Molaki had rolled himself onto the bed without Asta even realizing the motions were happening, sliding up behind her while never stopping his embrace.
He pet her emerald hair back, touching every inch of her exposed skin like a mother hen making sure that her young hadn't been harmed; Asta was sure he was holding back going entirely instinctual and snuffling her hair and ears like a dog. As much as she felt she should be uncomfortable, she simply wasn't curling up into him.
If she could ball up and physically insert herself into his chest, she would. The warmth, the light, the assurance that if she was touching him, she wouldn't be harmed, was overwhelming.
Asta wasn't sure how long they stayed cuddled up on the bed, but it was long enough for Prim to snort and interject with an eyeroll.
"Alright, you two are gross. Asta, you'll be okay if I leave, right? Or do you need me to protect you from this mutt?"
A small, short growl escaped from Molaki's throat, but even Asta could tell by how relaxed he was that he was teasing back. It was when Prim didn't move to leave right away, a hand placed on a jutted out hip, that the doe realized she was actually waiting for a response.
"Yes, I'm good," she squeaked out. "Thank you so much for taking care of me!"
"Go find Keshel, he's probably whining with his tail between his legs, you haven't paid attention to him in three days," grumbled Molaki, his sister shooting him a glance and pinning her ears, but smiling before she pranced down the steps, then left the house at a four legged trot.
The two of them sat there for another half hour, just marveling in the fact they were finally together, in peace. In calm, quiet, with nobody banging down his door to drag her out. Neither had had time to really consider what would come next, and not they were at a standstill. They needed the time to breathe and recalibrate, but eventually Molaki tipped his head away from her so their eyes could meet.
"Have you seen the downstairs yet?" He asked.
Asta shook her head, and Molaki unwrapped himself from around the girl, standing up and reaching his hand out to help her out of bed.
"I have to warn you," he started, shuffling his feet a little, "we didn't fix the living room. I don't know if I can really make it to your liking. We made sure to sanitize up here to what we assumed you'd be accustomed to, but, eh," he paused, trying to figure out how apologetic he should be.
"I'm not accustomed to any of this," Asta said plainly. "We don't have two storied houses. I only knew what steps were because I found some ruins once."
Molaki scrunched his face in skepticism. Sure, plenty of cabins in Lyko were single stories, but the idea that nobody had any steps?
"I ate cheese," Asta continued, as he lead her to the spiral staircase. "It was pretty good. I know it wasn't plants, and I kept it down."
The male couldn't scrunch his face anymore in surprise, but he nodded, congratulating her as they went down the stairs. As they got to the lower floor, Asta saw - and smelled - what he meant.
The living area below was much more what she had expected of a wolf home. There was a large overstuffed brown leather couch, worn with age with several blankets thrown over the back of it. The center tale in front of it was a round slab of center cut of a huge tree, polished and worn as well. The rug was a large bearskin, luckily for Asta the head was not still attached.
There was a fireplace, lined in stone, not being used at the moment, a large kettle nestled in it if one wanted to heat up water. The back corner was a small kitchen area, with the same long table setup as above, but with stacks of dried and cured meats, as well as wheeled cheeses, and bread. Potatoes were sitting in a woven basket, and a couple of ears of corn.
Towards the front, there was a small alcove, with a bookshelf, a few thick leather bound novels stacked on it, but otherwise it was used to hold artifacts that Molaki had either found of been gifted - a rock with turquoise chunks sitting out of it, polished. A perfectly preserved box turtle shell, other items her eyes did not take in right away as she looked over to the desk next to the bookcase, which had many messy pieces of parchment laid out. There was a large in well with a quill pen hanging, the top parchment a detailed, but unfinished, map.
"What's this?" Asta asked, running her fingers down the crisp sides.
"I'm interested in the geography of Talia - in my spare time," Molaki quickly added the last part. He was being built up and trained to eventually be one of several wolves with the ability to challenge for a Tri role. He was, on all accounts, considered an Alpha, even if he wasn't in the Tri. He was focused on the good of the village, the people, the strength of it, and so making maps of the land, unless for a war strategy, was not a priority.
"I think part of why my people are so uneasy is because we only know what's directly around us. We know so much about our history, but besides knowing what direction the ocean is in, we don't have our bearings on anything else, except for instincts. Like,-" he pointed to the center of the parchment, which is where his map stopped, "What's over there?"
Asta looked at his pointer finger, then back at the wolf. "Past the Okolts?"
"Yes."
"It's mountains. It's a huge mountain range, I've never strayed past it, let alone into it. The Okolts are so good at perching in there and shooting you down, I don't know if it would be possible to map it."
"Wait," Molaki rubbed his temple. "Your pack - herd- whatever, doesn't have steps, and doesn't really have books, but you know more of the land than we do?"
Asta thought on it for a second, and then shrugged, nodding. "Maybe it's true we had a truce with the Okolts then, at some point. It's common knowledge that there's a mountain range there, but the Okoltants are fiercely protective of it. You can't cross it. We can wander into their territory for food in the spring and summer, when our males don't have antlers and our mothers have young, they seem to not want the males without their rack, and they don't want to murder birthing mother pairs. But even then, you step a foot towards those mountains, and you're finished."