Bearclaw Valley hym

with forward ears stigmata listened raptly as indra returned to him the same succinctness he had offered her. her introduction gave him a modicum of hope, but it crumpled as she revealed that his inability to mask his expressions had insulted her. the wolf stiffened -- automatically defensive by the onset of situation he surely did not intend -- but his response was tempered both by her gender and the fact that she had recently whelped. she had reason to judge every iota of his presence, and he took it as graciously as he could.

rolling the tension out of his shoulders, the male stared respectfully at her feet. "i was.. disheartened to notice that you are carrying milk," he admitted unabashedly and without preamble. "i avoid taking risks where i can, and appealing to the mercy of a recent mother is a risk i would have preferred to avoid. i imagined that you would be less inclined to my plights as a stranger -- given that my presence is... naturally a threat to the young children here -- and neither word or action  could convince you of my worth due simply to the fact that you do not know me." he chose to smartly forgo mentioning his additional disappointment about what her having children meant, but he also didn't seem like a wolf easy to coax an apology out of. if he was capable of it at all.

"that being said, it was not my intention to offend you with the assumptions i have made based on past experience." there: a non-apology for the books.

it's actually kinda liberating, tbh