#okay i'm going off on a tangent. point is i want mat to kiss as many people as possible in the show

[markantonys]

odds of the show giving mat additional (non-endgame) love interest(s)? the books make such a big deal about what a flirt he is, but he doesn't actually do much Onscreen Romancing before he meets tuon, just his brief flings with melindhra and aludra (no, i do not count tylin as a Mat Romance). i feel like since they gave perrin a wife and made randgwene actually have a real relationship, it's not outside the realm of possibility that mat could have new romance(s) added if it served the story.

or they could also just flesh out his book ones more, especially aludra since that one is almost blink-and-you'll-miss-it in the books (although there's no guarantee aludra would make it into the show - depends on how they're planning to handle the dragon-cannon invention plotline). plus, with the condensing of events in the show, there may not be much time for him to have more than a 1-scene hookup with anyone besides melindhra (season 3 or 4) and tuon (whom he could potentially meet in season 5 if his ACOS & WH ebou dar activities are condensed into a single season).

[casspurrjoybell-32]

*Warning Adult Content*

BAD FATHERS - Chapter 8

Mavis

Naylan and I started meeting at the riverside often.

I was concerned that I would have to explain not wanting others to see us together too much but he took the initiative without me having to ask.

I was a little embarrassed that he was drawing those conclusions, even though he was correct about me not wanting to take things too seriously.

Something I learned about Naylan as I got to know him better was that he was mature.

When he had first met,and even long after that, the fact that he was so young and running a pack that was more than two hundred and fifty wolves strong, baffled me but the talks we had as we skipped stones let me into his thought process and mind for bits at a time.

"You keep mentioning your brother," I said out of the blue as we stared down at the river a few meters away from us.

We were both sitting on a mat I had brought along with me.

We had been talking for a bit and Naylan had gone on a tangent about his brother.

"Yeah," he shrugged his shoulders, resting his hands on his raised knees before looking at me from the side of his eyes.

"Is that a problem?"

"No," I muttered looking down at my feet.

We had kicked off our shoes and placed them by the red-brown mat.

"It's just that I don't see a lot of people talking about their siblings fondly, that's all."

Naylan hummed.

"Maybe it's because we've only gotten to know each other recently. If I had childish spats with him when I was younger, I would probably not be as fond of him," Naylan reasoned licking his lips.

"Or maybe I would be. Adyen's great. I used to worry about him a lot because he's recessive,but his mate has everything under control, so I had to give him space and back off a bit," Naylan explained, resting back on the mat.

Some of his hair picked up sand at the edge of the mat but he didn't seem to mind.

He turned to his side, giving me a warm look before asking.

"Do you have siblings?"

I shook my head.

"No."

A sigh left my lips.

"It's just me, my Mother and my Grandfather," I explained, moving to lie down on the mat too.

Naylan stayed quiet for a while as if he was overthinking something.

"Can I ask something?"

"Sure," I said, scooting closer so that our legs touched.

We had been talking a lot and maybe sometimes I would let my hand linger on his shoulder but even after what I had said before, I hadn't mustered up the courage to kiss him.

I knew he was treading lightly and wouldn't do it himself, so it was going to be up to me at some point.

"Where's your dad?" he asked in a low tone.

At first, my brows knitted together in irritation.

I wasn't angry at Naylan... no, I just hated thinking about my father.

I hadn't known him too well but the little I knew about him annoyed me.

He wasn't an evil monster or anything but the fact that he had chosen his pack over my mother was something I couldn't sit with, especially when I looked into my mum's eyes when she talked to me about mates and life partners.

They mirrored deep sadness.

Her deep brown eyes were filled with hurt and her lips were always arched in a forced smile anytime the conversation was brought up.

"My father's a werewolf," I said, repeating what Naylan knew already.

"He met my Mum when his pack was in the middle of migrating. When my Mother got pregnant, he offered her the chance to follow him back to his pack and she said no because she wanted to be around to take care of my Grandfather."

I stopped talking, licking my lips.

"So, he shrugged his shoulders and left. That's all."

"Oh."

Naylan blinked, resting on his back and looking up at the sky.

"He hasn't contacted you since?"

