A Spot of Trouble

[Therdde]

Characters:
Kein - Male Cougar
Nayeli - Female Cougar

- Pine Grove -

After sending his son back home, Kein went hunting, and when he returns, it is while carrying two medium-sized rabbits, each by their skin. Unable to find anything larger, these will have to do, since he wanted to get home quickly so that Nayeli will not have to worry, long, about why their son was bruised, stiff, and unwilling to talk much. They've been staying in the grove for some time now, and Kein has no trouble finding the primary resting spot for his family. With his mouth full, though, he cannot annouce his presence verbally as he approaches.

He doesn't need to say anything; Nayeli has grown to where she can almost sense his arrival even without seeing or scenting him. Perhaps it's something tantamount to a sixth sense, but Nayeli doesn't question it, only appreciate it. Perhaps it's because she knows his patterns and habits as well as her own. Either way, she does actually see him this time, and her warm smile is followed by her rising to her paws. She won't greet him verbally until his maw is empty, but her eyes give him all the welcome she's feeling right now, in addition to her expression. It's not for the first time that she can't help but remember how much she used to idolize him when they were younger, and a small part of her mind wonders to what extent that still remains true even today.

Kein spots Nayeli and Cael almost at the same time. Before greeting his mate, he leaves a rabbit by the secluded boy, then he continues to approach Nayeli, laying the other by her feet and nuzzling at her passionately. She remains the one cougaress in Amaranth he loves being around, after all this time, and the nuzzling is accompanied by a deep purring from the male.

Hero or not, he certainly is every bit of the romantic lover that Nayeli had always dreamed of. Said dreams were rather dramatically shattered, but her mate has more than recreated them, and as far as she's concerned, he couldn't have done a better job. A good father, a good chieftain, a good hunter... she could go on for a long time. "Hey you," she finally murmurs, nuzzling back. She used to pry for news or updates on what was happening around the tribal territory, but the cougaress eventually decided to just let Kein explain and describe as he wants to... or doesn't. She's learned a lot about how he thinks, and yet he still finds ways to surprise her. Maybe today will be one?

Kein has no intention of surprising Nayeli today. Not really. Announcing Ama's return, subsequent departure, and second return was all troublesome and surprising enough, resulting in Kein's retreat from other females and spending more time around his own family. He doesn't intend any surprises for a long time. "Cael ran into a spot of trouble earlier." He does his best to keep Nayeli informed of everything, and he really does a fair job of it.

Hey, she never said that Kein was the /only/ one who surprised her! Granted, Cael and his siblings seem to do that far more often than their father now, but that's beside the point. Her eyebrows quirk a little, but she just continues nuzzling at him. "Oh /did/ he now?" she asks, voice still a murmur. She doesn't really have any news of her own to report, though there is something she wants to discuss with him a little later on. Nothing too serious, but.. it still warrants some discussion.

There is no reason to worry Nayeli needlessly. The male that attacked Cael could have been Azriel. It also could have been the father of Aylin's cubs. Or it could just be someone who was startled by the young boy. Any way about it, kein will take care of it. "He got into a bit of a scuffle with a stranger near the edge of our territory." Kein just doesn't realize that, while it /was/ near the border, it was on the other side of that border. "Don't be surprised if he's a little less active or less chatty for a while." While Kein speaks, his voice is quiet enough to keep the boy resting relatively closely from hearing everything, still trying to minimize his son's embarrassment.

It's not so much the fact that Cael got into some mischief that immediately concerns Nayeli, but moreso the revelation of a seemingly hostile cougar on their border. "I'll make sure to try and keep him encouraged," she nods, but her voice is slightly anxious. Not that she doesn't trust Kein to protect them all and keep her informed of what's happening, but.. perhaps it's because it happened to one of her children. The fact that she /has/ children who can be attacked. Motherly instinct at work, no doubt. "Do you want me to assist in your patrol of that area tomorrow?"

Tomorrow? Should Kein even wait that long? Avoiding answering it for know, he says, "I'm going to speak to Aylin first." Kein told Nayeli about his father's sister, especially since Aylin has wandered into Amaranth a few times. "Let's see what she has to say, first. According to Cael, the stranger knows Aylin." Will he head to Aylin yet tonight? He's not sure. Now that he is here, that he can protect his family directly, he's not terribly eager to leave.

