please don't go, don't leave me all alone

^^

present-dated, on his journey back from Elsyium

---

He had been stalling.

That was fair, wasn't it? Maybe... maybe not...

His interaction with @Valeska had left him certain in the alliance between Duskguard and Elysium, the friendships of the leaders (though he supposed he would meet the other at his wedding. If Olive still wanted to marry him, obviously) and to some degree, she had settled him. Not fully, of course, because it was Tiberius and he was absolutely shit with his emotions but she had done a good job in getting him to see that he would need to talk to Olive.

Though she had done well to confuse him in another manner, too.

The triangle.

Practicing the... triangle.

Tiberius. @Olive. @Kuhn.

But... it wouldn't be a triangle. @Valmúa existed and never would he intend to steal away Kuhn from her but... he hadn't hated what had happened. He had enjoyed it and had noted his... his... attraction to the tiger and it only served to remind him how few people he found attractive. Tiberius had started to note when people would look physically pleasing, in a way that was observant but not appreciative to his eye or wanting from his loins but... still Olive had been the one to touch upon his everything -- until this little revelation.

Oh, he felt sick. Every step he took was heavy and slow, his mangled face already looking depressed.

He didn't want her to leave him, to take back her love and desire him gone -- he might never recover, he feared. The titan tried to focus on the advice that Valeska had given him and tried to think that what Olive and he had was strong and unbreakable but... sometimes he was still that boy that the world kept taking from.

"Olive?" the titan called through the Vale, only hoping she was not with the children. This wasn't a topic for their ears. ^^

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If Olive had any idea what was going on above her head and behind her back, she might have felt like a fool being milk-maid to a troupe of weaning, teething children. Alas, the sprite had no clue, so she spent a majority of her days in the early autumn laying about with her family, remaining strictly within the Vale while Tiberius was off, taking care of his Tiberius business. It was a bit more busy in the Vale these days, as her titan had seemed to encounter quite a number of individuals who had trailed back to their mountain homestead, now calling Duskguard home.

It was a blossoming of activity that Olive felt was usually reserved for spring; but it was all very welcome, and Olive rejoiced in how the collection of friends and family around her grew. Still, it was impossible not to notice Tiberius's distance even after his return, but the sylph had easily chalked it up to being distracted with his children, or their newest plebes, or any other number of concerns that ever-plagued the Chieftain. There was a lot going on these days, after all.

When Tiberius called her forth, it was evident in his tone that something was worrying him. Stepping away from her stock of dried and drying herbs, the pale woman was immediately attentive. "My bear,” she greeted, walking forward with banner waving, yet eyes emanating the certain willful exhaustion that came along with mothering five wolf puppies (six, if you included the newfound tiger cub). Being able to clearly intuit his nervous energy, Olive leaned closed and greeted him with a press of her nose to his cheek, recognizing the same tiredness in his own golden eyes.

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He had heard of people dying from emotions.

Grief? Anxiety? Panic?

Guilt?

Tiberius thought that if there were any truth in those rumours than he might be evidence of it soon enough. Within it's bone cage did his heart twist painfully, beating to it's guilt-ridden drum beat. The titan felt sick, sick to his stomach as he skulked through the Vale. She would hear him, of course she would, they'd always had some sense about each other. Never did they take long to come to the others call, their souls tugging them in the direction if ever their eyes and ears were unsure. Today, today he had hoped that her soul was deaf to him.

It wasn't.

It coudn't be.

Fuck. Fuck he hoped her soul would continue to long for his after this.

He replayed @Valeska's words over and over, using them as his own strength as he laid his unworthy gaze upon the vision herself. She came to him in her soft whites and silvers, forest green gaze settling upon him as they always did. Tiberius swallowed thickly or rather attempted to, mouth and throat suddenly dry as she called to him, nickname of affection on her tired tongue. He almost wept as he felt her nose upon his cheek in her usual greeting and selfishly did the titan lean into it, breathing her in.

He was so fucking unworthy of her then, he always knew he had been yet he had allowed himself to let his guard down and believe that if even for a moment, he had been worthy. Valeska's words of his heart being larger than most for the emotion of love had him nearly vomitting on the spot; his heart weeping in his chest. "Angel," he rasped, almost gasping for air. Without thinking the Chieftain would swipe his tongue along the bridge of her nose only to realise that he had done that, shown her love and affection moments before he was about to tell her of - of -- could it be called an indescretion?

Everything they worked for would be broken, the precious heart in her chest would be too and he... well, he would get the fate that he deserved. He knew what he would do, if she rejected him after today. The Vale, Duskguard -- it would all be hers. Someone worthy at it's helm, one untouched by taint and greed. "Olive, Olive we need -- we need ta talk," his throat felt clogged, his eyes felt as if they were burning and Tiberius could have wept. ^^

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Truly, didn't know much in this life. She had a super-niche set of skills in medicines and healing that had been instilled in her since childhood, and of course she tended to greatly enjoy discussions of theory, ideals, and possibilities. Pragmatic as she aspired to be, her innate gut-wisdom lay more in the realm of energy. She could read an aura as easily as looking at someone's being, and could assess a blockage or disturbance — even at time neutralizing it —beneath a simple laying of hands. Energy felt akin, adjacent to one's soul, only energy could change. A soul could not.

