Hushed Willows a swell of smoke arose and filled the air [festival]

"Kavik leads Swiftcurrent Creek beside Constantine now," Rue informed @Lily, tightness almost imperceptibly edging into her smile. "Liri... has gone elsewhere." For clarity she almost added, "They had a falling out," but that probably went without saying. Heartbreak and betrayal were not subjects she wished to linger upon during a celebration, most especially a Fertility Festival. 

Lily soon moved on to mingle elsewhere, attending to her hosting duties. @Gannet had not responded to her introduction and moved on as well, and so Rue found herself without a conversation partner. Her bright, amber eyes swept the outskirts of the crowd, searching the faces of the newcomers.

Two of her packmates had arrived, Mahler and Kazimir. This was interesting to Rue; they were probably the two wolves in Diaspora that she would have thought least likely to attend a party. Rue began to move toward them, but Kazimir suddenly flitted away. Another female quickly took Kazimir's place beside @Mahler, nudging against the statuesque man in a rather familiar way. Rue stopped in her tracks, frozen by curiosity and.. and something else that roiled in the pit of her stomach at the sight of the stranger soliciting her Kapitan's attention. 

Rue tore her eyes away and gave her pelt a shake, as if she could fling away the odd and quite unexpected feeling. Perhaps some air would do her well. Rue began to move off toward the outskirts of the gathering, and as she stepped away from the center of the crowd she came face-to-face with @Soltero. Surprise lit in her expression, although perhaps she shouldn't have been so shocked. The monochrome man had been present here at Yule too, after all. 

Rue had not managed to rid herself of the squirmy, out-of-place feeling in her stomach, and the sight of Soltero was a sorely welcome comfort. Relief washed over her features and she stepped forward, nudging her crown beneath his chin in an embrace. There was so much she wanted to say; I'm glad you're here, it's so good to see you, I've been thinking about you. She couldn't choose, so she simply sighed into his shoulder.