Stone Circle We could've been in Venice.

 

In reality, when Stark had met Valette the first time he'd been in the throws of the drama with Octavia - trying to find her, raising her kid alone (but certainly alone, he'd had help from the pack), and there was Pippin who had been missing too and Mordecai. Stark could make excuse after excuse of course but now he had given himself time to....well. Not recover. To bury. To hide. To control his pain and push it somewhere else that he didn't have to focus on it anymore. "Good. It makes all the difference." Stark said quickly, offering Valette a little smile. 

Her question brought a little quirk to his lip, giving a brief frown. "We had most of the pack leave - it just....it was falling apart. I was falling apart. After everything with Octavia and how that all happened I just....I was selfish." He was utterly honest there, giving a breathy sigh. "Banner's mate had left too, we were both hurting. It was cowardly, sure, but it was the first time I think we'd done anything just purely based on us since we got to the Keep." Stark was straight forward as he looked at her, admitting his shortcomings with a brutal serving of self depreciation. 

Before he could get too much further into things - probably thankfully - a small black blob launched onto the scene and bypassed both adults. She landed on the raccoon with a gusto and Stark couldn't help the bark of a laugh, watching the girl for a moment before Valette offered an introduction. Steph. "Pleasure to meet you, miss." Stark said with a bravado, grinning down at the girl before he looked back up to Valette. "What are the others' names?" He asked curiously, wondering if the duo would make an appearance like their sister did.