Heph appeared to be very pragmatic about her potential mateship with Phox. All the character traits she listed were good qualities to have in any person. Even Dwin could not find any point to disagree with, but still something was missing. As if she was looking at a fine painting, but it lacked the "wow" factor in it. That magic, which would make it stand out among others. Ironically, with all her contempt for the opposite sex, she knew she could not settle for a man just because he was good in all the ways it counted. If there was no spark, what was the point?

"What are the traits in him that annoy you?" Dwin asked, because - surely - you could not judge the person by its hat only. You had to undress them, open their mouth to check their teeth and interrogate throughly. Plus, do some behaviour testing and carefuly observation and analysis in the wilds. That's, what she would do, if she had the opportunity. 

"Uhhm... I doubt I should be the one to give you any advice. You are older, you are more experienced and all in all it is far too comfortable to be in a role of shameless inquisitor and question everything you believe in than to actually put any effort in answering those questions myself," Dwin laughed in good-humor. After all she knew too well that it was only the steadiness and maturity of Heph that allowed her overstep borders of privacy. 

"If I was to guess... no, let's put it like this, if I ever were to choose a mate for myself, he would have to be interesting. Not boring. Or stupid," she said. "Independent too. I like my personal space, though that may change, if I were to fall desperately in love and throw every piece of common sense out of the window," she laughed. "That's, what happens in stories, anyways. But - truth to be told - stories are not very good at telling, what a good spouse in real life should be. Very vague, all things considered," she said. 

"Oh, maybe... I could see my mate as a good friend. Someone you can trust and talk to. Something like that," she finished. "Could Phox become your friend?"

"I hope for your sake... no, that's not right!" Dwin corrected herself, understanding that this whole conversation about Heph's marriage prospects and ideas about, what constituted a good mateship, was not really about her. It was the young Blackthorn trying to understand, what she would/should/could do about her life through the lense of someone else's experience. Who she was to judge or question other people's choices? They were different from her. Had grown up in other circumstances. Had therefore other views. Future aspirations. Dreams. Even if they did not align with, what she herself wanted and believed, she was in no way entitled to judge other people.

"I wish that everything works out for you in the best way possible," she said sincerely. "And... that your dreams come true as well. Just the way you had imagined them," she added for a good measure. "That moon-pack of yours... is it located anywhere near the others? I am planning to visit my sister in... Moon-something," she chuckled at her own inability to remember her sister's address correctly. No wonder, because up until now she had always conveniently come to caldera to visit Dwin. Not the other way now. "And I could stop by and meet you again as well. You do not mind my intrusive questions and I think I could learn a lot from you," she suggested.