Sun Mote Copse Night on earth.

Niamh didn't seem bothered by the invasive question and said she'd needed a break. Towhee could understand that. During her own heat, she had needed a good, hard nap in between sessions. Her eyes watched as her friend stretched, which invited a mental picture of Phox on top of Niamh. The thought didn't perturb her in the least. She had witnessed her brother and Camilla couple; it had been her favorite TV show to binge watch that week. The reason she didn't want to see it for herself this time around had a lot less to do with them than it did with her.

She brushed off that mental image and refocused as Niamh signed something else. Towhee rolled a shoulder and said, "You don't need to worry about me." She didn't mean to be dismissive about her own emotional issues, she was just not in the mood to talk about it much. The timing seemed very wrong, considering that Niamh's womb might even now be quickening with Phox's offspring. That thought cut into Towhee like a knife, though she didn't show it.

"I'm glad you two got over yourselves," she ribbed without malice, the subject of their relationship less sensitive than their consummation of it. "Are you officially mates? 'Cause you know what that means, right?"