in some sad way i already know

In the murky halflight Caiaphas counted pinecones as she waited, uninterested in pressing further. She recalled that Mordecai had mentioned the Spine was not really the place for a day-trip -- and with all the patience in the world she settled into the fog and watched blankly the fog roll by until she heard footsteps of a wolf approaching.

She would have tensed then were it not evident it was Mordecai -- and while she did not rush to greet him in the manner of acquainted friends she did return his gesture with a wave of her own tail -- and a near genteel expression seemed to mask her dark visage. She noted then, however, that her companion seemed consumed by a pall of weariness -- and with a faint narrowing of her piercing eyes she watched him hawkish and discerning.

"I was in the area -- it occurred to me to visit you." She spoke plainly and from the nakedness in her tone one could tell in this particular instant she was not lying. She remembered with a faint twinge of amusement the shoddy circle she had drawn him and wondered if it was still there untouched by fog or passerby. "How fares the inland?" Her question was not weighted, but it was evident she was willing to converse and share tit-for-tat much more openly than she had been last time.