and the stars in their orbits shone pale through the lightof the brighter, colder moon

Nadya scoffed at Tobias' behavior, glaring at his retreat to nurse his bruised ego and nose. "You'll heal." She muttered gruffly, taking a moment to look down at her own form and take note of what injuries she could see. The towel wrapped around her was already stained with blood but it was nothing drastic at least, nothing that wouldn't heal given time...luckily neither had managed to nick anything important. The hotel manager still wasn't going to be a happy camper at the state of his pool area, blood and water everywhere, a broken chair to replace. He should just consider himself lucky that that was all he had to replace. Her attention shifted back to Tobias as he followed her suit, regaining his human form though didn't care to grab a towel as she did though it was normal for him. Nadya knew he was glad to be rid of that outfit...and secretly glad it was demolished too, wanting no trace of "pet" on her packmate, especially in something she considered so...low class sexy.

His words hurt a certain part of her- that he thought she had run, if that was truly what her brother thought as well, that she had simply let go and ran allowing him to be taken. As a child of barely five then she had done her best to hold tight to his hand despite the adults seeking to pull them apart. "I didn't run either. The North pack came, they were too late to help mom and dad but they found me. I didn't run, I held on to Aiden as hard as I could..." She rubbed absently at her forearm, wiping some stray blood away with the droplets of water that still clung to her skin. That night was the one real memory that stood out amongst all the others from her real pack, it haunted her more nights than she could count, more than she cared to share with Tobias. Nadya no longer let any tears fall but a frown still creased her features as a soft exasperated sigh left her lips. "I'm not...leaking, it's called crying. It heals me...see?" Again she wiped at her cheek, clearing more of the blood away to show that the scratches on her face had healed, her skin now unmarred.

Tobias' proximity to her finally registered though as her thoughts drifted back from the memory, that look of fear in her brother's eyes as their fingers slipped apart, her chocolate eyes lifting from the ground to meet Tobias'. It was a strange yet wonderful thing what water can do, even the brief thrashing he had in the pool had wiped the grime from his body. Small drops still mixed with blood as they slithered down his body, his skin smooth and slightly paler from lacking sunlight. His eyes which she had always liked were much easier to see now that his face was clean, the depth of his gaze rather haunting...it reminded her of the ocean, beautiful but dangerous beneath the surface. By no means had they really settled anything in their fight, simply clashing to release some of that tension that had been building in all their previous tussles. But no matter how much she tried to fight it Tobias was right, him and her brother were her pack and there would never be leaving him, not willingly at least. Their bond was too strong from childhood and Nadya just wanted that back, wanting things to be the way they had been before. As she studied Tobias she felt it, a certain flicker of fire through her much like the feeling before a shift but soothing, almost as if she could physically touch that pack bond attempting desperately to cling back to him...bring him closer again. She couldn't help but remember the feeling of hunting with him, the closeness the bond lent as his mind wrapped around hers, the banter and wrestling in lighthearted play, the feeling of his warm body against her protecting her as they slept. If only it could be like that again...if only to bring him closer.