Stone Circle you don't have to wear your best fake smile

It was good having a solid week of rest where he didn't have to worry too much about providing for his own food and finding places to drink while he traveled. Nikai was glad to be home. He'd spent some time exploring the territory, exploring regions nearby but also chilling at the stones, talking to Keoni about all the things he'd seen on his travels.

There was a matter on his mind that had arisen when he and Alya had joined; the girl that was there, Vespera, had been rather cold towards them, but mostly she had had a spat with Alya, who'd in turn react rather rash. They'd been weary from traveling, and he hoped that Vespera would understand that. But in order to truly start their new lives here in Easthollow, Nikai felt that they needed to talk out whatever problems still rested between Alya and Vespera.

Nikai sat at the standing stones, by Keoni's grave, as he lifted his nose into the air and called out for @Vespera. He hoped that she'd calmed down a bit and that she would be willing to come see him, so that he could talk about what had happened at the borders. Admittedly, Nikai was even a little excited that he'd get to fix a spat between two pack members, considering he was looking to go for the mediator specialty with his trades.

The female wondered through the territory trying to clear her head and calm her nerves, she was still a little shaken up at what happened at the border. Vespera slowed herself to a stop and lowered herself to a seating position just to breath, she made long breaths as she was trying to collect her thoughts, maybe she could sleep it off. However this plan of settling down would have to wait since she heard a howl break through the air, the female's ears perked with her head craned up, she recognized this howl, it was Niaki. Vespera flared her nose, the last time she answered that call it had not been a good day for her. Vespera got on her paws and decided to ignore it initially and began turning the opposite direction, but at mid-step she paused. Vespera put her leading paw down and looked at the ground, she was in deep thought, hold on now, this could be an opportunity of redemption, my first impression wasn't that great and maybe I could make it up to Nikai. With this in mind, the female turned back around and began to walk towards the howl, but yet again, she stopped and hesitates. Hold on, if Nikai is there then that Alya will be there too since she seems to be so possessive of him, and if she is there, I am ready to give her a piece of my mind. Vespera growled to herself just thinking about that, she was going to turn back around for the third time but again she was conflicted, ugh, I might as well try, I still don't want to leave a bad impression on one of Valette's kids when she seemed so happy to see him again. The female closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, I will do this for Valette, and no one else, the female made a final decision in her mind, she reopened her eyes but gave a sour expression as she reluctantly slugged her way over to the howl. Vespera had made her way over but she didn't quite reveal herself to Nikai yet and she stayed behind a bush, scanning to see if Alya was there. No sign of her... Good, Vespera could finally put on a normal expression as she stepped out of the bush to walk up to Nikai, but she was still resisting the urge to eye down his leg. The female finally made her way over to Nikai, but she stopped about two feet from him since she was still unsure about him, she didn't say anything since she wasn't the type to greet anyone so she looked at him in the eyes, waiting for what he has to say.

the inner dialogue is great :')

It took a little while before Vespera showed up, but Nikai didn't mind. He was content just sitting by the stones, watching the scenery and being in his deceased sister's presence. When she eventually came into sight, a kind smile popped on his face; he was glad that she'd decided to answer his call. Heya, Nikai called out to her. She didn't initially greet him, but that was alright. He'd called for her, after all, so it made sense that she would wait for him to find out what he had to say.

I thought we'd gotten off to a bad start, so I wanted to see about fixing that. Hopefully she'd be receptive. He waited for her answer, hoping that he would be able to get her guard down a little first and then maybe see if he could go about fixing whatever was still irky between her and Alya.

ty <3 also sorry for late response

Vespera didn't greet the male back since she was more concerned about what he had to say, but she could only guess. My heart, soul, and mind are telling me that he is going to bring up on what happened at the border since that seems to be the talk in East Hollow these days. Vespera almost rolled her eyes for her predicton was correct, all the female wanted was for this who event to pass and she could just leave it behind but she figured that would never happen. The dark female didn't initially respond to the male since she just wanted to get this over with and go back to sulking but at this point, it wasn't an option. Vespera realized he was waiting for her to respond so she swished her tail anxiously, "yea, so, what about that?" The young female felt a little hot with annoyance but she didn't let that slip too much. Vespera waited for the male to make his response, the only thing she wanted was to make this quick since she didn't know Nikai very well.

