Dragoncrest Cliffs The ribbons and the wrappings

Thuringwethil stopped and Wildfire backtracked a few steps, pivoting to face her. She nibbled at her lip. She could see a tension in her mate's face and wondered if she'd made a misstep. Perhaps she had come on too strongly about the surname? Maybe the Heda was vehemently opposed to such a tradition? Was it worth it to her to push? Wildfire didn't want to do anything that would cause the chasm between them to reopen.

"We don't have to!" It just burst out of her. She ran her tongue along her lip, then amended, "I'd like to but we don't have to if you hate the idea," she elaborated, eyes searching the commander's before dropping. "I was thinking that we could come up with our own name, just for you and me and the children. But, again..." She trailed off to avoid being redundant. In a way, building their own family name was a nod to her own parents, who had done the very same thing with the Redhawk moniker.