Apokreis didn't feel good very often. His head would hurt, and that would make his stomach hurt which would sometimes make him throw up if he had eaten. He couldn't remember why his head hurt sometimes, but sometimes he could. Whenever he felt bad, Lakshmi was there, and Lakshmi always made him feel better. And today - Today was actually a good day. His head didn’t feel like it was stuffed with clouds and he could see and walk without tripping. He was getting more and more of these days and he only had Lakshmi to thank.
The silver dog would be there soon. His breath almost caught in the excitement at telling his healer the news.
Lakshmi was only a little late to the den his charge resided in. He hadn’t intended to be late, but it was only by a few moments. When he arrived he took care to control his breathing, just in case Apokreis had some head pain. Kiana had opted to come with him, but with kids it was hard to get anywhere on time. Even if his children were grown up.
Especially now that his kids were grown up.
Still, he didn’t want to cause Apokreis any undue pain because his breathing was too loud or he tripped or something cause his panting distracted him. He took another deep breath to finally settle himself and entered the den almost cautiously.
Only to find the orange dog upright with a wagging tail.
The fact that Apokreis was standing was almost a miracle and Lakshmi could almost feel his tail wagging in absolute excitement. He bounded forward and bit, nosing over the orange dog to check him over.
He was still a healer first, after all.
He circled Apokreis and the orange dog stilled as best he could. He was still trembling with his own joy, and could barely contain it.
“How are you feeling?” Lakshmi asked, nuzzling at the other. He could feel the excitement radiating off the other, but he wanted to hear it in words from the orange dog’s own mouth.
Apokries practically giggled. “Oh, I feel wonderful,” he breathed out practically pressing his whole body into Lakshmi’s side. Lakshmi could feel the trembling and it concerned him a little, but Apokreis rarely shook when he was in pain.
The excitement was new - palpable.
“Well, then, why don’t we head outside for today then, hm? It’s been a little while since you’ve seen some daylight,” Lakshmi joked. Apokreis nodded his head eagerly.
They were fortunate that the sky above was covered in clouds. It would probably rain soon, towards the evening. They were still white and fluffy and not the dark angry grey of a stormcloud.
It helped.
Apokreis’s eyes were so used to the darkness of the den that his eyes were always slow to adjust to sunlight. The clouds prevented the sunlight from being too harsh on his eyes, fortunately, as he stepped out of the den.
The pair waited by the opening of the den for a few long moments. Apokreis had his eyes closed, fearing any pain that might come from his eyes adjusting, but enjoying the wind ruffling his fur.
It felt so nice, having not been aired out properly in what felt like ages.
Apokreis shook out his fur before finally, finally opening his eyes. It didn’t hurt as much as he expected, which meant the day was just getting better.
Lakshmi waited patiently until the other dog bumped against him a bit. The silver dog smiled and lead Apokreis away from the den. They travelled a bit down the slope from the Den towards the river.
He’d left Kiana here earlier, and it would be a nice change of pace that he could spend the day with his Mate instead of holed up away from the world with Apokreis. He didn’t mind, really, but it would still be nice regardless.
Kiana didn’t get to spend a lot of time with Apokreis, so he was quite happy that all three of them could spend the day together.
The dark female was sprawled out on a soft patch of grass near the river. She was not in charge of the patrol today, instead leaving that to Koka. She was surprised to see her mate come along with an orange dog in tow.
It was clear that the orange dog was related to Koka. She smiled up at the pair walking towards her. “Hello, darling,” She cooed at the silver dog before her gaze returned to the other.
“You must be Apokreis,” she said kindly. She stretched out her body a bit more, stomach flat in the grass below. She was pleased to be able to lay like this without a stomach full of pups, though she did miss being full of them.
The orange dog gave a bit of a shy nod, pressing a bit into Lakshmi’s side. Kiana hmmed, tilting her head a bit to glance at her mate. His bright blue eyes were twinkling with sometime, and Kiana gave a small chuckle.
“Well, come lay down. I don’t bite,” She said with some mirth.
Apokreis shifted on his feet, a bit uncertain with that. He didn’t really know Kiana, after all. Lakshmi pulled away from him though, nudging him to the space at Kiana’s side. He sputtered a bit, uncertain.
Hesitantly, he lowered himself to Kiana’s side. Lakshmi flopped down next to him with ease, as if this was the most normal thing in the world. He was tense for several long moment, pressed in between the two.
They were talking a bit over his head, just light chatter about the weather or the kids but Apokreis didn’t realize until he had finally began to relax. He took a deep breath a finally let himself rest between the two.
He didn’t really want to rest - he did that enough in the den, but walking down here had made him tired anyway. He flopped his head down and listened a bit to their conversation. He wasn’t sure how long it took him to drift off, but he felt himself dozing in the sun.
At least, he thought, today was good. Even if he was sleeping, it was definitely worth it.