The Floodlands You never go to parties.

She looked right back at him, watching as the bird began to smooth his feathers under the waterfall's gentle spray. Deciding not to pester him, Towhee turned her attention to the floodplain that sprawled beneath their home. She almost jumped out of her skin when she whirled to find Quixote just a few feet away. Towhee cursed loudly, wondering why X hadn't bothered alerting her. Was it because he recognized Quixote? Or was it because he was too preoccupied preening to watch her back?

Her muttering faded as she eyeballed her pack mate, wondering why he looked as if he'd rather be somewhere else. At least he hadn't bum rushed her like Colt (surely X would've reacted then), though Towhee was curious about his body language. Her head cocked, trying to get a read on him. Her nostrils flared as she took in his scent. If she caught Raven's mingling in there, she didn't think anything of it. With everything else going on, the young Alpha somehow hadn't realized her sister had gone into heat.

"Hey," she finally said after a long, awkward moment. "I've been meaning to find you and thank you for trying to mediate the other day..." Towhee's voice trailed off weirdly as a series of thoughts hit her over the head. She had no idea that Quixote and Colt had been griping about her behind her back or that the former took any issue with her at all. But Colt's grievances were still fresh in her mind and it prompted a very spontaneous query out of her: "Have you ever thought about leadership, Qui?"