Sun Mote Copse of a leather seat between your legs

Finley was yet blissfully unaware of the turmoil going on at the Plateau, though one couldn’t really call her state of being bliss even with her ignorance. Wildfire’s absence was constantly with her, constantly aching and plaguing her every thought and action. Eljay wasn’t the only one who seemed unable to get over her death. He simply showed it in a far more obvious way. Fin kept her heartache buried away where she hoped it couldn’t be seen. Her family needed her to be strong, so she was, but only in appearance. Inside she was still a devastated mother grieving the loss of her child.

Losing Wildfire wasn’t like losing her other kids. Those who had left the nest and were wandering the world were at least still alive and hopefully well. When Lucy had been taken, Fin was at least able to cling to some hope that she too was alive and well. But Wildfire was just gone. There was no way to console herself that she was at least happy in her new life somewhere, nor that she might come back into her life one day. She was gone, and she wasn’t coming back.

Fin had excused herself from the den with a cheerful smile, claiming to just need to stretch her legs for a bit. The moment she had turned her back on them though, her expression had crumpled into the misery she didn’t want them to see. It was torturous trying to heal but seeing her son and her granddaughter so despondent day after day after day. She just needed a bit of time to herself to let herself feel the way she really did. No masks, no pretending. Just heartbreak and tears.

Tegan had other plans for her though, it seemed. Her ears perked when not ten minutes after leaving the den, she heard his call. She struggled for a moment to answer, her immediate reaction to crumple and rebel against being seen now. It was too much, she couldn’t handle pretending just now for another second, it was just too hard. But in the end, Finley mastered herself and eventually approached her son with that false smile and happy demeanor.

”Hey kid,” Fin crooned, sweeping in to embrace him and give his ear a good snuffle, ”To what do we owe the pleasure?”