"And if Aylin tries protecting this.. stranger?" Nayeli sighs. "I hate being suspicious of other cougars, but.. I'm so tired of hostility. Why can't our cubs have a stable and peaceful home to grow up in?" Perhaps a bit less exciting without random cougars trying to cubnap or murder them, but it's a sacrifice she's willing to make. Ahem. But as quickly as it starts, the matron's slight outburst of emotion subsides, and there's a second or two of quiet before she nuzzles back at her mate. "I'm sorry, love.. I don't mean to imply this is your fault or anything like that. You're doing the best you can, keeping us safe." But if only... Sigh.

Maybe she doesn't think he's at fault, but she does seem to think that the 'best he can' isn't quite good enough. What is he supposed to do? Run Aylin off? Of course, if it comes between Aylin and his cubs, Kein's loyalty will always be to his cubs, but... "I want to give her a chance to explain, Nayeli. All Cael said was that threatening the stranger using Aylin's name didn't work." Kein doesn't know how he would cope, if Aylin wound up just as vicious and unpleasant as his father. Her brother.

Nayeli grimaces, fighting the urge to sigh again. Miscommunication yet again. "I didn't mean to imply that Aylin was an enemy, only that.. nevermind." She could waste a lot of time attempting to explain herself to no avail. She does, however, find the thought of Cael trying to threaten a full-grown male to be both terrifying and amusing, but a smile fails to form as a result. Should she switch gears and bring up the subject she intended to discuss, or wait until another time? Or even just hold off until it seems that Kein's finished discussing this current topic?

She doesn't sigh, but Kein catches sight of the grimace, and has to wonder if he spoke too harshly. He's so used to defending his decisions that it didn't even occur to him how defending himself to hear might have sounded. In an unspoken apology, if he /did/ speak too harshly, Kein nuzzles against her and says, "I won't let anything bad happen, Nayeli. I promise." Well, something bad already happened. Their oldest son got hurt... The same son who wound up being cubnapped, so long ago. He is determined to make things even safe for their cubs, from here, though.

And good grief, she hadn't meant to make Kein feel guilty! For not even close to the first time, Nayeli can't help but wish that Kein understood more of how she thought and what she meant.. but she might as well be wishing that the world was perfect. Young or not, she's not naive enough to believe that Kein's the only one in their relationship struggling to understand the other. Such is life. But as she told Jinx earlier, this is merely everything going smoothly, rather than any sort of crisis. Nothing to stress out over. Well.. Cael threatening an adult male cougar.. Okay, so maybe /some/ things deserve a little stress. Fine. A /lot/ of stress.

She doesn't respond, and so Kein simply continues to nuzzle against Nayeli, trying to purr softly to her as he does. If nothing else, this has made him decide that he does not need to leave his family to speak to Aylin yet tonight. What he needs is to spend a little time relaxing with his family. It has been so long since he has done that...

Now this is more like it. Plenty of loving attention from her mate, and nobody to disturb them. Romantically selfish? Not at all. In return, she's leaning forward slightly to begin grooming at Kein's ear, her purr harmonizing with that of his. Yes, this is much more like it. No stress. Only love. And.. well.. "Kein!" she suddenly gasps, pulling her head back and eyes going wide as she fights hard to keep from grinning. "Is that grey fur I'm seeing on you?" Love and /mischief/!

Of course, Nayeli could not help but be mischevious. Kein has not seen himself in a long time. Unlike Nayeli, he really doesn't like the subtle, almost invisible reminds of what her father once did to him. Still, if there /is/ more grey in his fur... With a grin, he responds, "Well, if /you/ didn't spend so much time spoiling our cubs, /I/ wouldn't have all this grey fur from dealing with the headaches they cause." There is humour in Kein's tone. His cubs may cause him much worry, but he still loves them, and Nayeli, more than anything.

And finally, Nayeli breaks down, giggling. "Okay, okay, so I'm just teasing you. I don't really see any grey fur, and hopefully you won't have any for a long time." Nuzzle. "But I'll love ya anyway, even when you do get all old and ugly." More nuzzle, as her voice drops to a whisper. "And for the record, I think /you/ spoil the cubs even more than I do!" That's debatable, perhaps... but ultimately beside the point. Her voice loses its mischievous tone and adopts something that falls between seriousness and wistfulness. "I only hope that they'll grow up to find mates that love them as much as we love each other."

