we're on a hunt pooh bear

^^

He was hunting.

Not for meat, mind you.

For trinkets. Trinkets for his curious little daughters who seemed happy to slobber on anything in their gummy chewing. It was a strange thing to decide whether or not something he found in the snow or stone was safe enough to give them, having disregarded a few decent finds when he realised edges were too sharp. Too pointy.

He could have discovered something in the Vale he was certain, a mix of terrain in his home meant for varied choices yet something today had drawn him past the boundaries of Duskguard and into the Tundra. The Chief would paw at the carcass, mostly bones and bits of fur left over from a dead snow hare.

It might do, he supposed. A few thay didn't have grossly sharp edges for little puppies, of course. ^^

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Now, it wasn't that the two parents were being negligent; it was just that their  puppies were very well-minded at the moment. If Olive wasn't with them herself, then maybe Archon watched over them with his partner Hawking, or perhaps one of several owls that now called Duskguard home kept them corralled. If not them, then maybe their Uncles Kuhn or Thrax. If Aries were home, she would have been listed amongst those entrusted with her most precious treasures. As a well-supported mother should, she leaned upon her village and allowed herself time to wander, as much as she wanted.

Most of the time when she did, she did exactly as Tiberius: she looked for gifts to bring back to their babies, like excited little fledglings twittering in a nest, excited by the shiny piece of twine. 

Combing the arctic landscape just outside of the Frostfang Vale, Olive was almost unsurprised when she came across the familiar, inkdark form of her Fiancé. The sight of him was familiar, but their surroundings were utterly profane: the sun was bright and high, the world was quiet except for the consistent late-summer hum of bugs, there were no squabbling puppies or endless visitors.

It was only them.

Unable to forget what @Lounatuuli had told her, of Tiberius and his inherent holiness, the priestess trotted up beside him and gasped a little "boo!” at him, as if he should be surprised to see her, as their paths would somehow never not cross, ever again. They had chosen to permanently entangle their paths when they chose to have children together, and what a beautiful mess they wove! She said not a word more, but automatically nestled herself underneath the red-rivulets of his maw, and found the quiet sense of home that she had begun to miss so much, while wrapped up in the newborn haze.

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She found him like she had oft done before the arrival of their children, play on her tongue and a smirk settling on his marred lips as he turned his head to her. "Scary," he teased lowly, a hum of approval coming from him as she came to tuck herself beneath his chin. The titan lowered his head down to tuck against her, breathing her in as if he were a man gasping for life. He couldn't remember a time that he had last had her alone -- before the birth of their children, he concluded and realised that as much as he adored and cherished their new additions, he missed his time alone with her.

"Yer all right, Angel?" Tiberius murmured into her, nipping her with his teeth in a gentle groom. Still now the reality of it didn't seem to be actually real, thinking that it even before the arrival of their four beautiful girls, going as far to say that he had Olive's love, care, mind, soul and body as the companions to his own -- fuck, it was just -- fucken' crazy, okay.

He seemed to hold her tighter at the thought. ^^

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The titan welcomed her as warmly as ever, and Olive folded into his embrace but a dove returning home to roost. It was a strange feeling that Olive was surprised that her midwifery patients had never shared with her before; the feeling of knowing your partner to the complete fullest, but meeting them again for the first time — this time, as parents. It was new, but welcome, but also very weird for Olive still very much felt that she was still learning to blossom as a partner, as a pack leader.

now with several new people, tasks, and roles to acquaint herself with. 

At times, the transition was too much to be able to understand in her own mind. After all, how could she conceive of the complete rupture of the world as she knew it, at the very same time it was occurring? It was those moments that Olive leaned into the eternal support structure that she found within the arms of the Gods, trusting that they intrinsically knew where it was all heading and one day, they would share such retrospect and understanding with her. These days however, the godliest role she could play was as mother and milk-maid to their four hellions.

Olive wondered if Tiberius felt the same way, all confused and muddled emotions and such.

If the Priestess ever decided to lean into her love of the Gods, one important facet of this was always loving and revering Tiberius. The woman rubbed her ivory crown against the deep pulse-point under his jaw, intertwining their energy together, her Shiva incarnate. "Have never been better, my love,” she murmured truthfully in a catlike purr, almost like something Kuhn or Benry would have done. "It's such a pleasure to have you all to myself," she couldn't help but mention. There were no distractions, and though she knew both their hearts longed to be back in the nursery with their flock, their marriage was just as important a thread to tend to.

"How are you?” she continued to purl, tracing the largest scar across his lip with several warm kisses of her tongue.

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Had he been a feline, he would have purred. She was warm beneath his chin, her crown rubbing against him in a way that ignited his skin with a flame. The titan was glad that she held no complaints, that she was well -- better than ever, she said, and Tiberius' heart expanded with warmth and affection for her. He rumbled a laugh, "been a while," he agreed quietly, having missed their time spent solely together.

Their family was important to him, incredibly so but so was their relationship and he didn't care if that sounded selfish of him. She was a part of him just like their girls but she held his heart, so sue him if he wanted to spend time with her. She enquired after him, her tongue warmly tracing one of the worst scars that mangled his lips, blessing him with her kisses that made his spine shiver. Olive oft did that, touched the parts he called the worst of him and made them feel just as loved as the rest of him.

Never did she cower with disgust in the face of his scarring.

