Cassiopeia's View swallow my breath and take what is mine.

The entire sky was open tonight in a way that Liffey had not seen in many nights. The young girl treaded slowly across grounds that she paid little attention to. She was focussed on the mural painted above, and the longing that eminated inexplicably from within. After a while, the Blackthorn came upon the crest of a hill where finally, she decided to stop.

Liffey slid onto her stomach near the edge, her paws dangling over the precipice. She stared at the sky still, but her mind tugged at her. It willed her to allow it to wander away from her present surroundings to the the things she was trying to leave behind. Her mother, distant, and now about to detach likely entirely with her impending pregnancy. Her distance with the entire pack, which was something that had been cultivated many months ago.

The young wolf felt her eyes watering with emotion, and for a moment was surprised at this. That is, until she realized how stupid she was being... In all of her attempts to not think of the things she didn't want to think about, she had been sitting there thinking of them as part of her consideration of not  wanting to think of them. Liffey shut her eyes, feeling miserable and lost and lonely. But she took in a deep breath a moment later, then looked towards the stars once again with a fiery determination in her eyes as she steadied her emotions.

She would consider the stars, and not all of the things she was ignoring by her attention to them.

Tagging for reference with minor PP-- please let me know if you mind it, guys!

Loneliness had been something that had taken the argent-colored wolf time to become accustomed to. After having been surrounded by others for the entirety of his life, Rannoch had felt at a loss when he suddenly had nobody. It seemed as though just when he had finally grown used to the sensation that he had thrust himself back into the middle of when he had re-entered the Teekon Wilds. Just as it had taken him time to adjust to being alone, it also was taking time to get readjusted to the company of others again. 

When the trio had settled down for the night to rest, Rannoch had taken this opportunity to excuse himself for a few moments as thoughts of another moment more of socialising threatened to plague him. When @Rain and @Cypress had both shrugged it off, not seeming to mind, Rannoch excused himself from the group in hopes of finding some inner peace amongst their star-light surroundings. He was granted such feelings almost instantly as he slipped away, feeling calmed by the overhanging canopy of starlight. 

Feeling more confident once he felt as though he could breathe, Rannoch set forward into the night to investigate their surrounding area. Soon enough, Rannoch found himself on a particular stretch of land that built up into a hill and on top of said hill there was another perched. Their figure was bathed in moonlight, and Rannoch paused for a moment, staring at the figure curiously as he was thrown off guard. Even though he had stalked away in hopes of being alone, the sea-eyed youth suddenly felt compelled to meet the other wolf, for reasons that he could not even begin to explain. Something beneath the surface urged him to press forward, yet, he found himself motionless.

Liffey didn't notice the sound of another approaching at first. She was too busy tracing lines between the stars to amuse herself, blinking thoughtfully at the various shapes she was able to create. It was something she had done ever since she was a small child, creating forms and faces that eventually she came to think of as her imaginary friends. Her bright eyes shifted away from the woodpecker she had been trying to draw to seek out the brightest star in the sky, which had long been the bright left eye of a mouse - one of the first faces she had ever spotted.

When finally she did realize someone else was nearby, she reacted first with the sudden, sharp prick of her ears and ended in her on all fours, spun round to peer out across the slope of the hill. Liffey had tensed with alarm, but it was overtaken by surprise and intrigue when her eyes traced the curves of a somehow familiar face. The girl's head tilted as she studied the boy, wondering where she had seen him before when finally it hit her. The day she'd met Charon. By the water. The one who'd walked away.

"Oh, uh..." Liffey started, awkward and hesitant, "Hey again." She felt stupid the second she said it. What if he didn't recognize her? She could always explain if he didn't... But how awful if he didnt remember and thought she was crazy and weird and stupid? 

The girl took a breath, trying to calm her anxiously throbbing heart. This was exactly why she stuck to talking to the stars.

