Things Look Better with One Eye Closed

"She's the one that won't talk to us," Nathifa said. "If anyone should apologize it's her. When she first came back she shunned everyone that she once considered a friend within the Rebellion."

Nathifa was relieved when Sakari indicated that he was done telling them what he had come out to say and turned back toward the inn, waiting to see if Akaelin would follow.

((>-< shortpost))

Sakari simply shrugged before turning away, whistling 'Beware the Friendly Stranger'.

Still agitated, Akaelin turned and followed Nathifa, a characteristic pout on his features. He wasn't 'that' pmsy. ...Okay, so maybe he was, but he sure as hell didn't need a...whatever the hell Sakari had said.

((shorter post is shorter.

Back in 10.))

Nathifa visibly relaxed once Sakari was gone and leaned her head against her mate's shoulder as they walked. "I'm glad that' over with for a while," she said. It had been so long since they had gotten an opportunity to be alone together that the goddess was bursting with desire. It was all that she could do to not just kiss Akaelin and bring him to the ground on top of her, not even waiting to get back to the inn. But sadly, it would be better to wait in the long run.

Ares grabbed her spear from the table when she was done polishing it and held it close to her face to inspect the polishing job. The night was growing late but it had been a while since she had practiced with her fairly new spear and didn't want to get out of shape. She grabbed the sheath for the five-foot weapon and headed outsite of the inn to hopefully find a tree of something to practice on. Then again, just some simple body training wouldn't hurt her either.

Akaelin sighed, sensing exactly where Nathifa was going with this and...

He wasn't in the mood.

It was true that it had been a few weeks since they had gotten a moment alone together, but even that seperation didn't make that wave of desire wash through him as it did Nathifa. Was that really all their relationship was build off of? Sex? Was one merely nothing more than a simple booty call for the other?

For what was probably the first time, Akaelin looked down at his mate and shook his head. "It's not quite over," he said. "I still have some other people to talk to. A couple plans to make, some things I've been working on. We're still not prepared."

((I'm picturing Nathifa hoisting Akaelin up over her shoulder and dragging him off to bed to make him her bitch for the evening. XD))

Nathifa sighed. "I know," she said disappointedly. "I guess I'll just go sleep or something. It's been a long day." It wasn't that she just wanted the alone time with Akaelin just for the sex, but she felt that when they were together like that it was the one time that they could really throw off all pretenses and be completely open with each other in both body and soul. They didn't have to stand strong for the rest of the pack and just let whatever troubles they had melt away in the other's presence. Plus with the end of the world coming she didn't know how much longer they would even have left to love one another. But unlike some of the others in the Rebellion, Nathifa hadn't quite come to terms with the fact that dying was a very real possibility

She saw one of the newcomers walk out of the inn and gave a nod of recognition, but nothing more. She wasn't in the mood.

Ares waved cheerfully to Nathifa and Akaelin as she saw them. Yep, she would definitely need more body training than combat training right now. The weight of her green spear was definitely a little too much fr her to handle efficiently at the moment.

Akaelin frowned slightly when he saw Nathifas dissapointment. Had she gotten angry or thrown a tantrum, she would've been easier to refuse. However, her calmly backing down was something that was almost tormenting. He gave her a quick kiss then turned away. After a few steps he stopped suddenly and just stood there for what felt like an eternity.

"Oh fuck it."

He turned back, wrapped his arms around Nathifas waist and hoisted her up over his shoulder. Even if he had killed the mood with his previous refusal, it wouldn't take much for him to rekindle it, as long as the goddess didn't run away from him.

Nathifa wiggled down from Akaelin's hold on her so her feet touched the ground again before giving him a gentle kiss. "If there is stuff you have to do, then you should do it," she admitted. "We shouldn't put ourselves before the pack. If we do manage to win this then we'll have all the time in the world afterward. Until then I guess we'll just have to wait for a better time."

((gotta go. Be back tomorrow night. See ya!))

