Skill

BACKDATED to the Nottin/Dal Wedding in DB.
For Valeska, Amaris, and softly for Aelia as well!
VALESKA FIRST!!

Her breath was hot with the fermented aroma of the berries that she'd partaken in. A soft, lazy smile sprawled across her dark lips, narrow features, lifting upward as she twisted her gaze toward the cloudless sky. There was a quiet that erupted, as soft as it was loud. And it brought peace to the golden wraith.

A pleasant sigh escaped her lips.

Мой лось* (My 'love'*), she would begin, gaze drifting lazily toward her silver counterpart. There was fondness in her gaze, lingering in a river of fermented fruit that only accentuated the bullet points of her love. I am reminded of our own wedding, she would start, taking a step closer and swiping a gentle nose across Valeska's cheek. Warmpth flooded her.

Do you think? Her sentence was half-formed, and yet it lingered in the sensitive hair of Valeska's ear ... hesitating ... hovering. And Amaranth's toes would tingle, as if ready to sprint elsewhere at any moment. But she would ground herself, perking her ears as she leveled her head to glance into Valeska's bright eyes.

Do you think it is time?

Silence.

Hesitation.

'Do you want it to be time?'

---

*Amaranth believes 'my moose' means 'my love'

[AMARIS!]

She loved parties.

She loved them so much, it was all over her face. Literally. Messy pinks and purples stained her pale maw as she burbled happily to herself, thoroughly lost in the haze of fermented produce while muttering about lovely couples and little children and the impossible beauty of holy matrimony.

It was only Amaranth's touch that stirred her from her stupor, swaying gently as an even broader smile stretched at her lips. Yeth, she slurred in response. I mean - yes.

Valeska leaned forward to give her mate an affectionate lick on the cheek, and leaned just a little bit too far to one side as her tongue lolled and she missed her target entirely. She kissed the air next to Amaranth's shoulder instead.

It was time. It was more than time. The fantasy of living out blissful retirement, being able to travel the world without constantly fretting about home and the state of it - well, she'd still do that too - but the freedom to come and go as she pleased, the weight of responsibility firmly upon another's shoulders!

Standing up on shaky legs, Valeska grabbed another mouthful of fermented berries.

Let'ssss go.

---

It didn't take long to find them.

AMARIS! she bellowed. AELIA!

Valeska wobbled closer to their silver and gold silhouettes, a dangerous look in her eyes. She looked positively ferocious when she was instead trying to look serious and determined, already setting the stage in a way the twins might perceive... less than favorably.

WE MUST SPEAK.

---

Skill: brewmaster

---

The scent of fermented berries clung to the silver of his fur. A sharp, inebriated smell that twisted and warped the usual fresh, woodsy aroma he typically gave off. No longer was it crisp and sharp, but rather warm and tacky in a way he couldn’t quite describe. He could smell the tang of difference, even as he sought solace in his Twin’s fur, comforted by the familiar petrichor smell that reminded him of home.

After his chat with Glitch, Amaris had found himself in need of another pawful…or two…of the warmth-inducing berries. The conversation had done wonders for his own need for distraction, but alas, the topic had become far too somber for his airy high to continue in the weightless fashion he wanted.

In fact, as soon as their voices had been silenced, Amaris had been bombarded with the concerning thoughts he held about both Lylith and Elli—watching with a pained gaze as their silhouettes passed through the throng of wolves who had come to celebrate a wedding.

Would they talk to each other?

Did they know each other?

Why in the Five hells were they both here?

If anything, it had been a single stroke of good luck that Elli had not seen him, and if she had, she had forgotten all about him. He certainly did not need Lylith to see Elli speak with him…or for the girls to interact at all.

However, this time the berry’s effect had not given him the heady high it had when he first tried them with Glitch. Instead, it left him anxious—tweaked—and on edge as his gaze, panicked and intoxicatingly alarmed, swung between the mass of passing faces within the crowd.

Suddenly, he no longer wished to be drunk—and he regretted, almost instantaneously, the double-fisted gulps he had taken.

And so, like any good Twin who found comfort in their sibling’s presence, he sought out Aelia with his tail tucked between his legs and his ears glued to either side of his skull. Surely, she would know what to do, he thought. He had not wished for anyone to see him…like this. Especially not his mothers.

Amaris did not know how much time had passed between finding Aelia and hearing their names cry out in the wind. He hoped, at the very least, for a few hours, for his world to grow less twisty and his head to ultimately clear. But while he was no longer seeing in doubles, he knew for certain that he was far from the soberness he needed to speak with his parents.

By the way his silver mother came stomping through the crowd, her eyes glassy in a way that communicated to him (drunkenly) her anger. Amaris quickly shuddered.

—Did she know?

Could Valeska smell him from here?

He had never been drunk before, and of course, somehow, his mother would figure it out—what would she say to him? Would she yell at him? Scream? Send him home?

Amaris blinked through his panicked thoughts.

He couldn’t let them know.

Not Valeska. Not Amaranth.

And so, embarrassingly, and with as much alarm as he could muster, in a red, glassy, inebriated stare, he flashed Aelia a look of ‘don’t let them know I’m drunk’ — a plea in his eyes.

And then he got into position.

Because surely when his parents said they needed to talk—something huge must be wrong—and if it was about him, he would make it crystal clear that he was, in fact, NOT drunk.

Amaris settled beside his sister, head lowered to his paws, and toes scratching at the uneven dirt beneath them—as if he were lost in thought —until he found a rather indistinguishable, boring old rock. LOOK, AELIA, he spoke out loudly. As if the simple act of having a louder voice would somehow convince his parents that he was totally, 100% sober.

A NORTHERN ROCK. IS. IT. NOT. BEAUTIFUL? He announced, almost performatively, as his eyes flashed to Aelia. Was it working? He tried to ask her through his glassy-eyed stare. Did their parents believe it?

Amaris would not dare look behind him.

Instead, he pushed the boring, black stone toward his Twin.

Perhaps he needed to try harder.

MAYBE, he hollered, WE SHOULD GIVE IT TO SOMEONE SPECIAL.

Surely, his mothers would leave them alone now—especially when it was clear that he and Aelia had other plans to attend to.