Swiftcurrent Creek you're a sunflower

After Rue spoke Soltero's name, he answerd with her own, and despite her pain Rue had to chuckle at the muffled sound of his voice. He seemed to falter a bit then-- Rue didn't blame him, she must look quite a mess.  She did her best at offering a smile, and perhaps it did the trick, because Soltero came padding closer. His scent wrapped soothingly around her as he neared, and Rue found herself leaning into his light touch. Soltero wouldn't know how comforting even that small point of contact was to Rue... how nice it felt for someone to reach out to her. Especially when that someone was Soltero.

"Yeah, that.. I'd love that. Thank you," Rue agreed, heart humming with gratitude. She was starving. To be honest, she still didn't feel entirely comfortable taking from the Creek's caches since she had done nothing to fill them in the warmer months. She certainly did her best to help out, but in the winter prey was hard to come by and she didn't know the good hunting spots. Perhaps she would have Soltero show her where he had procured his prize. 

"Soltero?" Rue began, a note of pain edging its way back into her voice, "What have I walked in on here, in the Creek? Why do the wolves here feel..." What was the right word? .."Tense? Or like, sort of um.. distant?" Was it simply that the Plateau refugees were new, and others did not yet trust them? Had there been some who opposed the merger between packs, or resented Kavik's rise to leadership? Or, maybe it had nothing to do with the Plateau wolves, and Rue was sensing the residual tension from some entirely unrelated event. It was even possible that there was nothing amiss at all, and this was just simply how things were here in the Creek.