eske had just wrapped up her patrol and was heading inwards, towards the heart of drageda — when she caught the scent of wildfire on the wind, mingled as it was with the scent of sweet mother's milk and the pups. for a moment eske hesitates and considers altering her course. she's never been particularly close to the commander's wife — freyja'd been the flame kissed woman's star pupil, after all — here'd been a brief stint where eske had desired to pursue hunting as a secondary trade but that was short lived as eske had decided, in the end, to focus primary on her warrior training and specialty. in the end eske decides to keep going forward so that their paths intersect. though eske has never been overly sociable — her aggressive nature and fierce demeanor tended to make her hostile and bitchy — she figures that it wouldn't hurt to inquire about the well-being of drakru's newest additions.

wanlida's pace slows as wildfire's scent grows stronger and eske stops a few feet away when she comes into view. the older woman is leaning against the trunk of a tree, presumably looking for something. "are you ok, feisripa?" eske inquires addressing her by title ( as eske is wont to do when she does not know wolves all that well enough to feel like she can use their given name ), her tone soft and tempered with mild concern.

a concerned frown tugs the edges of eske's lips as wildfire attempts to compose herself and rid herself of the snot dripping out of her nose. eske's eyes avert — she doesn't particularly find it gross ( she's seen much worse than snot in her short lifetime ) but she almost feels like wildfire's hot mess situation is a private matter. it's a relief to the wanlida to hear that nothing's particularly wrong but the idea that it's the woman's hormones — eske presumes its from being pregnant and the aftermath of giving birth — only makes eske even more appalled at the thought of having children of her own. they were not worth being a hot mess, in her own opinion at any rate.

"ok," eske breathes in a quiet voice of thinly veiled relief as wildfire assures her that she's fine. "sorry i startled you." eske blurts the apology out, not used to being 'sorry' for much of anything. yet, she is. she hadn't meant to startle the poor woman whom had obviously been dealing with enough emotional range before eske's appearance. meet the children? it takes eske a second for the question to sink in and after a brief moment of deliberation she deduces that it might be rude to decline and thus she responds, "sure." they would be drakru in the future after all. it would be some time until that point, of course, but it never hurt to acquaint herself with drageda's future as early as possible.

eske was awkward around tears ...and wondered as wildfire led her to the log that her pups slept within if she would be more or less awkward around the pups. if she couldn't train them to fight it was unlikely that her interest would linger long; and she understood that in this stage in their life that they were basically potatoes. with mouths. essentially. dutifully, however, wanlida pays attention, her gaze touching each infant as wildfire introduced them in order (at least eske presumes). tux. kiwi. silkie. rorqual. she didn't understand the naming pattern for any of them and wonders if there even was one; but deduced that she couldn't judge because her name was eske. which evidently meant spear of the gods in her mother's native tongue or something of the like. eske was never one for buying into the whole 'names are prophetic' thing.

eske studies them for a long, contemplative moment. "they're..." she searches for a word. any word. preferably not an insulting word. "er...small." she settles for the most obvious, feeling as awkward as she no doubt sounded. in truth, she didn't really get the appeal but her interests had never lain in the domestic spectrum of things. she was not a home-maker, nor would she ever be she decides right then and there. for while they were kind of cute they also seemed to be pretty boring to her.

eske is glad that wildfire supplies the word 'boring' and then gives a snotty ( as to which eske politely pretended she didn't see ) laugh about it. eske had been trying to be so careful not to unintentionally insult wildfire on the potato stage of her infants that she feels an immeasurable amount of relief when wildfire says what she's truly thinking. wanlida even smiles and gives a soft laugh of her own. a rare sight not often given by the daughter of the viking queen. "yes," eske breathes in agreement to both of wildfire's statements: that one day they will become mighty drakru and that it was hard to believe seeing how small and frail they were now. it was kind of ...amazing though. how they started out so small and grew to be so strong.

"i'd be honored to teach them." eske murmurs sincerely and sweeps her gaze over the cubs once more. "y'know they're actually pretty cute." eske speaks her thought out loud, with a soft furrow of her brow as she studies them. despite her reservations about them ...and her uncertainty on babies in general ...they have a certain magnetism that speaks to a (extremely) dormant side of eske that could almost be considered maternal. though she avoided her heat this year she was of the age now to bear children. it isn't anything she ever had the desire to be ( a mother, that is ) but those instincts are deeply ingrained in her biology.

eske studies the babes, wondering what each of them would grow up to be. she'd never really considered pups beyond that she had a duty to help guide them into their life as drakru — which could be said for all of drageda. eske's always been preoccupied by sparring and fights and border patrols. there'd been no place in her mind for things like children. she wasn't the mothering type and she was fairly certain she had zero maternal instincts ...if her failure with furi was of any indication; but perhaps it is only natural that as she looks as wildfire and heda's brood to wonder what it might be like. to be able to contribute to drageda's future in a different way than she's done all her life. of course, the idea of conception and letting any male near her in such a way makes her want to curl her lip ...she thinks if she ever decided she wanted to try being a mother the donor would have to be someone she trusted.

"what's it like?" eske asks suddenly, turning her head from the babes to wildfire. eske realizes, sheepishly, after the question is out of her mouth that she'd been following her own internal thoughts and that the question might come off as utterly random and probably didn't make much sense to her fire-kissed companion. "being a mother, i mean." she amends feeling a slight flush of heat beneath the fur of her face, glad that wildfire couldn't see the blush. "what's it like growing life inside you?" the question was a bit awkward as eske asks it and she doesn't really want to explain to wildfire that she's actually considering it — having kids that is — mostly because her mind could change from now to whenever she went into her first heat. she'd felt pretty lucky that she avoided it this year though she'd been old enough for it to happen.

for a moment eske is tempted to take wildfire up on the offee that she could touch the pups but hesitates and decides not to take it right this minute. she's still unsure of them and given wildfire's warning is afraid she might accidentally hurt them.