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He swept his hand along her back and stayed silent for a long while. She rested her chin on his chest and made soft churring noises that he could feel against his skin. "You were going to tell me about your pa remember?" he reminded her. She huffed lightly but sat up to look at him anyway. "My daddy? Well I dunno. He was daddy. He was super smart and mama called him a nerd all the time. But I kind of think his smartness was a super power. I always thought he was tall until other people were near him. Then I knew he wasn't. But he could still pick me up even after I turned twelve springs. I think he pupped mama when they were both really young. Daddy had these glasses that he wore when he worked, with these square lenses and they were always sliding down his nose. And he wore bowties. His boss always asked him to change to a normal long tie but daddy said no because bow ties are cool. Daddy was my daddy and he was small and silly and smart. I miss him." She said.

Despite her disjointed sporadic explanation of her father, he got a good image of him. And the admiration and sadness in her voice made his heart ache. "Hey. It's alright. Somewhere out there he knows that." He replied. It sounded stilted even to him. He had never been great at comfort.

They lay in comfortable silence for a long time before Jason realized that the tiny vixen had fallen asleep on top of him. He laughed lightly and shifted her to his side. She curled her fist near her face and chirped in her sleep. She was adorable and he was glad he had found her, despite the circumstances.

He sat back and thought about the future. She had claimed him as her alpha, although she was as much his as he was hers at that point. But it meant she was glad to let him lead and decide where and how they did things. As of yet he wasn't sure he even enjoyed the idea of being her alpha. He didn't know what it entailed and if he failed her it would be catastrophic. He was meant to protect her; he had no choice since he had promised her. He would implement they begin traveling again in a week's time. Although it was still cold out, it had thawed more than enough for travel and he knew she could take the cold through her fur and the thick pads of her paws. They would stop at the nearest village and sell their unused clothing, perhaps find someone kind enough to give her something less revealing to wear. Unbidden his eyes dropped to her chest and he chastised himself. He would need to learn to avoid looking at her body so much. He didn't want that kind of attention. They would need traveling cloaks and a supply of dried meat. She could hunt easily, but the first few weeks would be scarce due to the cold. He cushioned his head beneath his arms and breathed deeply. He would miss this den fiercely. The lazy days, the warm close nights. There would be none of that on the road. Just a lot of travel and dreamless sleep. Sensing it was night, he shrugged to himself and curled up against her. Sleep wouldn't run them amiss.

The days passed too quickly for him. Cassie had stayed out two days before Micha drew her back inside of herself. They had packed their few things and put them in his cloak before dousing the fire and heading out. The cold was a bitter surprise to both of them, although Micha had yet to lose her winter coat. Glancing at Jason's goose freckled skin she could only imagine how he was faring without fur to protect him. Her nose and ears burned from the fierce wind and chill. The ground was grey and tan, barren as the day they had entered. She wondered what the world looked like blanketed in soft greens and blues.

Every winter, she forgot what it was like to be spring. And though the harsh winter was nearly over, it reared it flailing head every once in a while to remind everyone that it was not so easily silenced. Their travels were silent on account of the wind and the frightening cold. It bode well once night fell and they huddled close to each other and their small fires. The world began to thaw and as they traveled they became aware of tilled fields and sheds full of tools. The village was close. They traveled down a hard packed dirt road and Micha looked to the sky. It was less grey now, and a little more blue. The sun was warming and the grass was trying to grow. She predicted one more freeze before spring was underway. One more thaw and her birthday would be approaching. She had yet to mention to Jason that she had been born in the early spring, and wasn't certain she ever would. Humans tended to celebrate things like that with gifts, and she didn't want him to feel guilty that he couldn't indulge in his silly human custom.

Her thoughts came to a halt as he pressed his hand to her arm, effectively halting her. His nose was red and his eyes annoyed and when he spoke his voice was clipped and irritable. "When we get there try to act naturally. We're in the middle of a war. Fear is normal. Anger is normal. You've taken this eerily well and I need you to act like a stereotypical human woman while we're here." He said. He had never quite spoken to her that way and she narrowed her eyes at him before gathering a small well of her energy and zapping it at him. The spot heated painfully, but the chance of being frostbitten was slim to none. He wrenched his hand back and shook it. "I think I'm capable of acting like a weak human woman." She intoned. A part of her was hurt that he'd called her ability to adapt eerie. But let him have it his own way.

How would a human woman react to this situation? She would be cold because her attire was wholly inappropriate for the tail end of winter. She would be angry, but subdued by her protector. He had, after all, burned down her temple and her second family within it. All in the same breath promising to protect her, and willfully doing so. She began shivering and wrapped her arms around herself. She turned her face away from him even as he strode forward with his chin out and his chest displayed to the best of his ability. He was playing too she noted. Normally he'd be embarrassed to display himself in such a manner. He might still be.

