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She lingered in the foothills of mountains facing the opposite of the plains; the lands of golden shimmering grasses and golden wraiths was long behind her.

The lands of sun and warmth were behind her as well; in this western world, it was cold and still. The frigid fingers of winter drove deep into the earth, allowing a different type of beauty to take over. Where the trees of the east and the south would dramatically drop their leaves to decay and wither away, the trees here were evergreen, and they grew larger and more cloud-like as the blustry snows rolled in. All seasons in the wheel of the year were important, and Olive found it was nice to draw strength from a land that did not shrink away from a challenge. The frozen mountains, to the sylph, felt very metaphorical.

Olive left the boy Archon and the cat Benry early one morning as they slept beneath the heaving boughs of their evergreen guardian; the woman had formed a fascination with the land and found it easy to rise before her companions in the quietude of the early morning. The sun was soft and the entire world appeared mellow and welcoming. At first, the woman uttered a hushed groan as her body woke to life & warmed to movement, feeling the sensitivity of her left hip and the persistent puncture wounds they bore. Soon she would anoint her body with herbs, but first, it was time to greet they day with a small amount of morning merriment.

The shrouded sylph sashayed through the coniferous outcropping, eager for her prana to begin flowing and wash out the salutary creakiness that lingered.

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Things had grown quiet and Tiberius thought they were better off for it. Especially as Reiko healed, 'cause fuck knows that they didn't need extra trouble whilst the Empress was healing. It was going to be a long journey until she was at a place where she could walk about the territory but Tiberius thought that for the moment, she could do with the rest. He... he knew he should go visit her and he would, soon -- but it was just... they'd been on bad terms before her attack and whilst he had been there when she was unconscious, Tiberius thought that to see her again outside of his duties was something he needed to work towards.

He had been furious, frothing at the mouth at what Vera had done when prior to her attack upon Reiko, they had been in a scrap themselves. The very same scrap that had caused extra scars on his face and for him to be missing half of his ear, though he had been smirking to know that he had left her with new scars to add to her masterpiece. He only wished that he had killed her and lined his den with her fur, accompanying the boar skull Kuhn had gifted him. That time would come, he knew, because there was no way that the she-beast would leave this world unless it was by his teeth. It was something that he had vowed once she had laid her teeth and claws upon Reiko, furthering her attack upon Shiroshika after savaging the lady Gyr. 

The titan had felt at fault, partly, for the fate that had befallen upon Reiko. Would Vera have attacked Reiko if she had not been incensed prior, by her fight with him? It had been a thought that lay on his mind like a plague, unwilling to leave and it had tormented him night and day. Most things did, really, the responsibility he felt to everyone heavy upon his shoulders that truly it was not something that made the load any heaver -- for the behemoth had long since become numb to the weight upon him. So rarely did the man find time to simply... be, though certainly with the addition of River it had taken to making things a little brighter.

She kept up with him, to a degree, a lively little lady who had taken it upon herself to tell him what was what when he had been unwilling to get some help for his wounds that hadn't been healing. They had started to weep with infection when someone had found out that he hadn't gotten himself healed, it only happened to be one of the more stubborn creatures that had found out, of course. Not yet ready to scar over, they were wounds that were still red and angry for his neglect to care for them, River's tongue seeking to clean the best she could but being no healer, it was the best she could do and Tiberius had been quietly appreciative of her attempts.

Tiberius had roused from his brief slumber, all of two hours feeling restless. It often happened to him, so rarely did he get more than a few hours here and there of sleep. It was a nightmare of his own making to a degree, unable to settle when he thought that the borders needed him and the lands after. When had the last time he had been able to sleep through the night, he wondered? When he was a babe, he supposed, or perhaps his first few weeks with the Dominion. It didn't matter, really. Sleep didn't need him like the world awake did.

He had not been eager to remain in the territory in these early hours of the morning, the Tundra glowing with the morning sun and so he skulked from the territory with the desire to investigate the lands outside. It gave him a moment to breathe with the knowledge that he should go and see Reiko creeping up and down his neck. He would, he swore, in the next few days go seek her out but for today... Tiberius would not. Did that make him a coward, he wondered? Steadily he kicked the snow as he walked, thick legs sturdy as he walked so rigidly with a bright molten gaze reflecting the morning sun. 

Tiberius should have known from all of his experience in the Tundra that it was unlikely he would venture through the snow and not meet another soul. Even in the sunrise as it illuminated the Tundra's surface with glitter, there was life. He paused, his silvery brow furrowing as he peered to the sashaying maiden as his heart gave an extra beat or two with the realisation of who, as his nose flared and pulled in her scent. Wet earth and sage, mixed in with the scents of others -- a cat? -- and another wolf but he did not focus on that for he found his disfigured lips curling as he eyed her from the distance.

Not yet did he notice the small wounds that adorned her fur, not yet being close enough as he slowly but surely approached her. "Sigh' fer sore eyes, angel," Tiberius drawled to her as his tail gave an involuntary twitch behind him, his approach attempting to remain slow and easy as he allowed his molten gaze to taken her in, looking as otherworldly as she had before only -- he paused, his ears twitching upon his head as his gaze settled upon her torn flank as he drew near, noticing now that her pale whites and greys were mixed with a half-healed mark. It sat there, glaringly obvious and Tiberius flared his nose as he stared, "who?" Who could have wanted --

His lips grew tight against his teeth as he felt the familiar sense of fury settle within his blood, scratching at his skin as he stepped forward again. "Olive," he swallowed, his brow furrowed and his features stormy as he hesitated to approach -- unsure if she was one who would be skittish after an attack. 'Cause that's what would have caused her to be wounded, right? People didn't just play without intent to hurt and get a wound. He swallowed again, thickly and dryly. ^^

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"Sigh' fer sore eyes, angel."

In typical Olive fashion, the seraph was on the verge of distraction (this time, a rock formation like one she had never seen before); however, those bourbon-soaked words took priority, almost immediately. The drawl spilled from the abyss behind her, hitting a frequency already resonant deep within her soul. Her dancing gait slowed as it registered who could be the only curator of such a sentence. A simpering smile spread across her maw like viscous honey, and she paused to capture this moment and conjure a picture of the inkdark titan in her mind's eye. Truly, no other velveteen utterance could have been as welcome as the one that just graced her ears.

As she swept a feathered cheek to look over her shoulder, she was reminded of her wounding. Long-since fresh, it was now something Olive lived with, and in spite of. Without the liberty of a pack in such populated lands, she felt that it was necessary to stay active and mobile, keeping her body lubricated with movement. It helped her mind too, which struggled to cope with the harsh realities of the mountainous highlands. With the constant presence of Archon and Benry, her spirituality was momentarily placed out-of-focus; so Olive practiced her herbalism and channeled what could have been anxiety into her healing. If Benry disliked the way she fawned over him, he didn't show it — and it was a far better way to spend the time than moping, anyhow.

As complicated as she believed her life to be, it truly was not half as complicated at the man Tiberius'. Still, with everything she could sense as a weight upon his aura, did he manage to flash and flare over the discomfort of seeing her hurt — and deep inside, her belly tightened deliciously. Her jade gaze peered upwards, seeking to hold his molten own, and she slowly unfurled the curvature of her body so that she stood affront the man. The shrouded sylph regarded him entirely, a sense of curiosity in her gaze as she took in his ears and eyes, mouth and half-lips, neck and chest, those legs, his tail... just like the memory she attempted to piece together late at night, while squished between her two platonic adventure-partners, only now with far more vivid color and detail.

