blix's heart is beating fast. she's never lied to anyone before, let alone nomi - she's always been the sort to be too honest, too brash. but she couldn't just let furi get in trouble (furi will probably get in trouble anyway but maybe if the blame is shared it won't be too bad -- and anyway, blix can take it if nomi gets mad at her). 

the redhead still can't work up the nerve to look at furi yet. furi'd been so mad at her she's a little afraid to initiate a conversation - mostly because, well, she tends to lose her temper and put her foot in her mouth, and she doesn't want them to be fighting more than they already are. were? who knows.

seri, thankfully, pulls her out of her head with a question. she blinks owlishly at the pale colored girl and says, "uh." blixen doesn't actually dislike arrille and wouldn't mind him joining except - except! he'd not offered anything to them of value. boys! "honestly, i dunno," she admits. "nomi is - very fair. but we expect our wolves to serve drageda, and if he can't think of anything to offer..." 

she supposes furi hadn't offered anything when she'd joined, but that was different - eske'd taken her in and she'd been quick to adapt. she doesn't know if arrille will be the same. "are you close?" the gona asks, curious. arrille'd been totally alone when they found him, so either he'd lied or they'd only met recently (and she thinks it's more likely to be the latter).

sometimes she forgets not everyone knows who nomi is (or her language) - actually, didn't furi not realise for months? the ginger shakes her head a little, sheepish, and clarifies: "heda is her title -- nomi means mother in our language." blix still doesn't consider that any sort of pertinent information - there's no hi, i'm the commander's kid!  because nomi doesn't treat them differently as far as she's concerned.

blix finally works up the courage to glance at furi. she's not surprised by the other girl's silence - she must still be mad or - not want to talk to blixen, anyway. she wants to say something to bridge the gap but she doesn't get a chance to think of anything before seri answers her question. "oh," she says, wondering what's up with the influx of destitute youth (is it a winter thing? it can't be nice to be stuck out alone in the cold.) "well, hopefully he comes up with something," the ginger says, shrugging a little awkwardly. "there's a few other wolves around our age besides me and furi -- i have two brothers, bobby and artaax, and two cousins, sirio and dalia. sirio's kind of a weirdo, i'd stay away from him. there's also rose, who joined us recently too."

she pauses, trying to recall what seri'd said on the borders. "if you like hunting, my brothers are both decent," blixen concedes with only a little bit of a put-upon air (as any beleagered sister is wont to do.) "furi and i are both gona - warriors - if you wanna patrol with us or spar sometime, i'm down. but it's up to you what you wanna do," she adds quickly. drageda's robust - regardless of how she decides to make herself useful to them, there's probably someone who could mentor her a little.

she doesn't notice furi start to slip away until it's too late to stop her. for a moment blix considers ditching seri and chasing after the other gona, niceties be damned, but the moment passes and instead she steels her shoulders and looks at their newest addition. "call her heda," she clarifies, "or commander." the ginger doesn't know what would happen if someone tried to call nomi by her name but it probably wouldn't be pretty - and the thought cheers her up a little bit. (just imagine nomi's face...!)

seri's question is a stumper. truthfully blixen is bad at.. paying attention to that sort of stuff. "um," she says, thinking. "we're pretty well rounded - which is nice, 'cause then you'll always have someone to work with? what sorta stuff do you like to do?"

blix brightens a bit at the girl's interest in their culture - that's a good sign. not that the gona ever thinks much about it herself but it's nice, anyway. she thinks about teaching furi a little of their language and her heart squeezes painfully.

chasing those thoughts away she focuses on seri. "a long time," she agrees, "and there's multiple branches - so this is drageda, but there's also sangeda and trigeda, and some of our wolves were born there and came here." she isn't too sure on all the details, but it fills her with a little pride anyway, how big and strong their pack is. "i dunno where our language comes from but i can teach you a little sometime," she adds, smiling briefly at the pale-furred kru.

"oh," blix says, and then laughs awkwardly, "we weren't really saying anything - furi's still learning it too." in any other situation she'd have thought it was almost kind of .. cute, but right now she mostly just feels sad - and a little surprised when seri, the astute girl, sees right through them. "we're friends," the gona says, and licks her lips nervously. "we - had a kind-of fight recently, because of a different wolf furi invited to join." she sighs, shrugging into herself a little. "so i guess she's still mad at me."

"sorta," blix says. this is probably not the sort of thing appropriate to discuss with new recruits, or something, but she's never really been good at tact or minding convention. "there wasn't anything wrong with her, it's just - we have a way of doing things, and we usually don't take in outsiders -- furi was an exception 'cause our wanlida brought her back, but me and furi don't have that sorta authority. plus, like, rose looks like me, and that's really weird!" she takes a deep breath when she finishes, more than a little embarrassed but someone has to agree with her that it's weird eventually!

the gona frowns - she's not the greatest at explaining this stuff, but she tries. "we don't make the final decision but we're still responsible for protecting the pack," she explains. "so it was wrong of her to bring a stranger back with her, and - i lost my temper a little bit, maybe," blix mumbles, scuffing the ground with one paw, "and she got mad at me about that, so i tried to apologise, except we ended up fighting more. and i guess she's still mad at me even though i didn't get mad this time." why else wouldn't furi want to look at her? or stick around? she peers anxiously over her shoulder in the direction the other gona went for a moment. poor oblivious blixen.

she feels a little embarrassed for talking so openly with someone she barely knows, but then again, blixen has always worn her brash little heart right on her sleeve. "yeah, maybe," the gona agrees, glancing at seri, and smiles, a little grateful for the reassurance. it's true that she can't force furi to to talk to her either way - but she's also not gonna wait around for the other girl to come to her first forever. "thanks, seri," she adds, "let me show you where you and the other kru sleep."