He had not planned on departing immediately, anyway, but the news of Drageda's recent turmoils confirm a desire to linger. Étoille does not wish to be away from Mirabelle for too long -- but she has the aid of Trigeda's wolves to help with the children and he knows she will not mind if he lingers an extra week or two more than originally planned. Not that he fancies getting involved in another war, should the circumstance arise; he has met the woman in the Sound before and knows she is to be taken seriously.

But if he is going to be staying, he wants to see his ... wards, if that is the word. He'd not gotten to say goodbye to choupinou properly, for which he harbors some guilt. And Ephraim is back with Heda as well, and from what he's discerned has proven to be a fine young lad, much to Étoille's pleasure. And then there are the remaining petits, the boys. He does not have the same bond with them as he does Furi and Ephraim, but he cared for them when they were tiny, and so he still thinks of them fondly. (His feelings on those that have left -- are nonexistent. He is a simple man and does not, alas, have the same instinctive hatred of Drageda's natrona, though he disapproves of Wildfire's choice if only because it caused Heda grief, presumably.)

Now where might Ephraim or Mallaidh be? Lazily he makes his way through the redwood, keeping an eye and nose out to suss them out.

Quite by accident he stumbles across Furi first, blinking owlishly as he takes her in. She's grown -- an adult now -- so different from the trembling, filthy child Eske and he had discovered. Warmth and pride fills him, though his expression does not change as he approaches, tilting his head as she looks away. "Choupinou," he greets, voice low, "I am glad to see you." 

He does not dwell on why she might look away and lower her ears. Perhaps she is mad about his departure, or perhaps she is experiencing indigestion. It is not for him to say. Nor does he hold any particular feelings about her departure. He'd gotten the sense that Heda does not approve, so to speak, of it, but he is, at his core, still outsider enough to not really buy into the natrona thing. At least..not when it comes to his daughter. "Are you well," he rumbles, reaching out to press his nose against her cheek briefly if she'll allow.

Her apology seems nonsensical to him--what does he mind if she left, she is a grown adult--and so he does not comment on it except to say, "I am sorry I did not say good-by," though whether it's actually a response to her statement or just his own owed apology is ambiguous. 

Satisfied with that business, he moves on, regarding her with his warm gaze. "I am living in Trigeda now," Étoille explains, "with my wife and our children. Your siblings, perhaps," he adds, a touch more playfully than he usually allows, perhaps made cheery by the thought of his new brood. "But I have missed you, too, choupinou."

He only smiles, pleased to see her relax, not thinking too deeply on the matter. Instead he focuses on her question, his expression warming at the thought of his lovely wife and newborn children back home. "Oui," Étoille agrees easily. "My wife, she is named Mirabelle. We met before I arrived to Drageda, but parted ways, only to continue to cross paths -- and so," amusement glitters in his dark eyes, "something of a fated arrangement, no?"

He misses his wife. Visiting is nice -- for he misses Heda and choupinou as well -- but he knows he cannot remain for long. "Three children," he murmurs, absently continuing, "Mathilde, Romulus, and Remus." He is chattier than usual -- clearly proud of Mira's and his efforts -- and continues to fill in Furi on his newborn sons and daughter, what little of them he has gleaned in their brief time alive, until she and he are both satisfied with the tale.