Oddly enough there seemed to be something somewhat familiar about the nearby figure. Though Rannoch could not recall meeting the wolf that he creepily stared at, there was something familiar about her. His expression was thoughtful as he attempted to figure out why he was so drawn to her. It was in the midst of this investigating that she turned to face him and despite getting a better look, he couldn't quite place it. 

She was the first to speak and as she did his ears perked onto of his skull, his head canting to the side slightly as he found himself further confused. Despite this, he replied. "Uh... hey!" he offered back, his tail waving in an attempt to distract him from the unattractive expression he currently sported. It was something akin to constipation; his brow was furrowed and his mouth a straight line as he attempted to figure it out. 

"I know you... somehow," he admitted shortly after his greeting, giving up his attempt in recalling the memory. "And it was recently... but, we, like, never talked or anything," this much he could recall and he did so awkwardly. He paused then, swallowing hard as embarrassment overcame him and in light of these feelings, he looked away suddenly.

His brain rattled as he desperately ventured to recall just how he knew her and it was in this rushed thought that he finally recalled. "But! You were near the river and that weird guy came up!" His eyes lightened as a result of his epiphany and he turned towards her again. Perhaps it has been her response to him that had assisted in his recalling of the day they had crossed paths.

 Despite how goofy he had looked, he was quite proud to have recalled that. "He didn't give you trouble, right?" He took a step forward as his memories rushed back to him. "I stuck around for a little bit in case he did anything funny, but, he seemed okay and I left." He left his story at that as he fell silent to make way for her response.

He seemed to stumble on every word that came out of his mouth. Liffey blinked at him in surprise. It wasn't often she came across someone more nervous of her than she was of them. She wasn't completely sure if that's what was happening in this encounter, but it sure felt like it.

Her ears pricked as he mentioned knowing her somehow. He seemed to be wracking his brain for the memory, but she refrained from putting the image in his head for him. Instead she just nodded to confirm that they had indeed crossed paths before, offering him a smile and a wag of her tail. When the memory finally came to him, she couldn't help but laugh softly when he referred to Charon as "that weird guy".

That laugh was all it took for her to ease entirely in the boy's presence. His unusual mannerisms and apparent shyness were fairly helpful as well, plus there was the fact that he had apparently lingered that day in an effort to see that she was going to be alright. Yep, he was a good one.

"He didn't give me any trouble," Liffey replied, "I actually thought he was a weirdo at first too, but he turned out to be pretty cool." She smiled, amusement glittering in her fiery eyes. Her head tilted then as her amusement turned to curiosity. "Who are you?" she asked, completely forgetting the part where she was supposed to introduce herself first.

In his reclusive state, Rannoch had never had to consider another as he had nobody to converse with on the isolated shore. But now that he was back in the presence of others, he was quickly catching onto the fact that communicating was hard-- especially doing so with somebody that was as cute as Liffey was. Though he had not outrightly thought this, he knew that there was something about her that caught his attention. At the moment, he couldn't pinpoint just what it was about her that grabbed his attention as she was. 

Rannoch would progress in his communication skills the more that he talked with others and this conversation was a prime example of how easily he would grow accustomed. Feeling the veil of his timidness slowly slip away, Rannoch began to feel more comfortable and confident in their conversing. He mirrored her smile quickly and his ears perked as she laughed at him. They lowered in his self-conciousness, but soon stood up when she put meaning to the humor that she had found in his statement. His smile grew at this, pleased that the laughing hadn't been at him and rather in agreement. 

He was relieved that everything had gone alright with the stranger. "I'm glad," he replied with a wave of his tail. It was as he spoke that the other's demeaner switched. Mimicing this, Rannoch adjusted accordingly, curious to know what she was wondering about. His head canted to the side his ears perked just in time to ask her question. 

"I'm Rannoch," he replied quickly with a smile, realizing that they hadn't exchanged names yet. "And you are?" His words trailed as he looked to her, curious to know what she called herself.

