I had to delete the ask post that this was for because tumblr is big dumb and hates good things. 😒
But thank you @sunrisenfool for sending me an ask and I’m sorry that it took so long! 😭
Muriel had thought he would be fine leaving the cabin for a few days to help Asra in Nopal. He didn’t mind helping his friend and the townspeople there, but the only reservation he had was leaving his family for an extended period of time. He hadn’t been away from both Arcas or Aquila for more than a couple hours since they had been born. Muriel wasn’t sure how their sons would react to him being gone for a long time. Would they cry for him when he’s not there to comfort him? Would they forget about him? He knew it was a dumb fear considering that his ‘gift’ had left him long ago, but some anxiety still lingered from it.
“The boys will be fine.” Ari assured Muriel when he brought his concern up with her and August. “You’re only going to be gone for a couple of days and if they get upset, they can always sleep in our bed with me and August.”
“If you’re really worried about the curse, we can always make myrrh pouches for the boys.” August offered, resting a hand on Muriel’s arm. Their words quell Muriel’s worries enough that he’s able to tell Asra that he’ll help them in Nopal. He feels a small bit of worry rise in him as he kisses his wife, husband, and son goodbye, but he knows that his sons are in the good hands of their other parents.
Or at least he thought they were.
Muriel waves Asra goodbye before making his way back to his home within the forest. His body is tired after working on houses in Nopal for the better part of a week, but the thought of his family waiting for him drives him forward. Muriel makes it to the path that leads to the cabin, taking it with newfound energy. He’s so close. He’s so close to his family that he’s almost running down the trail.
Muriel takes a turn and he can see the home that he built with his own hands appear before him, but slows when he notices something amiss. The chairs that Ari likes to sit on when she watches they boys play outside are knocked over and abandoned. A sheet half hangs on the clothes line and half lays in the dirt, almost like one of the clothes pins had been pulled off from someone tugging at the fabric. Most alarming was the multiple scratches were the multiple scratches that littered the front door that Muriel could see as he approached it. He was almost to the door when he heard a loud crash and the loud squeal of one of his sons come from inside the cabin.
He took his steps two at a time, rushing forward and tossing the door open so hard that it almost came free from its hinges. Muriel was prepared for a fight. His body tense with both fear and rage that someone had hurt his family. His eyes scanned the front room and the sight before him made his anger stop on a dime.
The entire front room was full of wolf pups. There had to have been at least twelve of them within the room, some running between the furniture within and others playing with the humans currently sitting on the floor. Arcas was been laid out on his back with a tan wolf puppy atop him and lapping at his face, completely unaware of his father’s entrance.The boy squealed and Muriel realized that the sound he heard was of joy, not of fear. The three other people in the room had seen his entrance and were all looking at him with shocked confusion. Ari was the first to gather her wits, letting the white wolf puppy that she held in her arm free to roam inside the cabin before making her way over to her husband.
“Muri! You’re back! We didn’t think you’d come back so soon!” Her arms wrapped around his waist enveloping him in a hug as he took the mayhem within their home.
“Where….did all these puppies come from?” Muriel asked, slowly hugging his wife back.
Aquila ran up to Muriel with a second tan pup squirming in his small arms. “Another Inana came to visit, Papa! And she had babies!”
“We figured that they could stay here for a bit before they went back home,” August says from his position on the floor. Two puppies had laid themselves across his lap snoring lightly, seemingly ignoring Muriel’s outburst. A third one padded over to August, biting his robe and tugging at the fabric.
Muriel can feel the tiredness settling in his body, the work he did in Nopal, the trip back home, the fear that something had happened to his family, and the shock of him finding everything alright all catching up to him all at once. “I think I’m going to go lay down.” Muriel sighs as he starts to detach himself from Ari, but she holds him to her, looking up at him with an apologetic expression.
“Well, the thing is that we needed somewhere for them all to sleep and since our room is the biggest…”
Muriel was sure that Ari and August had been expecting for him to sigh and be tired, but instead a laugh rolls through him and Muriel pulls Ari closer to him.