— and he was warm, she was certain. and just as solid. he spoke, and he moved, and he expressed concern, and those are all things memories and dreams could never do. For a moment, the pale fae allowed her gaze to drop. "Not all the world is as fair and just as you, Tiberius." There were so many things she did not know about him, and there were endless facets of her that the man had yet to see. Were these details they wanted to know about each other? Did they want to bear the others' burdens, or would he rather check such baggage at the door? There was a level of real-ness to these details, and as it existed prior, he was her figment, and she was his oasis; things that were only real in their appearance, or their memory. 

Olive strode closer to him. Her honeyed smile lingered despite herself, unable to keep her true satisfaction hidden for long. She reached out her thin muzzle to him, offering deeply desiring an embrace. Must they wade through gallant pleasantries, or should they indulge in the informality that their prior closeness surely afforded?

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A set of Jade peered to him as the pale wolf turned to look at him, checking to see who had came and broken her silence and the moment he saw the green glittery depths, Tiberius exhaled. They'd not seen each other since their first meeting yet with him she had stayed, deep in the crevice of his shattered pieces that made up parts of his beating heart and now here she stood, more than a memory that he replayed from time to time when he wanted to release his tension. In the Tundra she stood, somehow standing out amongst the white despite being similarly coloured herself -- but perhaps it was simply to him that stood out like a beacon shining in the stormy night. 

She turned to him and he could not help but still be filled with the fury at her flank, turning from him to stand head on. Despite the fury that lined his veins like a spreading wild fire, he couldn't help but falter beneath her gaze. Never did she make him feel weak and like he was nothing but instead beneath her jade gaze he felt as big and strong as the Bear she likened him to. Big and strong but so terribly open, like every guard he had put up to protect himself since he had been a babe would come falling down at her beck and call. Perhaps not even just at that, for she didn't need to say a word for him to feel like she could see him for who he was beneath it all. He was much the same as last time when their bodies remained warm and knowing each other, aside from missing half of his ear and new wounds to line his face -- but they were all the same when one half of your face was already so gnarly with disfigurement. It was her that appeared differently, angelic and darling still but upon her lay the touch of another and not one touching to be gentle and kind but one that had sought to harm her.

Tiberius found he did not like it, he didn't like it one little bit and he fought the urge to demand the who and go off to find them -- because she was here now and she deserved his full attention. When she was all but a visitor to his Tundra, what logic did it make to pass her up on a rare visit? His shoulders twitched as he watched her gaze drop and with it went his stomach, the confident druid seemingly brought down by the acknowledgement and the event that had happened to her. A common consequence, certainly, but not one that he had wanted her to experience. Fair and just, she said in reference to how he had plenty yet not everyone held the same. He thought of Vera then, the wretched beast who went around picking on those that were not as big nor skilled as she and he wondered then if Olive had fallen victim to her too. Yet he could not formulate a response for he was settled on feeling the tips of ears blossom with warmth at her thinking he was fair and just, but also still writhing in the fury that someone had brought her to harm.

He was silent as she stepped forward, making the decision for him to approach and he felt relief course through him that she was not scared to be in his company despite what had happened to her. Upon her elegant features settled a smile so sweet he thought his teeth might start to ache and forward she leaned, her slim muzzle reaching for him and without hesitance the titan tilted his neck down to draw his own, marred and rough, against Olive's in return. He breathed her in so readily and stepped forward to press his chest against her, chin coming to draw her amongst the curve of his neck if she allowed -- keeping her flush to him as he settled into something he hadn't settled in to before. Physical affection was not something he did often, having very little of it in his puphood and even as he grew, touches were more violent than soft. Certainly he did a shoulder nudge and a nip of his teeth here and there for the ones that he truly cared for and offering River his back as a stool to reach those blossoms she so very desired but... when was the last time he had a cuddle?

Lana, he realised. His charge, his only friend for months and months though she was long gone now, left behind in the Valley he had left unwillingly. This was different, though, the embrace different in a way he could not understand nor touch upon but regardless he wrestled down every one of his trauma-induced instincts and allowed himself this. "Yah alright, girl," he rumbled, knowing that he could do nothing for the past in offer to protect her from what had harmed her but he could reassure her that in his presence no harm at all would come to her. He had no thoughts in his mind that the rest of the beasts in the Tundra were mindless, save for the Gremlin, because without the presence of Vera the Tundra was actually quite peaceful and the beasts that inhibited it were not torturous mongrels -- if one looked past Tiberius' past deeds. So he had little thought that she'd find harm within the snow, trusting that if she saw Kuhn, he'd treat her well given Olive's pleasant nature and it was unlikely she was to insult the beast.

Still, he knew to expect the unexpected and would always offer her protection amongst the snow and there past, if he ever stepped off the snow and onto grasslands once again. Would she feel safe amongst his furs, he wondered? "Safe an' sound," perhaps it was more for him that he said it, 'cause fuck knows why he felt so strongly that she must remain as such but he did, and a protective beast by nature he sought to remind him and her that here, no one would lay a tooth nor claw upon her. "Wasn't so sure I'd see yah again, at least sooner than a couple years, angel," he rumbled, voice tilted with curiosity as to why she found herself back in the Tundra but his raspy voice still touched with warmth as he felt...

Was it happy?

He felt happy that she was here. ^^

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In the time since they had last seen one another, both the man and the woman had been subject to a kaleidoscopic range of challenges and changes. In fact, in many ways, the shrouded seraph believed the inkdark titan to have been the harbinger of such transformation; for would she have sought a more soul-fulfilling position in life if she had not realized exactly what fulfilled her soul (and, perhaps more importantly, what did not)?

For a brief moment in time, the prophet had forgotten herself; been confused by news lands and obscured laws. She sought help from the Gods to understand her path but they spoke in tongues; leading her into the dens of gang members, and into the jaws of Golden Wraiths. The plains had been filled with nothing but monotony and illusion for her, and Olive had been eager to uproot her small fostering of friends and seek greener pastures.

Why accept anything less than the best, when wolves the caliber of Tiberius existed in the world?

She watched the vicissitude of information process, cascading across upon his marred face, and she wondered what he must be thinking; for knowing someone's body was far different from knowing their mind. There were so many assumptions she had made of him, in the dark of night when sleep evaded her and he lurked in the shadowed recess of her mind. The veiled witch knew him to be a warrior. Not because he told her, but because she could read it upon his entire mien. Protective and loyal, not only to his pack and his empress, but also to the lone dove in a way — promising to keep the memory of her safe in his heart forevermore. This, then, was a gift; way for her to color in the details she had lusted after for weeks, but had resigned herself to never knowing.

The more she looked upon him, the more her stupefaction faded and she was able to notice the differences in his physique. Injuries to his face and a portion of her ear rendered missing, and in an early stage of healing that looked akin to her own: not too bad, but certainly needing TLC. The druid was afforded a much closer look as Tiberius readily enfolded her, bringing her close into the thick, lush, oily fur and muffing her every sense with his heady, masculine scent. Her eyelids slipped closed and beneath them, her eyes quivered and rolled back, utterly addicted to the feeling of melting she felt in her viscera when their energy fields enmeshed like this.

The shadowman cajoled her, telling her all the sweet words she didn't know she longed to hear. He explained to her the idea that she was protected and safe, and she felt a knot tie itself in her throat. She felt safe with Benry, physically — but he was not capable of holding space for her, or peeling back the layers to her soul. In many ways, Olive needed the polar balance of a solid, grounded personality to keep her tethered to the physical planet. Neither Benry nor Archon afforded such safety, but the little fae had no issue drawing this strength from Tiberius, even when he existed only in her mind's eye.