Rannoch. Liffey smiled, liking the name instantly. It was a good name. A strong name. One that fit him well, though for reasons she couldn't really place. He turned the question around and Liffey found herself pausing before she answered. When Charon had asked her this, she had given him an answer that wasn't completely honest. True, her name was actually Caolfhionn and Key was certainly a shortened version of it. It wasn't entirely a lie... But she could only remember once being called Caoilfhionn, and that was when she'd been told it was her true name.

But with Rannoch... "I'm Liffey," she answered after a beat, offering a friendly smile. She settled then onto her haunches, relaxing into the grass. "So what brings you out wandering at midnight?" she asked, trying to think of a joke to make about the fact that she too was up and obviously away from home at this hour of the night. Nothing came to her, so she let the question rest while still keeping an ear out for another opportunity to be as funny and charming and impressive as she felt compelled to be for this boy.

Liffey's name came in a gentle breeze, lifting his spirits unintentionally. There was something magical about her, something that kept him lingering on her every word. He smiled to her introduction, his tail waving gently at his hindquarters. "Nice to meet you, Liffey." And he meant every word. Rannoch wasn't sure if it were something in the air, the ambience, the company; all Rannoch knew was that there was something different about this encounter. He leant forward as she settled onto the ground, pulling himself to lay against the dew-kissed grass. 

His ears perked when she asked about his intentions at such a late hour, and he looked to her, the coolness of his water-life eyes meeting the embers of hers. Despite the heat they gave, Rannoch felt a chill rush through him, and he lowered his head in response to the foreign feeling. "I couldn't sleep," despite his growing need to impress her; he spoke directly and truthfully, "so I decided to explore a little." He shrugged, and his eyes focused to her pearly cheek, unable to meet her eyes again. "What about you?" His eyes wandered when he ventured silently of just what she was doing out so late. Was she adventuring as he was? Or was she like him; without a home? These possabilities laid on the tip of his tongue as he waited for her answer, wanting to hear what she was up to.

Nice to meet you, Liffey.

The young Blackthorn felt her heart flutter slightly when he said the words to her. She had to fight not to giggle at the sensation, covering it by dipping her chin slightly towards her chest as her eyes fell to his paws and she smiled demurely. She looked back at him a moment later, wondering at this odd feeling. It reminded her quite suddenly of how she used to feel playing with Gannet when she was a kid, but somehow different. That had been a silly, childish thing. This was something else... This was...

No. This was silly and childish too. Or so Liffey's better sense told her the moment her mind and her heart began to go frolicking away on her. She brushed the moment of giddyness away in the moment she looked up from the ground to study Rannoch again, this time ignoring whatever silly fluttering was going about in her insides, regardless of how it crescendoed and ebbed with each fluctuation of his tone.

"Same. Well, kind of..." Liffey replied, glancing upward at the mouse constellation with a flickering smile. "I don't actually like to sleep at night..." she admitted with a grin that was part embarassed and part conspiratorial, "I like it better at night. It's a lot more quiet and peaceful than daytime. Plus, I love looking at the stars and finding shapes in them like animals and landmarks and different little objects and.. things..."

She paused, realizing that while she was speaking, she'd turned her head blatantly skyward and begun smiling like a dork. Liffey looked back at her companion and laughed at herself before saying, "I might be a weirdo too, come to think of it."

He did not notice the subtle dipping of her head. Instead, he was all too wrapped up in his emotions even to consider the tiniest of her movements. Instead, oblivious to anything outside of their words, as he attempted to comprehend just what she was offering in return. Trying to shoo away his innermost feelings, Rannoch broke away his gaze for a moment, as if disconnected himself. 

When he did turn back to her, it was when she started to talk about her reasons for being out. From his short break, he felt somewhat renewed and ready to take on the conversation, yet, a nagging hum still lingered in the pit of his heart, reminding him of whatever had overcome him. 

"There are shapes up there?" He asked, following her attention towards the sky, tilting his head as he focused on the blueish-black thing that created their starry canopy.