Beneath her nose, Olive felt every tumult that echoed through Tiberius's mind, on repeat for days. There was a shortness to his breath, as if he kept his inhale locked inside of himself, unwilling to let it go. He felt hot and agitated, and immediately his fiancée tried to imagine what could have happened to elicit such an intense reaction from him. Tiberius had roused and army and killed a King with ease. He had barely blinked when she had given birth right in front of him, and had maintained a solemn sense of ease when Rin had passed, when they had found Eileithyia all alone, and the infinite other small dramas they encountered in their day to day lives together.

Olive thought herself enlightened in the realm of energy, but that not mean that she housed within her the ability to rise above it. Anxiety gripped at her heart and lungs, immediately putting them in a vice grip as he uttered the words no person every wanted to hear: we need ta talk. The woman pulled back her gamine head, wresting her nose from the fluff of his cheek, to look at him more fully. Silence enveloped her as her higher brain instructed her to make no assumptions, and simply inquire what bothered him so. Her lower mind urged her to get out in front of it, to somehow dull the impact by being able to guess it first. She chose the latter. 

"If it's about Dalmatia, I assure you— she is soon to grow out of such behavior," the words spilled out, as if she already knew to what he was referring. "I believe it is only a part of her development..." there was something else to that thought, and it felt relatively incomplete as it was, but it wasn't worth finishing. Their daughter's fearfulness wasn't what plagued him, and they both knew it. Her mouth clipped shut, her teeth grit, and she steeled herself.

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He should have said something else. Anything else. It sounded so -- so fucking intimidating and scary. He winced as she jolted back, their skin no longer touching and she looked up at him, the expression on her face one he vowed to kill anyone for making it appear. She didn't deserve to look like that, the beautiful epitome of life before him deserved to look happy, like nothing or no one could touch her.

They weren't married yet (if ever, be thought forlornly) and he was already breaking vows. He hadn't protected her from this. From him. The one person she was never meant to feel worry about. What broke him more was the way she quickly tried to make it up, to explain to him about their dramatic little girl and that its fine, its part of her development. The sound that came from his throat was broken, strained, his head shaking as he tried to ensure she didn't try again. "Dalmatia is perfect, Angel. If she ain't ever grow out of 'er tears, at least we know where she will be," it was hard to miss her cries after all, an easy locator for the girl. He swallowed, bowing his head as he suffered a sigh, long and deep.

"I love yer," he said desperately. "Yer everythin' ta me, Olive. Yer m'breath, m'soul, every inch o'me belongs ta Yer, Yer gitta know tha'," because it did, okay, he wasn't fucking lying he just-- his heart, right? It was bigger than some others? Right? Tiberius was trying to think, had he ever cried in his life? He couldn't rememeber a time where he had yet in this moment he feared he might. "I aint known nothin' 'bout luv 'fore yer, aint known wha' a warm touch could be," and he had fucked it all up. Massively. Fuck.

He turned his head from her as he worked his jaw, words stuck in his throat and he knew he was being a bastard. She deserved him telling her, no games, ho hesitance. "Kuhn kissed me," he rumbled, "an' i... I didnt stop it, I... I kissed 'im back, sort of - i..." He remembered the feel of his tongue, mapping the grooves of his mangled lips and mouth. "I aint understand it, okay, yer fuckin' everythin' an' if i lost yer I don't know what i'd do but Olive I... 'e is... 'e 'as a part of me, too." His voice was quiet, pained and his breathing was laboured as he got it into the air and it sounded even worse out loud to her than it did practiced in his head. "Valeska told me tha' sumtimes people 'ad 'earts too big an' they love lots, or somethin', I dunno, I was panickin' when she was talkin'," and now he was rambling and fuck, call him a coward because all he could do was look at his paws as he waited for her to take back her love and leave him.

Would he see her again?

Would he see his daughters, his babies?

Where would he go from here? ^^

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In the span of only a couple seconds, all of the worst possibilities flashed across her cognition. It was a plague of motherhood, was it not, to be worried endlessly for the fates and health of their family? No, it wasn't the worry that would forever Dalmatia cry often that suddenly struck her; it was the far bigger possibilities — that he had found one of their children injured, or perhaps worse — that he had found another woman, had another family entirely, and was abandoning the one he had created with her — she even blinked, and for a second that a war might be on their doorstep. There were so many new neighbors, and he had just returned from a scouting mission. It was all very possible, for a moment.