The waifish woman leant her body against him and drew a deep breath, lifting her nose closer to some of his fresher wounds. "I'll share my story with you, if you share your story unto me," she offered and sought, taking as much as she giving, as she was wont to do. Baggage not checked at the door. Baggage very, very much welcome.

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Who knew that so little and so much could change in a period of time. Nothing changed in regards to how she settled every nerve in his nerve in his body but lit the fire in his veins, yet between them in their experiences did a few things change. Changed was her flank, marred by the aggressive touch of another. It unsettled him to think she had experienced pain without him being there to stop it. In truth, he hadn't expected to see her again despite desiring to, having her forefront of his mind often yet thinking that she was going to travel and experience the world for all that it had to offer -- it had been a small part of him that had thought she might stand before him again. The titan didn't know how to feel but he felt it anyway, his molten gaze unable to drift from her as he saw her now in more than just memory. 

Tiberius breathed her in greedily, holding her to him with no complaints from the Druid as she settled against him. Good, he thought. Settle and relax, little dove, because no harm would come to you here. He realised that he felt almost... giddy at the realisation she welcomed him as readily as he had her, his silvery brows scrunching in thought to what it all meant but for the moment the behemoth would let the thoughts slip away 'cause he wasn't looking to confuse himself whilst he had her in his grasp. She was likely to disappear again and then he wouldn't know when he would be afforded her touch once more.

He glanced down towards her as she leaned into him, his skin ablaze with her touch and those jade eyes peered to him as her nose hovered near his fresher wounds and he nodded to her in agreement. "'course, angel," he would deny her nothing, he realised. "Yah wan' ta... sit?" Tiberius offered quietly as he wondered if she would want to... cuddle, for better words, as they had before once they had been one so intimately. The man could not help but swallow nervously, she had not yet seemed eager to be from his touch but it was another story altogether being the one to engage with it first. "Git all comfortable, yeah?" was it obvious he felt nervous to ask her? He fuckin' hoped not. He nosed her gently as he encouraged her to agree, wanting to keep her at his side as tight as possible as she would retell her tale of harm to him.

The behemoth knew he was likely to feel the fury in more than a brief flash and he knew more that feeling her flush against him would settle the fury enough to not storm away and seek out the bastard who had done it to her. That... and... he was feeling somewhat selfish at wanting the warmth of their bodies together and fuck, he had just... he wanted to. As strange and foreign as it were to the man, he wanted to settle so comfortably together and feel the relax that he had felt last time he was in her presence.^^

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Did Olive think she would see Tiberius again? Not particularly, but she hadn't ruled out the possibility. Of the many assumptions she had made of him, the prophet also has assumed he was of the Tundra and, if she so desired, she could return to the river where they met and it was then almost a certain eventuality that her path would cross again with that of the shadowed titan.

But, to what end? Olive often wondered, and it was that question that had prevented her from doing so. Her memories of the northern, blustery warrior were so alive with passion and warmth that she wanted nothing to diminish them; not even Tiberius himself. Nothing soured sweet memories faster than hoping they were chips to be cashed in for some future interaction. In the end, she had chosen to follow her path uninterrupted, and allowed the same for Tiberius — see how the Gods (and their holy circumstance )never ceased to reward her so?

The woman sidled up close and got comfy against him, figuring this was his invitation to share the answers to his many questions. Olive understood it to be a shocking thing, to see her slight body torn and bloodied, in the same way that it was not so shocking to see Tiberius with similar, if not worse, wounds. Benry had been perturbed to see her engage in what little combat she could, and even Tiberius expressed his lament that harm had befallen her, as if it could strip her of purity (or something like it). Olive didn't understand it like that. She found her lacerations to be a brand of pride; a price she happily paid to temper the world's evil.  Daighre had once vexed her incessantly, but he vexed her no more.

The ashen druid felt bolstered, feeling the man's solid presence so close to her own. This was a feeling she had not experienced with him, the time prior. They had flashed and flared so quickly, like a sparkler in the middle of summer, that it had not allowed for more subtle support, of emotions and trauma. Olive could not help put carefully place several kissed upon his person, her thrill at seeing him in the flesh unable to abate. "He is a horrid man," she began softly, recounting the happening for the first time to a third party. It was all such a strange story that a small part of her blushed at it, unsure where the line lay with Tiberius and the occult and not wanting to push his beliefs too far. Her brow in a knit,  she settled on "So rotten, that the Gods saw fit to warn me of him." Her gaze glanced up, waiting to see if he'd require clarification, before her attention resettled on some nondescript point in their milieu. She pressed closer to him.

"He prowls around the plains, laying in wait for victims to harass." It was difficult not to allow a tinge of worry edge into her voice, as she often worried that she'd find the golden wraith lying in wait around the next bend, or the next far-off summit. When these concerns arose, she did her best to remind herself that her trio had traveled far and moved often in the name of safety, and so far, there had been no sightings or further incident. This, perhaps, was the first time Olive felt truly at-ease in light of the demon that possibly trailed them. But, she didn't want pity or sadness from Tiberius. Instead, Olive hoped he might feel as proud of herself as she did.

Olive released an exhale that had been pent up for a moment too long, and her moonbright eyes gaze back upwards, half-lidded and searching. "I pray you never meet such a soul, though..." the perfumed sylph sniffed at his torn ear, and her empathetic heart wrenched with the pain the blackbear must have felt when such a wound was incurred. "I fear you already have."

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She settled against him and he felt homely. So rarely did he feel that way, something he thought that in actual fact, he had never felt. Certain that he felt particular wolves of Shiroshika feel safe in his presence, he was equally as certain that they didn't think of being at home when he was near. Yet with Olive tucked up against him with her flush against him, he thought that perhaps she felt at home enough to relax and take comfort in his body and his presence. His nose twitched as he gave a small jolt of surprise to her show of affection but he did not move from her as she blessed him with small kisses that left a trail of fire in their wake. He shivered gently as he tucked his tail against her, breathing her in as he wondered what had made her want to do that.

Little time did he have to really pick on it, for the druid began her tale with a single statement spoken to softly that he thought he had misheard -- but he had not. Olive thought the beast an awful man and if someone like her thought that -- then he was no man at all. His silvery brows remained furrowed as he kept a lead on his temper, unwilling to allow it to burst out in search for a release. Her Gods had warned her, he said and though he wasn't entirely sure where he sat when it came to believing in a higher power, she did so the titan thought that something must have happened to make her think the beasts presence had been for told. He gave a sharp nod, beckoning her to continue, doubting nothing that she had said only thinking that things manifested differently for everyone.

In the back of his mind he thought that a part of him believed Gods must exist to have him be blessed with someone such as Olive. 

She was worried, the sign small and wavering in her voice as she continued and Tiberius shifted on his belly as he felt himself huff out an annoyed breath; what kind of creature just laid in wait to cause chaos? He thought of Vera and he thought of Valmua, both creatures of chaos and neither needing a reason to cause harm -- one more so than the other, he admitted bitterly. For all that Valmua was, she had not caused physical harm to anyone. His mental state, however, was vastly harmed by her sheer existence. Tiberius wondered what little the beast must have to do in his life to wander the Plains and wait to make someones life a living hell that day. Tiberius was a man of a code, his own code certainly -- one that didn't fit in the normal black and white way that others operated but still, he didn't seek to cause chaos for the fun of it.

