Men Are Forbidden!!! (mature, reserved for Tiggy <3)

She smirked at him, a little bit amused by this. "Well, that's interesting," she stated, calmly.

Loki grinned, then offered her the dice. "Beginner's Luck or Lady's Charm?" he teased. "Only the dice shall tell."
As he watched her make her roll, he said, "I heard some of your conversation with the elder. I'm sorry about your daughter. Truly."

Taking the dice, she rolled it, but when he mentioned her daughter, she paused. He wasn't supposed to have heard that. "She was only 9."

His ears drooped, and he looked genuinely upset. "...The poor thing. Any age is too young, for a child to be buried by her mother."
He wasn't sure how she'd react, but he inched his hand towards hers, and actually boldly held it, gently caressing his thumb across the soft flesh.
"I... had a son once. But.... while I was away hunting for him and the human woman who I cared for, he fell ill. Before I could get back in time, and use the power of the herbs that would have saved him, he died."
He looked down, and his ears pinned back, and he looked awfully upset about something.
"It wasn't until later that I found out she was the one who poisoned him. I've... abstained myself from women ever since."

it bothered her to talk about her daughter. When he held her hand, she tensed up a little, not used to any sort of tenderness, or caring from a man. She almost pulled away, till he mentioned his son. She went silent, and listened to him as he told about his son. it was sad, that he lost his son, just as she lost her daughter. Both killed by humans. "Oh I am sorry. Why did she.... do... that?"

He released her hand, just as gently as he'd taken it, and propped his elbow up on his knee, looking down at the dice board. "She never told me, but I have my own theory. She descends from kings. I suppose she decided that she didn't want her royal blood tainted by an animal after all, and murdered my precious little boy just to protect her own hide from her family, and from society."
He shed a little tear, but subtly wiped it away.
"His name was Rain. That's all; just Rain. He was only six."

Maeve pulled her knees close to her, hugging them as she listened to him. "I'm sorry she did that. We wouldn't do such a thing. We make sure our son's go with their fathers, or have a safe place to live with people who would take care of them. Though some Amazons would keep their sons."
She never had to make that choice, to find her son a home, or keep him, for she never had a son. Only a daughter.
"My daughter had wondered away from the tribe, she wanted to pick flowers instead of train. She ran into those Roman men, and they saw she was one of us, and killed her on the spot."

He listened to her quietly, and then said, "That's the thing about fox fathers... we are fiercely protective of our young. But I was too far away to save him, and not a day goes by where I don't miss his precious laughter, or even his tears. He was my whole world, and he was stolen from me."
He began to put his dice away--he had a feeling they wouldn't be playing any more for a while.
"...At least you and I can relate to each other in that aspect, both parents of dead children, both missing them dearly. Perhaps we may befriend each other yet."
He shifted position, then continued, "Humans are deceitful, vicious creatures who spend more time killing each other than saving."
Loki looked down at his palms, then clenched them into fists. "I'd give anything to just hold him again. Even for a moment, long enough to say goodbye to him properly."

Maeve really wanted to not like him, but with his story, it was hard to find the hate she had towards men, to feel it toward him. This conversation brought up memories, and pain. Her gaze shifted away from him, it had been two years, it was still hard, and hard to talk about. "I know," she whispered softly.

Loki sighed, then put on a troubled smile. "Sorry for bringing up bad memories. But at least they live on through them, right?"

She glanced back to him. "I suppose so," she replied softly. "it is hard."

"Yes, it is. One is never really whole again."
He stretched gingerly, smiling to himself to find that the herbs had taken effect and numbed the wounds.
"At least these'll be healed up in a couple of days." he said, changing the subject. "Then I'll be able to go and scout out a den for myself. Are there shale cliffs around here anywhere?"

Maeve watched him carefully, always cautious. She couldn't help but admire his form. He was indeed handsome, a very good looking creature. She thought about his question, then nodded. "Aye, there's quite a few. I think there's one a mile away."

He smiled. "Good. I'll go scouting out a den among them. It will save a lot of effort if I don't have to dig one. I'll need that energy to gather supplies and prepare for an extended stay."

She nodded, and moved back onto her bed. she reached to the side, and grabbed the dried meat she kept wrapped up in a cloth, and tossed it to him, he must be hungry, after all.

He caught the cloth with surprising dexterity, despite his injuries, and sniffed it. He smiled gently, then unwrapped it and pulled out a large piece without further hesitation. He hadn't realized how hungry he was. After all, he was a fully grown predator, and the couple of fish he'd caught this morning just hadn't been enough.
"Thanks," he said, licking his fingers and indulging on another piece.