Right now, Kein would just be happy if all his cubs manage to grow up. There have been times that seemed doubtful. Still, in the interest of keeping the mood light, he responds simply with, "I'm sure they will." Who? Kein isn't certain. Kaya and Scuddle seem... Well, closer than Kaya is with anyone else, and Aurora and Peyote are really close... But what about Cael, Nuba, and Crevan?

On to the next topic? Hmm. Nayeli wouldn't mind continuing to talk about their cubs; it's certainly one of the highlights of her current life. No doubt the same for her mate, too! But this /does/ need to be brought up soon, so... "Love, I need to make a request, and.. well.. I'm not sure how pleasant this will be." Slight grimace, or perhaps more of a mental bracing for his reaction.

Kein draws his head back when his mate's tone and words turn to a more serious topic. And right after Kein decided that he needed to spend a night relaxing with his family, too. There is enough unpleasantness in his life. He can't even begin to pretend to be eager to tackle this next bit. With nothing more than a deep breath, though, he says, "You can ask anything of me, Nayeli." he means it, too. Moments ago, he argued that he wanted to give Aylin a chance to explain her relationship with the cougar that attacked Cael, but if Nayeli had insisted that Aylin not be given that chance... Then Aylin wouldn't have gotten it.

Where to begin? It's an idea that's been bugging her for quite some time now, so Nayeli isn't entirely sure how to start. After an awkward several moments of hesitation, she finally just blurts out, "It's Sketch. Vincent too, I guess.. but.. mostly Sketch. Do you think I could--/we/ could teach her? Do you think it would work?" The cougaress does her best to sound hopeful--even includes a smile!--but honestly, what are the chances Kein would agree? Or even /could/ agree, even if he wanted to? Some choices as Chieftain are difficult, such as the /other/ subject Nayeli doesn't want to bring up. In fact, she might just let Jinx approach that particular issue when the time is right.

Sketch? It takes Kein a second to even realize who Nayeli is talking about. The wolf and those dogs left a long time ago. Why would they have entered Nayeli's mind now? And... "Teach her what?" Kein isn't being deliberately contrary. He's just honestly confused. As far as he's concerned, his responsibility to the trespassing dog ended when the wolf left. Why should they be the ones to be teaching Sketch anything, when they have their own cubs to be teaching? Or... Maybe Nayeli considered teaching Sketch alongside their cubs? He just really doesn't know, since he didn't interact with those three at all, really, while they were here.

"Don't you remember? She wanted to..." Nayeli stops, breathes, and starts again. Hopefully in a manner that will make a /little/ more sense to Kein, since she's apparently letting her thoughts run far ahead of her words. "Before Sketch left, she came to me and asked if we could help her--Vincent too, if he was willing. She seemed to struggle with feeling useless or something, and wanted us to teach her." The actual subject matter seems irrelevant; Nayeli got the impression that it was the actual learning and training that the canine was hoping to receive. "I.. thought I smelled her scent near the border the other day, and I couldn't help but think that maybe she was there, hoping to meet either of us with our answer for her."

Has Nayeli told him this? It's possible. Sketch is very low on his list of priorities, and he might have just forgotten. Certainly, none of this seems familiar. And, still, Kein has to ask himself why they should have to teach Sketch anything. Is that not what her alpha is there for? Still, Nayeli is asking... And now, perhaps, Kein knows why Nayeli would want to accompany him on patrol tomorrow. To speak to the dog who once spent a short while here. Kein can't claim to understand, but when he answers, it is not in a discouraging tone. "If I should happen across her... I'll let her know she is free to enter the territory, to find you." Will /Kein/ have time to teach her? Is it enough to have Nayeli mentoring the dog? If Nayeli wants him to accompany her, he will, but there is much he must do, otherwise.

While her mate might not sound too terribly thrilled, it's at least consolation enough to Nayeli to hear he's willing to go through with this. If he doesn't want to take part, she both understands and is prepared to handle it herself. "Thank you," she murmurs, smiling and nuzzling at him again. Purrpurr. "I know you don't think too highly of her, but I hope you realize that there's the possibility she might become our best link to her new pack." Diplomacy and all that.

Kein and Nayeli allowed them to enter Amaranth when they were possibly being pursued by violent animals. There could be no bigger risk that they could take for the wolf and dogs. Why should they need to try harder to form a link? Kein keeps this opinion to himself, though. "I understand." It isn't that Kein doesn't see the value in creating a friendship with a strong pack. It is only that, as he remembers their temporary guests, it was only two dogs and a wolf, all horribly run down, hungry, and afraid.