Pure Moonlight (closed)

[KieranSoares]

"I made extra for that exact reason," Dayja smiled. "Doesn't your sweetheart feed you, Taqu'un?"

"Mad at me today," Taqu'un chuckled.

"What'd you do this time?"

"Being reckless."

"Typical." Dayja welcomed him to sit down with them, and Taqu'un pressed a kiss to her cheek and Selena's.

 

[heartofcourage]

"And just who is your sweetheart?" Selena asked as he sat down beside them and started to eat with a hunger of a man who had been working hard all day. "Your brother only tells me that you have a few women who have caught your eye."

 

[KieranSoares]

Taqu'un was in the middle of a bite as she asked, so as he sheepishly and politely didn't speak with his mouth full, Dayja chuckled and answered for him. "Her name is Ellen Kaiser, a lovely human girl who just moved to Inverness from the mainland."

"Only girl prettier than Chela," Taqu'un finally commented.

 

[heartofcourage]

"She's from the German lands, if I remember right." Selena said as Ellen was mentioned. "One of the best cooks in Inverness behind Chessie. I can see why you are sweet on her, Taqu."

 

[KieranSoares]

"It's interesting to watch the two of them. Taqu'un's English is shaky at best, while Ellen hardly knows how to say hello, and they certainly don't know how to speak one another's native tongue."

"Che..." Taqu'un grumbled in embarrassment.

"But she's trying to learn Lunar from one of our elders and Taqu'un. We're actually hoping to welcome her to the tribe," Dayja smiled as Taqu'un's embarrassment turned to excitement.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Ask her to teach you German. That will certainly endear her to you even more." Selena suggested with a smile. "And a spring wedding would be lovely."

She loved teasing Taqu'un. He was such a strong warrior that it was fun to see him humbled and slightly embarrassed.

 

[KieranSoares]

Taqu'un's ears laid back again and he grumbled something in Lunar, making Dayja flick his nose before he could flinch away. "We pick on you because we can get away with it, you big baby." She pressed a kiss to his cheek and he scurried away with the rest of his food.

"Big lump," Dayja sighed with a smile. "Not as troublesome as Kreston, though."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Kreston has always had a good head on his shoulders...even when he is infuriatingly stubborn." Selena commented as she glanced over at Dayja with a soft smile. "Since the day I found him in the woods, I've felt this pull to him. My soul wants to be with him, even when my head and heart say no."

 

[KieranSoares]

"He didn't always have such a good head. Before he turned eighteen, he was practically a bandit, just barely within the law sometimes. Taqu'un arrested him more than a few times, I think." She shook her head, but smiled. "Always causing trouble, until he shaped up and you found him."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Do you think he regrets not sealing our union?" Selena asked, glancing towards her mother-in-law. "I mean, he's bitten me and marked me, but we've never done any of the rituals of the tribe."

She had never cared for anything formal which is why she had always denied her mother's offers of a wedding in Inverness. Still, she couldn't help to think of it now that she was carrying their child again.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Oh, I'm sure he hardly thinks about it, dear. Most of us Lunars and Erygonians don't bother with tribal weddings for a long time with our partners, if at all. You'll find that those who do have ceremonies really just have them as an excuse to have fun rather than to properly marry. We live like our wild animal brothers do. Everyone knows who belongs to who, by scent if not sight."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I guess it will be something I'll have to speak to him about." Selena said as she settled in to enjoy her time with Dayja.

After lunch, Selena found herself exhausted. As Dayja spoke, she nodded off, her dark eyes closing as she dozed in her chair. She had found herself napping more and more, just as she had when she was expecting Ruben.

 

[KieranSoares]

Dayja chuckled when she realized Selena had drifted off, so she laid a warm blanket over her daughter-in-law and let her sleep all she liked. Dayja remembered the exhaustion well and would not disturb her, and she made sure Volgo and Ruben and Kreston were quiet when they came too.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena woke to the smell of warm cider being brewed over the fire. She let out a small sigh and opened her eyes, catching sight of Kreston working on the spiced brew. She watched him in silence for a moment, noticing that a blanket had been spread over her as she dozed.

"Did your Ma leave?" She asked him softly, the most words she had spoken to him in days.

 

[KieranSoares]

"She's sitting outside with Dad," Kreston smiled to her gently, glad she was speaking again. "Watching the sunset and being old romantics." He stepped over to her side and knelt, crossing his arms as he leaned on the chair. "How are you feeling?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"Tired." She said softly as she looked into Kreston's warm gaze. "And my belly is sore. I guess normal for my condition."

Selena let out a long sigh and thought about what she needed to say to him. "I''m sorry for the way that I've been treating you lately, Kres. You didn't deserve it."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Don't be sorry," Kreston reached out to take her hand, pressing a kiss to her palm. "I'm just glad to be talking to you again. I missed the sound of your voice." For all the time they'd spent apart, Kreston had learned to be very patient with the world, including her. He knew if he simply let her think and he didn't stray too far away, everything would turn out fine even if his own mother had to give her a little nudge.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena gave him a little smile as he held her hand so tightly. "So...are you going to make me a cup of cider or have I been too bad to have some?" She asked him after a long moment of silence, simply trying to make him laugh.

 

[KieranSoares]

Kreston's soft chuckle was warm as ever. "Even if you were, I can hardly say no to you." He left her side only long enough to fill two clay mugs with cider. He sat on the floor at her side and let his head rest in her lap after he'd given her one of the mugs. "It's nice to hear your voice again," he murmured.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena didn't say anything to that. She simply leaned in and kissed his cheek as she settled back into the chair with a sigh and brought the mug to her lips. She enjoyed moments like this with Kreston. It reminded her of her first days with him after they had gotten over their fear of one another.

"Where is Ruben?" She asked him, wondering why she hadn't heard her son in the house.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Asleep. He wore himself out running around with some friends." Kreston gazed up at her with a smile. "He apparently has the same idea about sleeping the afternoon away as you do. But then again, Mom was half dozing off when we got here. Seems like a good day for napping, hm?"

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena smiled and leaned in to kiss her mate gently. She seemed to be in a better place after talking to Dayja about her troubles.

"I love you, my handsome mate, until the moon no longer shines." Selena whispered against his ear in Lunar, letting him know just what was on her mind.

 

[KieranSoares]

Kreston relaxed with a silent sigh under her kiss, and he felt his smile widen at her lovely words. He rose and easily tucked himself in beside her in the huge chair with his arms wrapping around her middle. "A eldere hume," he repeated the words for 'I love you', but he couldn't find the words to tell her how much.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena smiled to herself as she leaned her cheek against his warm, furred chest. She let out a satisfied sigh as his arms encircled her waist. This is what she liked the most, spending time with Kreston that she had never gotten the chance to before.

"A eldere hume." She murmured back to him, nuzzling against him as her eyes closed heavily again, her body relaxing back into sleep.

 

[KieranSoares]

There was always plenty of time for Selena to rest from that point, and Kreston made sure of it. He wanted her to be as comfortable and safe as he could possibly make her. Taqu'un checked on her often when Kreston was working, and Volgo kept an eye on her as well. Dayja spent a bit more time with Selena while Volgo hunted or fished, and in general, Selena's pregnancy was bringing the tribal side of her family even closer together than they already were.

Ruben eventually caught on that he was going to have a little brother and sister, and he took his woodcarving skills to work with help from his father and grandfather, making little wooden toys.