She surprised him by starting to move nearer to him and he began to fidget as he felt her eyes moving over him, studying him. It felt as if he was being examined, picked apart... and then he remembered that he was covered in days old caked dried blood and it explained why she was peering at him - she was looking for his wounds. Briefly, he wondered if she was like Hellene - a healer - and if not, he was confused how she could stand looking at him for so long. Still, healer or not, having her so close to him and looking at him continued to make him shift his weight from one paw to another. Pointedly, he avoided looking at her with the same intensity, instead focusing his electric gaze on a piece of the beach somewhere near her paws. Even though he was an alpha now, he did not feel like he fit the part - he still lowered his gaze even to strangers. For a few brief moments a silence washed over them that calmed the newly crowned king, but then she spoke again, her vocals no longer wavering and anxious as they had been.

'Are.. you going to need help washing the blood off?' Aindreas had shaken his head and brushed her off which had shockingly brought a giggle to the femme's lips. Once more, she began to near him causing him to freeze still. At her mention of washing the blood off, the titan had simultaneously moved away from the lass and toward the water. It was for a good reason, and two fold - he could be avoid her touch and finally enter the lake. It was something he had wanted to do and should have done immediately at the... event... and now he was finally here. until he had finally moved into the water, hoping to have some of the blood wash off. 'Let me help you.' Aindreas shook his head again and opened his crimson maw to speak, negating her offer but she swiftly moved past him right to the water's edge. She now laid between him and his goal, and part of him urged him to turn and run. Aindreas wanted to avoid her - her questions, her gaze, her touch - but how long could he avoid cleaning himself. What would his pack think if they saw him like this still. What would they do? Although Aindreas had no idea what he was doing or what he was meant to be doing, failure as alpha was not an option. Kalgalath had trusted him, both with the pack and with the family, and did not wish to disappoint his father. Nor, he thought as a side note, did he want to disappoint his alpha, Pierce, the King of Spring Grounds who had ordered Aindreas to take the position. To take the throne.

The arctic varg shook his head and sighed before moving past her, giving her a wide berth. Resisting the urge to gasp as he entered the water, Aindreas moved steadily forward until the frigid liquid flowed over his back. Holding his breath, he dipped his head under the surface so that the dried blood splattered on his cranium would start to soften as well. As soon as he broke into the air again, his auds flattened against his skull as a breeze pulled the remaining heat from his exposed flesh. 'Let me help you.' Aindreas whipped around to face the femme again - he had nearly forgotten she was there and honestly had expected that she would have left him by now. Afterall, everyone leaves don't they? She took a step closer. Aindreas felt colder as she neared him than she did when he had first entered the water. Even though ice graced the surface of the lake in broken islands, he found himself better equipped to deal with the environmental hazards than the social ones. Slowly, he rose his gaze to meet hers truly for the first time and made note that her orbs were amber before nodded, nearly imperceptibly. Although he was stubborn and awkward, Aindreas could never be called stupid - he knew that without help, he would not be able to scrub the blood from his pelt. He would look more presentable to the pack this way... and the quicker this all got over with, the sooner the pain would dwell. Once more, he tightened his muscles and braced himself. He was ready for her touch, for her help... and was prepared for the pain it would bring. Not because she would be scrubbing clean his injuries and irritating the broken flesh, but simply because of her touch. He had never been able to accept or be comfortable with another's touch, and had only ever been able to enjoy and tolerate Stormy's... but she was gone. And that was long ago.
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