So, when Tiberius revealed that he had kissed Kuhn, she was more surprised than she was anything else. Really, this was a far better even than any of the other options her imagination had been able to conjure at the drop of a hat. Underneath her surprise and initial shock, the pale woman almost felt relieved.

The Priestess didn't know what to do immediately, so she backed up a step with a sashay of her hips. Then, she lapsed into deep thought, staring at the earthen ground between them. She was easily reassured by his honeyed words and anxious cajoling, as if he could stave off some inevitable defeat by simply out-talking it. Her eyes glanced up. He looked overwhelmed, able to brandish his guilt across his features plainly, now that he had come clean — that was what really got her. 'Wrongness' was a man-made construct, and Tiberius seemed deeply convinced that he had done something seriously, gravely wrong.

When she probed deeper into her own psyche, Olive immediately recognized something dense and negative brewing at the thought of the tiger, Kuhn. It was the most curious and heady mix of competition, jealousy, betrayal and confusion that she had ever felt in her life, truthfully. She had trusted Kuhn just as much as her own Tiberius, extending graciousness enough to allow him in and out of the Vale at his whim, despite never brandishing the name of Duskguard himself. It all felt somehow rude to her, and once again the woman's lower-self felt quite affronted.

Plus, Olive had somewhat seriously thought that @Kuhn had a small crush on her, and was a bit disappointed to learn that he had actually been hungering after her husband all this time. 

Coming back to her body, Olive snorted a short huff and pawed at ground where he gaze had just been. She didn't want to look at him, not at she was processing Tiberius's version of a betrayal. She concluded that she needed more information to proceed, and even more, she wished to buy herself a few more seconds of self-pity. "Was this the first time, or..." she muttered, trying hard to keep emotion from coloring her voice, "...or is it the first time you've told me about it?"Apparently Valeska had even known of this before she. Olive felt toothless and feeble, somewhat like an afterthought. A babysitter, while Tiberius and Kuhn played games with one another.

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He looked alarmed at her question and he nearly heaved, his stomach swirling unpleasantly as he watched the his life shatter before him. "No!" He was quick to deny, "never, Olive, fuck I swear to ye -- not that m'word means much at tha moment." Tiberius was determined to make her believe that, couldn't she see? He was being eaten alive by this guilt, he would never survive had it been more than once before he told her. Jesus, did she think him to be a worse type of bastard than what he was?

Tiberius supposed that was fair of her, in the end. She had just learned something she or he hadn't been anticipating and her mind was likely to wander. He looked at her, pained, and wished he could make it all better. The mother of his children, the light of his life -- and he had caused her pain. "I know yer ain't gonna believe nothin' am gonna say righ' now an' I don't blame yer..." he trailed off, quiet and tired.

"Wha'ever yer want from me, Olive, wha'ever yer need. I'll do it. Fuck, I'd do anythih' fer yer," Tiberius said feverishly, wanting to reach out to her but knew he couldn't, shouldn't -- she needed her space. If she wanted to come to him, she would. He couldn't... he couldn't make her. Tiberius wasn't a begging man, he never had been but for her, gods, he would be a begging man and more.

"Please." ^^

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The Priestess of Duskguard was not an angry or vengeful person. Whatever anger she was able to summon dissipated quickly, as it always did, coming over her like a rainstorm but clearing up a moment later. She was simply too logical to entertain extreme emotions for long; she perceived information, she reacted, and then usually once she was able to think about it more deeply, she would move on into her new reality. 

What Olive did see, when she eventually looked up towards him, was a man riddled with regret and extreme uncertainties; but not about how he felt about her, that much was clear. He professed his love for her with almost every breath he took, and it broke her resolve and defenses only a moment after she had summoned them. There was no part of her that wanted to cause Tiberius to look like this — groveling, begging, looking like the very image of a very bad dog.

But even if he was so very sorry, Olive maintained a steady annoyance that deception had happened. She still wanted to shift almost all the blame onto Kuhn's shoulders, as unfair as Olive knew that to be. At the moment it just felt a little bit better to her, if Tiberius was the unsuspecting victim and Kuhn the transgressor. But the tiger wasn't here, he hadn't come clean to her, nor were they engaged to be wed. That relationship belonged to Olive and Tiberius alone, and the woman felting a biting protectiveness rise up within her about it.

Then, of course, Tiberius's words 'he 'as a part of me, too' would ring in her ears, and she couldn't deny the part he had played. 

Swaying where she stood, Olive did not desire to see the man suffer any longer; the seraph had sorted out her emotions well enough to know what the proper response was. "Tiberius, my Chieftain," she responded to his pleas with sincerity and appropriate solemnity, "allow me to make one thing plain, right here and now." She took a step forward, placing one thin ankle in front of the other.

As she got closer, she hoped that Tiberius could see that the expression writ across her face was full of empathy, and an certain openness that was not always easy to muster, but it was a part of her core values; her soul's contract. "When I agreed to to follow you, and marry you, and bear your children — I agreed to do this with all parts of you." There was no part of her that wished to renege on such a thing. Olive reached out her nose, gesturing that he could come forward and towards her, if she wished. The pain receded somewhat, and she wished to help assuage his too.

