It also meant when he’d shifted from his monstrous form to his more humanoid one, he hadn’t needed to wait additionally for clothing to form. He’d been comfortably standing long before both of them when they’d reached the edge of the Veil’s forest.
All three had sprinted on all fours. Despite being followed and chased by Demons, none were foolish enough to attack. It’d taken them barely an hour to make it to relative safety.
They walked within the very slip of sun that touched the ground right next to the Veil’s cliff wall until Orpheus started them up an incline. It was steep, but wide enough that two humans could walk side by side; a Mavka just fit.
Just as the surface’s edge became visible, Magnar, who had been walking between him and Orpheus, dropped back. He glided his claws against the wall to keep himself from walking off the edge of their path, as he turned his head to the side to look at Ingram.
His green orbs morphed to dark yellow within in his bony eye sockets.
“Are you going to ask Emerie for her soul?” Magnar enquired, tipping his head. His antlers blocked the sun and caused streaks of shade to branch over the white of his skull.
Ingram looked at the horizon as he climbed.
“No,” he answered plainly.
Magnar, growing more interested in the conversation, turned his head around completely to face Ingram while he walked. “Why not?”
He was beginning to wonder why not as well.
Whenever he tried to think too deeply on the subject, a blankness muddled his thoughts. Between that nothingness, other thoughts trickled in, sharing with him the limited information he’d retained.
“Because I cannot.”
“Why not?” Magnar pressed, just as their path tipped and their feet met the surface’s edge.
“I am not allowed to,” he uttered quietly, unsure of how to answer.
Orpheus turned and halted them.
“If you give her time, she may change her mind.” He cupped the side of his long wolf snout. “It’s difficult for a human to accept Mavka. Most of them think of us as monsters, but Reia and Delora bonded with us of their own will. Emerie seems... warm towards you. You already have her scent on you.”
“You can ask her again later, when she has grown comfortable with you,” Magnar added.
Ingram’s head jerked. “I have not asked her.”
He wasn’t sure why they’d assumed he had.
Now, Orpheus’ orbs turned dark yellow in curiosity, mirroring Magnar’s.
“Why are you both looking at me like that?”
Orpheus stepped forward and dipped his head. “You said you weren’t allowed, so I thought that was because she has rejected you. Why is it you think you cannot?”
Ingram scratched at the back of his neck, then rubbed the side of it when his orbs turned a reddish pink. Slowly, he drew his foreclaw to his chest.
“I only have one heart,” he grumbled, tapping just next to his sternum. “It already belongs to Aleron.”
Magnar and Orpheus’ snouts darted towards each other, and they twisted their heads in opposite directions.
“I am already bonded in spirit,” Ingram continued when it appeared as though they were confused.
“Do you not love Emerie?” Magnar asked. “You are even clingier with her than Orpheus is with Reia. I thought that meant...”
“She is my female,” Orpheus softly growled. “I will hold her as much as she allows.” He snorted out a wild huff before bringing his skull back to Ingram. “But I’m also curious. Other than the fact you don’t have her soul, together you act like Mavka and bride.”
“I love Aleron,” Ingram stated. “He is my kindred, my... twin.”
“I don’t understand,” Magnar grumbled, tapping a claw to the side of his bony fox snout.
Orpheus cupped the end of his own, looking over at the vast distance of the Veil.
Their silence as they pondered on what Ingram said weighed on him. Was he just not making sense or was something wrong with his thoughts?
The reddish pink in his vision deepened.
“I guess the better question would be, do you want Emerie as your bride?” Orpheus asked.
“Well... yes,” he answered, his vision swiftly turning blue. “But as I said, I cannot.”
“I see...” Orpheus hummed, tapping his claw on top of his snout as he continued to hold the end. “I think you are mistaken, Ingram. You are allowed to love more than one person. A bond with Emerie would not interfere with the one you have for the bat–... with Aleron.”
Ingram’s head tilted sharply at that. “It would not?”
“Oh! Now I get it. Orpheus is right,” Magnar exclaimed, before letting out a deep chuckle. “There are different kinds of bonds and love. For instance, I love Delora. She is my female and bride, but I also hold a place within me for Fyodor, our youngling. You do not need two hearts, just enough room for both. Or more, if you so choose it.” Then Magnar grumbled and tossed his head side to side as he bashfully said, “Orpheus, although quite prickly at times, is important to me. He is my... friend as much as my brother. He helped me with Delora and many other things. There is a place for him and Reia within my heart as well.”
Orpheus turned his head away as his orbs shifted to a reddish pink. “Reia should not be in your heart at all,” he grumbled awkwardly. “But thank you.”
Magnar chuckled again and stepped away from Orpheus’ side while gesturing to him, as if to say, ‘See?’
“I can have both?” Ingram asked.
“Yes,” Orpheus confirmed.
Why did learning this make his chest swell with emotion?
Perhaps he should have spent more time with the other Mavka, rather than being constantly at Emerie’s side. He hadn’t been particularly interested in learning about them other than what he accidentally observed while sitting in their presence.
He hadn’t even realised this entire conversation was one big question he’d needed to ask.
He knew what he knew, and hadn’t seen a need to have someone explain it to him. His separation anxiety was a big cause of his apprehension and was stunting his potential learning; it was also another reason why him being here with these two Mavka was making him restless.
I can have both...
He had not known that.
He’d known he could share a bond with both, but he hadn’t realised it could be on such a deeply ingrained level: kindred and kindred, Mavka and bride. Aleron and Ingram were one being, so it hadn’t made sense to him to allow Emerie to mesh her essence with his until they were also one.
I can have both, he repeated to himself, turning away as he scratched at the side of his beak almost bashfully.
The sharp blade that had been the piece of Emerie lodged within his chest, like it had been trying to force its way into his bond with Aleron, began to melt like hot iron. It dripped inside, sinking within the limited well of his heart.
The longer he allowed it to seep in, the more it mixed – and grew.
A warm, fuzzy, fluffy feeling tingled his chest, and he slapped his hand over the tip of his beak when it made him want to giggle in reaction. It was almost... ticklish.