King Elk Forest can you call me when we're almost halfway

mato is taking a break. delight is worried about him -- he'd always been so unshakeable, and delight has idolized him, he knows, in a way that could probably be described as 'unhealthy' but delight chooses to think of as 'generous'. but he'd seen him after brienne left and he'd been worried then, too, and with burke clearly on death's door, and brienne back but not happily... well, he'd want to take a break, too. 

it doesn't do either of them any good for the androgyne to hover around fretting, so aside from showing up every now and then to check on burke (and, consequently, mato - though he's not as sneaky as he thinks he is about it), delight mostly lets him be. 

besides, mato's stepping down albeit temporarily means delight's stepped up and he feels the word morwinyon he's stolen mato's crown, only it's a little too big on him and slides around, doesn't fit quite right. he knows better than to try and be like mato - he's not nearly elegant enough, he doesn't radiate authority. he can, apparently, hold the fort down at least. which is why he's doing a sweep of the forest, making sure no one's gone and died in the snow, checking their cache, etc, etc. and absolutely not fretting about mato.

On the outside of most interpersonal relationships (and their associated angst), it was a peaceful, quiet forest here the Eizokusei scout was slowly integrating into. Such ease, under the guise of winter keeping limits to everything, made it so she could lay a little low, scope it all out, learn the trails here, and hunt without feeling like she was sneaking around while she gradually rebuilt her condition as well as bitter winter would have it. Having the same place to sleep at the end of the day still felt odd sometimes. She had been on her own for a long time, she realized looking back, so no wonder it felt oddly.. But she was coping with it and moving on, day after day because she felt pretty good about it, to the point of no real complaints within her little scheme of things.

She had mapped out much of the depths of the woodlot by now and had presently finished stashing a little rabbit she had caught from a cache she liked alright. Well-fed, well-rested, and under no real urgency, she next decided to skim along down a route that eventually stretched towards their outer limits.

Unexpectedly, in doing so, she picked up trail of Delight. Since he was sure to be more engaging that a frigid border patrol, she followed after him to go see what he was busy with.

gonna assume del told jomyo about the antë rank behind the scenes, i can change this if you'd prefer!

company sounds more than a little stressful right now, but he realises the figure approaching is jomyo and relaxes by degrees. he likes jomyo - she's reliable and practical, and of the núro he's known her the longest. hell, he'd met her before he'd even been fasttracked to nénar. and most importantly, she's stuck around, which is why when mato'd stepped down delight had immediately picked her for his antë. (he remembers burke serving as antë when they'd first formed, and then everything had gotten so mixed up and desperate that they'd abandoned the practice -- but now tindómë is steady if not thriving yet, and frankly, delight needs the fuckin' backup). 

"hey," he says when she draws within earshot, and even manages a quick smile and a wag of his tail. "how's it hanging?" with a pang of guilt delight realises he doesn't actually know much about what's going on with his packmates, outside of the love-triangle-and-impending-death situation he's gotten himself stuck in the middle of. he hangs out with sunflower sometimes, but he hasn't seen anatha or done much with kota or gracious. maybe they need some kind of hang out sesh? he'll think on it.

oo sounds fine to me! just pretend i alluded to it at all in my last post lmao :p

When she's received well enough, her tail waves happily and she remembers, right, that he's Morwinyon now.

It's another matter she's kept away from because she has no need. There's Mato's withdrawing, a dying old wolf, a recently returned (so she suspected) female, and then of course Delight somewhere in the midst--well, now at the top of it. All she knows is that it doesn't really involve her beyond that. Jomyo wants no part of that, whatever it is, but it makes it difficult to quite figure it out here. He's probably her only glimpse inward, and she can't really complain.. especially now that she's council and he's at the helm of all things. She should probably at least be vaguely aware. Maybe.

"Hey," she returns, and steps a bit closer, although she wavers respectfully back enough with a posture slung lax. "It's hanging alright... I'm good." the Eizokusei answered truthfully because it's been a relatively easy little life for her suddenly. It was colder than she liked and pack life still felt weird, but she was fed and cozy enough, simply put. "How are you doing? With everything?" With her emphasis, she pointed her snout in a little gesture towards all of Delight, meaning just about everything he was tangled up in--namely his new status, and what it meant for the rest of them.

he relaxes as she greets him, feeling more able to compartmentalize again. delight's never been good at putting on a show, or hiding how he feels - he's never had to. maybe he doesn't need to now, either, but surely leaders are supposed to put on a brave face and all of that. probably -- he wants to, anyway. 

of course, jomyo turns the question back to him and he shifts a little, feeling awkward. what's the correct protocol here? friend or morwinyon? the androgyne snorts, shakes his head. it's jomyo, so he opts for honesty. "it's a lot," he admits, a wry smile straining his mouth. "i mean, i got it, but still. at least things are pretty quiet around here." if tindómë weren't in such a time of quiet peace delight doesn't know what he'd be up to. oh, but actually, that does remind him. "hey jomyo, when it warms up a little, i have a job for you, if you want."

