He had approached silently, a snowy apparition amongst the shadowy trees, and, in his customary motion, deliberately snapped a twig underpaw before drifting toward his trusted subordinate. As he moved closer, the concern melted off his face, replaced with slight relief. Despite being constantly in the social circle, Tamlin's mastery of facial expressions was not something he was proud of. Much on the contrary, the slender beast rarely allowed his emotions to show on his elegantly-paned visage, rather opting to keep them controlled, hidden and, most importantly, undecipherable, for the majority of his time around others. However, trust felt toward the lass in front of him allowed him to be relatively open with his countenance Therefore, after visually confirming what his nasal system had already discovered (that his Gamma was uninjured and seemed well) the last vestiges of the slightly taunt look that plagued Tamlin's features faded and was interchanged by a small but definitely perceptible smile.
His strangely dark blue eyes scanned her frame once again, fixating on her face. Venga's eyes were still closed, lids obscuring the bi-colored orbs that she sported, but since the female did not seem hurt, the boy did not let concern take over his mind again, knowing that he would be able to tell if the lass was in pain. He noticed the corner of her maw twitch upward as her lips pulled themselves, seemingly unconsciously, until her facade spoke of happiness. Venga was an enigmatic wolf by nature, but nevertheless, Tamlin found himself able to interpret the body language of his longtime supporter in most situations. They'd been packmates for many moons now. The icy lord had watched her grow from a gangling, awkward teenager to a unique, self-confident adult, and found himself fiercely protective of the creamy femme. Even though their relationship seemed a little formal at times, the alpha viewed her almost like a little sister.
He'd only been standing before the mare for a few moments when he let a handful of words ease out of his throat. His gaze remained trained on her as he, happily oblivious of her thoughts for the time being, watched her emerald and azure luminaries were revealed to the world. Venga preceded opening her eyes with the issue of a pleased sigh from her pert muzzle. Her smile had widened while she had remained in thought, but even so, Venga did not immediately reply to his lyrics, instead choosing to simply stare at him. He would have rolled a stranger for such unsettling behavior, but Venga's actions held no dominance in them, but something deeper. Perplexed, Tamlin cocked his head to the side, scrutinizing the maiden as the silence stretched on. He held her stare, his status, as well as his confusion, barring him from looking away from the lady's steady eye contact.
He was utterly nonplussed by her actions, and, despite her earlier 'happy' signals, was beginning to suspect the worst. For her to be holding out this long, she must have some sort of bad news to share... or perhaps she was trying to convey some sort of secret eye-message thing that he was supposed to know about? Either way, things were getting bad for Tamlin's carefully maintained pysche.
Just when it was becoming almost unbearably awkward for the pallid stag, his third-in-command spoke. As soon as the fervent sentences came tumbling from her voice-box he wished that the staring contest had continued indefinitely, since things had gotten ten thousand times more awkward. The openess in Tamlin's facial vanished like a candle being snuffed out. In a slightly detached voice, the alpha spoke, wondering all the while how he didn't see this coming and mentally cursing himself for being unable to give the maiden the reply she wanted. She was staring at him again, and the leaden quiet forced him to reply.
“Venga... I like you a lot but... not in that way. Please forgive me if I have ever misled you with my demeanor – it was not my intention.”
He did the responsible thing and, whilst wincing internally, crushed her hopes in that matter. He dearly hoped it was simply her estrus cycle driving her to him since breeding season to begin with the coming of cold.
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