do you know me?

aw for one or two others! maybe someone from hraf?

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It was a nice night, Laith supposed. Quiet and calm, and not a soul to be seen, save for the occasional gaggles of deer he’d come across. The field was easy to traverse, the ground soft under their paws, and there was a sense of comfort here that they hadn’t found many places since they’d woken up here.

Their past was still a mystery to them, their dreams filled with fuzzy, half-formed faces and muddled voices that they only halfway recognized. It was immensely frustrating, trying to piece things together when they had such precious little information to go on.

Truly, Laith was about ready to give up. To just accept things as they were and move on with their life. There were packs nearby, he knew - perhaps one or two were in need of a healer. But Laith wasn’t confident enough to simply stride up to someone’s borders and hope for the best just yet, and they weren’t sure they wanted to settle down either.

But still. A pack would be nice, with its stability and security. Laith didn’t know how their life was previously, but they didn’t think they were alone. The feeling of warm fur on his own still lingered too strongly for that.

The thought of… whoever had been his companion sent a pang of loneliness into his chest, his ears pinning back and shoulders hunching a bit as he came to a halt. The sky was remarkably clear tonight, and as he tilted his head back to study the stars, one shot across the sky, bright and brilliant even as out of reach as it was.

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He had informed @Stjörnuáti that he meant to roam some, to see if the herds had settled down in this range. With the lack of neighbors to the nearby valley, he imagined their hunting resources would be a bountiful thing his season.

Yet the skies had gone dark when his wandering had led him upon something interesting.

A stranger. One who looked skyward and at once he wondered if this was another person who awoke without much knowledge. Or maybe that was all he had seen recently. For a moment he looked skyward too. As if he might find his missing pieces scattered among the sky.

“Hallo,”

His voice was uncharacteristically soft in this moment. Thoughtful even, despite just one spoke word.

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Laith hadn’t expected to come across anyone else tonight, and that showed in the way he spun at the sudden voice, golden eyes wide in surprise.

A man, tall and broad, carrying with him the scent of herbs and frost. The disarming way with which he spoke and the lack of aggression in his posture had Laith relaxing near immediately, a soft exhale escaping them.

“Hello,” he responded, a smile forming cautiously along his maw. He was confident he hadn’t crossed any borders to get here, so there should be no need for apologies.

“It’s a beautiful night.” Not too cold, mostly clear - an excellent night for stargazing, even if they had no answers for him. He tilted his head to the side and offered a slow wag of his tail. “Care to join me?” he offered, some part of him looking forward to the company.

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Typically he was a guardian. A man bound to guard and wield himself like a shield with sword.

Tonight, he was a roamer. An explorer. A man not meant to conqueror but to see and feel. He wondered now what the last thing he felt was. The cold, he imagined, literally and emotionally. Yet still he felt like he might thaw with the spring.

He approached the stranger with no caution; as if he had never been hurt before in his life.

“You are bold,” His breath left him in a wisp. “Sometimes strangers are not so kind.” Tonight Bartel was soft. He was not one of those strangers. He frequently was. He had a home to guard after all but there were leaps of miles between here and there.

“Vhat is in the sky?”

He let his amber gaze rove upward.

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Bold? Laith hummed in thought. He couldn’t remember if he’d been bold in his previous life, or if he was meant to be bold now. But he didn’t feel afraid as the massive wolf approached - only a sort of unwinding, soothed by the presence of someone else.

“You don’t seem unkind,” they pointed out, taking a brief moment to scan the stranger over before following his amber gaze back up to the sky. If the man was unkind, he wasn’t being so now.

The stranger had a peculiar accent, voice lilting in a way Laith found pleasant.

“Vhat is in the sky?”

Laith’s ears twitched in thought, scanning the little lights far above. “There was a falling star just a moment ago,” he replied. “But they’re all still now.”

His gaze flickered across the twinkling little lights in the sky. “I wonder, sometimes, if these are the same stars I’ve always known, or if they’re different here,” they mused, then cast a glance back toward the other man. “Is that strange?”

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He was flattered to know he did not seem unkind.

He had worried that his heart had left with a certain woman's icy departure. Worried that the icy rocks that were his home had become the walls to his chest too. Had he worried for nothing? Such was a common trait.

His cheeks felt warm and he made sure his eyes stayed steady on the sky.

What he had not expected was something so deep and poetic. Something that made him wonder what this soul had left behind when it came to this part of the universe. Maybe they had been a falling star once before. Maybe that was why this stranger looked up at heavens so far away.