His strides were long, and even though she could have matched them two to one, she chose to do four to one. She scampered behind him as they approached the village. It was surrounded by a fairly sturdy brick wall with guards posted on top, but when they approached, said guards were startlingly friendly. It was obvious the war hadn't reached them just yet, but they were more than prepared. They were admitted into the village under the false guise of being a traveling man and his only surviving maid. She resented him lowering her actual status so, but couldn't exactly blurt out that she was a priestess. But she had wanted to upon hearing his introduction.

They went to the trader's office and traded in his mail and cloak for money. They were given a fair amount of gold and directed to the nearest boutique.

The building was small and warm, heated by a small furnace in a far corner. Racks of clothing stood in neat rows on the dusty stone floor and an elderly woman swept as if it was all she did all day. She looked up and scrutinized the pair through tiny round glasses before approaching them. "I take it ye need a new dress fer the lass?" she croaked out. She even sounded old. But old in a way that reminded you of use. The way a door creaked when opened after many years of staying closed, like a noise of excitement at having a purpose again. Jason merely nodded and pushed her forward. The glare she sent him wasn't one that was completely an act.

"My maid needs new clothes. I can't have her gallivanting across the country looking like an escort. What will people think of me?" he scoffed. She tensed and felt her hackles rise just a bit. So that's what her thought of her garb? "I cannot help what your father dressed me as My Lord." She spat back. The old woman looked between the two before huffing quietly about equality between the races. "I have a set of nice cotton dresses just over here. All hand dyed. Have a browse lass." She said, pointing to a rack with simple dresses with few ruffles on them. The woman was old, but she knew when people were looking to lay low, and this pair was looking to lie as low as possible. Micha carefully picked out three demure and plain dresses before presenting them to Jason.

A low cut deep blue one caught his eye, but he discarded it because it reflected off the deep chestnut red of her fur in ways that would draw everyone's attention. A pale blue one lay behind that and he considered it. It clashed with her fur, and had too many bows to be attractive. Unfortunately it was so horrendous held against her that it too would draw attention. The last was a pale creamy colored dress. It reached to just below the meaty part of her calf and had a lacy trim. The bodice was snug and dipped modestly, although she had enough going on up top that it might still attract a few stares. There was a singular bow at the back and the sleeves were short and ruffled. It had simple pearl imitation buttons down the front and a simple lace design as the collar. He nodded and she turned to the woman.

"Good choices all of em. This one'll be ten gold pieces." She said. He handed over the pieces and eyed her warily. "Do you sell undergarments as well?" he asked. The old woman nodded and steered the vixen into a back room to be fitted. "Simple white cotton will do." He added as they disappeared behind a curtain at the back. "He's a tough one inee." the old woman grouched. "Much more of late than you might imagine." Micha grumbled. The old woman helped to get her out of her clothes, despite her protests that it was unnecessary. She fitted her for a slip, a bra and a pair of plain white panties. She nodded at her handiwork.

But before the fox could slip into the dress the old woman slapped her behind, drawing a startled yip from the other woman. "To hell with him. Have these too. No extra charge." She pressed another bundle of white cotton into her hand and Micha unrolled it to see simple embroidery across the back reading, "Cheeky". She had never seen the likes of it before and blushed heartily at the double innuendo. The woman then helped her into the dress and slip the underwear into the hidden pockets in the dress.

Micha hadn't expected her to be quite so...lively, but she found the old woman's secretive rambunctiousness infectious and grinned back before pulling the curtain aside. She watched Jason's jaw nearly drop and he tried to compose himself but the quick flash of surprise had hurt more than anything. She ought to have been more flattered, but his surprise that she looked good stung deeper than it ought to have. She began wondering if she had low self esteem and smoothed invisible wrinkles from the dress. "Two more gold for ya sir. I have some trousers and shirts over yonder if it takes yer fancy. Ye can sell the lasses old clothes to the teller too. He's always looking for clothing." She said.

She shuffled off to start sweeping again, but not before sending a quick wink towards her conspirator. Jason ambled off to find new clothing for himself, occasionally inquiring about a price, but he staunchly refused to look at her. He was ignoring her, she realized. Like a petulant child he refused to acknowledge her existence any longer and she huffed silently.

As her agitation with him grew his admiration for her grew. Seeing her in the dress had done strange things to him. He was used to seeing more of her. And now he could see hardly any of her and it made him want to take it off of her. To pull the elastic from the bodice down to view more of the valley between her breasts. To hike the skirt up around her thighs to see and feel the healthy swell of her hips. And he couldn't because they were in a public place where he was pretending to have a lot of disdain for her. So he ignored her. Steadfastly ignored the fact that she existed. That she was standing innocently by the door, probably livid that he was ignoring her, and looking innocently delicious in her off white dress.

