Broken Antler Fen best fake smile

There had been a lot to process since Wraen's death. @Maia was in shambles through it, of course, and he tried to support her best he could while he also had his own grief to work through. He'd known Wraen for so long, it was unimaginable that she was no longer there. Besides that, he was her age, and he could not help but worry a bit about that. He wondered how @Arcturus was doing, but he and the man had never been very close and so Eljay hadn't reached out, unsure how he even could. Besides, he had Maia to worry about and care for right now, as well as @Sylvie and @Hymnal. A lot of his days were overtaken by watching the babies to give Maia some relief from her duties, helping look after the girls alongside Maia, or being out to gather food for her. He was very much a tired new parent right now, even though Eljay was also enjoying it all the way.

Eljay hadn't sought out @Teya after they'd buried Wraen, even though he wanted to. He understood the deep grief and he wished that he could do more for her; could've done more for her. But he couldn't, and he didn't feel like their relations ran so deep that it was his place to find her. She had others, such as Bridget and Ibis, to look after her, right..? Yet she had been on his mind a lot. She was Weejay's age, which invited a fatherly sort of feeling for the girl.

Thoughts of @Ibis and her unfortunate choice of words came to mind, too, but he figured that she must be hurting, too, and had only meant well. The initial anger at seeing her hurt Maia in that way had subsided, and now he found himself wondering if he'd been too harsh in his response to her words.

After he'd brought back a piece of deer meat from an earlier hunt with one of his pack mates, Eljay arrived back at the den to find Maia and the children asleep. He put down the meat gently, as they needed their rest and he didn't want to wake them up right now. Then Eljay lay down in the clearing in front of the den and he let out a long, tired sigh.

tags are just for reference, this is all welcome :)