Tormented Tarns spiders in your hair, spiders everywhere

nah you're cool

The male assessed her as she had him, and though Sien remained on guard, his aloof analysis did not rankle. Tit for tat, after all. His countenance betrayed nothing save for dispassionate acknowledgement, and she found herself wondering whether she hadn’t perhaps misjudged him after all. But then, Sien had never been the best at interpreting the intricacies of facial expressions or the wily ways of words – those had been Cerise’s specialties. Her own lay grounded in understanding the broader, more physical strokes, like what stance to assume to avoid being knocked down given the particular trajectory of an attack or how many days a prey item would last them for; the bigger picture of the fight, Cerise had once said. There was really no point reminiscing now, but Sien always found herself returning to the familiarity of the past whenever confronted with an uncomfortable present.
 
”I’ve seen enough of both to last me two lifetimes,” he said, sounding unimpressed as he gestured towards his unkempt state. Sien snorted before she could stop herself, and then cleared her throat apologetically. Maybe if you spent more time appreciating it than you did dismissing it, you’d find that it wasn’t even enough for half a lifetime, she thought quietly to herself, remembering more than one occasion when she would’ve been happy to encounter a never-ending field of spiders. "Sorry. Of course.” she said instead. Nevertheless, it wasn’t as if she didn’t understand, she herself still struggled to remember to cherish the entirety of this world every waking hour, no, moment, of her existence in it, and she had a lot of catching up to do besides. Had it been this difficult for Niall? Somehow she doubted it, he’d been so devout… come to think of it, now would be a perfect time to segue into a Sect exposition.
 
Sien glanced briefly skyward at pearly diffusion of light through clouds where the Creator must be. Give me strength…, she urged, before immediately returning her attention to the dark stranger, instinctive caution overriding devotion. ”You…smell relatively new.”  he interrupted. Forgive me, she amended, I can't do it. If she’d been alone, Sien might’ve closed her eyes in prayer. Instead, she merely flicked an ear backwards for a half-second, annoyed at her own weakness, but also – very privately – relieved. She didn’t want the first wolf she ever shared the Sect with apart from Niall to be suspicious Captain Obvious himself, and she doubted he’d properly appreciate its doctrine anyways. Clear yourself of judgment, rang through her mind unbidden. Sien internally winced, but with a conciliatory 'Sorry', opted to push the reminder aside in favor of responding. ”Yes,” she stated simply, confirming his observation, but not the inference attached to it. ”And you smell...established. She continued, returning the favor. After a moment’s hesitation, ”I’m Sien.” she offered, tersely. Another pause. Then, ”You?” It was an apology of sorts, for failing to live up to Sect expectations.