Vespera didn't seem too enthused to actually talk about what had happened. It was clear from everything about her, from body language to the tone of her words to her actual words. Nikai decided to just stay friendly and open, make it clear that he wanted to help her and not tell her off about anything. He figured she must've had a rough life -- or a spoiled life, or maybe a bit of both in the wrong order -- that she felt so defensive and seemed inclined to believe he was here to say something mean to her rather than help her out.

Nikai contemplated whether he should simply push the subject aside for now and try to befriend Vespera first, or address the matter that she so very clearly preferred to repress rather than deal with. Okay, well, you clearly don't really want to talk about what happened. We're part of the same pack and the same family, so it is important that we can see eye to eye. Can we at least agree on that? Maybe just start at the beginning and see from there whether they could get to the touchy subjects, Nikai thought to himself.

The young female so badly wanted to roll her eyes and brush it off when the male said that they were part of the same pack and they were family. Vespera stopped swishing her tail in annoyance but she still didn't say much to Nikai, she really didn't know how to start the conversation. The dark female figured this would go nowhere if she didn't say anything and figured this would come back to bite her later so she had to say something. "Fine fine whatever," she said, at last, sounding unamused as usual, but she decided to spare the male with the sarcasm. "But I know I am going nowhere unless we discuss something of what had happened at the border so lets just get this over with," the female spoke with a bit of truth since she really didn't want to spend to much time on the subject matter and so she acted as she needed somewhere to be, but that was a lie. But Vespera really didn't know how to start this conversation, she really didn't like discussing what she considered an embarrassment to herself but she figured that it had to happen at some point for she feared that if she didn't get a lot with him, that could ruin the relationship she has with Valette, a relationship that she cherishes. "Look I'm going to be honest here and say I have no idea how to do this sort of thing that we are doing now, like starting conversations and such," This sentence was forced from her since Valette did want her to be more open and feel like she is a part of East Hollow, but she was doing this more and more reluctantly than she initially thought since she really didn't like being honest about her feelings. The female was getting the urge to just turn around and walk away since she was feeling awkward and she knew this wasn't Nikai's intention but she just couldn't help it.

Nikai didn't want Verspera to feel pressured into it. If she'd say no, he would just turn and leave. He frowned as she said that she wouldn't get anywhere until this was resolved, a thing that he wanted to contradict, but he also felt that they'd both feel better if they resolved the matter. He wondered to himself what had made her this way. Had she been scarred in the past that she felt so defensive, even when someone had been nothing but friendly to her?

Alright, well... When you think of Alya, do you still feel upset? Or what about me? I can assure you we're both pretty friendly, so to me it seems like this was all just a misunderstanding. Nikai hoped that Vespera would share his thoughts, but what he hoped more than that was that she would openly share her thoughts on the matter so they could get closer to a resolution.

Vespera flared her nose when he brought up Alya, their first encounter with each other could have gone better but both their attitudes clashed and it became a hot mess. The young female believed it when Nikai said that he was friendly, but she was doubting that Alya was the same way since she seemed so overprotective for no reason and she would tell Vespera how to treat other people is what really heated her up. The young female was the person to deny a lot of things, and she was someone who was stubborn about changing her opinion but since she really didn't want to be here and she wanted to please Valette by being nice to her now reunited son, she decided to humor him. "Oh I am sure that is the case here," she said with a bit of sarcasm, "but please, how do I work this out with you two?" This time it was a bit more genuine, but she still had some snark in her attitude, but she really didn't know how else to respond, she wasn't just going to open up with a stranger on the spot. The young female felt she was in a corner, she didn't intentionally want to be rude to Nikai since his intentions were good and just wanted to bring peace with the two clashing wolves but she was just too stubborn in the mind. But if he was Valette's son like Alya shoved it in her face, then she expected him to have a bit of patience with her as Valette did with her, that is what really impressed and connected with her. However she back peddled on that thought a bit since she shouldn't expect others the way she wants them to act, she had no right to, but that's how she felt that she would warm up to others, is with their patience and still treating her with kindness and she felt that if she wanted to do that herself, that would be a very rocky road for her to travel.

Her words were sarcastic at first, but then she seemed to mellow a little and genuinely asked what she could do to fix things. Nikai didn't feel that she needed to fix things with them -- he felt that they all mutually needed to fix things with one another. He figured that the first thing he should do was talk to Alya about it, so that he could try and bring them together. He had no problem with Vespera, after all. Alya was a bit of a blind spot for Nikai; he did not realise that in his mind she could do nothing wrong and he would always choose her side if something happened, so it all hinged very heavily on whether Alya would give in here.

