Morning dawned painfully slow. Asteria did not sleep easy, her injuries haunting her with each shift of her weight. She may have won her battle but Apollinaire had left his marks; yet she hardly felt she could complain when @Prometheus was even worse off. There might have been a chunk of flesh missing from her thigh (amongst other marks of teeth and claw) but he was maimed. And for what? As the sun peeks over the horizon and she feels it is an appropriate time to be properly awake she lifts herself to an upright position. For a second the world spins, and then she is looking for him, concern knitting her brow as she sees his wounds in new light. What a pair they made. "Rome," she murmured, knowing they would need to get water and try to clean themselves up, hating to wake him but uneasy with the thought of letting him fester any longer. Asteria's injuries for reference: chunk torn from her right thigh deep claw marks right side of neck shallow bite side of face deep bites on left foreleg claw marks on right wrist

(super vague with injuries until fight is finalized)

It had only been a day and the titans body was feeling every consequence even as @Asteria speaks his name. If he had been dreaming; it was a chaotic, restless masterpiece of violence and shadow, for he jerks awake at her beckoning. A mistake. His head is throbbing and instantly the recollection of the pit and all that had happened came flooding to the surface.

Pain causes a low growl from rumbling deep in his chest, Scheiße. He grumbles, the ache along his neck and shoulder all but screeching stay put even as his claws flex against the earth and his head turns with a wince towards her; a frown deepened upon his broad jaws when he took in the sight of every cut freshly carved still along her body. You should rest more, I'll go get something and bring it back. He interjects, swallowing down the pain and with a grunt he stands suddenly and abrupt.

He jerks away and she instinctively reaches out a paw, looking to steady him, ignoring the jolt of pain caused by her own sudden movement. "Easy," she appealed to him, concern knitted clearly across her brow. @Prometheus tries to play the white knight, as she expected, and now her concern turns to a frown. "Quit it. We can go together." Even if the idea made her stomach flip uneasily, she knew there was no use in laying around. Asteria was the Queen of keeping moving when she should be resting. Giving him no room to argue she stands beside him, fighting the wave of nausea and managing to find a brave smile. "We need a drink." Water would help them both surely, and the river wasn't far.

She looks at him with such worry and there's a hot flash of shame rising to the surface; don't look at me like that. They hadn't exactly spoken much about what had happened, and seeing @Asteria put on such a front only caused the Frei concern himself. Nein, if you're going to be stubborn, at least think of the babes. Prometheus counters as she stands and a fringe of fur bristles along the titans back in response. Frustration amidst his weariness simmers fresh and with a deeper frown his ears flick back into the tresses of his dark mane. Fine, but you must rest when we get there. Wounded or not, he'd sit on her if he had to.

"The babes will be fine," she assured him, no matter her own niggling doubts. Asteria had been in one helluva fight, after all, but she chose to believe it was too early in the pregnancy to cause any lasting damage. Not that she knew anything, really, about pregnancies. Except for her personal experience. Asteria meets his frustration with her own stubbornness, and flashes him a quick grin when he relents. "I knew you'd see it my way," the thought of walking to the river was equal parts daunting and encouraging, she had a feeling the fresh air would do them both a world of good. Extending her neck to nuzzle briefly against his cheek she took a step forward, waiting to ensure he was with her before pressing on.

She grins and Prometheus scowls in return with a furrowed brow; but the look of annoyance is one that's hard to hold with @Asteria smiling so... the curve of her inky lips and bright fuschia eyes still burning ever bright are as a formidable foe as any. So when she leans into him and her scent falls upon the beasts pallet so, he sighs in defeat. das ist betrügende Frau.. He half-growls before smiling in return.

Damn it all to hell. If you run, I'll squish you. He warns protectively under his breath before he shifts his weight to press against her and offer support as they make their way out of the den. Though he's careful to displace his weight, the raw ache in his neck and skull still ever present.

@Prometheus hits her with German and she adopts a mock-pout. "That's cheating you know. If you want to be grumpy at me you can be grumpy in English." At least until she had a few lessons -- not being able to understand him in times like these only made her all the more determined to learn. Okay so walking... walking was going to suck. Asteria sucked in a breath as she moved on together, doing her best not to put her limp on full display. But damn, that piece of skin that monster had torn out of her thigh really, really hurt. The teeth marks on her front leg did, too, but not nearly as much as that very first bite. "No running," she assured him again, with the smallest roll of her eyes at his over-protective nature. All in good fun, of course. Then, to distract herself from the pain, she asked -- "so are you going to tell me what that was all about?" Keeping her eyes steadily ahead, taking extra care not to trip on any roots or vines.

Rome is half-wondering when @Asteria speaks if she knows more of his fathers tongue than she lets on when she muses coincidentally the near same words he'd just rumbled moments before. Giving him pause as he quirks a brow at her before looking away. You will learn, my mutti did and very quickly. Knowing the beloved fierce amazon, a second language would be easy compared to... well, everything else.

They are moving steadily and he fights a groan as the pain in his skull begins to gnaw itself to the surface rather irritatingly from being in motion at all; but he's careful to mask much of it from his face. Merely giving a grunt here and there before the question of the hour is set loose; like tossing a ticking time bomb into the air. Truth be told, Prometheus had hoped to put this discussion off awhile longer, but knowing both she and Septima were carrying cubs - matters were liable to get worse before they got better.

There was also the matter of having not mentioned any of it until now... not so much a lie as an omission. Because what if it happens all over again. What if admitting the truth here and now meant losing her all over again? Without realizing it the titans jaw clenched, but there's a drop in his shoulders as they ease towards the river. Elaine ate a piece of Septima- literally. I needed her to know it wouldn't stand... Because it was his fault she'd been hurt to begin with, as much as it was Leanders and Senecas. You said to go and I thought... I thought maybe you knew liebe. Hadn't Asteria been in the Lagoon when it happened?

Asteria wondered about the mother that he spoke of, wishing she had been able to meet the ones who raised him. She can imagine sitting and listening to stories of his youth, of him and his brother, and for a second she feels a sense of loss for those moments that will never be. Grandparents to love and cherish the babies as much as she and Prometheus will. "I wish I could have met her," Asteria echoes her thoughts, a small sad smile given to her mate. He mentions Septima and the girl from the Bluffs, the one she had seen attack her that day at the lagoon. "I had no idea that she'd... eaten? a part of her..." Her nose wrinkled at the thought, her gaze turning steadily forward as she reflected on that day. On Septima mentioning that Rome had been courting her. Surely that had ended, though? When he had declared his love for Asteria? "You're a very good friend, Rome. You're going to be a great dad." She had seen his protectiveness, but to know that he would stand up against the evils of the world was another trait that only made her love him more.