Stone Circle biggest muscle in the body

Eyeing the sky critically, Banner noted that tonight should have been illuminated a little more than it was.  Too bad those damn clouds just had to cover up the soft glow of the moon.  With a world-weary sigh - a bit dramatic, considering - she headed off toward the forest of aspen trees within Easthollow's territory.  She found she enjoyed weaving through the tall, white-trunked trees without any real purpose.  The back and forth pattern allowed her mind to settle and she could think as much or as little as she wanted to.  Or needed to.

Tonight, though, she didn't need to do much thinking at all.  It hadn't escaped her notice that her brother had been keeping to himself.  She'd been slowly introducing herself, reacclimating to pack life with more care than she'd given almost anything.  Some of it worked, like her conversation with Murdock.  Some of it.. not so much.  But she'd been trying.  Banner huffed loudly, her bright green eyes scanning back and forth just as she began to weave among the trees.  She thought she'd scented @Stark around here, but she couldn't be sure.  Pausing in her meandering, the short lady lifted her maw in hopes that she'd catch wind of her brother.

 

Banner wasn't wrong - about Stark, she rarely was even beyond her typical observations - Stark had been more reclusive but he found it....harder than expected to go from nothing to nothing in a pack again. It seemed so quick that things had shifted in the Keep and he didn't think it was going to happen in Easthollow but there was that lingering doubt. He drew in a deep breath as he scented along the edges of the treeline - he was pretty sure he'd smelled a fox around. A sound distracted him and he paused in his steps, ear swiveling behind him for a moment before he turned and saw a dark figure weaving through the trees not too far from him. 

He circled back, taking a bit further of a path than necessary, until he was close enough to his sister to give a low chuff. "I thought I'd caught a fox' scent but...." He trailed off with a shrug - if it had passed through it wasn't a fresh enough trail to really warrant a huge panic. "So, how's it been for you?" He asked curiously. 

Ah, there he was.  A slow smile spread on her dark maw as she turned to regard her brother through slightly narrowed eyes.  It's.. been, she replied with a quirked brow, low voice playful.  Banner turned to face him fully and pressed her nose to his shoulder in a familiar greeting.

I've done well, she continued lightly, turning her head to press one cheek where her nose had just rested.  No fights or anything - you'd be proud.  Her voice was just as playful as as the exaggerated, wide-eyed stare she gave Stark from her position at his side.  Fights weren't necessarily the issue with her, but he knew that already.

Stark felt some of his tension release at her gentle touch. Banner was one of those that inexplicably was both hard and soft at the same time - very deliberate in what she did and when she did them in most cases. Her smile drew one from him too and he gave a little tilt of his head, almost contemplating what she was saying. "I always am," He said with a smile, nodding at her finally as if to make his choice. "Even when you're....well. Particularly you you're always true to yourself." Stark hummed out with a laugh. 

"I'm still sort of....I don't know. Finding my place I guess. It feels weird to be back in a pack and not doing all we did in the Keep - but Val seems totally capable. Trying to find that fine line is just a bit harder than I was expecting." Stark admitted after a bit. They'd had to pick up all the slack so quickly that it almost felt so strange not to do the same thing. It was relieving too - but as an overworker almost left Stark perplexed about what came next. 

Mm-hm, she hummed in a cheery sort of way, pulling away from her brother after several long moments pressed at his side.  Banner didn't necessarily agree with him that she was always true to herself, but arguing that point with Stark usually led them around in annoying circles.  And she wasn't in the mood to be annoyed right now.

I know what you mean, she agreed quietly.  Her green gaze drifted to the side as she thought, though she didn't really take in any of her nighttime surroundings.  Being in a pack again is strange in itself, but to be low in the ranks.. Banner trailed off, her face drawing up tight as she struggled to voice how she felt without sounding ungrateful.  .. that is different.  Frowning, she turned back to her blue-eyed brother and searched his face, almost desperate for him to understand that she didn't want to sound like a complete asshole when she admitted those feelings out loud.  Valette taking them in was something she didn't expect and would forever be grateful for, but the short lady found herself truly surprised at just how unprepared she was to be a low-ranked new wolf again.