Closing her eyes, the woman attempted to block out the negative tirade of thoughts that came afterwards. What she not enough for him? What was it that he had wanted, but hadn't been able to get from their relationship? How could she be certain a deception wouldn't happen again? As quickly as the thought would come up, did Olive attempt to swallow it back down. "If this is a part of you, then..." she breathed, "let's figure it out." There were far more questions to be had and details to be shared, but this (to Olive), was the gist of it. She loved him, owed her life to him.

"I only wish you had told me first."

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She spoke to him and it wasn't the words telling him to leave, to get out -- it was calling him, his name, his title as hers and the leader, affectionate and intimate. He swallowed, confused and still being eaten with guilt as he lifted his gaze to watch her walk to him, command on her tongue. What was she to make clear? Tiberius almost feared for it but she wasn't a manipulative woman, she had spoken to him with... affection.

Once more she proved to him how different she was to most others, if not nearly all others. On her face was empathy, open-ness and he couldn't help but wonder what drove her to be able do as she did, to be able to not rip into him with hurt and rage. He'd not blame her, if that had been what she chose. Tiberius' ears splayed and twisted with each word that she spoke, touching against his heart and soul.

She gestured him but he was still, uncertain, would he taint her further by approaching? Tiberius couldn't hold himself back, couldn't deny her, his selfishness knowing no bounds as he stepped forward on only slightly hesitant legs. He couldn't find it in him to touch her, desiring permission for further invitation but she closed her eyes and he winced, grimacing as he thought she must be feeling all of the pain in the world.

Caused by him.

Wait... wait what? --

Figure it out --

He stared at her, wide-eyed. He hadn't... figure it out? What was she implying? Tiberius' stomach dropped at her words, "I didn't... I didn't know 'fore then, Olive, I swear ta yer," he swore, voice thick with emotion and promise. Unlikely that she would believe him, he thought but... he had to let her know that despite what he had done, he hadn't done it with prior knowledge. 

"Wha'... wha' d'yer mean, figure it out?" Tiberius hedged quietly, glancing to her with a half-guarded expression. He was suddenly reminded of his talk with @Valeska and how it had felt she spoke in riddles every so often and he needed to ask questions that his inexperienced mind had no answers for. ^^

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The annoying thing was how easy it was to believe him. There wasn't a single part of Olive that doubted a word he said. He was so cloying sincere that it was almost disarming. Heat or anger fell away. A desire to understand took its place. "It's not the kiss that bothers me, truly," she attempted to explain, a pinched look on her face, eyes still held shut as she pieced together her words. "It's that you did something you believed to be wrong, and you did it anyways." At this, she peeked an eye open to look at the man she was to marry — had he imploded like a dying star, because she had this one small critique?

It was a lens that Olive had never used to look at her life, before. What was a monogamy or heterosexuality, anyways? They weren't any ideas that the woman felt automatically subscribed to, simply because it was the norm of her kind. She had always felt that love was love. It was great in theory, but didn't seem to feel so great in practice, on the receiving end of a strange, inculpable form of dishonesty. 

When asked to clarify what she meant by figure it out, the shrouded seraph could only answer honestly. "I... don't know, exactly." her ears pivoted, tucking in along the edge of her skull. "I think, maybe, we take it day by day and see what happens... but, absolutely no secrets." She had certainly loved @benry, Olive realized, though it was a platonic sort of love, and they had since fallen out. Their relationship had never been hidden, in the very least. 

The dove fluttered closer, breaching the barrier of touch which made him so hesitant. A pale paw upon his of ink, a lilt of her jaw to speak towards his ears.  "No accidents. To be true partners, we have to talk to each other before we act upon any impulse, including these." She supposed that she was asking her titan to be self-aware enough to recognize the emotions within him, before acting upon them. It would be tough for him, but it was the challenge she issued in order to proceed with comfort and security.

Plus, Olive felt she was being exceedingly cool about a lot of things, here.

There was a large part of Olive that stingily wanted Tiberius to shower all the love within his heart on her and their children, but there was a larger part that feared what might happen if she attempted to stymie this personal development for Tiberius. She wondered, if she had been one to give him an ultimatum, who would he chose? She hoped and believed that it was her, but suddenly, she felt unsure. With her alone, could he ever had felt completely whole? And, furthermore, did she feel whole if she knew Tiberius had such love for another? That he saw and appreciated things in them, that she lacked within herself.

Another's worth didn't define her, but in this moment, it felt like it did.
He always made her feel perfect, but here it was easier to fault herself.

Cue tears. "It's been so crazy, with the babies, the myriad of new additions. I haven't been as attentive, I haven't been myself..." She stepped forward to tuck her face in the thick fur of his neck, unable to do anything else, letting a sob wrack her. It was okay for her to have feelings about this, wasn't it? Olive had thought the life they had made was golden, and it pained her to think that it had all somehow left Tiberius wanting. "I'll be your kitten again, I promise." she uttered, voice and body shuddering.