He didn't agree that she was a weirdo. Instead, Rannoch turned his gaze to follow the line hers had drawn skyward to peer questioningly at the landscape overhead. Liffey found herself smiling at him as he concentrated, finding it endearing how he tried to find shapes there when it was obvious he didn't understand her meaning. In a bold move, Liffey stood and trotted to his side. She circle around behind him before settling down onto her stomach right alongside him. All the better to direct his gaze and help him see, she told himself. Nothing whatsoever to do with the inexplicable wanting to be near him.

"There are, but it requires a bit of imagination to see them," she explained, her own eyes shifting back towards the sky, "The way I do it is to start by picking out some of the brighter stars in the sky. From there, I picture lines being drawn between them and start to try and see what shapes they make. Once I have that in my head, I expand the shape to some of the darker stars in order to make it into something more interesting."

Already in her eyes, an acorn was starting to take shape. She ignored it though and instead focussed on a different star cluster that would be easier for her to point out. "See there? Those four stars there a little to the West? Picture lines connecting them all. They kind of make a square, see?"  Liffey attempted to gesture towards them with her muzzle, stealing a glance at Rannoch's face to see if he followed.

Liffey shifted at his words, moving from her distanced position to settled next to him. While she moved, Rannoch held his breath, watching carefully as she pulled alongside him. If he had been distracted before, Rannoch found himself even more so now that she was so close to him. He swallowed, mustering the most of his will to pull his eyes back to the sky and focus on the task at hand rather than how close she was next to him. 

Rannoch was not the most imaginable of wolves, but doing so was even harder with the distraction next to him. But, despite this, he attempted to prevail over the hormones that willed him to be absent minded. Liffey ventured to begin the process of connecting the stars through an envisioned line. A thick line fell upon his brow as his concentration kicked in, feeling quite lost to both the process. He couldn't see what she could, and it made him feel even more self-aware than he had been previous. 

Rannoch's face flushed as his ears laid upon the rear of his skull and he turned to face her. "Is there an easier one?" he asked, his voice somewhat shaken despite his usual sense of confidence. For some reason, him not accomplishing what she had been able to make him feel vulnerable and he didn't like it. His eyes lingered, falling to her pearl-painted chest as he waited for relief to the overbearing sense of crippling self-doubt.

Liffey hadn't anticipated that this would be at all difficult for him. Her eyes flickered to his face, focusing on the creases in his brow and the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. Her own ears fell back as his did, only hers were compelled by guilt for putting him in a situation that he clearly found embarrassing.

Perhaps it was her determination to make him feel more at ease, but she shuffled slightly closer so she could get a better look from his angle. Her smouldering eyes scanned the sky overhead, searching for a different set of stars that might be a little easier. "There, how about those three bright ones? They're in a perfectly straight line in that more empty space of sky to the right of that faded cluster that's shaped kind of like a leaf?"

Liffey bit her lip, hoping his eyes would catch these three. She was ready to reach out and tilt his muzzle the direction it needed to go with hers if it proved necessary, but the very thought was making her heart fling itself into her rib cage.

His disappointment was met with action from Liffey, and as she scooted closer, Rannoch eyed her with a mixture of both fear and surprise. But instead of succumbing to his emotions, he attempted to distract himself from the intimacy of her position about him by forcing himself to focus on the task at hand: the stars. Though his heart was pushing considerably, Rannoch did his best to search the starry sky to find just what the wolf of the Caldera was speaking of. 

There was concentration deeply planted upon his handsome features as silence consumed him as he sought the stars that had been spoken of. When his eyes did cross the three heavenly bodies, Rannoch then shifted his sight to see the leaf. When he settled on what seemed to be the loose foliage, Rannoch focused on it for quite some time as he rattled his brain in an attempt to see what she had. 

"I think I found it?" He announced suddenly, not feeling all that confident in his findings as he turned to Liffey with a hopeful smile. "It looks kind of weird, but, maybe that's it?" His tail wagged slowly as he gestured his muzzle to the area that he found the leaf; the portion of the sky that Liffey had spoken of. A small chuckle following as he added: "Maybe I'm the weirdo because I'm not good at looking at the stars." This was Rannoch's attempt to lighten his mood a bit, but this would depend on how Liffey would respond to the statement.