Akaelin almost whimpered as Nathifa wiggled out of his grip. Now that he was distracted, he could only think of one thing to do, and it was the person standing in front of him. Whatever. It wasn't like he could force her if she really didn't want to. Perhaps he would talk to Arlyn or something. The older wolf almost always had something to say. He simply shrugged, then turned off into the trees.

Nathifa sighed and went back into the inn, renting a room at the desk past the bar of slightly drunken men. She really did want Akaelin right now, but knew that she would have to be a lot more responsible than she was in the last war. Nathifa undressed before she got into the bed in hopes that whenever Akaelin got back from his business then they would be able to do it.

((Wanna skip to morning? I don't really have much else to post. Akaelin won't be coming back though.))

Most everyone started to turn in for the evening, or preparing to possibly leave tomorrow, pending on Akaelins orders. Arlyn settled down for the night outside with Vane and a couple others he didn't know. As a wolf, he had always preferred to sleep outside rather than anywhere else.

"Sai..." Faorn said, bringing up the conversation of their ex-leader hating them.... bringing of the same conversation over and over again. Faorn couldn't believe it. The rebels had been rejected by their leader. That wasn't the best thing that could happen, and it was a close thing to the worst that could happen. "Why?"

Of course, nobody really knew why Sai was so... mad. But of course, Faorn liked to repeat things. She looked down and kicked the ground unhappily.

"It doesn't really matter why she's angry at us now," Syn said with a shrug. "She's not the leader anymore. Her loss." Frankly, he was getting a bit tired of everyone talking about Sai. So what if she decided to act bitchy? It was her business, and everyone else's to leave her alone.

Nathifa woke up early in the morning and sighed as her hands failed to find a warm body, either furry or smooth next to her. She wondered if Akaelin was mad at her for refusing him last night after she had initiated it. But it was true that she didn't know much about being a leader and knew for sure that she wasn't a very good one during the last war. If he had plans he needed to make, then she didn't want to damage the well-being of the pack for her selfish desires. After getting dressed again, Nathifa followed the inviting smell of coffee into the bar/common room of the inn.

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Kitai didn't immediately open her eyes or feel around her bed when she woke up; she was wishing for one thing that would have been too good to be true. But to her expectations and disappointment there was no Yoko to be seen when she woke up, although his scent still clung to the sheets.

While Yoko hadn’t been there when Kitai regained consciousness, there was no way he would have left without properly saying goodbye. Even if it really wasn’t the smart thing to do. Still, it felt rude to just disappear in the middle of the night like some fantasy that never really was. He had merely gone out to make sure that Haldis hadn’t run off in the middle of the night. The thin, gangly mare was still stood loyally in the spot Yoko had left her, grazing casually. Fully clothed, Yoko snuck back into Kitais room like some kind of highway man or vagabond, waiting for her to arise. As soon as he did though, he would need to skedaddle. No doubt Hel was probably already feeling a bit sore that he had already been gone for so long.

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Arlyn, like Nathifa, had followed the warming scent of coffee into the Inn. While he didn’t drink the stuff, he had always enjoyed its smell. His hair was a bit ruffled from his pleasant, undisturbed sleep, but other than that he was fully awake, lime green eyes scanning the area. He found Nathifa entering the room as well, but strangely without Akaelin. Usually when you went looking for one, you could almost always find the other.

Kitai opened her eyes and sat up, sensing that it was past the usual time she woke up at seeing as how she had stayed up so late the previous night. A smile spread across her face when she saw Yoko and immediately went over to give him a hug. She hesitated right before she did. "Are your ribs back?" she asked, not wanting to cause him pain again.

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Nathifa forced a smile when Arlyn came in, though she wasn't feeling the best this morning, and inclined her head in a gesture of respect to him before ordering some of the coffee that was brewing. Several other members of the Rebellion had been attracted either from their rooms or from outside by the appealing scent of the roasting beans.

“Yup,” Yoko said warmly. His face then grew rather solemn and he let out a small breath. “I have to go though, before Hel gets her skivvies in a bunch.”

