It had taken much longer to work out a legitimate excuse for leaving than it had to weather the effects of her heat. Panic had driven her out, and after a week, she was too scared to return. What would she say? 'I was scared I'd bang someone'? Christ, talk about Night of the Living Vaginas.

Eventually, Grimm decided to take her chances with Peregrine and Fox. She approached the northern borders with her tail between her legs and plastered-down ears, searching her brain for other ways to communicate physically that she was super sorry for disappearing. It has cost the pack an able body, albeit a sexually unpredictable one. In the most sorry voice she could muster, the black wolf with the white sock summoned her leaders.

Fox gave a quixotical look to Peregrine when she heard the call. Grimm had vanished without a word months ago, and Fox had never expected to hear back from her. Lo and behold, though, that was her voice. Peregrine gestured for her to go, and so Fox left him to watch over the children. (Not that they needed it, being warriors and wardens in training.)

When Fox arrived, she found Grimm at her most pathetic state. Fox, on the other hand, kept her head high and proud, her chest jutting out, and her tail waving behind her like a glorious banner. She was the HBIC after all. "Well?" she asked, expecting some kind of explanation.

Fox responded to her call, arriving at the borders with a leader's imposing posture and a single demanding "Well?". Grimm wilted under her severe stare. "I'm sorry," the subordinate blurted out, averting her eyes and wishing the ground would swallow her up and spit out the bones. "Things.. I.. stuff.." Oh, come on. Grimm drew a strengthening breath and blurted out her ridiculous reasons for leaving. "I went into heat, thought I'd bang someone-" like Jaws - "-ran off to deal with it, time passed, couldn't come up with a good reason for being gone so long, panicked, stayed away. Please please take me back," she finished in a whimpering wine of a voice, feeling her toes graze rock bottom.

Apologies, followed by a bunch of stuff that meant little to the unforgiving spitfire. Begging followed that, to which Fox quirked a brow. "So, what? You'll be here until you need another dick?" she asked. "I won't allow bastards to be born here. Nor those who bring them into this world." That was one of the few things in this world Fox was likely to ever be nudged on. Even her sister, Magpie, had been a bastard, but that didn't mean she should have ever been born. Fox's own father had cast aside his vows to his mother, and for that, she was disgusted.

"I have children of my own to think about," Fox continued. "And Finley's kid." Fox knew nothing of what had transpired between Grimm and Elwood, or perhaps she would have left her Beta/BFF out of it.

"What? No-! I didn't do.. stuff!" Grimm spluttered, confused and stressed by the whole situation. Her phrasing left a lot to be desired, and instead off showing off how totes dedicated she was to a barren, sex-less life of servitude, she had accidentally led Fox to believe that her little vacation from the Caldera had been a cock-tastic adventure. Sadly (fortunately?) that was not the case, and Grimm was about as pregnant as a wank sock.

Tiny brain lizards scurried across Grimm's overtaxed neurons, rooting around for something with which to appease the Alpha. One such dedicated servant of mental processes came scurrying back with a dusty gem. Grimm's expression brightened to 0.5% of its standard wattage. She stole a glance at Fox, raising one ear tentatively from her scalp. "I will do.. whatever you.. and Peregrine want?" Maybe? Sexytime?

Grimm swore she didn't do "stuff," and yet Fox had to doubt it. How could she not? Her own heat had been even more fiery than her fur, and the whole week had been spent getting knocked up (again and again) by the lovely, handsome, swarthy Peregrine. But enough daydreaming! On to the fact that Grimm had run off—without a word—and left them less one body to defend their borders.

Fox was dull, so she didn't pick up on the ever-so-mild flirtations of the rejoiner. "Like what?" she asked, lashing her tail impatiently. Promise never to leave? That seemed like a crapshoot. Promise not to go into heat again? Yeah, another crapshoot. For a brief moment, Fox was all ears.

"Like what?" she pressed, and her inability to pick up on the hinthints was trying Grimm's patience. Was she going to have to, like.. come out and say it? "You know," she urged, rising a few inches from the ground. Nothing. Fox was not prepared to do any of the mental legwork, and Grimm wasn't in a position to push her. "Peregrine said..uh.. that he was looking for a.. third 'participant'. You know. When the pups were grown, which.. I guess they are?" Grimm sucked in a breath of air. She had never felt so anti-suave, and the situation like this called for a lot of it. She wasn't exactly selling herself.

Fox sat, puzzled, trying to figure out what Grimm was talking about. Grimm seemed convinced that Fox should know... but then again, Fox had never been the best at remembering anything. She was a dunce when it came to things that had passed. But suddenly, the mention of pups, Peregrine, and the fact that the kids were grown up sent a jolt of electricity to the right part of her brain. "Ohhhhhh," Fox finally replied, her face changing from contemplative to realization to sly.

"Well in that case," Fox replied, not quite sure how to go about this. She had talked to Peregrine some time ago about taking a lady lover, and Grimm was an attractive one, and even if she was a bit flakey, that bothered Fox less than she expected it to. She had no reason to think that Grimm was a terrible wolf. In fact, Fox had found her to be rather delightful in her own way. "We’d better go see Peregrine." Fox gestured for Grimm to follow.

"So if you didn’t do stuff, what did you do?" Fox asked, her tone a bit gentler than it had been before.

Jackpot. Grimm's face brightened, and her tail began to sweep the grass behind her. "Yeah!" the ditzy mutt agreed, losing her Don't Kill Me stutter almost instantly - and forgetting, just for a moment, that she had literally traded her ass for a place at the Caldera table.  She was in again, and determined to make a real go of it this time. Grimm followed obediently, nose at Fox's shoulder, struggling hard to maintain a posture that said 'grateful and demure' and not 'happy-clappy spastic'.

"I d'no, like.. sat around until it was over? Seriously, it was super boring, but I was totally embarrassed to come back and tell you," she chattered, hearing but not quite twigging the implications of going to see Peregrine. "Pro tip - the south is dull as balls. Fields, fields, plains, fields, the occasional rock.." Grimm laughed her raspy laugh. "But I won't go again! I know what to do now," she promised, nodding fiercely. "What'd I miss here?"

In a word - a lot. But she wasn't going to miss the twister. Unbeknownst to the two girls, clouds were gathering in the distance, preparing a delivery for the Teekon Wilds.

Fox grinned, glad to have Grimm back, even if she was a bit flakey. Maybe she'd be more inclined to stay this time around... for one reason or another. They had a lot to catch up on, and Fox was going to have a hell of a time trying to remember when, exactly, Grimm had left them. But no matter, she would be filled in on the details in time, get settled in, and then they could discuss where to go from there. Fox didn't want to force the whole "romance" thing just yet, or even the sexual side of things. If it happened, it happened. If not, well, she'd lived this long without it.