"My mum tried to call his number a few years ago but of course it had already changed," I explained, letting out a sigh.

For some reason, I wasn't as worked up as I thought it would be.

Naylan wasn't being dramatic about it and he wasn't pushing too hard, so I guess it was okay to talk to him about it.

"You know, I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to be mad about it," I said after a while of silence.

"If he'd stayed with my mum, it would be like she had taken him away from his pack, the same way I think it's a terrible idea to have asked her to leave her only relative," I mumbled, letting my thoughts out.

I didn't get a lot of chances to talk about this in a non-emotionally intensive situation, so my lips kept moving on their own, wanting Naylan to know all about the thing that bothered me the most in life.

"That's true," Naylan said.

"A wolf is nothing without a pack."

He turned his head and there was a look in his eyes that told me he was about to reveal something to me.

"Even when we're Rogues, we form pseudo-pack groups. We're communal," he went on.

"You know, I've always wanted to form my own pack... a proper one," he said, crossing his hands over his chest.

"I grew up with my mum taking care of me and we went through a lot of pseudo-packs that disbanded as quickly as they formed. Lack of proper leadership and the lack of space for building communities were one of the biggest factors why they burst like a bad business..." he trailed off.

"So, I came to Toronto where I could find space. I would have gone to Newfoundland but my dad is there..." he paused again and his mouth hung open for a bit.

He seemed to be gauging if he had told me too much.

"What happened to your Mum and Dad?" I asked.

So far, I knew that his parents weren't together anymore since his brother was only a half-brother.

He had never explained why, though.

"You don't have to tell me if it's too personal..." I said in a low tone when he scrunched you his face in what seemed like an unpleasant memory.

His discomfort made my chest twinge with concern.

Seeing him like that was upsetting to me and I was saddened by the fact that my question was what caused him to be like this.

"It's okay," he said, letting out a sigh before sitting up on the mat.

"It was just a bad relationship and they broke up before I was born,but when my dad heard I was an Alpha too he wanted me back, so his pack was after us for a good while."

The casualness to his tone, only made the sad story stand out more.

My eyes went wide and my lips parted.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, sitting up too.

"That must have been hard."

"Yeah..." he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Though, I haven't seen him in years. I had a clash with his pack when I was moving here but I haven't heard from him since," Naylan said, licking his lips.

"I'm glad to be here. Ontario's pretty nice," he changed the conversation, humming as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Yeah, it is," I agreed even though I've never been outside of Ontario,or even outside of this city... heck, I barely wandered past the woodland coyote territories.

We remained quiet for a bit, occasionally locking our eyes before one of us looked away.

We listened to the running water and the sound of birds flying past us up above and then I got the sudden urge to say something.

"I'm glad that we're disclosing stuff to each other," I said, not sure where I was taking the conversation to.

"When I talked about my Dad, I was a little worried that I was oversharing, and when you spoke about yours, I felt a bit relieved," I admitted.

"Thanks."

Naylan shrugged his shoulders.

"There's nothing to thank me for, I felt the same," he said before his gaze moved to stare at the water.

"Hey, didn't you say you had to catch some fish before you left?" he asked me, changing the conversation as he reminded me that I had used that as an excuse to head out for a few hours.

"I did," I said, scrambling up from the mat before unzipping my bag.

"You can leave, I think I'll be here for a while," I said as I took out the pair of rubber croc shoes.

I rolled up my trousers and headed to pick up the fishing rod I had laid against a stone mount a distance away.

"Aren't you leaving?" I asked as I approached the river.

Naylan was still sitting on the mat.

He shook his head before cupping his hands around his mouth to serve as a mini microphone.

"It's not that late. I think I'll start heading back at seven," he announced.

"Okay then," I said, looking away from him before casting the hooked bait with my fishing rod.

We didn't talk to each other much for the next hour and a half because of the distance we kept but the knowledge that he was a walking distance away warmed up my insides and pleased my wolf.

I had adjusted the conditions of our interactions on a whim but I did prefer it.

Being able to talk to him and build a friendship over time felt more comfortable than the hormone-fueled instant romance that I had been afraid of.