“No,” His head shook briefly before he dared a glance at the stranger's face now. “I think they are different here. Sometimes I think they change like a moon.” He had nothing that said such a thing was true or that it even happened. Only that everything here always seemed new to someone.

“You are new?”

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Laith angled his ears toward the dark stranger. The stars were different here, then? That was both a comfort as much as it planted a seed of sadness in his chest. Maybe it was for the best that there was nothing at all familiar about this place.

He wondered if this man had been someone to him before he woke here. Had they been from the same place? Laith didn’t think so, but he couldn’t be sure of much anymore.

“They’re still beautiful,” he hummed, a soft sigh escaping his nose.

Pale eyes flicked back over to the stranger, softening when they found him looking back. “Yes,” they admitted. “I woke up here not long ago. I don’t really… remember anything, from before.” He studied the other man’s expression, searching for… something, even if he wasn’t sure what that something was.

“Are you new, too?” he asked. It would be nice to know he wasn’t entirely alone in that experience, at the very least.

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He wished he could say yes in that moment.

If only so that he might give the other comfort and common ground. Yet he imagined there were other ways to provide comfort here too. Perhaps by showing that the future was not always so terrible in new places, new shapes with new faces.

“Not as new as I once vas,” For a moment he smiled, brief and fleeting but there.

His head turned and he looked back towards the looming mountain in the distance. Pale shadows for all the ice and snow that cloaked the slopes of Hrafnsvaktin.

“I live back there. Upon snow ahnd ice.”

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For some reason, it was far more soothing to know that this man had once been like him, but wasn’t any longer. To know that it could be done - to find a new home, new purpose, new companions. It had been done before, so there was no reason Laith couldn’t do it as well.

The stranger had a nice smile, Laith discovered. It didn’t last for very long - just long enough to be contagious, because Laith’s maw twitched upward into a gentle smile of his own. It warmed his cheeks a bit, too, but in a pleasant way. He didn’t mind the feeling.

“That’s… that’s good,” he hummed, feeling more of those tangled knots in his chest undo. “I was beginning to worry that… well, that it might be impossible to find a new path. That I might be stuck.” He wasn’t sure if he was making any sense, or even if it mattered. “It’s good to know that you can make a life here.”

He followed the larger man’s gaze, up toward the hazy mountainscape in the distance. Laith wasn’t exceptionally fond of the cold, but he’d gotten more used to it over the weeks.

“Can I ask your name?” Laith asked, then, figuring now was as good a time as any.

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Stuck.

Bartel had not been worried at first that he would become stuck. Once he had found a place, a groove, had tumbled through a brief thing — only then he had worried he might not forge forward.

Yet here he was now. With a stranger who found reassurance in his words, who wanted after his own name. So very far from the man he had been before. Which before he was not sure, it felt like his life had become long and stretched.

“Bartel,” He hesitated and found himself worried still by connections but...a chance at something new would always be welcomed. “Tell me yours.” While it was not a question he posed, it was instead a warm invite.

Let them know each other as something more than just strangers.

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Bartel. It was a good name for the dark-furred man, Laith figured. Strong, but with a gentler sound at the end. He hadn’t known him for very long, but it seemed to fit him well.

The way Bartel spoke was direct and to the point. Laith generally disliked being commanded to do things, but although the request wasn’t phrased as a question, he could feel the warmth exuding from it.

This was nice. Laith could feel the tension easing from them like water off of duck’s feathers. There was a warmth settling in their chest - hope and something he wasn’t quite able to name.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Bartel,” he responded, eyes softening as he studied his newfound companion. “My name is Laith.” His tail swished behind him, settling into an easy wag. He felt better than he had in weeks - lighter, more hopeful. Maybe this place wasn’t as bad as he’d originally thought.

Feeling bold, Laith decided to take a chance. “Are you in any hurry to get home, or do I get to enjoy your company for a little longer?” he asked, offering the man a small smile.

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The name struck him in a certain way.

It was not sharp and bold like this stranger had seemed to be. The name seemed softer around the edges, warm in a way he could not place. It certainly did not bear the weight of his full name — Bartholomeus.

He imagined that perhaps whoever had named Laith had looked upon a child and imagined a hopeful life. The one who had laid a name upon Bartel had hoped for things far larger than anything a boy should have carried. Now was not the time to wallow in it though and to hold himself to such greatness.

Tonight he could just be him. A man.