Tiberius sought to protect his affections from chaos and maintain a safe, working home. If he had to lay waste to someone elses life, then he would. Tiberius didn't know how to give her the feeling of reassurance that even if this beast found himself in Tiberius' Tundra, that she'd not have to suffer. He'd dispose of him, that was easy enough to determine. Even so, she had been faced with a beast and she had come out of it alive, likely giving as good as she could to ensure that he'd not forget her any time soon. Tiberius drew his nose along the curve of her ear as he sought to remind himself further that she was here and she was no longer in a battle where her life may hang in the balance. It mattered to him that she remained alive.

What that meant, he didn't know.

She breathed and he was rocked, comforted by the obvious sign of life despite feeling her body thrum against his own with out tightly they were bundled up together. It was perhaps an obsessive flaw of his but the behemoth had plenty of flaws for it to get lost with that he didn't care to dwell on it. His disfigured lips shifted into a small, ghost of a smile as she spoke of hoping he would never meet such a plague yet she acknowledged his new wounds with fear that he'd already met something similar. "I's used ta it, darlin'," he mused lowly, tilting his head down to her as he rumbled, "but ya ain't. Yet ya came outta it strong an' alive." Tiberius knew beasts, he was one but not the same kind as the creature of the Plains nor the same kind as Vera.

He was no innocent but he was no devil, somewhere in between as he kept his sword in his hands and his shield broken in pieces in the original battlefield. "Bet ya surprised 'im," he had no doubt that she had fought back, even if she was unskilled he didn't see Olive as the type to lay and take it if she could do something, anything in retaliation. "I's glad yah alrigh'," Tiberius divulged quietly as he felt his fury at the entire ordeal tempered as he focused instead on praising her. Tiberius was not fool enough to think that beauty meant someone was without skill, without fight -- but this other beast had clearly thought as much when he looked to make Olive a victim.

Not that she had let him, mind you.

"Ain't eager ta git back ta tha Plains, then?" the behemoth hedged in a rumble, curious and wondering if she had fled with her companions to the Tundra for a reason or if she was using the snow as a long-way around the haunted Plains. ^^

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Home. Did Olive even know what a home was, what it felt like? Such a flighty bird was she that she almost never felt loyalty to a place, or a land, or a people. Instead she considered herself a connoisseur of culture and learnedness; loyal to no one but herself and her Gods. The prophet got glimpses of it, deep within the meditative recesses of her mind; but so rarely did she find this feeling in the corporeal world that Olive almost considered it impossible. It was not a sad, rootless existence she lived, as one might assume; but at this moment the pale woman too wondered what luck she had encountered, and that if she ever had felt the sensation of home, then this must be it.

The rorschach man listened to her every word and seemed to process it all as she spoke, and he didn't seem overwhelmed by it, or find it hard to digest. It was in this moment that Olive recognized in Tiberius, one of her favorite facets of otherkind — the willingness to stare life's darkness in the face, and to continue living in spite of it. She saw in him a desire for truth and righteousness, and how they both understood that the crusade for good often still required blood, sacrifice, and pain. As she spoke her words — words that were not kind, nor innocent, nor benevolent — the titan stood as an anchor, an obelisk; he direct opposite in every way physical, but exactly the same in matters of the soul.

They were both warriors, albeit in vastly different vessels. He commended her on her strength, and she felt a small flutter in her chest that wanted to tell him so many other things he would be proud of, as well. That her heart was already occupied; the seat already taken by the Gods. Instead, Olive fell into customary humbleness; because he took this all so well, the veiled seraph held no issue delving deeper into the shadows. It seemed that he was container enough for her flowing energy.

"Do I surprise you?" she drawled when he suggested the same thing of the golden wraith, pulling her chin back and looking up at him with big, inquisitive eyes. This story was not about the golden wraith, it was about them. It was about whatever her wounds meant to him. It was whatever she meant to him. Swallowing the pool of saliva that formed under her tongue, she spoke her hushed addendum. "I don't want to... sully any lovely memories you have of me," she said. Olive understood that, to some, she was simply an idea, an enigma. If this was how Tiberius preferred to think of her, this was his last 'out' before deep impressions were made upon her heart. If they kept on this path, it would become lasting emotions, rather than fleeting excitements.

"...because I know that I have many of you," the woman added with a sagacious simper and a kiss to his familiar, broad collarbone. She fully expected the titan to embrace the reality of her, just as she venerated the reality of him.

He asked about her feelings towards the Plains and she laughed into the thick fur of his shoulder, paddling her weight between her two front legs in faux-anticipation. Her trip to the frozen north was not temporary this time; she was here for the next while, on contract with the woman of cloudrest. "To say the very least..." she crooned, her tail twitching to find and drape over his, belying the true thrill she felt at such a prospect, "I have quit the plains, for good."I won't be living too far from here. What do you make of that, blackbear? she wondered to herself, vividly.

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Was it right, that he lay here with the little angelic witch at his side? Tiberius tasted his tongue along his lips as he thought silently to himself if he were sinning even more with his actions but he knew he had long since stopped giving a damn if what he chose to do was considered a sin. Could it be considered as such when the waif herself was involved? The beast thought not; no God would condemn her. At her drawled question the beast supplied a half-smirk as he tipped his chin down to her, his molten gaze bright as he washed his gaze over her dainty features. "Roses 'ave thorns," he rumbled, "I ain't so pig'eaded as ta think otherwise," because he knew strength came in all shapes, sizes and forms -- strength came in the shape of her, this time. Tiberius could not help the way he felt a possessive protectiveness over the wolves he called dear to him, the few that they were and never did it come from a place where he believed them incapable ---

It came from a place of the responsibility that he settled upon his own shoulders. Defending, fighting -- he was good at it, he knew that, and he wanted to be useful to those he cared for in a way that he knew he could. So never did he look upon them and think that they were inferior or weak and that he should just do it himself but yet... he knew not all of them could do as Olive had. She had put up a fight and she had survived. Strength was not always about winning, but surviving. She had done just that. Her hushed words had him tutting, a rumble coming from the depths of his chest as disapproval lined his features for how could she think anything would sully her in his memory? He regarded her quietly, his gaze warm as his ears twisted to the sound of her voice again, followed by a gentle kiss that left a fire in its wake. 

"If anythin', angel, it only reminds me yah somethin' else entirely," he rumbled to her quietly, brushing his nose against the soft flesh of her cheek as he hummed lowly, content to breathe her in. "I ain't 'appy it 'appened an' I ain't 'appy yah git 'urt but I'm real fuckin' glad yah gave yah all. Yah ain't need ta worry 'bout nothin', yeah? Real fuckin' proud yah 'eld ya own, angel." Tiberius was never any good at sentiments, he floundered and he struggled, often finding his voice stuck in his throat but lately within the confinements of Shiroshika, Tiberius had felt the tide of change wash upon his shores. He had been forced to reconsider his ways to ensure the comfort of the Empress and to keep the trust that had settled between them but it was not that, not wholly. 

It was Olive. Never did he feel the glare of judgemental eyes or the urge to mask himself for protection. Instead he felt relaxed and at ease, yet completely enthralled, too. She caused lightning in his veins but a quiet to settle over his brain. "Many lovely memories o'me, huh?" He grunted after a moment of thought, his disfigured lips twitching as he eyed her. "Gettin' me curious," 'cause for her to think times with him lovely, well -- fuck. 