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He bowed his head, unable to argue with her but also unwilling; she was right. In the end, it truly mattered not his reasons or how it had come to be, only that he had felt the confusion when it had been happening and had not taken himself out of the situation. "I know, I know Olive, I'm so fucken' sorry," he rasped, unable to say anything else. Tiberius had no right to try and dictate her pain or excuse it, so he didn't.

As the titan looked at her through crestfallen depths and listened to her as she once more showed her heart and soul to him, he couldn't help but think he couldn't fathom how someone like her even existed. How she walked this land like she was just a wolf when in reality, what was she truly? Did his nickname for her ring true, was she an Angel? Tiberius swallowed, molten gaze wash over her unable to look away now. He found that he didn't care that she didn't know, he cared only that she was there and she was... she was trying, when she didn't need to.

She came forward when he hesitated, opting to break the small distance herself. Willingly did she touch him, her paw warm to the touch and he couldn't help himself but lean into her touch and her voice. "Promise yer Olive, darlin', anythin' fer yer. Anythin'," he stressed quietly, he didn't know what any of it meant, really, but he would do whatever she so desired of him. He knew that he would need to talk to Kuhn at some point now, doign the very thing that the feline disliked: talking emotions.

Now, though, his attention was fully on Olive. Oh, oh no -- his eyes widened as he saw them, those tears and if he could have struck himself down, he would have in that moment. She came to him, tucking herself beneath his chin and immediately did he tuck his head down to pull her closer, as tight as she might let him. "Olive, Olive you listen ta me, darlin', don't yer think like tha', alrigh'?" He begged, "yer everythin' an' more, please don't doubt tha'." Olive had broken, letting her feelings out now after she had made sure to comfort him.

Just as her nature.

"Fuck me, darlin', yer gave me a family, even 'fore our babies. Yer became m'family," Tiberius swore, his heart breaking at her cries and her promises. Needless promises, ones he had made her feel like she needed to make. "Yer listen ta me an' yer listen good, yer tha mother ta m'children, tha reason I can fuckin' see in goddamn colours -- yer make it easy ta breathe, Olive," god, could he ever forgive himself for hurting her this way?

He didn't understand how his heart was open to the feline, too, but it was and he was stuck, unable to change it yet if he had to, he would pick Olive. How could he not? Valeska's words were unable to be banished from his mind, that his heart was larger than most for love and he... could he love them both? Truly? He felt as if he did though with Kuhn, it was something he didn't understand. With Olive, he understood perfectly.

"Ain't nothin' 'bout yer I wan' ta change," he murmured, promises on his tongue. He would spend the rest of his life seeking to make it better, make her believe his words. In the worst timing possible, @Valmúa's words of how she and Kuhn lay together came to mind and Tiberius was made to think: perhaps it was him that needed to change. Fulfull Olive in ways he had thought he had done, to show her further that he loved her.

Oh, because he needed the other half of the feline and wolf duo to confuse his thoughts! He almost huffed, the gremlin finding ways to mess with him even when she wasn't present. Fucking typical. He breathed her in softly, tasting her on his tongue and he fell silent, hoping she would believe him. ^^

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He said he was sorry. She felt that he was sorry. What else was there? Was there any use of further picking things apart, and drawing flawed conclusions, and causing herself further suffer? This could be over here and now, if they simply let it. This was not an event that could crumble the might duo, nor shatter her trust in him. The shuddering sylph listened to his words, hanging on them, and they were exactly what she had wished to hear; and the hidden meaning of his words became evident to a willing ear. 

She had been his first in almost every way. Had Olive known the great titan was a virgin when they met that day by the frigid, meandering ice floe? She hadn't, as she would come to know later; but she had known that he was utterly virginal in love and the ways of the heart. The man was all duty and structure, with very little room left over to feel anything else. She had been the first to crack open that door way, and like a child, it was only natural for him to want to explore what these new possibilities meant for him.

If all that Tiberius spoke was true, then Olive felt as if this was something she could reasonably support. He had clearly defined boundaries for himself, which she knew he could easily respect now that he knew exactly where their comfort started and stopped. She oh-so-wanted to trust him, to give into the beautiful belief that she and her family came first to him, now and forever. 

Standing there, breathing against him and feeling the familiar sturdiness of his carriage support her, she made the decision to turn away from any biting insecurities, and again instill such trust in him as her partner and biggest supporter in this life.  As he supporter her in all things, and she wanted to support him in this. She wanted their lives to be colorful and interesting, and that meant edging upon discomfort at times. With that thought, a smile tugged at Olive's lips. 

