Duskfire Glacier usurped

"Tulip?" Hawthorn stared at her in mild disbelief when he caught her peeping from the bush, then murmuring his name. God, how many things could he do wrong, get wrong, in one day? He hadn't meant for her to hear that; she and Rose were the last wolves he wanted to have heard everything he'd just said because he was supposed to protect them, and how could he do that when they knew he didn't really want to live in first place anyways? Oh god, Haw had messed everything up hadn't he?

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry Tulip," he said frantically. "Look, you weren't meant to hear that. Just, forget everything I've just said, don't tell anyone and go back to your mum, yeah? I'm sorry, but I'll come find you and talk to you later, okay? I promise, but right now, I need to talk to Kieran alone. I'll explain everything later." Hawthorn didn't quite know what he was saying, if he was being honest, but it sounded something like what a big brother would say, and so he said it. He could only hope that Tulip would still listen to him, because god knows what would happen if she didn't.

Then, Haw turned to Kieran, a look of despair marring his boyish features for a moment before it emptied out into an impassive facade once more. "I'm sorry, too," he said, exhaling sharply. "I'm sorry for taking it out on you," he murmured, and perhaps it said something about the Pryor's growing maturity that he'd admitted his fault without being forced to do so, and genuinely sounded regretful about it as well. "It'll be easier if you were more like me," he told Kieran with a laugh, trying to ease the tension in the air. "Then it'd be easier to hate you. Unfortunately...you're quite likeable. I don't think I like that; you're not making it easy for me, Kier," he joked, quite aware that he'd called the younger boy by a nickname of sorts. They weren't friends yet, but Hawthorn was willingly trying this time, and he hoped that the other pup would not take offense. If anything, it was an invitation for him to call Hawthorn by his own chosen nickname if he wished. 

After all, Hawthorn wished to get to know Kieran better, and how else could he do that if they weren't even going to try to be friends? Yes, they might just have screamed at each other, but the boy held onto the firm belief that arguments made connections stronger, rather than weaker, and so in his mind, they had formed the basis of a strong connection.