Worlds Combined
AvalonReeseFanFics
A/N: Happy Tuesday my wonderful readers! I know you guys didn't want to sit through Eric explaining what he meant but that's what you're going to get. And you're going to get something super cute at the end of it. So hopefully you still enjoy it. As always don't forget to leave a review or drop a fav or a follow and I'll see you guys next week.
Chapter 10 – Adoption Day.
Una watched as Eric wrapped up his arm. She helped where he wanted help, but otherwise she kept to the bed.
She had been careful, now that she knew that he didn't really like dirt in the bed, to wash what she could off of her legs and feet before she climbed up. She had used the drying skins to dry herself off, by then Eric had already dealt with most of his injury.
It didn't look too bad. It looked a little bit like the marks her father had left on her before he decided that she was his hatchling.
She was a little afraid that they were going to get into an argument. He had just asked her to pick between him and her pack. She was pretty sure she misunderstood him, which was the only reason she had gone with him in the first place. She didn't want to leave her pack behind even if it meant it was the only way to be with him.
That was her family she didn't want to give them up. Even if it was for love.
When he came to sit beside her, his arm was wrapped up and he was looking to reach out for her. Though she wanted nothing more than to disappear into his arms, she pushed his hands away.
"Una sorry," she whispered, being sure to look him in the eye as she said it. "Una love family…"
"That's okay," he said. "What… what was his priblm…?"
"Priblm?"
She didn't know that word. That word was new.
He thought about it a moment before asking: "Why Rhum mad?"
Oh, so the word had something to with Rhum. She stared at him for a moment, wondering how to word what she had to say to him. Wondering if he'd be mad.
"Rhum mad at Eric," she said after a while and he surprised her by laughing.
"Yeah, I figured. But why is Rum mad at Eric?"
"Rhum wanted Una mate. Eric stole Una. Rhum challenge Eric for Una mate."
Eric's eyebrows drew together. "Una's mate? He's not even… he's a raptor you're a human, what the hell was he thinking?"
Human. That wasn't the first time she had heard him say that. Whenever she asked what that meant, he said that human meant them.
Una shrugged. "Una save Rhum once. Rhum say he always protect Una. He think Una his."
Eric seemed to think this over. "Is he going to challenge me again?"
"No. Mummy very angry. Told him never again or leave pack."
It was true, she had done that. Una too had said harsh words. That she would never forgive him for what he did. That he wasn't a true friend of hers.
They were hurtful words. Words she said out of anger. She had meant them then. She wasn't sure she meant them now.
He hadn't set out to hurt her, he simply wanted to protect her, to do what was best. Like her mummy did for her. She shouldn't have said such mean things just because she was angry. She'd have to apologize to him. If he agreed to apologize to Eric first.
"That was your mother then. The one who got between us? She saved me?"
Una nodded. "Ruh-mind me to thank her." she just had to make a face, a little crinkle in her eyebrows and he reworded the sentence. "Tell me to thank her."
They were quiet a moment as she thought about what she wanted to say. That she didn't want to choose between him and her family. She just didn't know how to say it.
He reached out for her hand again, and she pulled away.
"Are you okay Una?" came after that movement.
"Una no leave family," she said. "Una want Eric and family."
"Oh Una," he said with a smile. "Of course, you can have your family. Why do you think you can't have your family?"
"But Eric… Eric said…"
"Oh! No! No! I didn't mean forever, I just meant for right now. I was asking you to come home with me I just worded it wrong."
"Una no choose?"
"No, of course not. Una doesn't have to choose, I would never do that to you," he said.
Really, never?
"Besides," he said quickly which was another word she didn't quite understand. "I'm almost done their nest. It would be silly to kick them out now after all that work."
He had been working hard on turning one of the lower floors into a safe and comfortable place for them. He was just waiting on one last shipment from Billy.
"Don't you worry," he said reaching out for her. This time she let him pull her to him. "I would never make you choose between me and your family."
She smiled up to him, happy that he confirmed it with her. Happy that he wouldn't never be that cruel to her. So happy that she let him kiss her… and more.
-JP-JP-JP-
A shipment came and went and Eric and Una spent three days on the lower floor of their building opening up plastic bags. He had purposely bought enough dog beds for all the raptors in the pack.
He had to request the extra-large ones, and he had specifically made sure that the one for Una's mom was the most luxurious one on the market. It had a special design and was extra fluffy.
Once he was done moving all of the beds into the space he had created, he asked Una to call her pack over.
She took him to the front of the building and did her call, this barking howl of hers. Right away there came a series of replies, all far off into the distance.
"They coming," she said to him and he nodded.
There was a bit of time between their reply to her call and when they appeared. They didn't step gracefully out of the trees, but instead sped full force towards them as if they were expecting an attack.