One whose cheeks burned hot beneath his dark fur.

“It is not me who decides that. Do you enjoy my company?” Something like a great leviathan moved beneath his warm tones, taunting and teasing, the promise of something beneath it all.

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These feelings were familiar to Laith in a way he couldn’t understand. A way that he knew came from his previous life - something that sent a pang of longing and sorrow into his chest that he promptly ignored.

Dwelling on it would give him nothing but a headache and more confusion. It was pointless to try and figure out this strange combination of warmth and happiness, sadness and grief, and so Laith decided to file them into the back of their mind for now and just enjoy the moment.

It was a beautiful night. The stars were unfamiliar and bright. He was not alone.

That was what mattered.

“I do,” he replied easily, smile widening a little. “I’m glad to have run into you tonight.” Laith leaned in a little, tilting his head to the side and searching the other man’s face. Their voice took on a more playful note as they asked, “What about you? Do you enjoy my company?”

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It was only natural to mimic the body language and so he too leaned in.

The air near them smelled sweet and that unmistakable note of herbs. Bartel had seemingly become good at mudding his relations with other healers. A type some might have called it, but he was not sure such was the case.

He could see stark differences here, things he tucked away for later.

For now he let himself feel joy. A low, rolling laugh like warm summer thunder.

“I vould go home if you bored me, Laith.” His words an exhale. There was no need to be loud when there seemed to be so little space between their leaned forms. “I am not home, am I?”

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This was different. The proximity had Laith’s heart flitting in his chest like a panicked butterfly, his cheeks warmed in spite of the cold night air. A scent not far off from his own flooded his senses - herbs and ice, a potent combination that was sharp and intoxicating in nature. Being close was nothing - Laith didn’t mind that at all. It was the closeness and the fact that he was interested in this man that had his breath catching in his chest.

Was he nervous? That seemed like the correct word for what he was feeling. Nervous and helplessly attracted to this man, and trying not to make a complete fool of himself.

Bartel laughed, then, and Laith felt a bit like they’d achieved something special.

“I suppose you aren’t,” they responded, feeling warm from the tip of their nose to their tail. “Anyone ever tell you you have a nice laugh?” he asked, then, a smile of his own forming on his maw.

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If anyone had, he did not remember it now.

Not here looking into the slim face. Memorized each marking, each reflected star in those honey eyes.

“No,” He shook his head, soft. Mindful of the little space between them.

“Have they told you of your smile? It is warm.” Although he was hardly a poetic man, he hoped that Laith could read in between his clunky words. How he spoke low, how his tail had offered a few slow sweeps behind him.

A tempter's look in his eyes.

“Forgive me if I misstep...”

He leaned in closer now, enough for his nose to hover near the other's cheek if they did not pull away. If they did? He was a man. His ego would not squash because of an accident between...whatever this was.

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Laith hummed in thought, eyes softening a little. “Well then let me be the first,” he replied, his own tail waving behind him. “You have a nice laugh, Bartel.”

The other man complimented his smile, then, and Laith let out a soft chuckle of his own. “I don’t think anyone has,” they admitted. Warm, huh? It was funny - warmth was all Laith had felt from the beginning of this conversation.

Bartel leaned in closer, his breath stirring the fur on Laith’s cheek. “You aren’t overstepping,” he murmured in response, taking it upon himself to turn his head and press his nose against Bartel’s cheek instead.

And then, spurred on by the little burst of adrenaline the impromptu kiss had given him, Laith bounced away, tail swishing in a wide arc. He spun to face the darker wolf, body loose and playful as he fell into a sort of bow. An invitation to play - to chase - if Bartel wanted.

After all, wasn’t it more fun if there was a bit of a challenge involved?

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He felt lightheaded, overcome by the honeyed scent of Laith.

How many times now had Bartel told himself no more? How many times had he come to terms that this, usually, never ended well? Pain always hid on the other side of pleasure — a lesson he had come to know well.

He was reaching but they were gone.

Amber eyes watched as Laith practically danced away, light as a feather and as carefree as could be. He wanted to chase them, chase that good feeling that began in his chest and spread out over him like warm hands. Again he would tell himself he could not do this again. Tonight he was weak though. Nothing more than a man.

He gave chase, large paws ate up the ground with ease. Yet he was wise. He knew that someone smaller would move quicker. This would not be easy for Bartel unless Laith wished it to be. His heart thundered at the thought of a challenge.

