At times, it was a good thing that he could not hear her inner dialogue. The mention of their sister, at times, made him recoil with agitation, uncertainty and all matters of unsavory feelings. He had always desired for their sister to remain close to them, even with Phobia in tow, and yet, over and over she disappeared. The last time she had gone missing, she had returned pregnant to a son of Heyel, seemingly not phased by the eventual death of her chosen mate, the boy she had brought home some eight years ago. Ah, but he tried hard not to judge her, to belittle her decisions but it was... difficult, to say the least. Perhaps it was simply because he could not imagine doing such a thing to Caligula, or having such a thing done to him. The sheer thought of his mate consorting with another male panicked him, made each and every organ within him sink and sag in nervousness. He trusted her though, more than any of other before or to come. She had been there in the beginning, during his times of failure and she had pulled through every patch of turmoil their lives had brought them. For the first time in a long time, he felt content that day, sure that their lives were right on track. With her and their children, he felt... accomplished. It was an undeniably good feeling.
It had always been hard not to compare others to Caligula. Since their birth, she had always needed to hold her own against the world. As she grew, it only intensified until she became one who could control the very world with a mere flick of her tail. How could he not compare others to her? She was a full circle. He took pride in knowing that he had her beside him - even as he roamed Glorall's borders and paths, he found himself smiling from time to time over the mere thought of her. Some called Ishtar a fearsome leader and others called Isola a beauty, but what they missed is that the Baroness of Glorall was all that and more. Ah, he would've laughed in the face of any who claimed otherwise if he had not torn it off beforehand. That had been his train of thought as he entered the clearing of their den once more, his lips pulled back into an almost wicked smile before he caught his mate in his peripherals.
She came at him with all the grace their blood allowed, the dark of her pelt illuminated in the spring sun. Her smile brought a softer one from him, his own tail waving and bouncing behind him as he loped forward to meet her, sliding against her as she did so to him. When she pressed against him, he too leaned his weight into her frame, twisting back so that he might nibble at the small of her neck, grooming away a day's worth of stress. Fish, water, stone and their children - he could smell it on her, and he chuckled lightly to himself as he continued to slide along her, moving around her before coming to stand beside her. So, she had given a lesson, had she?
"How is it that we do not have boys trying to steal our daughters away already? I expect they did marvelously at their lesson today."
He teased, nipping at her ear with a short chuckle and a wink. Oh, how he despised the mere notion of any boy thinking he deserved their daughter. How could they? They were beautiful like their mother, the best of both their parents. Nobody could deserve that - hell, at times he found himself thinking that even he was unworthy to call them his daughters. Once, he'd thought that of Caligula too: how did a wolf like him deserve her? He frowned on the thought, shaking it away. That had been a long time ago, when he hadn't deserved her but since then, he'd worked every day to prove to the world that he did. Today, he just wanted to enjoy that.
With another nip, he sprung away, his tail waving before he flopped onto his belly. He batted at the grass with his paw, beckoning her to come to him before he rolled onto his back, stretching out and raising his paws. If she came to him, he'd bat her lightly, his face alight with a exuberant grin. It was like being children all over again - they could play and laze all they wanted because today, nothing else mattered. And if their children came? Oh, he'd have to think of something to get rid of them but it could be done.
"I've missed you. You know that, right?"
He stared up at her curiously, head tilted as he searched her features. He missed her all the time, even when they lay side by side. It seemed like he could never be close enough, there enough, say enough or even think of her enough. That's why he needed today. He needed to just be surrounded by all that was her.
T E S S E R A C T
[ soul of caligula ]