Hushed Willows if we never make it back to california i want you to know i love you

his face creases, overwhelmed by mali and lily's respective shouting and questioning. everything eventually slips between his fingers -- he's never been able to hold on to anything, has he? "mali," delight says, making his voice sharp, "i chose to leave, knowing we would move soon. i shouldn't have left you alone, and i'm sorry for that, but we cannot go back. i'll take you with me and we can go that way to look for them, okay?" it's not temper-fueled so much as insistent. he isn't about to give up, he means that, but he needs to rest and figure out what to do. "there's another pack close to there," delight adds, glancing up at lily so she knows this too, "your mother and i spoke to them, so they'll keep an eye out for us, too." 

mali seems to give up, though, as delight refuses to budge from his shoving. anxiously he reaches out to groom behind his ears, some little gesture of apology/affection, and lets his gaze fall back on lily. "alarian isn't coming," he says tiredly, and opens his mouth to say more but closes it. the intimacy of their conversation doesn't need to be divulged, and really, he doesn't have the words for it yet. instead he shakes his head and shrugs helplessly.

as for the other thing, "and brilliance and solomon ran off -- i thought they'd gone with queenie, but she came back and we realised they were just gone, so i went to look for them -- sorry," delight adds, with the grace to be sheepish. "we spoke to the wolves that live on the glacier, ikkanattuk, but they hadn't seen them. i have no idea where they could've gone."