Her laugh had him surprised, nose twitching as he felt her warm breath fan across his flesh as she tucked into his shoulder as she laughed, her paws paddling in a way that made him feel a warmth buzz through his chest. He didn't know what it was, he only knew he'd watch her do that again and once more the warmth would spread. It would be a lie to say he was not intrigued, not hanging on the words she spoke as she draped her pale tail over his shadowed one, curling them together further. He twitched against her, rumbling his approval without so much a second thought. She was done with the Plains. For good. He blinked down at her as he rumbled, "oh yeah?" What did that mean, then? Did she seek the mountains, the sands?

He shifted against her as he tightened his tail against her own, absentmindedly the tip rising and falling to pet against her in a small curl. "Where d'ya find yahself adventurin' ta next, angel?" Tiberius knew it was nosey but screw it; he wanted to know if there would be months between the time to see her again. He was not sorry she had left the Plains behind her; if that rotten beast walked it then good, she was gone and out of that particular harms way. Little could he do to ensure she steered clear of harm again once she left his Tundra once more, though.

It made him frustrated to know the truth of that thought. ^^

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There was an intoxicating dynamic to their interactions that thrilled the seraph. For such a serious subject as innate evil versus innate goodness, this was the lightest she had felt about it, and other recent happenings. They tip-toed around the line of what was acceptable, creating new boundaries and associations that were entirely their own. It often made Olive laugh, in reverie, to think about how a simple drink of water had so quickly become debauched. Similarly, somehow here she felt utterly giddy when having to discuss an attack on her person and her beliefs. It was the wolves who made her learn new things about herself, who she felt nourished her the most.

Truly, she had been feeling so serious and dour about it all recently that this was a most welcome reprieve. Such feelings didn't quite make sense, given how close she was with Benry and Archon, and how she had only known Tiberius once before now. Why did it seem that her comfort was so misplaced? As the woman leant against him, surrendering almost all of her weight to his bolstering frame, she thought about how  there was an expectation for her to be perfect, and smart, and strategic for the sake of her adolescent companions. Certainly this was a burden of her own doing, but it was cumbersome all the same, especially since she seemed to encounter hardship after hardship, dilemma after dilemma.

It was nice, for something nice and lovely to fall together for once. Instead of expecting her to be perfect, he flattered and cajoled the imperfect in her, which felt good & right. It wasn't the impossible standards that her parole officer encouraged her to keep. Not that Benry was perfect either, which — her pupils widened as her mind flitted to the reaction of the roan mother from the Ullarcraig. Tiberius was a protective man, she felt this in his aura; perhaps he would not be amenable to the idea of her having a partner(ish), nonetheless one of feline blood? "I must admit—" she began before she could stop herself, the world bubbling up her windpipe before he had finished saying 'real fuckin' proud yah 'eld ya own, angel.' 

Olive looked up at him and saw that he was nothing but relaxed, yet entirely engrossed, so she revealed herself further. "The amount of spirit I brought to the fight, I could not match in strength. It was two upon one, us with favor, but I fear my best efforts swayed the outcome only slightly." still, she added this new detail with a smile and swish of her tail, floating up and over the curve of his rump. "The wolf stood no true chance against my guardsman," she added, knowing Tiberius to be a guardsman himself, and possibly grateful for the cat (that fact of which, she neglected to include). Still, the sylph felt the need to charm the sidereal titan just as he was with her, permissive of the sweet nothings that felt out of place with anyone else. "but you would." she spoke sotto voce, twitching her tail as it acted as drapery, giving his fine musculature a fine squeeze. Daighre was weak and ineffective, but Olive was certain there was no foe that could overpower this titan.

Pulling her face out of his dense undercoat for the first time, she beseeched him for yet more of his unending understanding, her eyelashes batting as considered who this woman was, laying against this man. She certainly wasn't the girl she had known herself as before. "There was once a time I would have never considered such penance holy," she explained, taking a haughty, audible breath. "but I learned," from knowing you, "that even pure souls are not immune to dirty work." Even roses have thorns, Tiberius had said of her. and even the biggest glaciers have the propensity to thaw, the witch thought of him.

Then she gave him a deliberate sidelong glance when he sought after what lovely memories she kept safe, of him. The woman was certain that they held the same moments, the same passions, the same writhing in high regard. Though she was not a woman opposed to bodily pleasures, she would not so readily reveal to him that her favorite memory of the titan were those moments they spent entangled, unsure where she ended and he began. Instead, she edged onto a far safer topic — but one that she still did not know the implications of. "I am pursuing a new contract, with a pack that resides opposite the everwood," the cosmic sylph's eyes flashed, danced at this.

"The location is much more amenable, you see," the corners of her mouths gathered and upturned into the slightest of smirks. "It is far more populated here, should anyone need to.... seek me out." With a flick of her gaze she looked away, looked back at him, then broke any chance he had to respond by sticking her nose back into his fur and tracing a sniffing trail north, up his neck, pack his jaw, past the warmth of his temple that pulsed delicately right behind his eye. "Did it hurt?" she asked finally, concerning his shorn ear & suspecting the answer to be yes, but wanting to give Tiberius a chance to stand on his own soapbox for a moment.

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Tiberius thought that all caution had been thrown to the wind the moment she had happened upon him in his Tundra from the get go. He had laid his molten gaze upon her and something warmed, settled easily in a crevice of his chest and Tiberius had ran with it; intrigued and amused by the delicate looking waif who was more than her surface. He swallowed, thick and dry as he breathed her in and wondered, quietly to himself, how long he might be able to keep this up. This... whatever it was, with Olive. How long he may keep her safe and intrigued by his mere presence -- something that still surprised him, mind you -- and if by wondering, he might have jinxed it.

She had spoke into his own words though she cut herself off easily, instead falling silent as his own vocals fell upon her ears and he watched, watched as his words settled into sense to her. She looked at him and he peered back, unwavering and he swore the world around them continued to remain a blur as he focused his attention on her. His disfigured lips quirked into a small smirk as he huffed to her, bumping his nose into the delicate flesh of her brow as he rumbled, "ain't always 'bout yah physical strength." Had she brought no spirit at all, she likely wouldn't have been here to tell him the tale. It was strength, just a different sort. She had a fight or flight, at least, and though a selfish part of him wished she had chosen flight -- he was, as he said, real fuckin' proud she had stuck up for herself. He was almost lulled completely by the touch of her tail curling over him, draping white against charcoal, his brain fuzzy momentarily until he was pulled out by the addition of her Guardsman. Of course, the titan would be glad she had ones to back her up when she so required it and that they were adequate enough to prove themselves mighty against the villainous wolf yet Tiberius could not help the selfishness tug at his core -- someone else had protected her.

Where he could not. Idly he drew his tongue along his lips as he as he gave her a gentle nod, "good. Ain't smart ta be takin' shit on alone, angel." Even if he found himself wishing he could bury this guardsman alongside the pesky attacker. He wanted to ask more yet he did not, could not, when she spoke again and a warmth touched against his ears and crawled down his nape, curling around his spine and flaring where he tail squeezed at his muscles. There was something proud and cocky about the twitch to his lips, knowing that she thought him mighty had stroked at something feral in him, lingering in the darkness that he so kept caged more often than not. "Fer yah, I'd stand against any beast," he grunted lowly against her, unable to stop himself before he uttered those daring words.