Liffey felt her heart thrumming nervously as she watched him search the skies for the three stars she had spoken of. Her gaze flickered between his eyes and the sky, wishing there was a way she could literally grab his eyeballs and point them herself. It wasn't that she was impatient, but she was simply anxious at how bothered he seemed at not being able to find them.

Unless... it wasn't his inability to find the constellations that perturbed him. She was suddenly very aware of just how near him she had gotten. Was that what was making him so uncomfortable? Should she scoot away? How could she do that now without being obvious? What if she was wrong and he wasn't bothered by her nearness, then she would move away, and then he became offended that she was trying to get away from him now??

Her heart settled when he finally responded and she found his face turned towards her with a smile painted upon it. Her ears slid back as she returned the grin and gave an encouraging nod. Liffey couldn't help but laugh at his comment, shaking her head lightly. "Nah, I'm the one seeing shapes in the sky that aren't actually there. Pretty sure that makes me alpha of the weirdos," she paused thoughtfully before adding, "Plus I'm trying to convince others that they too should see things that aren't there. That's like.. diabolical weirdo."

Liffey looked at him with an apologetic grin. "Mighta been bad luck meeting me," she joked, "Sorry for that."

Rannoch had been confident that his heart could not beat faster, yet, somehow, he found this to be entirely untrue. Her smile was what had done him end, sending him into a spiral of emotions that he had yet to experience. Despite this inner turmoil, he managed to put forward a goofy grin as he looked to her. Somehow she had managed to make his innards turn to must and though he couldn't put forth words to explain the phenomenon that was going on, he knew that he liked whatever was going on. 

To the end of her commentary at that moment, his eyes grew wide for a moment, as if surprised. But, soon, he realised it was all just a joke and he relaxed again. "Oh, nah, it's totally cool." he replied, his tail wagging gently as the words escaped easily from his mouth. "I mean, it's kinda weird talkin' to somebody who can see stuff in the sky, but, I guess sometimes you just come across weirdos." Shrugging, he flashed her a genuine smile, one that didn't ooze the sarcasm that his words had held. No, despite their short encounter, he was glad to have run into her again for reasons that he still wasn't fully aware of.

Whether it was his success or her humorous attitude, Rannoch seemed to settle away from his frustration. Liffey was glad for it relaxed the tension she had felt in her own chest. He seemed alarmed by her commentary at first, but already she was getting used to his character and so her smile never faltered, only grew brighter when he teased her back.

She nodded her head sagely as her expression turned to an understanding frown. "I'm actually of the opinion that we're all weirdos, some just hide it better than others," she commented lightly, "So you're probably more used to talking to them than you even know." Liffey's mind began sifting through the wolves she had known in her life. All of them were weirdos in one way or another. Her own twin was probably the worst, come to think of it...

Rannoch contemplated her words, his expression growing erudite as he mulled them over for a moment. "You know, you might be on to something," He said, turning to her with a growing smile. After all, in his time away from the valley he had run into many vibrant characters along the shoreline, all weird in their all unique way. "I was away from the valley for a while ran into many strange wolves." His eyes sparkled despite the hurt that surrounded his running into said wolves. Without his parents dying, he probably wouldn't have experienced such interactions. 

Not wishing to keep the subject on himself, Rannoch volleyed the topic back to Liffey, curious to know how much she had traveled. "Have you ever left the valley?" After all, she was away from her home, and perhaps this was a normality for the star-dusted female.

Liffey returned the smile easily. She had thought him interesting from the start, but when he made mention of time spent away from the Wilds, her level of intrigue increased tenfold. The idea that her parents had begun their lives far away from Teekon was fascinating to her imaginative mind and adventurous soul. As little as she wanted to admire her mother right now, she still had to bite her tongue to keep from mentioning how she wanted to explore the whole world like her mother had.

