a thin line but otherwise his expression remained mostly neutral and his mismatched eyes locked onto the smaller darker man.
It was no secret that Gunnar found not only Jazper, but even his son Lorenzo, just a bit intimidating. They were both a good chunk taller and bigger than he was. They both had tempers, from what he had heard, and they both seemed to dislike his intentions towards Fia. Lorenzo more so than Jazper now, considering that he'd been given their father's blessing to marry the girl, but it was still a terrifying thought that either might actually dislike him enough to hurt him.
So when his knock was answered first by a resounding crunch of drywall breaking inside the room, Gunner felt the life drain out of him. He hoped that it had been something falling over or it was done on purpose for.. renovations, maybe?
Moments later, Enzo's low drawl called out and Gunnar could breath again. Just a Second was far better than 'get the fuck away from my door' or anything along those lines. Maybe I'll actually survive this encounter? He couldn't help but fear for his well-being anyway; there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that he'd be able to stand his own in a fight against someone twice his size.
The door opened a moment later and Gunnar stepped back. Enzo came out and leaned against the wall, arms crossed and expression neutral. Stone colored eyes met the other's dual-colored ones and he felt his blood chill over agian. He forced himself to get over his survival instincts and just... talk.
Eh.. Actually, if I've caught you at a bad time, I can head out. He failed in his raspy voice, a hand going up behind his head in discomfort. I just came by to talk. I noticed you didn't seem very happy with my proposal to Fia at the party... and I wanted to try and maybe... I dunno, really. I don't want to make anyone angry by marrying her. I guess I came here to.. not to apologize, cause I'm not sorry for that... but to.. um... If he'd rehearsed anything prior to coming here, he'd forgotten it now. Gunnar was never very good with confrontation, especially when it was with someone twice his damn height. After some befuddled rambling, he shut himself up and looked up at Lorenzo with an look of obvious discomfort. Great, now he'd just made things awkward. How the hell did women do this!? Talking about feelings and shit. It just... wasn't something guys did, normally. At least, not Gunnar, anyway.
He didn't do much apart from look at the boy as he stuttered over his words, his arms still crossed over his chest, an attempt to put distance between the two. He didn't want to share closeness with this man, who was taking over the role of protector of his sister, stealing it away from Enzo himself like some common thief. Only the thing he took was far more precious and valuable than anything else in the world, more than pretty jewels and elegantly made things, more than life itself. His eyes were hard but not hostile as he looked down upon Gunnar in very much the same manner Jazper had done, the similarities between father and son in this moment were staggering. Would this man be good enough to marry his sister? No, never. But neither would any other male that came calling upon her time and love.
Enzo knew why he was here although the smaller boy did a poor job of trying to explain it to him. He wanted to clear the air between them, leave bad blood aside and start again. As much as it pained him to hand over the title, as much as he wanted to scream and sulk like a little child, she was his sister, he did just that. Enzo would still be her protector just not the primary one now. He uncrossed his arms from that fighter's stance and let them dangle limp by his sides,
"Yah'll hav nah trouble fram meh aboot tha weeding." He spoke slowly, deliberately. Then his body changed and the atmosphere around them became a whole lot darker, angrier. Lorenzo raised a single finger and pointed it at Gunnar, his eyes blazing,
"But you break her 'eart, or ya play awaayy, or 'urt 'er in any way. They'll nevah find yer body. Ahm I underhstood?"
Enzo made for a very, very intimidating man. When that finger was pointed and the warning spoken, Gunnar felt a twinge of fear in the back of his mind, real fear and not just nerves. He stared at the hand as the male spoke, but then eyes went up to look his mate's brother in the eye, seriousness taking over and pushing the awkward feelings he'd felt away. He waited a moment, then lifted his chin a bit.
I hope you'll be the first to strike me should I ever go back on my promise. His voice had steadied into a serious tone, one befitting talk of suicide or war. I'll never break her trust in me. I'll never take her forgranted. Then, his eyes fell.
You can count on it. She's all I've got now. I've lost too much in the past to risk losing her, for anything or anyone. He hoped the taller male would understand the dreary words, a sort of unspoken vow that he'd protect and cherish what he had in Fia; not just a lover, but a family, a wife, a best friend and a future. Fia was everything to him now, as much as the old Gunnar would've hated to admit it. And if I do forget my blessings, I want you to be the one that 'reminds' me. He looked back up at the male with an expression of cryptic honesty.
The reaction he received pleased him immensely, his words were no idle threat either, indeed nobody would ever find his body because there would not be a piece of Gunnar left big enough to count as a body, it would be in shreds and pieces, scattered to the winds. Emerald and violet narrowed and a huff of breath was pushed through his nose. Enzo's head rose and fell in a sharp jerk, indicating with movement that he understood the dog male's words, Gunnar could count on the lesson he would receive should he forget how important Fia was, not only to Gunnar himself but to a lot of powerful people, physically and politically.
"Ah will, you cahn count on eet." Maybe in time himself and Gunnar could come to a positive acquaintance, perhaps even a friendship. But for now he was a thorn, albeit a less irritating one now, he was still a thorn and it was only the idea of Fia's unhappiness that kept his temper and tongue in check. The conversation had the feel of a swiftly drawing end and Lorenzo felt that it would be best now if they separated and carried on with their days.
"Eff that es all yah want, then yah should go nah." Even as he spoke the tall male made to turn back towards his room, face already grimacing at the thought of the large hole in his wall that would need repairing or at least patching up. The door snapped shut behind him with a sharp click and the lock turned in its place, a blatant announcement that he didn't wish to be disturbed any longer. The dusty male ran his hand across the hole in the wall and threw himself against his bed with a quiet grunt, moving it away from the hole, the framework grated across the floor with a gravelly sound as it moved.
