Drooping Willows sometimes it hurts instead

She was hardly bothered by the comparison in the end. Complements were beyond her anyway as she hardly remembered them or received them. It seemed that she might not be able to decipher them either, if that had been the male's intent. His trailing voice didn't bother her, and she finally sat down, with a bit of effort, and the tip of her tail flicked in an almost contented fashion. She hoped it wasn't churlish of her to sit when he wasn't, but perhaps she could inspire him, instead.

So Swift River was nice. She wondered what he meant by nice. Lots of things could be nice. These willows were nice. She took it was it was, however, deciding that it was, in general, a very nice place. Nicer than Grizzly Hollow? Perhaps right now. It shamed her to think of her home in such a way, but now she didn't have much wish to be there. So, would she lie to the male? Her shoulders rolled, and she couldn't hold back any longer, giving into the urge to stare at her paws. <b style="color:#388d10">"Well, it's very nice, I suppose. Yes." She didn't bother to look up, nor did she even think she sounded all that convincing. It just wasn't fair. Looking up, she seemed to be grabbing for air as she spoke, <b style="color:#388d10">"It is a very nice place!" Desperation took over again, though at this point, Aisling was sure that all was lost. <b style="color:#388d10">"speech."

As the she-wolf settled to a sit, Ruiko followed to a recline politely, his shoulders rolling back in a light stretch before his gaze flickered over her in a brief regard once more. She was a pretty thing, but delicate. The description he gave of Swift River seemed to do little to satiate any curiosity she might have, and in turn she gave him the same words – well, weren’t the packs of Relic Lore just superbly nice, then.

There was an awkward pause then, for while the tawny wolf knew the Hollow female was lying through her teeth, he was certainly not going to call her out on it. In his younger days he would have – a more boisterous, hot headed Ruiko Tainn would have. Not the Ruiko Tainn who was finally trying to grow up. “Jaysyek is faring well, then?” After all, the poor woman had just lost her son.. He doubted she was doing fine.

aisling is awkward. ><

Could he tell she was lying? What if he could, and he told Jayse? Oh, she wished she'd tried a bit harder. Why had she even come out of hiding to begin with. She could have just told him that she was trying to sleep and surely he would have gone away. But...But no! She needed this! What if he didn't tell Jayse that she'd lied? What reason did he have to do that anyway? And then maybe she'd make a friend that didn't hate her or convince her to hurt people or disappear forever.

<b style="color:#388d10">"She's um...Okay, I guess." Admittedly, Aisling wasn't really sure how Jayse was. She hadn't spoken to her in days, perhaps even a week or so. Whenever Borden had returned. <b style="color:#388d10">"Her mate came back, but..." She shook her head. Perhaps it wasn't really any of his business anyway. <b style="color:#388d10">"How is...oh..." Her jaws slowly churned to come up with a name, but she really didn't know the name of Swift River's leaders. <b style="color:#388d10">"I'm sorry...I guess I'm not really knowledgeable..." Her voice trailed off, and she sighed. In an attempt to be sociable and polite, she'd ended up forgetting names and lying to a stranger. <b style="color:#388d10">"speech."

Ruiko listened intently to the girl’s words on regarding the leader of the Hollow. With her mate back, it would either be emotional turmoil for the she-wolf, or a blessing in disguise. As much as he considered the ivory leader his friend, he could easily admit he did not know her well enough to truly understand what she must have been feeling at this time, and he took the news with a somber silence.

The girl was about to ask of the River’s leaders, and as she stumbled for names, the tawny wolf felt a bemused smirk begin to cross his muzzle. “Indru and Corinna are doing very well,” he informed her, his eyes moving over her once more. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much. It’s challenging enough to keep up with one’s own pack, let alone the happenings of the others in Relic Lore.”

Indru and Corinna! For a moment, she almost wished that the names had been on the tip of her tongue, but they certainly hadn't been. She smiled, <b style="color:#388d10">"Thank you. I'm glad to hear that." Her ears then flicked back slightly, <b style="color:#388d10">"You knew Jayse's name," Aisling reminded him, not doing much for her own case. <b style="color:#388d10">"I try not to intrude, I guess...No need to risk getting my ears shredded," If her nerves weren't obvious enough to begin with. She didn't have much need to know about Swift River though, at least until now. <b style="color:#388d10">"Are Grizzly Hollow and Swift River the only packs around here?" She asked him curiously, since he clearly knew more than she did. She knew that there used to be a pack on the mountain, but it wasn't there anymore. But for such a big place, two packs seemed kind of...small. <b style="color:#388d10">"speech."

“Jayse is a friend of mine,” he informed her before giving his shoulders another shrug. They were not close by any means, but it was rare for Ruiko to call a wolf outside of his pack ‘friend.’ At the mention of keeping to herself, the regal male withheld a small chuckle. “I find it hard to see anyone wanting to rip into your ears,” he mused to her quietly. After all, if first impressions meant anything, it seemed to him that the girl before him was as kind as she was quiet.

Clearing his throat, the male glanced around the willows quickly, trying to decipher the time of day from the play of shadows from the sun. Their conversation had only been short, and it seemed neither was in any rush to return to where they had come from. “.. For now,” he offered her, not mentioning that Midnight Plateau had disbanded.. or that he fully intended to create his own pack in a matter of days now.

If she could have blushed, then she certainly would have. In response, she could merely mumble, and said nothing in return. She found that hard to believe. Especially after Borden's return. She merely tried to do what she thought was best, and it almost got her into trouble...Well, it did. At least she felt it did. Her ears suddenly perked up at his ominous words. <b style="color:#388d10">"For now?" She asked, a twinge of terror and excitement in her voice. <b style="color:#388d10">"speech."

His words drew a question from her, and Ruiko studied her momentarily, uncertain what her reaction would be to his words. Would Grizzly Hollow be upset another pack was forming? He wasn’t entirely sure.. and quite frankly, he didn’t care if they were. Jaysyek likely suspected it would come eventually. Why not before the harsher time of winter came upon them rather than after?

“I plan on claiming territory of my own,” he finally offered in return. He was never usually so open with his plans, but it wouldn’t hurt to give one of the lands neighbouring packs a heads up to his intentions.

Aisling was quite surprised to hear this, especially after she'd learned he was in Swift River. Could...Could you do that? She had left Grizzly Hollow, but she had come back. The idea of leaving one pack for another jumbled Aisling's mind. Regardless, she let her tail wag, and smiled through it, though only slightly, <b style="color:#388d10">"Well, that's wonderful! But what about Swift River?" She was curious to hear more about his pack, but wasn't really the nosy sort. <b style="color:#388d10">"Wouldn't they be angry?" She tried to imagine leaving Grizzly Hollow, and found the mere thought to be quite nerve wracking, even in her current situation. <b style="color:#388d10">"speech."

The news seemed to be taken well by the pale dove, but she was quick to question what his previous pack would think. He considered her words for a moment, his mind drifting to the disappointment that Triell would like face – perhaps even Indru. Yet they had known when he had come to their aide that his help was only temporary, and Ruiko was sure his brother was expecting his departure any day now.

“They knew when I joined it was temporary to help them out.” There was a small pause as he studied the girl, wondering if she believed him to betray his allegiance. “This has been the plan for months now.. Swift River was only a moment when they needed aide.”