"No, I haven't," Liffey admitted, feeling slightly embarrassed but being far too honest a person to say otherwise, "Honestly though... I think about it all the time."

Her face had grown solemn, her eyes unfocussed as her thoughts wandered off. She caught herself after a moment and smiled faintly at him again, her ears sliding back upon her head. "I mean, not leaving the Valley. Just... finding something else. Seeing new things. Meeting new people." She sighed wistfully, then paused to give him a thoughtfully pointed glance before she added, "One down, I suppose."

His interest piqued at her words, his ears fanning upon his skull, his expression brightening despite her much darker appearance. But, notwithstanding his interest, she then elaborated, and he felt his heart began to flutter within his chest. It appeared that she wanted just what he was doing, and he couldn't help but grin goofily at the realization. Perhaps, he ventured quickly; she'd be interested in the makeshift pack that had begun to form. 

"You know, that's what I'm doing." He admitted, looking at her shyly. "My brothers and I left our pack, and we're trying to find somewhere we belong." He turned behind them, attempting to grab sight of the looming forest. "We're settled back there, where the fruit trees and brambles are." Rannoch's confidence building with his every word, his eyes shone as he turned back to her. "We also accept weirdos." His face flashed in radiance at this, a mild burning gracing the bridge of his nose and his ears falling as his heart nearly beat out of his broad chest. As much as he wanted to look away, he didn't, instead settling on her fiery eyes as he wondered how she'd react to this very sudden proposition.

While Rannoch grew excited beside her, Liffey grew quiet and pensive. It was the first time she had ever admitted out loud the things she had been thinking about for weeks. It had felt wrong even to think it before. Now that she'd said it out loud, she somehow felt worse. She had once hoped it would make her feel better to admit it to someone, to be able to talk about it. Instead, Liffey just felt sick with guilt.

That's when Rannoch's voice pulled her out of her head. She turned to gaze at him, interest growing upon her face with each word he said. The weight of guilt in her chest began to lessen, her eyes widening with wonder. How was it possible.. of all the wolves to come upon her that night, it was one who apparently shared her dreams. He had actually taken steps towards achieving it. And... he had a place for her.

The excitement coursing through her soul was all Finley, but yet when she spoke, it was with Elwood's words on her tongue. "Where are you planning to go?" she asked, her logical sensibility winning out to the reckless abandon that tempted her, "How many are with you? Who leads you? Are you going far? When are you leaving?" Liffey bit her lip, her face an equal mix of eagerness and apprehension as she watched him.

Rannoch's proposition was met with a tsunami of inquires, all of which Rannoch listened to before attempting to reply. He assumed that all of these questions were a good indication of her interest, as disinterest would most likely lead to an absence of queries. Smiling at this, as her words brought something aflutter in the pit of his stomach, Rannoch did his best to forego the sensation to explain everything about the expedition that he knew. 

"I'm not quite sure where we want to go," he began, his tone thoughtful as his eyes ventured behind him briefly to meet the leafy canopy of the bramble tangle. "It doesn't feel like a home where we are now, especially since I get pricked all the time because of the brambles." He lowered his ears as he the recollected of all the times that he had been struck. 

The next portion of her question brought curiosity to him, and he attempted to work himself through the issue as he spoke. "Well, everybody looks to me for questions," he began steadily, looking to her. "And nobody stands around me like they're higher up than I am...." So, was he in charge? "So I think the best answer is that I'm in charge." It was odd for the metal-brushed male to admit this, but there was also something exciting to him. He liked looking out for everybody, making sure that they were all safe-- it made him feel as thought he had a purpose. 

"I don't know how far we're going to go, but, we're going to keep going until we find somewhere nice." He confided in her suddenly curious. "Do you think you want to come?" He asked bluntly, his head flopping to the side in the wake of what had been said. "No pressure, obviously, but I'd like to have you if you'll have us," The admittance was one that even caught him off guard and he ducked him muzzle, obviously embarrased for letting that slip out.

