Northstar Vale The way your words hang in the moment suspended

Saena remained still, willing Calliope to approach her rather than the other way around. And she did. The woman was both taller and thicker than Saena, but only due to a difference in size; they were equally streamlined, with Saena being maybe slightly plumper about her midriff and hips, but the comparison was difficult to make. A bib of white stood out against Calliope's dusty silver fur, and her eyes were a haunting shade of green that instantly reminded Saena of Tytonidae. She fleetingly wondered what had become of her sister, but the thought flew away when she noticed Calliope was meeting her eyes.

While the other wolf's tail signalled neutrality and ordinarily she would have been fine with that in spite of the erect ears, the direct gaze was too much for Saena. She'd never been one to demand absolute submission except from outsiders and those who crossed her, but she did demand the basics, and Calliope was not giving her enough even for that. They were unfamiliar with one another, and Saena needed to establish herself as Calliope's better here and now. First impressions were everything. If Saena let Calliope believe that meeting her gaze was okay, she would never be able to correct the behaviour in the future, when it mattered more. Though the silver-haired woman stood above her, Saena managed to give the impression of looking down as as she curled her lip in displeasure and let her hackles bristle. Down, she seemed to say. Calliope may not have meant to challenge her, but it took very little to make Saena prickly about her station. She'd dealt with insubordinate bullshit in the past enough that she simply would not accept it in any form, intentional or otherwise, now.

Maintaining this displeased posture to promise further consequence if Calliope refused to look away, she grunted, "Saena," and then added, with emphasis, "your first wolf." They would become acquainted if they could get past the establishment of hierarchy, perhaps even find something in common, and if they could not, then they would surely fight. It all depended on Calliope's response.