"Mm, i's alrigh'," he rumbled as he leaned into her touch, "no complaints from me, Angel." Okay, so he was still not entirely great at the emotion thing. He was getting there. "I's 'appy," Tiberius revealed quietly though his mind did briefly flash back to one of his most recent interactions with Kuhn and he shifted slightly, wondering if it were something he should tell Olive.

Tiberius thought he might need to think on that a bit longer and opted to rumble, "ain't sayin' it ain't been a bit... overwhelmin'." It was a lot, really, wasn't it? Everything that had occured. "But... wouldn't want it any other way," he murmured as he drew his head down to swipe a delicate kiss to her own cheek. "Yer enjoyin' it, Angel? D'ya git anythin' yer wann' talk 'bout?" Tiberius enquired gently, not having been able to check in properly with her in a while. Despite her saying she had never been better, Tiberius knew that sometimes there were things beneath the surface.

He wanted to give her a chance to talk to him about anything she wanted before he would divert her attention. ^^

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It was strange for Olive to admit that she enjoyed this part of her life, after so many years of thinking a family and a mate would be nothing but a burden to her sense of adventure and spirituality. Her wayward wanderings had been hampered significantly, sure, but there was so much more depth of her life now than there ever had been before. There were four new lives, that existed solely because of their love; and she had the chance to familiarize herself with another facet of Tiberius, the one that bore the title 'father' and felt the responsibility as such.

The puppies would not be young forever. She would not be milk-stained for much longer. Fatherhood would soon no longer be new to Tiberius, and would instead be yet another conquest he was fated to be successful at. Olive attempted to hold onto these things as much as she could, while she had them under her paws. The brute said he was happy — overwhelmed, but happy. She nodded, feeling that sentiment resonate for her. When he opened the floor to her, the pale seraph could only roll her eyes dramatically and lift her lip in the lightest show of teeth-tips. 

"I am constantly plagued by the fruits of my politicking," she bemoaned with the corners of her mouth twisting up into a small smile, as if she was experienced some understated pleasure encumbered by all the weight of her responsibility. "The date of the court gathering draws closer," the woman explained, offering her cheek forth to receive the warmth of his kiss, "and it would seem that we have new neighbors settled in The Everfrost. They call themselves Haldis."

The slight smile that she brandished disappeared with the mention, and was replaced with a small grit of her teeth. It was frustrating to be discussing diplomacy, even in their personal time — but these things needed to be shared, from Aries to Olive, and then subsequently unto their Chieftain.  "Ohhh but I so regret to bore you with all this, in the few moments I have you to myself." she swooned with sudden gusto, the sway returning to her tail and hips. The northern priestess took a step backward, rolling her shoulders, imagining she could roll her spine like a cat when it woke.

"I need to move," she segued, shooting her fiancé a wry look, wondering what exactly he was going to do about that.

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He stilled against her with the information she laid out for him, stiffening at the mention of the Everfrost and how someone now lay claim to it. He shifted as he glanced to her, molten depths roving over her features as he thought on how the Everfrost had once been claimed by a tiger. His tiger. "Haldis," the titan murmured as he rolled their name across his tongue. Tiberius wasn't sure if he liked it or not. He supposed that was unfair of him, they could be perfectly well neighbours and he knew with this knowledge he would need to investigate them for himself. "I will go an' look fer m'self," he grumbled. Aries was proving... valuable to their ears, wasn't she?

Tiberius snorted a laugh as he heard her, the way she rejuvinated herself and told him of her desires. "Yer never bore me, Angel," he told her coyly, flicking his own tail as he angled his frame to look at her better where she now stood. "Ta move, ay?" Tiberius rumbled as he ducked his head between his shoulders and made a show of running his tongue slowly along his mangled lips, watching her as if she were his prey.

"Yer best run," he cooed to her, opting to slowly stalk towards her as he grinned, features turning boyish and youthful even amongst the marred flesh. ^^

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Somehow, Tiberius had a way of making all this diplomacy sexy — and it was all an admittedly un-sexy topic. New neighbors, and implementing judicial systems? Even Olive eventually bored of it. She was going a little stir-crazy from it all, which might have been why she was a tad hyper-fixed on it in her free time. Another part, because it all was an interesting anchor for her to cling to in these times of upheaval. The last part was because it felt so important, and consequential, and one of the most life-affirming things she could do in this lifetime, for her daughters. 

It was in her feminine nature to be a mental workhorse, so when Tiberius assumed nearly all the responsibility of creating neighborly relationships with a single word, Olive nearly melted. How could be make things seem so simple and certain, as he did? Here she had been stressing out about this for days, but had since decided to take care of it. As far as Olive cared, this niggling uncertainty had been neutralized.

The woman smiled at him; a soft, sweet curve of her lips  — a quietness that new parenthood rarely plotted for. Her placidity was returned with an ambrosial look of his own, but in it was a depth that quickened her heart rate. He sought to consume, even in jest, and the thought was enough to compel the pale sprite to do exactly the thing she had requested. Her feet were moving even before her head had turned back 'round from looking at him  —

But even in this easy moment, she felt no need to push herself past any sort of limit she had, mental or physical. Almost immediately as she began to move at an accelerated pace, the seraph became aware of how the muscles of her core felt looser, and how she swayed with how the excess of motherhood was writ all across the newness of her body. Tender and motherly, but she moved all the same, because this energy had to go somewhere. It only became compounded when suffocating between the earthen walls of the nursery. 

Olive didn't know if Tiberius was behind her or not, but she trusted.

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