He found a pair of loose fitting multi pocketed pants and a simple button down shirt and changed into them before shelling over the fifteen gold she wanted for them. He though it was outrageous that her simple yet elaborate dress had cost less than his pants and shirt. It was certainly less fabric. Micha softly thanked the old woman as Jason merely walked out.

He played the part well, and it was beginning to irk her that he played it quite so well. Their day in town got them enough gold to buy a sturdier pack, and a few provisions, including a flask for water. With little money left they couldn't afford to stay at an inn, and there was no cover for at least a day's walk. Micha suggested asking the villager for asylum but Jason simply frowned at her. She grit her teeth and simply followed him.

He was infuriating.

Before night fell he headed back to the clothing boutique and inquired about coats. The old woman pulled out a mens coat and a womans coat, both lined with thick fur. If Micha could have paled she would have. "It's all fake dearie. They like to pretend is all." She assured her. Micha let of a shaking breath she hadn't been aware she'd been holding as Jason let go of the last of their gold for the coats. When spring was in full swing they would easily fit into their pack. Along with their tinderbox and water canteen.

"We will travel through the night." He said. He was truly in a bad mood now. He had hoped for enough to stay at an inn, but he felt the old woman had overpriced him out of contempt. Micha said nothing and merely followed him out of the village. He knew she was angry with him, but he couldn't quite deal with it at the time. Now, miles away from the village and quickly approaching a forest he still hadn't reached out to reassure her that it had been an act. He didn't say anything.

It would be easier to apologize to her if she'd just yell at him. But she remained silent and stoic the entire walk. Even as they breached the tree line she merely followed his lead.

"Micha..." he bit out.

She gave him a non-committal grunt in return.

"I was acting." He said.

She didn't respond immediately and eventually he turned around and looked her over. She paused and went around him.

"I know you were." She admitted.

Admitting it didn't mean she forgave him though. She was given no forewarning despite the fact that he demanded she act like something she was not. And that wasn't fair as far as she was concerned. Her ears pricked forward as she heard a twig snap. One that she hadn't and coming from a different direction as Jason. She paused and held her paw up. He kept as silent as he possibly could as she listened. She could smell animals in the wood, but she couldn't pinpoint one approaching them. She lowered herself to the ground and slid forward, looking for strange activity. Finding none stood again.

"I just got you a dress and you get down in the dirt in it." He griped under his breath. She gave him an annoyed look before trotting ahead. He followed and they stumbled upon the clearing together. He left her to gather wood as she hunted. She chased out two rabbits and brought them back to prepare. The sun would rise soon. He had insisted they travel through the night, but now she was almost too exhausted to prepare the meat to be cooked. She sat with them in her lap, annoyed with him yet again. She gutted them and buried the entrails. She skinned them and looked around impatiently. Jason had still yet to arrive. With a derisive snort she flopped down on her side, curling herself into her new coat, she drifted off to sleep.

Jason wasn't faring much better. Lethargy was settling into his limbs and as he walked he grew tired. Perhaps they should have asked a villager for help, but he loathed asking for help and thus rejected the idea. He staggered back to camp just past dawn with enough firewood to last them two days. They would need to get their schedules back on track and traveling wouldn't allow for that. He flopped down on the far side of the camp to avoid annoying his companion anymore and promptly fell asleep.

Micha woke slowly to a strange and heady smell filling her nose. Her eyes cracked open and she was greeted by vivid gold eyes surrounded by pitch fur. A curtain of hair fell around her and she could hear the beads in them clank together as he - for the creature was surely male - tilted his head to the side. He smelled of dust and grass, and something hotter that lay just beneath his skin.

She took a deep breath to scream, hopefully waking Jason, who had a sword. A sword she had a great desire to be pointed at the strange man in her personal space. His paw descended upon her mouth before she even got the first of the shriek out and he grinned toothily at her. Panic set in. She struggled to rise and claw him but he growled a low deep growl that quieted her.

He wouldn't hurt her.

She swallowed and nodded her head. She glanced at her companion and wanted to roll her eyes. He lay sprawled across the forest floor with his mouth agape and small snorts would occasionally come from his throat. The creature moved back and she could see him clearly.

He was a wolf, larger than Jason, with inquisitive eyes and deep black fur. He was well muscled and adorned with jewelry. Beads clanked in his hair and bone bracelets and necklaces added to the music of his movements. His only clothing was a simple loincloth that was also covered in beads and bone shards. His ears were pointed to her as if she had his full attention. She glanced over at Jason again and earned a different growl. A disapproving growl. The growl of a male demanding that a female pay attention to her alpha.

She swallowed thickly and couldn't help but wonder, just who was this man?