Realizing no one could see this, she turned her head to the side so that only a cheek pressed into his neck, and she looked up at him with baleful, emerald eyes. The knot of her ears, held tightly at the base of her skull, began to loosen. "I'm inclined to believe you," she admitted sheepishly, taking a deep breath into her belly, and then letting it go. "Every part of me knows that you are mine," The way her words settled within her felt as though they were divinely guided. "...and I don't think these new feelings of yours are bad, in any way." Somehow, strength and fluidity percolated back through her muscles, which before have felt constricted.

"I would expect the same of understanding, if the roles were reversed."

Truly, Olive wished for the matter to be concluded. Not the exploration of their sexualities, no — but she could do without the guilt that seemed to be forever wrenched into the deep grooves of her fiancé's features. Figuring that he would need her to lead him out of this current darkness, Olive attempted to take the reigns. She laughed; a chuckle, of somewhat disbelief, at herself, at Tiberius, at Kuhn, at the situation entirely. "You and Kuhn? Truly?" she asked him, her brow cocked high, finally able to process the fact that 

Tiberius. 
and. 
Kuhn. 
kissed.

Her heart still beat fast, treading into entirely unknown territory here, but being playful about it all seemed to be the polar opposite of guilt so she leaned into it.  Knowing the situation to still be raw though she was feeling far better about it, Olive stifled herself into quietude. "You don't wish that I wore stripes, and... she cajoled, stepping forward and rubbing herself against him as a cat would,"...walked like this?"

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He was.

He was hers.

Something settled in his heart to hear her say it, to hear her believe in it. He could never doubt that heart of hers, knowing how superior it was in every aspect. He breathed softly, an exhale that bore his tiredness and emotions, feeling her move against him. Valeska had told him the same, that his emotions were not bad and he wasn't sure how he thought on it but hearing it only strengthened by Olive -- well, it made him feel less... less wrong. Less strange, less broken. He stilled at her next set of words,  he ate them, digested them and found his brain swirling.

"Wit'... Wit' Kuhn?" Tiberius hedged, wondering as he fell silent. He had thought on it, when he had visited Elysium -- the thought of Kuhn being close to Olive didn't disturb him nor fill him with a rage that would cause him to turn the Tundra red but... but if it were a stranger? Someone he did not trust with either of their lives? It... it did the opposite to him, it did not fill him with comfort, ease nor warmth -- it filled him with distaste, left him with a hunger for wolf. Was that wrong of him? His bond with Kuhn was more than that of a stranger, did that matter any? Did it change anything or would it be the same if Olive favoured a taste of a random beast?

She surprised him.

Olive laughed and Tiberius blinked, looking down at her with an openly confused expression on her delicate features. His cheeks heated, warm at her words. "Well I... well," he coughed, actively trying to clear his throat so that he need not reply, finding it embarrassing but also that it was all so goddamn strange, okay. He felt as if he had been put through some emotional war, each battle worse than the other. He felt like he was fuckin' 50 years old. Then again, he had felt as if he were 40 when he was but one years of age, so he supposed that it checked out all the same.

He blinked once more, surprised as she spoke and then moved, sleek like a cat against his side and he leaned over to nip at her rump, "watch yerself, luv," the titan warned warmly, words rumbling from the depths of his chest. "Love yer like yer are," he declared, "stripless an' all." Whilst Kuhn looked bold and sleek, visibly a man of strength -- Olive looked overworldly in her soft colours, soft and delicate with elegance unmatched. He felt awkward then as he shuffled a paw in the snow, "I uh... git a question fer yer, luv an' I... well, I... I was told tha' there's uh... different ways," oh, he was going to kill Valmua. He was, he could have done without this knowledge but goddamn, he had thought since her conversation with him that he had done Olive a disservice.

Apparently in more ways than one, given the recent events. "Ta... ta uhm... 'ave sex an' I was wonderin' if yer were 'appy wit' our way or if yer wanted ta try it differently in tha future," his words came out quickly, hurriedly and they were full of embarrassment. He knew she was in no shape to do that but he thought that if in the future there were more ways to ensure she knew how much she meant to him, then he wanted to know about it. Especially with doubt had been planted in her since they had started this conversation, though she told him otherwise. ^^

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The woman pursed her lips when the titan sputtered about any potentiality between she and the tiger, and Olive couldn't honestly say she hadn't though about it before. His ways were so intimate and confusing, yet powerful and intimidating, she (on a strong, weird level) understood exactly what Tiberius saw in the man. Kuhn was as much of an enigma to her, and seeing her husband driven mad by his feline comrade was a little entertaining. The sprite could only try to prevent the pressed line of her lips from curving into a smile. The thought of coupling with a stranger never even crossed her mind.

But then he actually did seem so taken aback by the thought that Olive felt inspired to bat his stalwart forearm with her paw. "Don't give me that look," she lilted with a narrow look in her eye. She didn't want to be misunderstood; in this moment, it all felt so delicate, as this this was a peace that night shatter at any moment. "I have never wanted another as much as I have wanted you. I don't know if that's possible for me," the woman sighed something forlorn, swishing her tail across the backs of her ankles. 

