Asta was almost consumed again with thoughts of her family and friends waiting, now for multiple days, for her return. Her mother would be in mourning, her father brooding and dark. She had been to many a memorial for fallen herd members. Asta had stayed up so many nights with nightmares of images of her grandparents heads mounted on walls, of visions of wolf packs and mountain lions leaping on her ancestors in human forms, only to rip them to shreds as they died in their beast forms. If it wasn't for the warmth and sparkling comfort radiating off Molaki, she would have suffocated at the thought of her family going to crisis right now, not knowing their daughter was safe.
Molaki saw her eyes starting to glaze over, not really looking at the object she was directed at, but rather, through it. He squeezed her knee, which made her instantly lock eyes with him as he tried to offer her comfort.
"Hey, listen. It'll be okay. I'm really, really sorry that this is the way that we met. But I now that I know you, I just... don't know what I would do if you weren't here. I'm just so glad you're..."
Molaki's voice cracked. He felt like such a puppy, constantly groveling and in near tears around Asta. He swore he wasn't like this just mere days ago. He was a young, strong willed male in the absolute prime of his life, who barely, just barely, took orders and only from the Tri direct. Luckily so far, only his mother and his sister were aware of just how chained he was to Asta - the way he had acted in the interrogations would have been normal for any male who had found his True Pair.
Even his own father didn't know - he wasn't sure how he had gotten away with not being cuffed by him yet. His father and mother were no longer together; in fact, Prim didn't even have the same father as Molaki. It wasn't uncommon, especially now that so few True Pairs were being bound together. It just seemed rare, and while sad, nobody blinked hard at relationships failing within the pack. As long as the pack and village itself stayed strong and could put their interpersonal issues aside for the better of the whole, family squabbles stayed private.
Asta shivered, conflicted. She felt like she needed to be close to this handsome man - a wolf- like she needed air. She didn't know how she had breathed without him before. But that didn't mean that she wasn't utterly terrified. Unlike Molaki, she remembered who she was before she was terrorized and hunted in the brush. She knew that she could never go back, and not just to her village. She could never go back to a time when she didn't need him, but for a second, she imagined what it would be like if her life had continued to be on the path it was before.
But... even though she was taking just a bit too long to answer the wolf and reassure him that she too, was happy to be here, the time it was taking was the time she needed to realize that... her path before, was nothing. It gave her the comfort of her family and friends, which she was never going to stop aching for, but it wasn't as though she was on a grand path. She had no plan other than putting one foot in front of the other, trying to survive. She wasn't even living in a way that she was sure she wouldn't starve through the winter. She had a boyfriend, who she enjoyed the company of, but it wasn't a love connection. She had some family begging her to commit so she could give them children, while her friends had felt it wouldn't last.
She was well known and admired for her skills of silence and wind reading, but she barely had a place to make use of them. On all accounts, she was just surviving, and possibly not for long.
"I'm... glad I'm here also."
The words came out shaking and uncertain, but her large dark eyes were locked into his, willing it to be true.
Molaki tried his best not to whine, but couldn't help but reach out and drag Asta in unexpectantly in a hug, grabbing her up like he had up in the bedroom and trying to bury her into his chest. If he could just hold her there inside him, she would be confident and safe, and his own body wouldn't have to keep reaching out for her to seek her calming warmth.
Asta had instinctively curled her arms into her chest as Molaki pulled her in, but she nuzzled her head into his shirt. It was like she fit there perfectly. She couldn't help but flash to her thoughts from mere seconds ago - she had never felt like she was a puzzle piece in Merno's embrace.
"We should leave the house, at some point," Molaki mumbled, letting his grip loosen so Asta could straighten up and give a reaction. She was clearly unsure, trying not to panic, but her scent spiked with fear again.
"I know you just woke up, but everyone else who isn't close to me thinks my family is hiding you away. Just for a moment, we can go to an early dinner and it will be a good step."
He cringed, realizing they may not have much for the doe to eat at their communal dinner, but to his surprise, she agreed, albeit not enthusiastically.
The male sprung to his feet, trotting up the steps to his bedchamber, already fumbling through a few dresses by the time Asta had made it up the spiral staircase behind him.
Prim was taller than her, but otherwise, especially because the Shifters clothing was generally looser, Molaki's sister's clothes would fit Asta for now. She had brought over a few sets of different items, besides the nightgown that the girl had been dressed in while she was unconscious.
Asta was surprised at how similar the linen and cotton clothing was to the clothes she had at home. It further proved that the wolves were probably not wrong that at some point the different clans had been close enough to exchange information. In the back of her mind, Asta knew that what she was being told - that they all not only tolerated, but loved, each other - was true, but for now she still had to comfort herself with false skepticism.
Molaki apologized, explaining that they did have more than dresses, but their pants were almost always leather, and he knew she wouldn't want to wear that right away, at least. Asta wasn't phased at all, picking a dark blue dyed tunic with a tie belt.
Just like when Molaki sprung up the steps, she was less enthusiastic than him when he went bounding back down the steps, only halting at the door to wait for her to reluctantly meet him.
The young man reached for her hand, squeezing it in reassurance, before swinging open the door, the late day sunlight making her shield her eyes and blink.