I'll talk to Alya about it, Nikai said with a nod. I'm sure she wants to patch things up too. You guys got off to a rough start, but I'm sure that we can fix it if you would spend some time together. Alya's great, and you seem nice enough too. Maybe do something fun together? Like hunting or going exploring. It could help, in Nikai's experience, to help others warm up to you by doing something nice with them.

The young female wanted to roll her eyes even more of the fact that he was sure that Alya wanted to patch things up. Vespera heavily based her opinions off of people by their first impressions, she sort of tested them in a way with her snark, but she figured that would be an excuse to be rude to others. The young female chuckled a little when Nikai said that Alya was nice, "I'm sure she is," Vespera said with sarcasm as gave a little cheeky look to the male. Vespera almost went into a fit of laughter when Nikai suggested that they do something together but she restrained, and every time she held back, she was finding it harder to resist, "oh yeah, I think we will become the closest friends if we just sit and watch a tree bloom flowers," Vespera replied, with her usual teenage like snark, she was really laying on the snark and a teenage attitude toward Nikai. Though she really didn't hate Nikai as much as Alya, she was getting annoyed of how much he was really pushing them to make up, she was starting to question of how the two became a couple. The young female sat in her place, she was really testing him now, and she was eager to see his response, but she kept a calm but a bit of a childish face.

What? Nikai said with a laugh when he caught Vespera's expression, though there was no malice in his expression, just amusement dancing in his green eyes. He contemplated scooping some snow to pelt her with, but considering her defensiveness so far, maybe that wouldn't be the best way to jumpstart this new relationship he wanted with her.

But her suggestion also seemed to lead to nowhere. Maybe it just needed time? Nikai wished that he knew better what to do, but he couldn't think of anything else he could suggest. They were pack, therefore family, and that's why he felt they needed to get along. Maybe a snow fight or a 'friendly' spar to get everything off your chest, then? he suggested, a note of sarcasm in his voice this time too. Nikai quirked an eyebrow and grinned at Vespera, returning her earlier cheeky look.

im so sorry for the late response!!! D: school has been kicking my butt

Vespera blinked, her swishing tail's rhythm became slower, did he not catch the sarcasm? The young female could only guess he was being ignorant, or he was just trying to ignore her tone of voice. The dark female's eyebrows raised at his next suggestion for how she and Alya could get along, "a snowball fight or a spar? Getting physical is the best option to bring together wolves? I mean, I'm no expert but I am pretty sure that is not how bonding is supposed to work." Vespera was really laying thick on the sarcasm, it was something she knew how to do best. But Vespera spread a smile across her face, it even turned into a smirk as her eyes lit up, "oh what a great idea! A spar would be the perfect way to put out differences aside," though she was being cheeky and sarcastic, she was also being serious, I can let go of the anger I have for his mate, and maybe I can show her that I am not someone to be pushed around. This thought turned into a daydream where she pictured herself delivering the final blow on Alya, with her raising her tail in dominance and victory, ah yes, why didn't I think of that sooner, she childishly thought. But then yet again, what would Valette say about this petty revenge? Especially since she was directing this towards her son's mate. Her childish smirk soon turned into doubt, she really loved and respected Valette, and she didn't want to upset the Matriarch, but her own desires were clashing with those thoughts. Vespera directed her eyes to the ground, her doubtful face and her deep thoughts caused her to space out, and forget that Nikai was even there.

no problem at all <3 i ain't always the fastest either ;)

Honestly, Nikai's suggestions were just meant as jokes, but after Vespera first shoved them aside sarcastically she then seemed to be warming up to the idea of a spar? I was joking, Nikai said initially, though maybe she was right and it might help them, in their own way. Alya was a warrior at heart, much different from Nikai in that sense, and he guessed that she and Vespera had more in common than he thought initially. But maybe it might work. I'm sure that even if you two wouldn't become friends, you'd be able to help each other hone your skills as warriors. If they would never get along, then at least they'd feel rivalrous enough to want to one-up each other, which meant that they would probably both get better for it. It wasn't the best idea, but they had to start somewhere with ideas. At least it was better than them ignoring each other.