4/29/2026, 7:30 PM
Feigning thorough chastisement, Alder looked away as she set to her inspection. His gaze just happened to fall upon Solvi's delicate paws below and he wondered idly how she managed to get anything done with them.
More than that, it was a miracle she had survived whatever forces had dumped her in the middle of Northfall's greatest blizzard to date, skin and bones that she'd been - even now she still struggled to recover, slowly earning back the vital weight shed during her plight and looking dangerously close to blowing away at the next strong breeze.
Alder had always taken up so much space by comparison. For a long time he'd hated it; hated the attention it drew, hated the crimson of his fur, always feeling like a big red blob standing starkly on the horizon. Clumsy and foolish and forever fucking up.
But for whatever reason... Solvi didn't seem to mind it. In fact, if he thought quite hard about it, she often looked... happy in his presence.
And he didn't even need an appointment.
His mind also drifted back toward a foggy memory, a distant vision of pink flames and sweet-smelling smoke, but the details escaped him in much the same way they did Solvi. He could remember - he could remember warmth. Warmth and her. What had she been doing there? Or had he simply dreamed it?
As the little doctor observed his shallow wounds, her chin casually grazed across the tips of his fur and a bright jolt of panic mixed with something else rippled down the length of his spine, causing his skin to convulse. He experienced a little disappointment when she (correctly) assessed his injuries to be minor, perhaps some secret part of him wanting a reason to stick around and -
Stay?
Heat crept into his cheeks.
Very much in spite of himself, his tail began to wag.
Alder had been down this road of speculation before. To any intelligent wolf, the signs were all there - but he was not any intelligent wolf. He was Alder, with the fragile self-esteem of a waterlogged and wingless sparrow; yet as time marched on between them, he had tentatively begun to suspect that his attachment wasn't necessarily one-sided.
The sunstone she'd gifted him had never once been removed from his neck since the moment she placed it there.
There was a sense that he wasn't talking about medicine anymore.
More than that, it was a miracle she had survived whatever forces had dumped her in the middle of Northfall's greatest blizzard to date, skin and bones that she'd been - even now she still struggled to recover, slowly earning back the vital weight shed during her plight and looking dangerously close to blowing away at the next strong breeze.
Alder had always taken up so much space by comparison. For a long time he'd hated it; hated the attention it drew, hated the crimson of his fur, always feeling like a big red blob standing starkly on the horizon. Clumsy and foolish and forever fucking up.
But for whatever reason... Solvi didn't seem to mind it. In fact, if he thought quite hard about it, she often looked... happy in his presence.
And he didn't even need an appointment.
His mind also drifted back toward a foggy memory, a distant vision of pink flames and sweet-smelling smoke, but the details escaped him in much the same way they did Solvi. He could remember - he could remember warmth. Warmth and her. What had she been doing there? Or had he simply dreamed it?
As the little doctor observed his shallow wounds, her chin casually grazed across the tips of his fur and a bright jolt of panic mixed with something else rippled down the length of his spine, causing his skin to convulse. He experienced a little disappointment when she (correctly) assessed his injuries to be minor, perhaps some secret part of him wanting a reason to stick around and -
Stay?
Wha -
Heat crept into his cheeks.
Do you - uh, do you mean that?
Very much in spite of himself, his tail began to wag.
Alder had been down this road of speculation before. To any intelligent wolf, the signs were all there - but he was not any intelligent wolf. He was Alder, with the fragile self-esteem of a waterlogged and wingless sparrow; yet as time marched on between them, he had tentatively begun to suspect that his attachment wasn't necessarily one-sided.
The sunstone she'd gifted him had never once been removed from his neck since the moment she placed it there.
... How long do you want me to stay?Alder asked, his tone suddenly a great deal more serious.
There was a sense that he wasn't talking about medicine anymore.
![[Image: UWkba3H.png]](https://i.imgur.com/UWkba3H.png)
- Alder is not actually Inuyasha, despite the evidence
