Paradise Falls just do the next right thing

Marigold had returned to the most central Falls' cache with a few frozen hares she'd sniffed out. Their den had seemed to have collapsed on them for whatever reason, the bodies having been curled up tightly with one another. They had reminded her of their pack when she'd unearthed them and bore witness to the position they'd died in. When the end became certain, had they known it was coming? Or had it all come at once, sweeping them and their ignorance away hand in hand?

Needless to say, it had caused her thoughts to drift. She remained in that gloomy cavern of thought as she manipulated the earth, scooping away dirt, depositing the carcasses and then re-covering the stash. All routine.

Mar's ears swiveled to the sound of another wolf, and caught sight of Finley's clay-colored hide disappearing between the trees. Before the year turned, she had thought nothing of her distance to the woman. They were of separate families, busied enough by those they had to care for. Now, however, the older wolf was her leader. And, she was alone. The only adult left in her familial unit. At first Marigold thought it important to give her space, but time had passed now.

She followed after the other's trail, compelled to check in with her.

"Finley?"

Finley had been wrapped up in her own thoughts, the same ones as yesterday and the day before. What had become of her boys, of Jethro, what would become of her and Atara, the pack? How long would she need to lead them before Flair was better and able to challenge her way back to her rightful place? And just like yesterday, and the day before, she was not able to come up with any clear answers, or even any fuzzy answers. Just silence, and more questions.

So, when her name was called, she was happy for the distraction and even happier to hear that it was not Magg with more demands. Marigold was not a wolf she knew well, she wasn’t even sure they had exchanged more words than polite greetings and passing small talk. But, she knew how important the younger woman was to her father Chan, and that meant that she was important to the pack and to Finley.

Slowing down so the younger woman could catch up, she greeted her with a smile, ”Everything alright Marigold?” Expecting this to be some kind of leader task, it wasn’t like they had the kind of relationship where they hung out casually, but maybe they should. It wasn’t like the mother had many friends left.

Finley greeted her with a type of politeness that was... striking, to say the least. Steel-colored eyes blinked back her, momentarily caught off-guard for a reason even she couldn't quite place. In the next instant, her own tepid smile was back, an easy wag to her off-white tail as she answered.

"It is," she answered, assuming it went without saying that this was only in reference to 'things in general.' Clearly, everything was not okay, but neither of them needed to address it to be reminded of it all.

"I was wondering how you are? Anything I can do to better help?"

There was a lightness to her voice as her colorless eyes watched Finley's features. She hoped too that she did not need to explain that the woman only need to be as honest as she wished. Mar was all offer, and no request.

The leader watched as Marigold blinked at her for a moment almost frozen before returning to a wagged tail. Relief was evident on her face when she heard that everything was alright and that the younger woman wasn’t coming to her with some kind of a crisis. It felt like her next breath had more oxygen in it than the last and her heart rate began to steady. It was evident to her - and she assumed everyone else - she was not built for leadership, and every second of it put her on edge.

She was tempted to show her real emotions, but the larger part of her screamed to keep things light, keep everyone at arm's length. But, that hadn’t been working for her lately, she had run out of the few wolves that she had truly let in. Jethro was missing, Colette was dead, Flair and Chan caught up with her illness and his ongoing hardships. So, she settled for somewhere in the middle, allowing the smile to fade into something more neutral though she hoped the exhaustion was still hidden beneath some level of mask.

She thought for a moment before answering, ,”I’m…. Managing. Leadership wasn’t something I had even been actively working towards or saw myself doing, but I’m doing the best that I can.” Had she been fully honest she would have said that she hated it and couldn’t wait for it to be over, but this felt truthful enough. It was better than what she was trained to say which was everything is great! As long as you don’t look any closer you can’t see the cracks!

What could Marigold do to better support her? ”Honestly? I feel like I’m not as in touch with everyone as I should be - like Jethro and Flair used to be.” That had been evident by the outburst at the meeting when she had had no idea they were supposed to be sending a message to the Cove, ”I would appreciate if you could just help me keep an extra eye and ear out, and let me know if I’m missing anything.” Because she always felt like she was.

Marigold couldn't claim to empathize, but she certainly felt sympathy for what Finley expressed. The more wolves who left or passed or vanished, the higher she came to be within the hierarchy. Time passing in such a way was making it seem more and more likely that she could one day stand in the Lennox woman's place, and it was easy to imagine the immense doubt and stress she would then experience.

