Heron Lake Plateau Shadows alive.

At some point or another during her deliberations, Towhee had considered speaking to Niamh first, since she was her Person and all. It hadn't seemed quite fair to Quixote though, so she'd reluctantly dismissed the notion. When her closest confidante appeared first, the mercenary very nearly reneged on her own decision to consult them simultaneously. But she denied the temptation to begin wagging her tongue as soon as Niamh's familiar face appeared, though she happily leaned into the Beta's nibble and rumbled a greeting even as her nose brushed the other wolf's golden cheek.

"Things are... uh," she replied haltingly, pausing to think over the events of late—Caiaphas's exile; Tegan's worrisome concussion; Screech's apparent impersonation of Lazarus; a few pack mates' conspicuous, continued absences; and even her own decision to tentatively trust Phox—as her lips twisted ponderously. This was exactly why she was here. "I wanted to—" Before she could get much further, Towhee spotted movement out of the corner of her eye and turned her head to watch as Quixote padded up to join the pair. He looked particularly surly today and Towhee dipped her snout, offering a grimacing smile of sympathy.

Especially with that look on his face, Towhee decided not to keep them waiting. "Thanks for coming so quickly, guys. I'll keep this brief." Her orange eyes jumped from Niamh to Quixote and back again. She flashed them a smile, hoping to put them at ease. She didn't want either of them even mentally comparing this to Caiaphas's botched attempt to overthrow. "I want to help. Ah, specifically, I'd like to step up as a leader again, at least until Rave's ready to resume the role. I don't actually care which rank, I just want to be part of the leadership." She very nearly added, if that's cool with you, but she bit her tongue. She was kind of asking, kind of telling, and hopefully wasn't doing a terrible job walking that fine line.

The mercenary sucked in a noisy breath, trying to imagine what each of them might think and how they might respond. Her tongue pressed against her teeth against the urge to make a case before they'd even had a chance to react. Hopefully it wouldn't even come to that and, in any case, they deserved an honest chance to have their say. So Towhee kept the air trapped in her lungs and waited.