If that was true, and it was, then what was the hold up? Why was it so hard for her to just let Tiberius and Kuhn be... Tiberius and Kuhn, without imposing all sorts of rules upon them? "I just... I don't..." she guessed at an explanation, wishing she could entirely be the free-spirited, all-loving creature like the ideals she preached. She supposed it came down to wanting to maintain the relationship that she had with both of them. They both were incredibly important figures  in her life. 

In that, too, Olive and Tiberius could see eye to eye.

She sighed again, realizing that most of her discomfort lay in the fact that she was jealous. Of Tiberius, and of Kuhn. She thought for a split-second about Valmua, and wondered her placement in this complex web. There was enough love in the world for them all, wasn't there? "I don't want to... feel like a stranger, between you two." Her belly churned, feeling like a foreign body in their private relationship. She hoped it wasn't sounding that way to her fiancé.

"I would like it even more, if I were to be involved somehow." What this looked like, Olive had no idea or framework. It was only a tiny inkling of an idea, but she didn't want to insert herself where she wasn't invited. Still, with a sparkle in her stelliforous gaze, she licked him across the nose. "You needn't go on this journey alone." and she continued with her light teasing, about if he wished that she had stripes.

Oh, Olive should have known better than to shimmy herself across his body like that; the man was a hairpin trigger and an absolute mess, prone to misreading and overreacting. Olive felt very much the same, though she was not feeling as lost as confused as she had in moments prior — so when Tiberius started talking about sex, and the different ways to have sex; well, Olive was rather astonished. She supposed the topic of postpartum intimacy would come up eventually, but her body still felt so strange, and swollen, and empty. She couldn't fathom the thought of it. "Truly, my only sensual desire is to fully recover from growing, delivering, and feeding four of your children," she joked, trying to assuage both of their embarrassment by turning around and pulling up beside him, licking underneath his jawbone. As she did so, the intrusive thoughts set in again.

He hasn't been satisfied in a long time. He's bored and wants to try something new. That's why he did it.

The woman looked up at him, eyes suddenly brimming with something akin to anxiety. "Are you trying to say that... you would like to try something new?" It was fair, if he did. Tiberius was a strong, virile warrior — and she was fragile. Only good for pupping, not for fucking, as Tiberius seemed to desire.

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He all but huffed as one of her petite paws came to swat at his leg, the pout on his features evident as she spoke, "ain't no look," he grumbled, petulantly. Ah, shit, no it wasn't -- it wasn't that he wanted Kuhn more. Tiberius was certain that he could never want someone as much as her, knowing that if he had to, if it came down to it, he would pick her, time and time again. It didn't diminish his bond with Kuhn but it was the truth. He looked at her as she worked through the motions, his mangled brows furrowing as he watched her, listened to her.

Tiberius wouldn't say outloud how smug he was that she didn't think anyone else would ever match in her mind in comparison to him, because despite how evolved he might be -- there was still a part of him so feral in it's desires that it sat on his head like a crown, fancy, superior and reigning powerful. It wasn't fair to make it known, either, because she was being so goddamn open and understanding, that revealing a bit more of his basic-instinct side in the current situation would do very little to make any of it better.

It made sense to him then, more, now that she revealed that she desired to be more than a stranger in whatever Kuhn and he might dive into (honestly, Tiberius thought it would go nowhere, that Kuhn hadn't thought as deep into as he had and really, where was there for it to even go?). "I'd never leave yer behind, Olive," he murmured to her quietly, unable to let her go on thinking that he would want any aspect of his life devoid of her.

Her tongue kissed along his nose and he exhaled softly, molten gaze encased with depths of love and affection for the woman before him. "Surprisin'ly, I ain't... ain't opposed ta tha idea o'yer an' Kuhn," Tiberius revealed in an almost-whisper. Anyone else, though, and he was certainly opposed, thank you very much. Don't tell Olive, okay. "I'll uh -- talk ta 'im, soon, I guess an' -- talk, see where 'e is at," he supposed it was the next step because even if he hadn't been having this conflict, what happened between them required a chat, didn't it? Kuhn's favourite past time, of course.

Tiberius respected her fuck loads for the duties her body carried, growing and carrying new life, birthing them and still tending to them in ways only a mother could. "Yer strong, Olive. Even still, yer birthed four babes. Yer recovery ain't nothin' ta think lightly on," Tiberius assured her, realising that maybe the way he put across his words hadn't their intended affect. Oh, oh no was she thinking he was making a complaint --

No, no he had intended to find out if he were lacking anywhere, so that he might do better in the future and enable her to understand that he only wished to make her feel loved and desired wholeheartedly. "I ain't mean --" he winced, grinding his teeth together as he figured that it was typical, he had fucked up again. "I only ask 'cause yer... well, I wan' yer ta 'ave everythin', y'know? I ain't know much about tha female body an' I want ta know if yer need me ta be different in any way," because she had to know, with every part of her, that there was nothing he wouldn't do.