The request that then followed was perfectly within the realm of expected, especially given her cousin's petty display. Unfortunately, Mar was not exactly a fit. Better suited only by circumstance, for she was no better acquainted to anyone but her immediate family. That was, though, her problem. She had offered, and her leader had asked. Marigold would need to make some changes in her habits, no matter if it sometimes made her skin crawl to interact outside of that small inner circle.

"Of course. I am sorry, by the way, for what happened with Magg. How she conducted herself. I'm... I haven't been very social, admittedly. And I have made assumptions in how things work, in what would be handled without my participation."

For example, she'd known of her cousin's situation and her father's reluctance for a scouting trip to be made after losing Auburn in the last attempt. What she hadn't known, but had a growing feel of, was that Chan hadn't been speaking freely about these details with Finley. Where that breakdown in communication might have happened, she hadn't a clue. There felt to be little other explanation, however, at least that Mar could surmise.

"Clearly, I need to make an adjustment, and I will," she smiled, her tone light and positive.

Finley’s nose wrinkled slightly at the mention of Magg, unable to hide her displeasure at the whole situation. Outbursts like that were not to be tolerated in her opinion, but it didn’t matter much because the girl had taken her leave on her own accord. She smoothed it quickly enough, and answered, ”Magg is certainly…spirited in nature.” It was the only non-negative word she could think of for the teen.

But, she felt guilty seeing the way that Marigold struggled with the task and the leader shook her head quickly. Smiling she reassured, ”Oh no need for all of that, it is my own problem really and I shouldn’t be shilling my tasks onto other people anyways.” If the younger woman was not comfortable there was no need to strain herself for Finley’s benefit. Though, there was one member that she thought the Tanga woman might know best on, ”But…if you could keep an eye on your father, I know he’s been struggling. It doesn’t feel like my place to pry but I worry.” Maybe if Marigold could make sure he was doing alright that could take one thing off her mind.

Spirited.

"That's one word for it," she mumbled under breath. Her brash cousin had whipped up quite a bit of needless tension, at least for the Eastfall clan. More and more she was glad not to be a part of the mountain sect of her family.

The light annoyance felt washed away with surprise as Finley next promptly retracted the directive asked of Mar. Her silver eyes widened and her ears lifted even higher before she could reign her expression back in. That was not at all what she'd intended by her answer, and her own feelings of guilt intensified in turn. Whether her leader saw it the same or not, just like that, Marigold was unreliable.

A polite smile was maintained as she continued to listen, her father and his delicate mental health brought up. Sensitive, she thought of him as, like Auburn. Wherever had her steely edges come from?

"Of course. He does keep an unfortunate amount to himself," she conceded, gaze dropping away momentarily, though her smile never faltered, "as far as I know, though, the only fires there left with Magg and Ally. I'll certainly let you know if I catch a whiff of smoke, though."

Her tone had remained the same, airy in a politely confident way, though as she continued her eyes took on a specific clarity. A kind of sharpness that bid Finley to take her at face value.

"About anything. It's no trouble at all to be a good packmate and take interest in the others, and it's of course my obligation to tell my leader of any matter that could impact the pack as a whole. It really was my error."

There was some kind of unspoken shift happening between the two women, and the Lennox wolf could not quite put her paw on it. It seemed as if Marigold had become almost offended in some way, or defensive, or some other emotion that Finley could not quite identify. The words were polite, cutious, body language primarily relaxed and neutral - except for silver eyes which shone intensely towards her. The agouti woman in turn nodded her head once to indicate that she understood how important this conversation was with the Tanga woman.

Arranging her own features to be vaguely pleasant, ears neutral, she responded, ”I think we’re all adjusting - the pack has been through a lot the last few months and things have slipped through the cracks for all of us, myself included.” The pack had always been meant to be led by Flair and Jethro and the rest of them were just trying to keep the pieces together until the world went back to the way that it was.

How desperately she wished for that, for normal. To not have to worry about all of these extra responsibilities. Jethro would have been sure to have Magg home quickly, or her family come back to get her, Flair would know what to say to Chan to make things better. Finley was always going to pale in comparison.

She was certainly being gracious, Marigold thought. The younger wolf couldn't help but wonder if it came naturally to Finley, being the way she was, or if it was a constant, learned effort.

Marigold bobbed her head once in acceptance of the leader's words, but admittedly had little to nothing to say in response to them. Not naturally.

"Well... thank you, Finley, for speaking with me. I'll let you get back to your own priorities now. Things will get better; we'll work until they do, right?"

She was nearly panic-fleeing the conversation now, though her crystalline exterior wouldn't show it. Her smile was even a touch breezier, as she stepped back to take her leave.