Blacktail Deer Plateau i'm pulling down stars just to make you glow

Mallaidh isn’t used to such compliments from anyone but her mother. She doesn’t remember much of Teaghlaigh anymore and Drageda’s view on affection… was maybe not the norm. The pack had been eye opening for what can and can happen, finding other women with similar attractions as her the norm, and she wouldn’t change the experience for anything. But as Saarthal offers words, Mallaidh feels the pull to get closer, eyes trailing down the length of her nose. She doesn’t exactly know what she’s going to do but she’ll figure it out when she gets there.
 
Storytime!
 
She’s startled back a little, ears falling back and looking away—it takes her a second to look up—and she tries to shake the sudden flush that warps through her senses. Saarthal is halfway through the story when she realizes she missed the transition and she looks up, sheepishly trying to hide the embarrassment.
 
“It’s not stupid,” she says, quietly, glancing over. A hero is the last thing she’d ever considered herself but her mother’s words linger in the back of her mind. The other voice angrily shouts at her, the exact opposite her friend is trying to convey. She’s certainly not a hero, unlike Saarthal, opening herself up like this when it’s easier for Mallaidh to shut it out and pretend it doesn’t exist. It’ll get too difficult and she’ll run away again and again and again. “You’re just as much of a hero as any of us, especially me—” she inhales a sharp breath, “I’ve fucked up a lot and I’ll probably fuck this up too.”