 

Stark let out a breath when Banner basically said what he was getting at in a roundabout way. He didn't want to seem ungrateful, and honestly, he wasn't - but he just didn't know his place anymore. "Yes." He said it quickly, punctuating the motion with a sharp nod of his head. "It's like....it's not that I'm power hungry because it's sort of relieving if I'm honest but it's still just that...," He shuffled a paw up, sort of rolling it as he trailed off like that would supply the words he couldn't think of. "I'm just trying to figure it all out." Stark said with a quirk of his lips. "It's just weird. We've been self driven and now we're back in the belly of the beast." Stark was struggling with how to really word it properly. 

Stark still didn't even know how he felt about the choices they'd made. He wasn't angry with himself anymore. Still felt guilty over it of course but when it came down to him he had to take care of himself and Banner. That was the goal. And now they'd secured themselves somewhere to stay through the winter (at least) and he felt better about that. "No regrets, right?" He asked with a wry smile.

Oddly enough, Stark's struggle to properly word the way he was feeling helped her ease up.  Just a bit.  A slow, long exhale followed as she closed her eyes and nodded.  "It's just weird."  Perfect way to sum it up, actually.  They were happy to have a friend take them in, equally as happy to pull their own weight, but.. the dynamics of pack life were different from their current position, much different from what they faced as Alphas together.

Regrets?  Eyes now open, her brows drew together as she considered it.  Leaving the Teekon Wilds when they did was withouth a doubt the right call at the time.  They'd both lost a lot, the pack they struggled for hadn't been faring well - no, she couldn't regret that.  Right, she finally admitted.  After a second nod of her head, she repeated in a stronger voice: Right.  Banner tilted her head a bit and decided to move the conversation forward.  Have you met anyone new?

 

If Stark was honest he'd been almost avoiding most of the pack. Just trying to settle himself and his nerves before he really arranged himself in the dynamics of the pack itself. He gave a little shake of his head when Banner asked if he'd met anyone. "Only Val's girl Steph. Dark little soot-sprite." He supplied, grinning. "Good kid it seems." He'd barely had much of a conversation with her but it didn't really matter. They still were a fine example of Valette's parenting style. He hadn't wanted to talk too much about the presence of a father - he knew her mate had passed on but he didn't know when, exactly, so who knew what had transpired between then and now? "How about you?" He asked, cocking his head to the side curiously. 

He'd always been impressed with Banner's particular ability to be more subtle than Stark was - which usually meant Banner was far more likeable than he was in her own regards. He still wasn't too sure what he was going to do with himself - but they'd committed to winter at the very least and having a secure home was nice. It took a weight off his shoulders he hadn't known he was carrying. "Probably won't be too long before we've tied ourselves down again. Not that I'm gonna adopt someone's kids again and do that whole thing, but...y'know. Get involved and committed and all that." Stark said with a brief laugh. He'd tell himself that, but who was the first one in the pack he'd met? A kid. Again. 

keeping up with timelines is hard ._.

Steph was quite a popular pup around these parts!  Banner nodded, remembering that Murdock had only good things to say about the young girl.  You're not the first one to tell me that, she hummed.  The only one of Valette's three she had yet to meet was the boy - Ezra, if she wasn't mistaken - but they'd run into each other sooner or later.

I've met Murdock.  He had a lot of questions, but he seems like a good guy.  He actually startled me and I had a.. reaction.. but he didn't hold it against me, Banner explained, fixing Stark with a strange smile, almost shy.  She knew she didn't have to feel ashamed around him for her angry outbursts, but it still felt like something she should have been able to control.  Better, at least.  Speaking of: I ran into Ezekiel.  Her voice was flat here as her features morphed into what could most politely be described as exasperation.  He didn't recognize me, thought I was attacking Clary.  She grunted.  I was not impressed.

Tying themselves down again?  Banner tilted her head to the side and studied him (despite her previous expression still being fixed on her face) and wondered when exactly her brother had opened himself up to some sort of committment again.  The idea of it, anyway.  His tone was light enough, but it was hard for her to get a real read on his level of seriousness.  That, and bringing up the father of Valette's children left her in a sour mood, so she decided to simply nod and not make any sort of comment.  Yet.