Heron Lake Plateau running low on words

Towhee registered Rye's retreat but did not turn to look at him, keeping her focus on the stranger. Unfortunately, it was one of those instances where she found a particular individual's lips especially difficult to read. She didn't catch his name at all, though she did capture enough words ("join," "room" and what looked a lot like "guardian") to get the gist of it. By this point in her life, the Beta was pretty damn good at piecing together contextual clues.

"Could you look at me and repeat your name?" she requested, explaining, "I'm deaf and I'm having a hard time reading your lips. You said you're a guardian?" Towhee paused for affirmation, then asked, "What makes you want to join this pack in particular?"