But now Eric was expecting an attack.
Instead what they did is circle them, a sort of hop in the way they moved around, like they were excited puppies the size of a llama. They all took turns nuzzling Una first and then into him.
He wasn't used to that yet so he just sort of let them do it hoping no one would accidentally bite him.
They used their soft chirps to talk to Una and then she turned back to them. "They here. They want to know why you want them."
"Oh, uh, tell them I finished the nest."
Una turned back to them, repeated the words in her raptor talk and then they were excitedly all circling him and chirping at him.
"Okay guys, uh… come on," he said and then led them to the side of the building.
He had spent hours trying to figure out how to make this door work for them. It consisted of a crudely made barrier and a whole bunch of pullies. The door itself was made entirely of wood, so there were some gaps between it but it was the best he could do with what he had.
He showed them the rope he had rigged up. "Here pull on this."
He had drilled a hole into a rock, and tied it to that rope just for this purpose. All they had to do was put it in their mouth and pull. None of the raptors moved though.
With a huff Una's mother came froward, took the rock from him and then pulled. The door swung up right away like a garage door. She dropped the rock and backed away in surprise.
"See now it's open and you go inside?"
The raptors didn't seem to like this though. They were all looking to the Alpha for direction and the Alpha was looking at Una. Una just smiled at her and then skipped into the space. Once she went through and they realized that it was safe they followed after taking in the space he had created.
It must have been a greenhouse at one point. Though nothing had been growing in it in a long time. The walls were covered in vines as the jungle had found a way to creep in and the ground was dirt here. There had been some lasting tiles but Eric had taken those out. He wanted this place to feel as jungly as possible.
"Right so, uhm, I made sure it looked like home as much as possible," he said and Una immediately went to translating. "I've got a water spout here for you. It'll collect the rain and put it into this basin. I've got a filter in the pipe so tell me if it starts tasting funny so I can switch it out."
As he showed them, Una translated and then made a big show of drinking the water herself, which prompted all of them to come over and drink from the basin.
"I cleaned up the windows so you guy can see the night sky and the weather," he said pointing up to the ceiling. "And because it's a greenhouse it'll always be warm in here."
Una pointed up and all the raptors looked up too.
"And lastly I got all of you beds," he said pointing to the different dog beds he had bought. Una flopped down into one and the others all followed suit, picking out the one that they liked best. As they did that, Eric had Una lead her mother to the one he had saved specially for her.
"This one is for you," he said. "It's bigger and comfier than the others."
Una translated all that and then Eric made a big show of pointing out the special bed. The Alpha sniffed it a bit before lowering herself to it, making this strange hiss as she went.
Eric glanced to Una not sure if that was a good hiss or a bad hiss but Una was smiling so it must have been good.
As the Alpha got comfortable eric looked around. There was one empty bed. Who was missing? Rhum. Rhum was missing.
Eric went back outside and found the largest raptor just sort of standing there. He glanced back at the door, didn't he fit through it?
"It should be big enough," he said to Rum. "You should fit. I swear I measured."
But the largest raptor in Una's pack wouldn't even look at him. "Una!" he called and right away Una was out and beside him.
"Eric okay?" she asked, a glare set on her face and pointed in Rum's direction
"Yeah," he said so Una knew that he wasn't in danger or anything. "Tell him to come inside."
Una turned to Rhum and barked at him, and though he looked up the raptor didn't move.
"Come on," Eric said motioning for him to follow him. Una barked and made the same gesture and only then did Rhum reluctantly follow them.
Eric led him into the space they had created. Show Rhum and all of them how to close the door from the inside and then led Rum to the bed that was going to be his.
"This one is for you," he said to him. He then turned to Una "The others can go over everything I said right?"
She nodded. Wonderful. "Right, so if you guys want to get set up, go ahead. We'll leave you guys to this. Feel free to ask me any questions… uh… so long as Una is here to…"
He thought they'd want some time to adjust but all of them seemed pretty content with their new nest. But the Alpha had moved towards them. She eyed him up and down sort of in the same way that Rum had when he was challenging him.
Was her mother challenging him too?
After a moment of eyeing him up, she made this sound that could only be described as a purr, the started rubbing her snout all over him. First one side of his face and then the other, then his neck and then back to his face.
When she was sufficiently finished, she barked and all the other raptors and Una barked back.
Eric had no idea what had happened, there was no way that she had scented him because that wasn't where the scent glands were. Or, Eric was pretty sure that's not where they were.
Una tugged him out of the room and shut the door for them, no doubt so they could practice and then she hugged him tightly.
"Uh… what just happened?"
"Eric pack now."
He was… he was what? She smiled widely at him and he found that he was smiling too. It sounded an awful lot like he was now a part of the pack. Now he just had to learn to talk to them.