King Elk Forest -- we both know a break does exactly what it says on the tin

she doesn't pull away or snap at him, which he takes as a cautious good sign, and steps a little closer. his toes disappear under the layer of snow that's settled on the forest floor as he walks. 

(even if he could sense the warning she wants to give, all he'd be able to do is shrug, helpless: it's too late, it's too late.)

delight tries not to make it obvious that he's looking at her bones under stretched thin flesh but - she'd not been this thin at the pack hunt, right? what a miserable leader he is to let one of his own be in this condition, right? but, no, she asks him, like they can just play this off.

"i'm me," he says by way of an answer, and sits, a frown drawing across his face. "you don't look alright, though." he knows she knows medicine - and frankly he doesn't - but she must be sick or something. when he speaks again, the usual harsh edge to his voice is gone, made soft with a usually-hidden vulnerability: "what's going on..?"