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Arlyn nodded his head in return, sensing the goddess’s ill mood. “Where’s Akaelin?” he asked. “Or did you two argue about something meaningless again.”

((so short.))

Kitai gave Yoko the hug and rested her head against his chest. "You go then," she said, knowing that Yoko would get punished even more if he stayed any longer. "I'll be waiting for you. If I'm not with the group I'll be in Chalca. It's a town you can find if you head southwest towards the coast from here about 20 miles."

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"We didn't really argue," Nathifa said. She wasn't quite sure how to describe what happened last night. "I wanted some...alone time with him last night but then conceded that the pack should come first. Then he wanted too, but I wanted to stick to my descision and have it be after he took care of things that we might."

Yoko returned her hug, memories of the previous night flashing themselves through his mind. Kitai definitely didn’t seem quite so hormonal today, but at least she wasn’t slapping him claiming that he had taken advantage of her. “I’ll be back,” he promised, then turned and climbed out the window. He hadn’t wanted to leave the Inn. Being away from his home and Kitai was about as torturous as some of the stunts Hel liked to pull.

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“And he didn’t return?” Arlyn figured, biting down on his tongue as he thought. “Did he say that he’d come back?” If Akaelin hadn’t said anything about returning that same night, then it was likely that he was still out and about. If he had promised his mate that he would in fact come back, then there would be reason to worry. It wasn’t like the wolf to break a promise to his mate, especially one that involved sex.

"Yoko!" Kitai called after him as he left. "Thank you for everything!" She sighed, separation anxiety already building up. She calmed herself by closing her eyes and focusing in on the sound of her own heart and the two little ones that were beating in unison with each other. She started putting on the rest of her clothes so that she could go out into the rest of the inn

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"He didn't make any promises to come back," Nathifa said. "I just told him that I would get a room if he still did want to later." The goddess wondered if Akaelin was mad at her for what happened.

Yoko looked back over his shoulder as he led Haldis out of the trees and mounted the Arabian style mare. He gave a small half smile before waving goodbye. But he didn’t feel like Kitai should be thanking him. Rather, he thought that he should be the one thanking her. The werewolf was one of the few things that kept him afloat during these times. When Hel seemed to want to pull him under, Kitai was there, reaching out to keep him from drowning.

He dug his heels into the horse’s sides, urging her into a steady canter. Yoko figured that Hel would soon flash him into Yggdrasil herself. Why not enjoy a little ride first?

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“Ah. I’m sure he’s either busy, or still a bit sore then,” Arlyn said reassuringly, taking a seat at one of the tables. He untied the band he used to keep his hair back, running his hands through it to try and get it to settle down. Once he had done so, he pulled it back once more. He frowned as he spotted a few silver strands of hair mixed in with the dark plum, caught in-between his fingers. It had taken him awhile to come to terms with the fact that, yes, his hair was going to start to gray. While he still wasn’t 100% happy with it, at least he had stopped throwing tantrums.

After Kitai came to terms with the fact that Yoko was gone and she wouldn't be able to see him for a while, she exited her room and went over into the common area, taking a table away from the others that were there. Some people might have smelled the scent of her sweat and Yoko's on her last night, so she wanted to avoid a confrontation for as long as possible.

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Nathifa grabbed her cup of coffee and added a little milk to it before going to join Arlyn at the table he was sitting at. Her back was to the hallway so she didn't notice that Kitai walked out and took a seat at the table in the corner.

Arlyn tried not to scrunch his face up in disgust as Nathifa sat down at his table. It wasn't that he objected her sitting with him, he just couldn't see how she could drink coffee. But then again, Akaelin always drank his coffee black, while Yoko added so much cream and sugar that the concoction couldn't really be considered coffee anymore.

However, Arlyn had always been one to wear his emotions on his face, and he couldn't help but at least raise an eyebrow.

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Kieran came down from the steps, having gotten a room up on the second floor. Apparently everyone was already awake, and in truth he felt a bit ashamed that he had slept in so late.