Jack put up his hands. "My utmost apologies." he answered to Sage's complaint, grinning slightly before looking in fascination at how they effortlessly gutted the deer without a single weapon. Just claws that literally came from Sage himself. Wow. Jack blinked in awe before sidling back towards the fire, glad for the warmth, grinning again at Sage's answer. "It was nothing, really. The deer had no nose." He scoffed.

+++

Quinn smiled slightly at Sage, shoving the words from before away for good and focusing on the moment at hand. As he set the deer down, she went to work getting the meat over the fire, deftly wrapping it in a way where it would cook thoroughly. At their answers, she chuckled lightly. "Well, you definitely earned the right to have some deer, then." She chirped, casting Sage a slight smirk as she saw them finally sort of getting along. Or, at least, Sage ddin't look like he wanted to murder Jack. Progress.

Sage chuckled slightly when Jack tried to say the deer was just stupid. "Well, you know what you're doing at least a little bit," he noted, squinting up at the sun before his brows pinched together slightly. It was almost the full moon.... normally, Quinn would hold him while his body tried to morph and fail each month but....with the babies he didn't want to be in that much pain in their cabin. It would wake them. Scare them. He didn't want that. He decided right then and there to just, head off before it happened, and stay in the woods alone until dawn, like he always used to. If it was tonight, Jack would be there, which could go either way, but he'd be on the ground either way so....it didn't matter much he supposed. He masked his emotions after a moment though, grunting and nodding when she said he could have the food. "I told him if he wanted dinner he had to catch something," he admitted with a sort of chuckle.

(Should we have Jack and Quinn grow closer and maybe sage and her kinda start pulling apart a bit? Maybe it's nearing full moon but sage doesn't want to bother her or scare the kids so he doesn't mention it? Then she freaks out when she wakes up and realizes ita the full moon and he's gone? Maybe she sends Jack out to look for him or something and helps him out bc a hunter wound up finding him while he was morphing and Jack saves him? That's when they start to get close? Idk)

(0-0 HOW DO YOU HAVE SUCH GOOD IDEAS-

yes! That sounds great. Exactly what you said XD. Let's have the full moon be tonight, Jack saves him, then stays when Quinn secretly asks him to, then we can do the pulling apart and getting closer lol)

+++

Jack grinned widely. "See? That compliment didn't sound like it hurt." He joked lightly, grinning at Quinn as well. "Food sounds nice about now." he said cheerfully, rocking back slightly and yawning. "Yeesh, it's getting a little later." he peered up at the sun, that was kissing the top of the trees.

+++

Quinn glanced at Jack with a chuckle. She then brought her emerald green gaze to Sage, furrowing her brows slightly at the expression on his face. "Eeeeverything okay?" She asked slowly, feeling a bit withdrawn. Sage had never really been super open, but he hadn't kept his feelings from her before, but now that Jack was here, he seemed to be getting really... distant. And unhappy. She sighed quietly and turned the deer meat, then focused on blocking off her mind more, as Jack's thoughts were still loudly ringing in her ears. A bunch of stuff about how he loved venison and how he was grateful he got to stay. Finally, everything went silent. She was slightly relieved, as a headache had started to build, but it was also amusing. As far as she could tell, Jack was a great guy. When the deer was finished, she took it off the fire. "Feast up."

(perfect lol!)

Sage threw Jack an amused look when he responded to his comment, doing the last few bits of work with the meat before letting Quinn take over actually cooking it. He nodded when Jack said it was getting later and he threw a glance at Quinn when she asked if he was alright. "Full moon tonight," he murmured to her, glancing at the sun which had started to dip below the horizon line. Though, they got distracted with the food by then, so he doubted it would stick in her mind. That was fine though....he didn't want her worrying about him. He'd be alright....while he would be scared to death and all, it would be worth it knowing he wouldn't bother her or the kids all night long.

He took his share of food hungrily as always, though he ate noticably less than normal. That was, noticably if Quinn would look away from talking with Jack for more than a little bit here and there. Eventually, as the sun was setting more and more, he murmured, "I'll clean up, why don't you get settled in to bed," knowing she'd be tired and soon fall asleep. Then he could head out, and hopefully be far enough a way she wouldn't hear his cries.