She was figuring it out too. The dynamics, the pack, all of it.. she was adjusting. Nothing quite felt fully normal yet. This was just another one of those things.. and of course, for him, it was a lot. Her ears splayed out, vaguely sympathetic for a beat. "Ugh, I bet." she lamented with a scowl. She would have no interest in such a lofty (respectable) perch as Morwinyon if the roles were swapped and she were in his circumstance. "But that's good. All you can do, really." she nodded.. deciding she would approve of the matter, no objections. He stepped up, carried the weight, and for that, she had to defer to that first of all. A little awkwardly, but still there as she waved her tail very softly.

Jomyo blinked and slowly, steadily, straightened pieces of herself that she hadn't realized were sinking. She was all ears over a job though. Good. "Oh? Yeah, I do." she nodded and still tipped her ears at Delight, quite ready to gladly hear more. "That was another thing too.. I wanted to see what the thing Mato mentioned was about, but I didn't want to.. you know." She shrugged and frowned. With that dying male and all the other noise, she didn't know how much she could intrude and nor did she know if whatever he wanted was even important anymore here in the dead of winter.

he nods, appreciative of the support (and still a little overwhelmed, to be honest). jomyo mentions what mato'd talked about before - and, well. "i think my thing is the same thing," he says, running his tongue along his lips in thought. "before leaving to found tindómë, mato was part of a pack called northstar vale to the east." for a moment, delight thinks of an alternative universe, where mato had left to find the vale -- and where the androgyne had been swept along with him. tindómë would have collapsed, of course, but a tiny selfish part of him seizes on the image of him and the starlit boy, the knight and the prince, one small unit as they traveled alone together. 

but, no, it's better this way. the morwinyon takes a moment to collect his thoughts, trying to decide how much to reveal to jomyo now. "at the time - before we got that influx of núro - we were thinking about relocating, and mato wanted to see if northstar vale could offer temporary shelter while we moved. i don't know about all of that now, but i think it's still worth it to reach out -- you know, diplomacy and all of that." he doesn't know how far east the vale is - though he supposes that's the whole point of sending a scout in the first place. "plus we're pretty secluded down here -- i wouldn't mind knowing if there's any other packs nearby, anything we should be aware of," he adds as an after thought, and looks at her, curious what her thoughts will be.

She blinked at him, content to accept that they might be the same thing--but even more interested now. Two for the price of one, then, and each detail he gave her was potentially valuable.

But alright, it did definitely seem to be up her alley as far as duty went and she couldn't help but savor it. Northstar Vale wasn't a place she knew already, so that added an extra layer of work she would have to be sure to account for but she had done this before. Already the cogs were turning. East. Northstar Vale. Without the potential for moving seeming very high on the priorities (not that she had known it had ever been a topic until right this instant), Jomyo interpreted it as an effort to just to keep them in mind, and Tindómë on their thoughts as well. "Alright, fair. So mainly to touch base with them? Just let me know if there's anything specific to send their way, too." Jomyo offered.

As for their seclusion, she had noticed even in her relatively short forays beyond their claim.  "But yeah we are--it's even a solid little ways before the mountain pack I know about, and that's about it. Beyond that, most are over the range," she jerked her nose towards the east and north both. Even her information was a little incomplete though, hopeful to be remedied come spring however when she could go out ranging properly. "Although can't say I've gone much west-northwest of here yet. If anyone is living up there, I've not caught wind of them so far.." 

his tail wags briefly against his hocks, pleased she's so easy going. "yeah, basically -- i'd just say we're mato's pack, since they won't know who i am." and he figures mato will be back in charge by the time -- or he hopes, anyway. not because he cant handle it, but because he's worried and he wants mato back. is that so wrong?

jomyo confirms what he suspects about their seclusion. "when we first founded, i remember smelling a pack near the sweep, but i haven't seen any signs of them since so i'm guessing they're long gone." on the one hand, he likes their isolation. it means no neighbors that might get feisty with them, no chance of being swept up in some conflict he doesn't want any part of. on the other hand, it puts them at risk of another near death. were he human he'd rub his temple - as it is he sighs and absently wipes a paw against his snout. "well, gather as much information as you can when you go," delight says, and then smiles at her, feeling more at ease suddenly. "we can pick one or two more núro to go with you," he adds -- he knows mato wants to go, but honestly? still not crazy about that idea. and not for the reasons you think (well, partially).

All of this was going smoothly. She was pretty decent at the business aspect of it, and maybe, was finally letting it begin to shape her as a potential ambassador, not only a random wandering nosy wolf. Jomyo still needed a little time to tell, as ranging was always her heart's greatest content.. that much was certain. This was just an overexcited thought at the notion of doing things for a pack again, maybe, but she had a good outlook so far towards roaming around beneath the Tindómë name too.