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When had he last had a moment where he could just exist like this? To relax and play like the weight of the world wasn’t on his shoulders? Something told him that it had been a while, with the way the tension began to bleed from his body, replaced by a fluttering feeling that settled in his chest. It was like they were weightless, and they couldn’t help the laughter that spilled from their maw when Bartel gave in to chase them.

It felt good, to run like this. He didn’t go as fast as he could - Bartel was a large man, and Laith was made for running quickly, and he wanted to make this fun for the both of them, after all.

He had no idea of how many times Bartel had flirted like this in the past, nor how many times he’d done so himself. But it didn’t matter, in the moment.

The chase went on for a while, before Laith found that he wanted to be caught. He slowed and turned, fully prepared to be tackled to the ground if Bartel didn’t slow down.

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The evening air tousled his dark fur. For a moment, he missed the biting air of the moment. He longed to see Laith run down mountain slopes. Bartel dared to think he might beat the other in a chase then. Home land advantage, though.

The time for a chase came to a close.

Bartel did not halt his own movement though as Laith turned to face him. The mountain man did want to bring the other down beneath him. They had been close before and it had filled him with a warmth unlike anything he had felt in weeks. Months, maybe. How he longed to feel it again.

He was prepared to tangle their limbs and bring them both down to the earth.

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As the larger man collided with him, Laith realized he might’ve made a slight miscalculation. Their size difference was greater than it had seemed when they’d just been standing beside each other - Bartel running over him felt almost like what he imagined getting bowled over by a bear might. Laith felt the breath whoosh out of him as they tumbled together, rolling to the ground.

It wasn’t painful, of course, just a bit surprising. Laith found himself underneath the dark-furred man, rolled onto his back with the view of the night sky obscured by dark amber eyes.

He found that he might like this view better.

Laughter escaped him again, bubbling in his chest. “Well,” he began, breath escaping him in short puffs and tail sweeping along the ground behind him, excited and happy. “You caught me.” His tone was expectant, prompting. But for what, he wasn’t quite sure. What now? was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t quite get himself to speak it aloud.

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They were close enough that Bartel thought he might find himself under Laith's skin.

That he might already know the other in a way that was beyond anything he had a right to. Yet his heart thudded against his chest like it sought to reach out through him.

He did not speak as he buried his muzzle against a neck of thick white fur. His touches searched for something that he could not describe. A voice, a pulse, a sign. Something low and warm rumbled deep in his throat.

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Bartel didn’t respond - not verbally, at least - and Laith found himself okay with that. He was caged in, the larger man’s body pressing him down against the earth, but it didn’t feel claustrophobic or uncomfortable in the slightest. In fact, it felt… nice. Warm. Laith found that they could probably fall asleep like this if not for the weird buzz of excitement still running through their veins.

He didn’t know what Bartel was searching for - he didn’t know exactly what he himself was willing to give, tonight. The rumbling sound that escaped the other felt like it was embedding itself into Laith’s core. His breath left him in a shuddering exhale and he bared his neck in response, perhaps a bit foolishly, but Bartel had done nothing to imply he might bring him harm tonight.

“Bartel,” he began, craning his neck a little to nuzzle at dark brown ears. “Where you live… is it possible to start a new life?” If there was even room for Laith at all, would they be willing to put up with someone who had no idea who they were supposed to be? Someone who was just beginning to piece things together for themselves?

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The neck was bared and he thought he might dig in like some kind of hunter —

Instead there were breaths and words near his ears. Asked after his own home, if there was a space for someone like Laith. He left alone the delicate place of Laith's pulse to drag his nose up along a small jawline.

“It is a place of new beginnings,” He whispered in the crook of the other wolf's jaw. “It is it your vant? To be upon ice and stone? Born again?”

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A place of new beginnings. That sounded like precisely the kind of place Laith was looking for. He sighed contentedly from his place beneath the larger wolf, looking up at the stars from over his dark shoulder.

New stars. New home. New life.

It was a lot of new. A lot of change. But now, somehow it didn’t seem as bad as it had just hours ago.

“It sounds nice,” they admitted, a soft, content chuff escaping them at the feeling of a cold nose pressed into their jaw. They stretched a bit to brush their cheek against Bartel’s, reveling in the closeness. Something in him longed for connection like this - he wondered if he’d had a lot of it before his new life here. “I think it’s what I need. A new beginning.” A smile crossed his maw, a little insecurity creeping into his chest. “Is that alright, with you?” he asked. He didn’t want to just invite himself up there without making sure of that, at least.

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