Jack looked at the meat. "Gosh, that looks amazing! great cooking, Quinn. You know, venison really is my favorite meat. If you cook it just right, the tangy taste spreads across your tongue- it's just delicious! Of course, natural seasonings make it even better, and then eating it in the fresh air- mmmm. Nothing could be better." He chattered away, only pausing to take a couple bites every once in a while. "So, I just wanted to point out that I am sleeping out here- I'll be fine, not that any of you are very worried." He grinned, jokingly.

+++

Quinn watched Sage for a couple moments later, registering his words with a small frown. Her brain immediately started worrying, but she was distracted by chatter from Jack and the food being done. After a couple minutes it did escape her mind. She went to eat her food, not noticing that Sage didn't eat as much as normal. Jack's words on the food distracted her even more, then he was talking about sleeping. "it's going to be cold tonight, and you literally said you'd stop here to NOT be outside alone." She protested.

+++

Jack answered with a firm shake of his head. "It'll be fine, I'll keep the fire going. If anything happens, you all will be right there! Soo, no arguing." he nodded as if to seal the pact.

+++

Quinn narrowed her eyes with a small huff, but she wasn't going to argue more. "Fine." She said, starting to clean up before Sage's words registered. "Really? Th-" She paused in the middle and stifled a yawn, wincing. "Thanks." She finished, standing and glancing at them before disappearing inside. She had to feed the babies anyway. After she did, she climbed into bed and passed out almost immediately, exhuasted from the day,

Sage had sort of tuned jack out during dinner, only speaking up when Quinn mentioned him or he felt he had to talk, to keep them from worrying too much. Well, jack wouldn't worry. Quinn might, if she ever looked away from Jack. That was alright though, he was sort of thankful for the distraction. He nodded when she thanked him and pecked her lips lightly in a sort of goodnight, waiting until he could hear her breaths slowing and steadying before getting up and starting to slide away.

He did glance back at Jack to make sure he didn't notice he'd left, so he wouldn't follow....and he was fine as he slipped into the woods quietly, wandering around even as he felt the beginning pains starting to slither through his body. He finally found some sort of half hidden cave before collapsing on the floor, figuring this would have to do, as he couldn't go any further. He'd just have to hope no one found him, as he'd be completely defenseless all night, and a while after since he'd be sore.

Quinn was out cold for a little while before she was awakened by a chilly feeling creeping into her bones. She sleepily blinked and opened her eyes, a strangled breath catching in her throat as she saw there was no one next to her. Jumping up, she looked around quickly, hoping he was just calming one of the babies, but both Frynn and Caspian were asleep and the cabin was empty. She opened the door to the cabin and, rather frantically, darted outside, looking around. Nothing. Why would he leave? Something struck her in the face, making her feel sick. It was a full moon tonight. How could she forget?! She was the worst person ever! With a strangled whine of fury at herself and a bit of fear, she rushed over to wake Jack up, who was sleeping on the ground. "Jack, I need your help." She hissed. "You know how Sage is half werewolf? Well that means ever full moon-" She gestured up. "His body attempts to change, but fails. It's a painful process, and he can't be alone! He's completely vulnerable and helpless! I don't know why he left- please, please go find him. I don't want to leave the babies." Her eyes were pleading, and her voice begged him.

+++

Jack got up quickly as he was shaken awake, blinking sleepiness out of his eyes, which widened at the delivered message. "Yes- yes I'll go find him. Stay here." He said quickly, grabbing his bow and arrows before jogging into the woods. He could just barely see a snapped branch or two, as Sage had been less careful this time, but cries of pain slowly reached his ears. He rushed towards the sound, freezing in his tracks as he saw a glint of ... bone? There was a cave, and something big was walking towards it. The thing emerged into the clearing in front of the cave, and Jack saw it was a bear. Frozen in fear, he didn't move for half a second, and then the bear disappeared into the cave, the one he knew Sage was in. He rushed forward, the sounds of growling and pained moans filling his ears. Hurriedly drawing an arrow, the cave was so dark he could barely see, so he shot at the darkest shadow, hoping and praying that was the bear and not something else. There was a roar of fury, and as his vision got the slightest bit better, he saw a shape on the floor, which must've been Sage. The bear was going crazy, which meant he had hit it, but not killed it. The animal was swiping it's paws around wildly and trying to attack anything and everything. Jack dropped his weapon, not wanting to shoot again, in fear it would hurt Sage. He dove forward and grabbed Sage before dragging the bigger male backwards, managing to snatch his bow and arrow, then getting out of the cave. The bear came charging out, straight towards them. In half a second, Jack drew an arrow and let it loose. There was another roar, and then the bear dropped. His heartbeat faster than a rabbit, he stared at the body for a second, his breathing quickened.

