Phoenix Maplewood death of a naturalist

The whole situation was Level 5000 awkward. Sesi gazed up at Reek, too invested now to look away and try her luck elsewhere - it had taken days to work up the courage to flag someone down. Time flowed around them like cold syrup.

Luckily, a nearby besserwisser swooped in to save the day (it did not occur to the pup that she might have humiliated her alpha). Despite Ukko's best efforts not to startle the pair, Sesi skittered away from him like a frightened cat, back arched and tail tucked. She listened, a little distracted, to the information he had to offer - and empathized with the deer.

The second stranger introduced himself as Ukko. Sesi nodded hesitantly at him, drew breath, and flung another question into the open for both males to address. "Do we have a..a dense area?"