He still could not help but be curious of the mind that she held, wondering how it worked for as she looked to him, a haughty breath escaping her as she told him a tale of a different version of herself, Tiberius was hooked. Hooked as he had been last time, too. "Yer a wolf," he rumbled, "yer adapt, yer survive." He shifted against her though made no effort to untangle them. Had it been possible, he'd have entangled them further. "Yer ain't tainted fer doin' wha' yer did," Tiberius mumbled, "ain't dirty protectin' yerself, luv." He was sure nothing about Olive could be considered dirty -- outside of particular things, anyway, -- though he was under no illusion that she could do no wrong. It just so happened that he didn't think she had, this time.

She sought to keep her answer from him. Tiberius looked at her, his molten gaze bright with amusement as he followed the path she led them down -- one safer than their memories. Perhaps one day he might get his answer, he thought wickedly, but for today -- she could lead him to whatever conversation she desired. Tiberius knew he had multiple favourite moments with the waif, from the touch of their flesh to the softness of her breath, from the way she felt beneath him to the sounds she made -- to even here, laying together simply talking. Tiberius favoured them all. She revealed to him her intentions, his disfigured ears twitching as he thought, momentarily, of Riannon. It had to be her, hadn't it? It wasn't the brothers that she spoke of, the other mountain Pack that resides in the snowy heights of the Tundra -- so it had to be the illusive she-beast he had met once or twice. She wasn't going to be far. 

Amenable location, she said, those knowing lips twitching ever so slightly in something he swore could be called a smirk and once more she spoke, his mouth going dry. Had she -- no, he supposed it was too self-involved to think she had made some of her decision on the fact that he could and would be one of those anyones to seek her out. Yet... it made him feel a sort of way to think it played even the smallest part in her decision. Tiberius had been rendered speechless and he rumbled a small chuckle, deep and low as it tumbled from his tongue as she buried her nose back into the charcoal and silver fur that coated him, sniffing up to his neck and curling around the few parts of untouched flesh to meet the shorn ear. He replayed her question, simple and to the point and Tiberius thought back to how he had received it.

How he had received the new mark upon his shoulder and the new disfigurement of the other side of his face. He had been too angry to feel the pain, at the time, but he had felt it when River had forced her sneaky, stubborn way into being his Healer when he had neglected to care for it. "Anger tends ta override tha pain," he rumbled, his brow furrowed as he thought on it and could only hope it hadn't overridden too much for Vera. He would want her to feel a world of pain -- universes of it, actually. "An' I reckon I was one of tha angriest I's ever been," until after. Until he had seen Reiko, until he had learned what Vera had done and that... that was perhaps the angriest. Tiberius had known had he come across Vera after that, he would have bled her dry then and there. "I's used ta tha' shit," the titan shrugged it off easily, his voice low as he gazed towards the snowy distance. "She was a Shiroshikan, once. 'Fore she attacked one of our own. Exiled whilst I kept 'er guarded an' well, yah git a wolf who git spurned for their lack of control and yah git me, two types o'wolves who ain't gonna mix wit'ou' blood bein' shed," he snorted as he rolled his tongue along his lips, tasting the healed flesh of his first disfigurement and he wondered how many more it would take until he looked nothing like Caden.

"I ain't like tha' ones tha' pick on tha' 'lil ones. Even tha big ones who ain't git tha skills to fend someone off. I ain't like it. Ain't no goddamn 'onor in attackin' 'cause yah know yah opponent cain't do fuck all," there was a growl to his tone as he spoke, his lip curling as he spoke of Vera. "Reckon it 'urt more when River told m'off fer not takin' care o'tha wounds." Tiberius pushed down his fury in favour of speaking of River, recalling how she had stomped up to him and demanded him to allow her to help. She had threatened him with Quicksilver and he had grimaced, furious but relenting as he chose River's help over his. "Shit was gettin' infected. Girl told me righ' off," he huffed, trailing his tail tip along her flesh. ^^

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This chance encounter was very quickly becoming a very affirming, fortifying force. The sylph had left their first meeting with more questions than answers, and ideas that seemed to exist only in a dream; but here and now it felt the same, and all at once she simultaneously knew she was not crazy for seeing in Tiberius what she had. It presented itself here, as fervently as it did the first, and Olive felt the fire in her solar plexus leap into her throat once more — he uttered red-hot words about defending her from any beast, and she drank it in, luxuriating in the fact that she returned such feelings as strongly as he meant it.

"Not tainted..." she murmured, echoing his deep timbre with her own dulcet tones. There was a tangible thrum in her veins, a rush of blood, and the thrill of being fully understood and held. Her chiffon-pink tongue slipped out and swept across her lips, her thirst for him growing. "Thank you for seeing me for who I am," she intimated, a purr detectable on her voice. "and not the things I do." It was that fact of him that made her trust him, and she wanted to generously share information about her life with him, such as her new residence and employ. Perhaps, one day, she would at last share her favorite memory of him.

alas, akin to many other of life's greatest experiences, joy always nestled itself nicely against pain. This ephemeral idea wrapped itself around her mind as the blackbear extolled his story and his anger; she listened with rapt attention and swimming, moonbright eyes as he wove a tale of machination and exile. His rolling accent brought turns to the story that kept her glued tied to it, using his physicality as an anchor, and his just and fair nature as the ultimate truth. The woman said nothing, until he trailed off in a huff and a tousle of his tail. None of this was surprising, as those who stood for good often incited those who didn't.

...not that she didn't have anything to say about it, mind you. The seraph placed the crook of her nose against the dense bone of his jaw, imagining herself a sponge, eliciting the stories, scars and attachments from his core so that he could be cleansed of them. "Our propensity to feel rage matches our propensity to feel love," she elucidated with her eye closed, all feeling-sense. Then, her veiled eyes opened, and her voice lowered to a haughty purr. "It is incredible, how deeply you love your Shiroshikans." it was his dharma, and following one's dharma was never a bad thing, even if the job required a heavy toll.

Just as Tiberius might have been perturbed at the thought of another guarding her, did she feel about another healing his wounds. She supposed she grateful for the healer's service, but oh, how the druid had wished that word had somehow gotten to her! How she would have rushed to the Tundra, instead of biding her time! "River, is she..." she wondered aloud, openly curious. "...your empress?"

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It was easy to forget that the world wasn't made up of just him and Olive when he was in her company. The same thing had happened when they had first met and he was not surprised to realise, momentarily, that he was experiencing now as they lay, sidled up to each others sides and tails touching, curling into each other. His golden gaze searched her features, following the movement of her tongue and then her lips as she spoke, thanking him. He blinked, surprised but as he realised what she had said, Tiberius understood. How could he not? She did the same for him. One of the few to do so. It was one of his rare, small smiles that appeared on his disfigured lips as he nudged her nose with his own, "ain't git ta thank me, angel. Especially when ya do tha same ta me." He murmured quietly, his nose twitching as he peered to her.

Yet... was that fair to say, when she hadn't even seen some of the things he could do? Has done? Would do, if needed? He shifted, his smile returning to the depths of nothingness but the warmth did not leave his eyes. A part of him seemed to doubt that she would find a way to hate him for those parts of him yet that self-depreciating side seemed to take the reins here and told him it would change everything. Not even Shiroshika knew what he could do and had done, Reiko knowing that he had killed but that was the extent of it. Only now did she favour his ability to kill, given the approval for his desire to skin the white she-devil.

Olive listened to him rant and grumble, seeing him perhaps more animated than most had seen him and he found that once he finished, he puffed a giant huff and felt a little better once he spoke of River. Olive spoke, her vocals gentle and all-knowing as they always were and he felt stumped for a moment, thinking over her first words. He knew rage. It was one of his most common emotions but... love? He couldn't say for certainty that he had felt love more than once and even then, it was not love that sung of lovers in the night, it was love for the girl who he had raised, taught and fought with. @Lana  Out of everyone that he had met in his life, he could say that he had loved her.