Also, his male ego couldn't take the thought of not pleasuring her to the max.

"Wan' yer ta... tell me wha' yer wan', no matter tha topic," Tiberius declared, leaning down to swipe his tongue along her forehead, gentle and full of affection. ^^

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Olive was experiencing a strange combination of emotions that was tumultuous and ephemeral. Tiberius was as open to the idea as she was towards him, but the thought of Tiberius having to talk to Kuhn about it made her skin crawl. Though Olive had not gone as far as to kiss the feline, she did had her own litany of a history with him, and felt compelled to go about this in her own way, that was as natural and unforced as possible. All she had wanted to know was that this was a two-way (ahem, three-way) street with him, and it seemed that it was.

Even if she and the tiger only ever ended up being great friends, the fact that she was in it beside them was what mattered most. But that felt too complicated of a topic for the moment. "We needn't figure it all out at once,” she assured him softly, twitching her nose at the details of it all. It felt so superfluous; because what mattered was feeling close to Tiberius in this moment. For a moment there, judging from his anxiety alone, she had feared the worst. The seraph leaned into his affections, allowing her heart rate to eventually come to stillness.

"and you needn't figure out anything for me," she continued to murmur, feeling that this was one of the few last distinctions she wanted to make. Tiberius being Tiberius, would probably take this to task and pursue success relentlessly. The way the Priestess saw this, it was more like a dance; a delicate ballet. "I am here with you, and we will proceed into the future with as much love and support as we have always had,” she said with laughter light on her voice, slightly unable to believe how vastly different her life was now from even a year ago. "perhaps even more, now.”

A cold wind blew, and the woman shivered against him.

Still, the sylph could not quiet the voices in her head entirely, especially when it came back around to the subject of her pleasure. She couldn't help but almost commend Tiberius for being so open and honest about his needs, even if he did not realize the feat he was achieving. As far as Olive, she had not a complaint in the world about their intimacy, well — until now, when words couldn't seem to dispel this persistent belief that he would not have found himself in a tiger's arm, had she been taking him to bed more often.

That was a topic for another time, another day, another lifetime entirely. At least: not now. "Have no fear, my bear,” she cooed, realizing rather immediately the opportunity she had stumbled upon, here. She had been so distracted by the overt magic of sex (which was the production of offspring, of course) that she had been, for a time, blinded by its more subtle magic. Perhaps Tiberius (in more or less words) was giving her a license to explore this liturgy, with him. Until now, she had felt this part of herself to be severed, and cut off.

"Maithuna is holy and powerful. It has the ability to spin magic,” she repeated the words of her mother, "there are many levels to it, most that I do not yet know...” Tantric belief would have it that this was one of the most mobilizing energetic forces one could have; that, at least, she knew. Olive's tail fluttered nervously, and a slight pant came from parted lips.

She wasn't ready to walk this walk yet, but she felt suddenly bright and excited for the future. "Be patient with me, and we can explore the depths together.” Her star-studded eyes peered up at him, previously having been unaware that her husband-to-be was so curious and atypical. This was a plot-twist she could handle. She liked that.

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He nodded to her, willing to follow her lead and allow her to guide him on how best to proceed. It was all so strange and foreign, he hadn't a clue how to navigate it and surely she didn't either but together he was certain they could. With her at his side, on his side, Tiberius thought they could take on anything. She was proving it now, by remaining by his side. Tiberius couldn't ask for any more from her. Had she not said anything or offered her guidance, he'd have likely taken the bull by the horns and brought himself before Kuhn and did... well, he wasn't sure, really, but something. "Alrigh', luv. Wha'ever yer think is best," he murmured to her, voice a gentle rasp.

Whatever she wanted to do from here, he would do. Love and support was all that they had ever shown each other, really, wasn't it? Even that day by the frozen lake, they'd been supportive of each others actions. Even then, the start of their story, had been supporting them in a way that he couldn't have imagined.

Tiberius would kill to ensure that the thoughts that circulated her mind were gone, snatched from her memory. She didn't deserve to feel that way, to think that way, for nothing was her fault. It wasn't intended to be anyones fault, fuck it was -- it had snowballed, to some degree, with everyone involved nonethewiser to what any of it meant.

"I'd explore anythin' an' anywhere wit' yer, darlin'," Tiberius rumbled warmly, kissing her snout with his tongue as he looked to her, molten gaze full of affection. "I love yer, Olive. Wit' everythin' in me," he swore, feeling something strange in the pit of his belly. Delight that he might, in the future, be able to offer her more feelings. Different ones, ones he should have asked about before hand. "Be patient wit' me too," he returned quietly, "I... I's still learnin' all sortsa shit." And it was likely not the last time he would mess up but likely the last time in that nature.

He was certain of it. ^^

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