Lavender Ethos you don't

For @Nori <3
Late Afternoon, Broken Clouds, 39F/4C

The agouti Lennox woman had been here once before, just a little over a year ago. So much had changed in her life since that day, but something about today had made her feel like visiting her friend. Only, she couldn’t. Because Colette was dead. And they had not even been that close of friends, but for Finley who held everyone at a comfortable distance - a polite distance where things were clean and not messy - even the short time they had spent together and letting her in a little bit had been a big deal. Being vulnerable had not been easy for either of them, but they had managed to do it on occasion, together.

Colette wasn’t buried here, but this place had a feeling like she was being watched over, in a comforting way, so it felt as good of a place as any. Laying in the center of the clearing, Finley took a deep breath and let it out with a long slow sigh. The snows were gone, even this deep in the forest, and instead green grass had sprouted, and lavender plants were beginning to peek through but they were months away from being in full blossom. Still, the clearing smelled fresh and floral, and comforting. I miss you my friend, even if you would have hated me saying that.

Thank you for getting this up <3 tagging @Archer for thoughts

Her conversation with Jethro left her feeling simultaneously hollow and miserable, but also sort of comforted in a way. It was confusing - she had no way to make sense of the emotions warring inside of her. So she didn’t even try, and in true Nori fashion, shoved the feelings deep, deep down inside of her - hopefully to never resurface.

Hopefully Archer hadn’t noticed the quieter attitude she adopted. As hard as she’d tried to keep her usual act up, it was difficult to keep it under wraps, and the poor guy didn’t need to deal with her poor little hurt feelings on top of searching for his missing daughter.

She’d been rejected. It wasn’t the end of the world.

Even if it kind of felt like it.

The woman had wandered off again for a bit today, trying to find pretty much anything to distract herself. Her nose led her to a fresh-smelling meadow - still in its budding stage as the spring settled in. In a month, it would probably be a beautiful flower field, but as of now, it was still shaking off the winter frost.

She wasn’t alone here, either, which soured her mood a bit. An agouti woman - older than her, on the thin side. Very well-groomed, which Nori could appreciate.

The younger of the two debated turning around, leaving her alone, but there was no way she hadn’t been spotted. It would probably be awkward to just walk off, after all. So she cleared her throat and offered a small wag of her tail, at least to signify that she wasn’t a threat. The rest of her body language was confident but neutral as she padded into the field.

“Hey, there,” she greeted, brown eyes flicking over the stranger’s face. “Room for one more?”

As if by kismet, almost as soon as the thought had finished forming in her mind the mother was joined by another wolf. If she were one to believe in those sorts of things she might have even believed that she had been sent from Colette to keep her company. She didn’t usually spend much time dwelling on things like that, preferring things she could physically see with her eyes, but being a mother had made her a little more sentimental. Plus, she would like to believe that her sons who had never gotten the chance to see the world were somehow somewhere other than buried in the cold ground.

So, even though this wasn’t Colette, she felt a certain degree of friendliness that was a tinge warmer than her usual polite - but slightly aloof self. She smiled when the stranger wagged her tail, and instead of getting up to leave she stayed put. Looking beside her as if to gauge the situation, and coming up with nothing but grass she turned back towards the stranger, ”I think we can make it work.” It was clearly a joke, a light one, given there were meters of room all around her.

Nori was surprised to receive a warmer welcome than she’d expected. Her tail waved a little as she padded in and settled down a handful of feet from the other woman. A soft huff of laughter escaped her at the little jest - the clearing was pretty spacious, she guessed. It had been a dumb question, in retrospect.

Her nose twitched a little, trying to pick up scents from the stranger. A pack wolf was all she could figure - probably the same pack as Jet.

“Thank you for your gracious hospitality,” she said in a tone that mirrored what the other woman used, eyes glinting playfully. She looked around the area, humming in thought. “I bet this place is really pretty in the summer.” Full of flowers, probably.