Lele had intentionally avoided mingling with the youngest generation of Moonspear, which even she had found odd in the beginning. After all her lifelong dream had been to meet a man of her dreams and start a family of her own. For a while still she had considered giving a *fling* a go and do all the child-bearing-raising herself. Until the dire reality of being a nomad had reminded her that this was simply not possible. And now - when she was surrounded by eligible and free men and where there were little children to have practice of the motherhood - she avoided it. They were too loud. Too rambunctious and she easily grew tired. Even by watching and listening to them from afar. It had turned out that having imaginary children, which you could always conveniently stash away, if you grew tired of them, was easier than facing the real flesh-blood-bone-soul kids. 

However, even she could not shrink away from her responsibilities of taking care of the pack well-being and future, when she encountered one of the furballs by a water-source. Quite on their own, growling at their reflection. Upon closer inspection, however, it turned out that there were others in the vicinity. Still - amused by the spectacle, Lele sat down and observed the kid curiously. 

The older you grow, the more convinced you become that as a kid you were the most perfect little angel that has ever walked the Earth. You were quiet, obedient, did not get on our parents' nerves, knew, how to entertain yourself and did not cause any trouble. Easy. And none of this running around, making horrible noise, fighting and doing all kinds of other stuff that Lele as a senior citizen found tiresome and annoying. 

When the kid noticed her and began bounding towards in a straight line, she drew her ears back, briefly going through all her options. And in the end she decided that - since the collision was inevitable - she would better face it standing on four feet than sitting. However, she tried to catch the kid's gaze and her body language spoke that rude intrusion in her personal space would not be tolerated. "What were you talking to?" she asked hoping that this may distract the puppy. 

The grey-furred fluffy mess with paws going in one direction and ideas being way ahead managed to halt at such a distance that Lele needed to take back only one step. She looked the puppy up and down, knowing full well that she would forget her name the next time they met and therefore did not bother to ask. After all let that all involvement in other people's lives go to the people that truly mattered and would continue to play a significant role in the future. Lele's nearest future was a span of a year, two, if very lucky three. No need to burden yourself with attachments that would lead nowhere.

"Oh - absolutely, lead the way," she encouraged, realizing, how silly the latter part of her sentence had sounded. They were right there already.