Anyway, she didn't say anything but nodded with a quirk of the brow to Mato's pack and assumed it just had to do with them knowing him better. Whatever worked for her so long as she still had a home to come back to. "I think so too. I came into the area after the mountains through that way--pretty stale to me," she shook her head. The Moonspear scout on the peaks hadn't alluded to knowing anything about it, although Jomyo hadn't known to ask by then. After that, it had been a remarkably lonely road.

She isn't one to hide it, but she's a little surprised at his last note and tries not to be too obvious. "Think I'll need them?" she quipped with an arid touch of almost-humor. He did know the destination better than she did, so were they in those sorts of places where safety was most assured in numbers? "I'm not sure who I'd take yet," she mentioned, and would just have to keep that in mind until then. Probably not Delight obviously, or Mato with everything going on with that dying old guy. She vaguely liked Sunflower well enough, and the red-coated female didn't seem bad--but she couldn't say if any of them were scout material; it had not come up.

she confirms his suspicions and he nods, hmming under his breath contemplatively. it'll be good to gather some intel on the area. her reaction to his suggestion of the núro surprises him, but then his eyes widen slightly in understanding and he laughs. "you'd probably be fine," he says, "but i think there's a couple others interested in scouting and they could use the experience. plus brienne did get kidnapped that one time, though she was going in a different direction. i think." it occurs to him that one should probably have been his first reason, but, well, he thinks jomyo's capable enough to avoid getting caught up in some bad business. not that brienne isn't capable, but she's not a fancy trained scout. "we can decide later," he adds with a shrug, "and you can have final say."

She wasn't sure what she thought about traveling in a little group to go scout this topic out yet. Used to soloing it, she could see the use of more wolves to help keep a better lookout than just one scout. But, that was also others to be concerned with. For better or worse. Best conclusion was that she wouldn't know until she tried. With this as a fine opportunity, she'd know eventually. "Right, but yeah. Makes sense." Jomyo accepted that much, having glossed over Brienne's kidnapping somewhat until he'd reminded her about it then. She would prefer to not suffer the same.. but she definitely did want to encourage others to get the miles underfoot if they had any interest--and knack for it. "Later is good with me. Who has been interested?" she asked, just to know.. and just so she'd know who to scope out best beforehand.

we can wrap soon if youd like!

jomyo seems to come around to the idea, which is enough for delight for now. it makes him feel better than her going off all alone anyway, even if he suspects she's the most competant of their lot when it comes to survival. "hmm," he says, trying to remember what everyone's said to him at various points. there's no so many of them that he can't keep track (especially with his detail-hoarding memory being what it is) but.. "maybe queenie," he says, "but i don't know, we'll see." he hmms thoughtfully, looking at his paws. "i know i said 'when it warms up', but do you have a preference about timing?" delight asks her, figuring she's probably got a better idea of what kind of weather she can fare in or not.

The name he provided wasn't anyone familiar to her quite yet but she'll take it, since it's more than nothing. Jomyo nodded and decided that she was definitely alright with determining all of that later, as much as she did want to be practical about it. The we'll see attitude suited her just fine in the end. "I'm not too picky really," she answered about timing. "Short of total shit weather, I can usually make do. And winter doesn't seem to be so bad around here.." she said while wearing a look of concentration. This wasn't to say she had a lot to compare it too, though. "Guess it also depends on how fast you'd like it done, or how soon," she smirked, hopeful to gauge that notion if he might share any insight to it so soon--but she was already preparing to hear more later, when certain things were a bit more concrete. All of this was news to her anyway.

If it was a sooner, rather than later sort of thing.. well, Jomyo could try to help. For now, she had plenty to think on, and get ready for in the meantime, just as he surely had plenty awaiting his attentions somewhere, somehow.

sure that works for me ;D

he nods thoughtfully, considering what she said. part of him wants to wait for mato to come back, maybe selfishly, because then the decision doesn't have to be his responsibility. and it's not that he can't, but doing that would be owning up to his inabillity to do this job, and would be letting mato down, and, well, he's not about that. 

"noted," he says, returning her smirk. "we don't exactly have to rush but quicker is probably better. i'll talk to you again about it soon?" he wants to check in with mato at the least, but maybe they should strike before spring, just in case. "thanks, jomyo," he adds, dipping his head to dismiss her unless she has anything else to add.

No rush, on either ends.. but she definitely wasn't complaining to do something. Winter was really her main hindrance here, and maybe some time could give her a chance to poke around for some naturalist sorts in the meantime--see what they thought, and all that. She wasn't feeling very nervous about it, though.. not that she was overly experienced at her two whole years. "Alright," she said, having nothing else to add and liking this little conclusion that just seemed to come forth. She wasn't complaining and had plenty to think on, with a good promise of more soon.

With a quick farewell that suit her mood and wag to her tail, she was happy to end it there. Jomyo left her Morwinyon alone to go busy her nose on something else.