She found him on the first warm day after the last bit of ice had thawed, after he'd uncurled from the sleeping Zikwa and set out to find their meal of the morning. The swan watched him for the day, a living shadow in the brightness of the world of the living, his mate equally as dark but with a different level of vibrancy. Ascent wasn't sure which was pulling her - wasn't sure it truly mattered - but the pregnancy was young and she felt time was an acceptable path to follow.
He didn't stray far from the territory of the pair -- a temporary nest, of sorts, a berth he wouldn't allow to be breached. When she did finally approach him, he did little more than glance over - familiarity in the glow of his gaze - before he continued stripping a bush of its early berries. The swan perched on his back, light, and he carried on diligently. There was a comfort of a strange sort that her presence was not so important as to make him stray from his self-imposed routine to cater to his mate.
So she observed as he moved around and performed his duties. She remained in place as he gathered ferns and soft foliage for the birthing. Her silence continued as he brought his mate berries and small game, the latter cleaned to avoid drawing scavengers and left carefully at the sleeping doe's side. The swan only migrated to his head when he set the boundaries of the territory, the stomp of his slim legs still powerful, his sharp hooves scoring the trees to ward, feathers and mushrooms left as a means to leave offering of peace if the warning of violence wasn't one to reach them.
It wouldn't be until the end of the day, after he returned from his workday that she decided it was time to move on. Ascent tucked her beak under the curve of his jaw, sending her blessing quietly - may your children be as industrious as their father, as patient as their mother, with the wisdom they both share - only then lofting her wings and taking to the sky for the next pull, the next in need of her presence.
He watched her go, his crooked smile briefly visible before he returned to his mate, satisfied.