the news that they'd have neighbors at the vale was unexpected -- jomyo'd not reported anything about it. he's not cross with her (he wonders if they'd just missed each other or something?) but it presents an immediate anxiety, mostly because, hello, they've never had neighbors before.
he hopes they're nice.
delight plans to make an official visit, of course, but he's still fatigued from their long journey and so takes a day off to rest and map out the edges of the vale. the way the mountains cup them provides a sense of sanctity and seclusion he finds reassuring, and mildly heartened, he decides to do a quick border check, strengthen the scent of their claim.
there's a figure in the distance. moon eyes squint, his momentary cheer knocked off balance at the immediate thought that it might be someone from next door come to... start something, or something. but the figure doesn't look to be moving any closer or threatening, and as delight steps closer he recognizes the scent immediately.
"brienne!" he calls, his tail wagging behind him as he picks up the pace, crossing over his borders to go greet her. delight hadn't thought he'd see her again -- what a strange new world they've found themselves in! "what are you doing here?" he can't help but ask, his voice intrigued and bright, hoping she's in a far better place than last he spoke with her.
she doesn't look exactly thrilled to see him, though he guesses he can't blame her for that much. his brightened expression shifts back into it's usual countenance -- not sullen or unhappy by any means, he's still glad to see her, it's just a more measured glad now, especially when she confirms she lives with their neighbors.
haha small world isnt it
"yes," delight says in answer to her question, glancing back towards tindómë. "after burke's passing i .. started to revisit the idea of relocating. and then the king elk died," he catches on a breath, still guilt-ridden over that, "and -- there just didn't seem to be anything else left for us there.
we just got in the other day -- i was going to come by to ... introduce us properly. our scout didn't report anyone else living near the vale during her scouting trip, so we weren't expecting to, uh, be so close to -- another pack." delight is rambling a little bit, nervous about how she'll react to their being neighbors. on the one hand: he loves brienne and having her close again sounds wonderful, but if she's angry still -- she could, theoretically, put in a bad word against them with her new pack. (he doesn't think she would, exactly, but... still.) awkwardly he shuffles his weight between his paws for a moment before asking "so.. what pack are you with?"
"yeah, well," he says, feeling more awkward still, "it's alright." of course it isn't, not really (only less than two weeks prior he'd still been knight of a forest and the king elk had been alive), but brienne is no longer a cenma and wholly unresponsible for tending to whatever emotional woes befall him. also, talking about feelings makes him squirm.
the news that sunspire is being lead by none other than rannoch perks his ears up excitedly. mato's always spoken so highly of rannoch, delight has long since secretly desired to meet him, to find out more about the original incarnation of northstar vale that mato departed from to make tindómë. he hopes the news that rannoch is near will cheer up mato as well -- maybe it'll help pull him out of his funk. "oh, bri, that'd be great," the morwinyon says enthusiastically, "i've always wanted to meet rannoch too -- i'm glad you were able to find a new home, too." and truly he is. brienne's departure is maybe the only one that hasn't stung so bad. maybe because better than anyone else he can understand the scar that mato's flame leaves and the need to remove yourself from it when thing don't work out. "i hope we can be on good terms," he adds, referring to tindómë and sunspire -- and brienne and tindómë, too. he doesn't say the m-word (and he won't unless she addresses it) but even now he knows that particular spectre haunts their interactions (and how silly since it's not even like they're a thing, whatever semi-reciprocated feelings lay between them). but only time can really tell how this particular development will shake out, and delight's eager to meet that time head on.
ah. he'd almost forgotten brienne's uncanny ability to see right through him (as if he isn't already transparent).
he squirms.
"okay, yeah, it sucks," delight admits, scratching at the ground with one paw absently. he pauses as she agrees to help arrange a meeting with rannoch, brightening a bit himself -- why had he even worried? he loves brienne -- laughing softly and with relief. "heal?" the androgyne deadpans the joke, quirking an eyebrow, though he can't keep the corners of his mouth from upturning into a smile. "no -- i missed you, too. i'm glad we ended up next to you." delight sighs. "as for burke and the king elk... i mean, it was burke's time, but the elk -- i was so afraid of ruining tindómë when ma- when i took it over, and then he just... keels over. no idea what happened or why, and -- that was actually our third death." he takes a deep breath -- he'd not bothered to mention cicero earlier, given that brienne probably doesn't know who he is and it's more confusing than illuminating, but he's going all in now, so to hell with it: "i met this wolf named cicero, he was traveling with his two sons, looking for burke -- who'd already died by then -- so i took them all back to tindómë of course, and then he goes and dies right on the borders."
as tragic as the scene had been, for delight, it was mostly incredibly inconvenient. the kids are old enough that they aren't a burden to tindómë, but they are weird and most ungracefully dumped on him and he feels bad for them but that's about the extent of his emotional range. "it's been a lot," he admits to brienne with a short laugh, "but, uh, so, how have you been..?"