Sage wasn't sure how long he'd lay there until he heard rustling outside the cave, though by then he'd been in a heck of a lot of pain for a while, so it has to have been at least a couple hours. He tried to twist around to see what it was, as it was obviously a large animal of some kind, though his vision was so blurry by then he couldn't get a good look at his surroundings. He'd cried out by then again, and recoiled when the animal let out a roar, and one of it's swiping paws went past his face, drawing a line of blood that would probably need stitches. He let out a snarl at the animal, snapping at the paw, then let out another yelp when he felt arms yank him out of the cave. He had to close his eyes and writhe on the ground for a moment once he hit the grass, before squinting up at... Jack? "What the hell-" he started to ask before another growl of pain went past his lips and he had to stop as he nearly blacked out, chest heaving by then, clothing and hair soaked with his own sweat. Hopefully Jack would half figure out what he'd meant to ask him, because he doubted he could talk much now. Things were starting to really ramp up now though, so he was sort of screwed.

Jack sucked in a deep breath, his shorter, slimmer frame trembling slightly as he took a couple steps forward and made sure the bear was dead. It was. Why had it been so aggressive? Usually that wouldn't have happened. He then turned his attention to Sage, looking mighty concerned as the man just lay on the ground and writhe in pain. It looked horrible. "Quinn sent me after you." Was all the information he gave. They were a decent ways away, though not insanely far, so although Jack knew it'd probably hurt.. he grabbed the bigger person and found a way to get them on his rather narrow shoulders. He then went back as quickly as he could. When at the cabin he all but collapsed, trying to make sure Sage had a soft landing onto the ground. Jack then stepped back, blinking as he saw blood on his pants. Was it Sage's? No- a long rip was there too. In the chaos, the bear must've nicked him- and he probably didn't feel it because of adrenaline. It had quickly started to throb, now. Jack pulled up his pants leg slightly to reveal a rather nasty wound. "Darn it.." He mumbled.

+++

Quinn waited anxiously, looking around. They hadn't come back for a long time now. She was getting quite scared when there was a crash in the brush, and Jack stumbled out, half carrying half dragging Sage. She saw blood, and immediately panicked. "What happened?! Are you okay!? Is he okay?" She exclaimed, rushing forward and kneeling down beside Sage. She would be yelling at him for a while because of this. When she looked at Jack again, she saw the wound, and her eyes went wide. "That looks terrible!" She sounded terrified and concerned, having not known what happened.

+++

Jack looked up at the questions. "I'm okay- I don't know about him, I don't know what he's going through or how that's supposed to work. When I found him, in a cave, a bear was also there. I managed to kill it, but it was a close scrape." He explained the best he could.

Sage had mutterd a curse in the native werewolf language when Jack said Quinn had sent him after him, though was soon overcome with another wave of pain and had to stop talking. He let out a yelp when Jack grabbed him, and did try to help the much thinner man, though when he passed out for a minute or so, he decided that probably wasn't going to happen. Everything was a long, painful blur until he landed in the grass with an exhausted groan. Did it always last this long? He didn't think so. Was it because the bear had nicked him and he was bleeding? No it couldn't be....his father had hurt him and he'd morphed enough. He couldn't help but grip Quinn's hand when he noticed her next to him, body shaking as his body fought with itself. "The kids," he resped, really not wanting to wake them up. Hopefully, she'd understand that. She could read his mind, if he couldn't talk...they both knew he didn't mind that. He released her hand so she could take a look at Jack's wound, alibet unwillingly, but the guy deserved at least that much. Though, after a few minutes, he forced himself to roll over slightly when his stomach heaved and he threw up in the grass. Well...it consisted msotly of blood, not food remains, which was slightly concerning in the back of his mind, but by then he'd flopped abck over onto his back, exhausted. But it still wasn't near dawn.