Liffey couldn't help but smirk as he spoke of his problems with their current location. She had always been rather fond of Bramblepoint. It was the first place she had ever gone outside of the Caldera. She had explored the place frequently when she was younger since it was near enough to go to and return home from within a day, but also far enough that it felt like she had gone to another world. She realized she hadn't been back there in quite some time though, and wondered at how much sooner she might have met this boy and his brothers had she continued to spend time in that forest...

Her thoughts on that topic were brief as Rannoch moved on, answering another of her questions with contemplative slowness. Liffey's eyes widened slightly when he eventually concluded that he was the one actually leading them. She was fairly impressed by this, but also had to wonder why it was only now he was determining it to be so. The sensible part of her saw this as a red flag, but her more rebellious nature thrilled at the one notion it seemed to speak of louder than anything else: Freedom.

Stars above, did Liffey crave freedom. To be able to come and go as she pleased. To have no one to answer to but wolves that saw her as an individual, maybe even an equal instead of some kid to order around and break promises to. To get out into the world, explore, experience new things and to find a place where she belonged. And most of all, to feel wanted...

As Rannoch admitted he wanted her to come with him, Liffey felt quite certain her heart was going to explode with glee. She saw him quirm with embarrassment and could only smile while stifling a giggle. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to run home and tell her parents she was going and there was nothing they could do to stop her. Maybe she could even get Lagan to come with her, and maybe...

But Eljay.

The smile fell from her face at that very sobering thought. What would Eljay think? How would her big brother handle her leaving? And Lagan too, and Elwood? And... "I want to," she told Rannoch honestly, "It sounds like a dream. But I'd have to say good bye to my family. My brothers and my dad, and.. I don't think my mom would ever even speak to me again if I did it." Liffey paused, thinking about Finley with mixed emotions coursing through her. "My mom and I don't get along anymore. Maybe it would actually be better if I left, but I don't know. I think... I think that I have to think about it."

Liffey felt panic the moment her last words left her lips. She looked at Rannoch with worry on her face and an imploring look in her eyes. "Is that okay?" she asked him, uncertain of what she would do if he told her she had to decide now and very much afraid the opportunity would end up slipping out of her paws.

Liffey's face fell suddenly after contemplating his words, and it was at that moment that the wide-chested Frostfur felt his breath catch in his throat. Worry hummed annoying through him, his facial features morphing effortlessly to mimic the expression she had brought forth. But, despite this, Rannoch did not speak. Instead, he listened to everything that she had to say and only contributed to the conversation once he had gotten the chance to digest it. 

He was not surprised that she had a family to go to and understood where she was coming from, despite his family life. Just as he was about to reply, she added something worriedly, and quickly Rannoch's expression turned sympathetic. "Of course it is," he replied, finally catching his breath after the time that had passed. Had he been in her paw steps, Rannoch would have wanted to do the same-- he knew this, and the silver-coated man couldn't deny her such closure, even if he wished for her to join now. "If we happen to leave before you're ready, I'll call to you." The idea came upon him swiftly, and he took it for what it was, not thinking of the logistics that went into it. "Then if you want to come, you can call back, or find us later..." or never, whispered his devil's advocate. He attempted to suppress this thought with a smile. "It'll be okay," he assured her quickly, forcing himself to feel what he was advocating.

Rannoch's eyes were kind as he reassured her that she could have time to consider. She breathed a sigh, obviously relieved. This was not a decision she could take lightly, as much as she wanted to be reckless and dive straight in. There was a lot at stake, and a lot of loved ones that would be hurt if she decided to go. Not to mention the one Liffey felt quite certain would disown her if she did this. And yet... how much did that really matter right now? Given all the unhappiness between them lately?

But those were thoughts she could keep to herself. She didn't want to burden her friend and future alpha with this, especially when it was clear he was in favor of one particular outcome over another. She shook her coat lightly to settle herself before answering. "Thank you, Rannoch," Liffey said with a grateful smile and a soft wag of her tail.