Did he love Shiroshika and it's wolves? Olive seemed to think so as she purred her comment, her gaze reappearing in startling green, stark against the white of her face. He knew he was protective of them, almost possessive and he sought their safety more than his own but was that love? Tiberius eyed Olive, his fiery depths filled with question but he supposed that it was true. He... he loved them. As much as they pissed him off, (he's looking at you, @Reiko) he would sooner see them thrive and happy than down in their luck. He obsessively patrolled, marked and protected Shiroshika. So he loved them, then. That was new to him, he thought.

"I's guess I's not thought about it bein' love," Tiberius murmured lowly, his silvery brow furrowed as he gave a pause, only to realise she had called it incredible. Beneath his fur and scarred flesh, he felt a warmth. Embarrassment? No, that wasn't it but... it was something. He found that a lot of things he felt around Olive were not things he could put a name to. It was strange but he had accepted it, invigorated by the enchanting ensarement he had found himself in.

Olive questioned after River, wondering if she were the Empress and he shook his head, "Reiko is tha Empress." He divulged, not feeling the need to hide the information from Olive. "River issa lil' shit," he snorted, though his voice betrayed him with the hint of affection. "She's a good girl, real stubborn. Git a good 'eart," River wouldn't have been brought into Shiroshika by Tiberius had he thought otherwise and he hadn't regretted meeting her or helping her find a home with them. "I don't think she git much 'ealin' experience, but she tried. Told me right off," he grumbled in amusement. "We... ain't really git much in tha way of 'ealin', aside from Reiko 'avin' sum skill. An' River tryin'," Tiberius had decided shortly after it all that aside from Warriors, he would seek to bring a medic in, too, if even for the purpose of helping to train River if it were the route she wanted to go down.

He peered to Olive then, a coy grin settling upon his marred features, "suppose it's good ya gonn' be livin' in tha Tundra. Reckon I's gonn' need ya services at some point." There was likely to be wounds River couldn't heal and Reiko would remain out of commission for a good long while. Tiberius hoped that he would see Olive outside of needing her healing touch, for he found himself always enchanted by her. By her eyes, her voice, her touch -- it was almost addictive. ^^

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She found Tiberius to be an ocean of complexity. Currents of passion interwove electrically with his spoken words, and she couldn't help but compare the titan's energetic presence to that other two male presences in her life. The youthful mien of Archon and the idle ambivalence of Benry were a balancing presence in her life, but often Olive found herself far more impassioned than they, or more verbose, or more driven to practice her craft. The ashen fae was different than them, but she was not so different from Tiberius. Though they were at different ends of the very same spectrum, it was still the same spectrum.

From his vanishing disbelief about the familial love her bore his pack, the woman intuited that the blackbear was not familiar with this concept — perhaps it was a bit forward and assumptive to say that he did indeed love them, but what else could this be? The silvered inkblot of a man took on an entirely different air when he spoke of Shiroshika, and his aura went from red with fury to an iridescent pink with familiarity and connection; and Olive smiled, because she knew this to be true, even if Tiberius maintained doubts about it. How good it must feel, the sylph mused as she blinked up at him, once again moony-eyed and enraptured by his words, to be the recipient of his love.

and just like that, pain was transmuted into something far lighter, and so did the conversation take a turn. Olive returned the coy grin that he offered unto her, internalizing these different R-sounding names, so that she might be able to procure them later, for some unforeseen usefulness. And then, her mind lit up bright with an idea! "If you felt River would blossom under a guided hand and a trained eye," she shrugged passively, her shoulder blade dramatically grazing Tiberius's side as it raised, then lowered. "I would be honored to take her on as an apprentice." She then cocked a velveteen brow, wondering what he might make of the opportunity. Tiberius knew nothing of her true healing prowess, but she was a women searching for a way to use her purpose — and this purpose, more often than not, it came in the form of caring for and empowering others.

With a small rush of energy, Olive lifted from her position of repose against the man and assumed a standing position, her still-cocked brow now matched by a crack of a smile, and a pink tongue stuck out in an exhilarated pant. "Did you mean what you said..." she swayed her tail, feeling somewhat self indulgent with this next question. "that you'd take on any beast, for me?"

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He hadn't expected her offer and as her shoulder gazed his own, baiting him with silence for a mere moment as his flesh burned beneath the feather-light touch, she spun him the offer with a cocked brow. Tiberius swallowed the offer curiously; not opting to make acceptance on River's behalf without asking her but he would certainly broach it with her upon Olive's offer. It had multiple positives, giving River the opportunity to learn something she might be thoroughly interested in, knowing she liked to help, it would offer her the ability to forge a friendship with her mentor and it gave Tiberius the selfish opportunity to run into the waif a little more often. He... wasn't entirely willing to say to either female that the lessons could be done terribly far from Shiroshika.

Tiberius favoured safety of all of his pack mates yet he was not so coy as to pretend he didn't hold favourites. River certainly fell into that category and he wasn't going to play with her safety -- or Olive's, for that matter. Perhaps he might convince them to use the Glacier Gardens... there were herbs and flowers there, right? If River even accepted the offer. "Ya don't git ta offer tha'," he murmured, wanting her to know there was no pressure in her offer but moments later he rumbled, "am sure she will appreciate tha offer, luv. I's will ask 'er when I git back ta Shiroshika." Despite the gruffness of his tone, there was a hint of warmth saved for the maiden tucked against his side. Continuously she surprised him, going so far as to offer her guidance to Shiroshika -- to River.

Affection seemed to pool in his veins, quietly and warmly. He searched her features, delicate and full of wisdom in all of it's curves and edges, strength behind those green eyes and he wondered if he looked hard enough, he might see those Gods she believed. 

Olive switched up the dynamic, standing from his side, cracking a smile and panting with emotion. Intrigued, the titan remained with his belly to the snow and tilting his chin to her as she began, pausing before she spoke her question. Curiously his silvery brows rose and a half-smirked settled upon his disfigured lips as he nudged her chin with his nose, "I ain't in tha business of lyin', angel." Tiberius mused to her, wondering what was to come next -- unless she simply wanted to hear it again. "Why's tha', angel? Git a beastie waitin' 'round fer me?" Tiberius teased lowly, still not standing to meet her but instead, kept his head tilted towards her as his molten gaze glistened, amused and curious. ^^

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Olive watched him as he carefully churned over her offer, and she couldn't help but think that she liked this part in the development of relationships, where the superficialities wore off and two souls started to know each other better, began to make decisions predicated on the desire to keep the other near, and grew curious of (and eager to discover) their various facets. It was funny to think of her and Tiberius as a superficial relationship, seeing as they had already been intimate with one another; but this felt like a very natural next step, not only for her as a skilled healer who was more than ready to take on an apprentice, but for her as a woman wanting — wanting the man who sat beside her.

Still, Olive felt the desire to dance around such a reality, if only for a moment, if only for the fun of it. Engaging in romance (with no idea how it might end) was like an intuitive dance, where you lingered in spaces that felt good and with no need to rush. That was how Olive saw it anyhow, as she flourished her solicitous expression with a bat of her thick, dark lashes. "It is a selfish offer, I must admit..." the woman murmured. "I have always adored travel. New packs and wolves to discover..." This was true, as much as it was besides the point. "and your Shiroshika intrigues me. I'd love to see it." Unless her prospective student would rather come to Frostchant, though it was honestly quite a lengthy hike and their empress was not exactly warm, nor welcoming. She wondered if Shiroshika would take issue with the feline presence of Benry as did the Vanderfell wolves... but these were extraneous details, and would spend no more of her time with Tiberius thinking of them.

