Sleeping Dragon You are the spade I used to dig this hole

Wildfire went still as Portia answered. Although the wording sort of rubbed her the wrong way—they might as well? she guessed?—she decided to give the other she-wolf the benefit of the doubt. Actually, whatever irritation she may have felt at the phrasing melted away nearly immediately and she gazed at the Skayona with a mixture of sympathy and gratitude on her face. She had the distinct feeling that Portia was downplaying it.

"I want you to know how much it means to us," she said, voice still soft and slow. "Without Dio, Thur and I might not be able to have a family at all. He's being incredibly generous... and so are you." She paused, lips pursing momentarily. "Obviously, we wish it could be done some other way but there's no fighting mother nature..." Wildfire gave a sort of hollow laugh and then trailed off awkwardly, wishing she could convey the true depth of her gratitude because her words did it no justice at all.

Clearing her throat, Wildfire's brow knitted as she questioned out of genuine curiosity, "You really don't want any of your own?" In her eyes, Portia's decision whether or not to have children actually had no bearing on the leaders' family planning. But she couldn't help but wonder why she didn't want pups. In the Bandrona's opinion, the medicine woman would make a brilliant mother, though of course it wasn't her call or even really her business.