Maeve nodded, then laid back in her bed, looking relaxed, but she wasn't, she never was. Even in her own tribe, she was alert and cautious, always prepared for an attack, even more so with him in her hut.

The next three or four days passed by without incident. Loki, much more amiable now that his freedom wasn't being jeopardized, kept to himself, and kept quiet unless necessary. His wounds had almost healed in this time, and so he was able to do a few chores around her hut to earn his keep.

But, despite his persistence, he was in a bit of a foul mood as Maeve followed him while he scouted for a den site. He would have preferred to go on this expedition alone--the thief in him didn't like his hideout to be known--but he begrudgingly forced himself to endure her presence. And to sour his mood even more, his inspection of the crags was proving fruitless.
"Damn it all," he growled as he settled down for a quick break before he resumed the hunt. "No offense, but your crags haven't much to offer, do they?"

After a couple days, she wanted him gone. He was putting his manly scent all over her hut, her stuff. It was nice that he helped out, but she still wasn't happy with him still being there. When he went out to search for a den, she had to go with him, the warrior in her needed to make sure he wasn't doing anything that would harm her tribe. Hearing him, she glanced to him. "well, make do, or find somewhere else."

"Oh, be sure I will." he snapped, though not intentionally. Immediately he apologized. "Miss Maeve, sorry... It's just I'm not used to having someone tag along with me when I search for a den. On top of that I can't find what I need."
He sighed, finished off a strip of the meat he'd been snacking on, and then put it away before getting up.
"I suppose it's time to move on again." he said, heading down away from the cliffs, towards the sea.

Maeve raised a brow when he snapped at her, more amused than angry. She shrugged her shoulders when he said he was sorry. "it doesn't matter. I'm aware you don't want me here." Giving one last look to the area, she went after him, the sea would be a find choice if he could find one there.

It took him a couple of hours, searching back trails and nooks everywhere he could, and finding nothing, but eventually he made it to the sea. Double checking the tidal watermarks, he began searching on the higher ground, inspecting the cliffs for any give that didn't flood during high tide.
He was about to sigh in frustration until he noticed something, an irregularity in the rock. He inspected it a little more closely, then found that the walls actually overlapped here, chipped away oddly by the pounding of the sea. So he slipped inside, and discovered that it was much bigger than the tiny crevasse that formed its entrance made it appear. He was suspicious of it though. The floor was nothing but barren sand. He dug into the sand, and yelped when the whole thing gave way. He scrambled out as quickly as he could, and the whole floor sucked in upon itself like a drain, revealing a black it of water that reeked most foul. It was a sand trap, produced by tidal drainage. He could see bones poking up where they rested on solid coral, and as he scrambled out of the death trap, he shuddered.
"Damn it all!" he growled, his ears pinned to his skull in fright and his tail fluffed. he laid down and in animal-like way on the rocks, and kept still, trying to get his pulse under control.
"Clearly this land is not kind to me."

Maeve had waited while he had gone to inspect the cave he found. When she heard him yell. She frowned and her hand went straight to one of her daggers, cautious. Her gaze shifted to him as he scrambled out of the cave. "fox got a scare?" she asked him. "I might know of a cave if you're tired of looking."

"....Even the bravest of beings would be terrified if the sand beneath their feet opened into a big black maw of water with bones stacked upon the ledges." he said, half growling but not being harsh to her. As he sat down and caught his breath, Loki flicked his ears and listened to her.
"If you could take me there, I'd appreciate it."

Maeve didn't have much patience with him, and just wanted to get this over with. The cave she had in mine, she was reluctant to give up. "Come with me then," she told him. She waited till he gathered his bearings, before leading the way back towards the forest.

The Amazon warrior took him a bit farther from the amazon camp, to a cave that was well hidden by vines. The others didn't know about this place, she found it when she had lost her child, when she had been angry at everyone, and hurting so terribly. It was a place she found that gave her somewhat of a healing, it was the feel of it.

Going up to the vines, she pulled them to the side, letting him see the cave. In the cave, there were a few raw, unharvested diamonds, scattered through out the cave. A river was close to the cave. Inside the cave, the main cave lead to other caverns, small or large, and somewhere in the cave, was an underground spring that was big enough for more than one being to take a bath.

It was cool, comforting, there was something about it that always made her feel happy again. She hadn't been there in a while, so it didn't look like she'd ever stayed a couple of nights in the cave, away from her sisters.