When he did not match her burst of movement and instead stayed smoldering where he was, Olive couldn't help the way her mouth clipped close and lips pursed in a simper, allowing his words to do the work in quelling her. "Perhaps, one day, I may find myself in need of your talents," she responded mindfully, pawing at the earth beneath her and allowing a laugh to color her words. "I am a brawling woman now, after all." It was funny how fast she had forgotten her troubles and woes, and she was almost surprised by her own words. She was, wasn't she?

The sidereal sylph answered the nudge of his nose with a kiss of her own, relinquishing the space between them with ease. "So let's make sure you get better, hmm?" she hummed into him, strumming her maw against his jaw, her pale shoulder bumping against his dark throat.

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Romance. A word that hadn't been in his vocabulary, let alone his vision for his life, always finding himself too busy with work to have time or desire for anything other than... work. Even when he had been with the Dominion, a crazy Crane at either of his sides, he hadn't thought about it being more than it was. Especially not with Lana, no, never Lana -- his bond with Lana had been... (was, he wanted to correct himself, thinking that no matter which world he found himself in that Lana would forever be embed in his soul, his very DNA) true, protective, perhaps somewhat possessive and... he wouldn't call them siblings but he wouldn't call them parent/child, either.

Lana was simply Lana, a part of Tiberius that could never be replaced.

Vala... well, with Vala he could never understand the fiery Crane. She had been difficult to get a straight, true answer out of that didn't explode with her fury and though he had grown fond of her, he wasn't sure he could pin a thread line from her to romance, either. That and the two Crane's hated each other, as most Crane's did and it was unlikely in the Valley that he could ever find himself peace with someone if Lana and them had not gotten along. As much as one could get alone with the young Crane, anyway.

This world was different. Here, there was no Dominion, no Crane's, no Lana. Here... the possibilites were endless and unmatched, Tiberius standing in the unknown as he tried to navigate it through darkness. It felt... easier, though, walking in the dark when Olive's light was at his side. Still was it touched by the uncertain grasp of lack of understanding yet Tiberius did not fret. He had found himself at ease when touched by Olive's company.

He swallowed, thickly and dryly as she bat her lashes at him, once more sending a tremble up his spine as she began. Selfish, she had started with and Tiberius' scarred lips would twist into a ghost of a smirk. She could be selfish like that all she wanted and you'd find Tiberius unwilling to have an issue with it. He rumbled a low chuckle as she expressed her adoration for travel and discovering new Packs, recalling her saying something similar when they had first met. His lips remained tilted in the smirk as he tilted his head to her, "careful, angel. When ya see Shiroshika, ya tend ta not wan' ta leave it."

Tiberius would jest, though finding it having rung true on multiple ocassions. River finding herself within their ranks being a prime example, once she had seen their blossoms she had been convinced. It was a selfish thought of his that he wished he had offered Shiroshika to her before her new leader had happened upon her yet life had worked it out so that she now found herself in a new home, one that was not the one he protected and called his own. "Git plenty ta show ya, darlin'," Tiberius murmured to her softly, his voice a rasp as he thought of showing her as much of Shiroshika as he could, one day.

Her coming to Shiroshika to teach River made that an easier possibility for him to make reality yet it also offered him the advantage of being on home turf in keeping Olive and River safe whilst they conducted the mentorship. He felt better about River being inside Shiroshika than out of it and if they had to venture from their claim for a lesson or two then he'd see himself as chaperone -- unwilling to afford the placement to anyone else.

She spoke of perhaps one day needing his talents, perhaps now even more so that she was a brawling woman, as she said, and Tiberius puffed a small exhale from his nose as he eyed her. He puffed a small chuckle in return of her own, "ain't limitin' m'self ta beast. Fer yer, I'd taken on anythin'." Tiberius would allow, his molten gaze burning. "I'd come fer yer anytime y'called me, luv. Brawlin' woman or not, yer don't need ta be when yer wit' me." She may be capable and for that, he was proud of her for holding her own but he would choose to fight any and all of her battles, so that she may remain alive and safe.

He rumbled against her as she returned the kiss, swallowing the small distance between them as she stepped closer, murming against his jaw as her pale shoulder touched against the dark of his throat. He rumbled as he drew his maw against her own in something akin to a nuzzle, "but healin' is borin', angel. Unless..." he mused, "yer git a way ta make me bettah wit'out tha borin'?" Even with her company, he thought his wounds would heal better.

Easier.

The healing process was certainly more fun with her at his side, he thought.

Tiberius moved against her then, opting to shift from his belly to rise up onto all fours and curve his frame around her side as he ruffled his nose through the soft fur of her spine. "Feelin' bettah already," he teased into her fur, his molten gaze glinting cheekily. ^^

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In the moments that Tiberius was speaking about his willingness to put his strength at the will of her beck and call, Olive felt she perhaps glimpsed another side of Tiberius's latent loves: the love her bore for his trade, guardianship. Though this was not a passion she felt within herself (there was very little that she desires to protect, or felt morally-bound to lay down her body for), there was a distinct warmth that settled around her shoulders and within her ribcage as he described the lengths he would go to keep her safe. If offering protection felt half as good as it felt being received, then Olive could easily understand why he loved it so.

The titan lifted onto all fours and, for a moment, the sylph was astonished at how large he rose; with him reclining and she standing, they had been more eye-to-eye than they had ever before. In that second, perhaps she had gotten too used to it, but with Tiberius standing at his full height, Olive felt a deep, intimate understanding of the power they (both) (now) wielded. She could not deny the strength of those within her close circle (Tiberius and Benry, namely) and if Olive had been any other wolf, she might have immediately begun wondering which territory she might conquer, or whom she might exact revenge upon. But that was how empires were built, and Olive was not a monarch. She lacked the very desire to protect which overflowed within Tiberius, which was another way of many that he balanced her, like yin and yang.

Of course, these thoughts were tempered by Tiberius's inherent silliness, which she saw writ all across his stoic word as he called healing boring and desired a more interesting way to convalesce. Of this, Olive knew many — but this method of shadow healing was dark and stormy, and ultimately delighted Olive more than any other healing modality. It was vivid and all-consuming, and though the emotions felt weren't always good, their intensity is what cleansed, healed, and embodied the Gods. One day, her level of comfort with Tiberius might advance to this tantric level, but on this day, such possibilities were nothing more than a smile and an unspoken whisper on her lips. One day.

In faux-incredulousness, Olive wiggled herself backwards several steps just as curled himself around her, narrowly avoiding an embrace that she deeply desired — but she felt intuitively that this might be one of those times that holding out for a moment longer would procure a sweeter result. "Healing is boring?" she scoffed, shrugging a shoulder. With a playful glint to her gilded-green eyes, she chimed "Says you!" and laughed from deep in her throat, knowing healing was truly boring for most; but she was a bonafide nerd, delighted by the gifts from the earth, and she studied them endlessly in a way that most would probably describe as 'boring.'

"We'll see how boring it is the next time you get an ear chewed off," the pale seraph continued despite the peal of laughter. Lifting her lip in a frisky growl, she recovered her backpedaling from before, but as she came closer, the woman sat back and lifted up her forearm to the side of his neck, attempting to bring his head down to a more accessible level, so that she could nibble upon his ear and do the chewing off herself.

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