Greatwater Lake jack-o-lanterns in july.

It was likely that the pair would have gotten along had circumstances been different; and even as they picked at each other with juvenile insults, Magpie had to inwardly admit that she appreciated the company. She had spent most of her life wandering alone, and that life didn't suit her. Traveling excited her, was in her blood, but it proved to be pretty meaningless without energizing companionship— at her core, the yearling hated to be alone. But her usual thick skin had been cut through in the wake of her return to the caldera; she couldn't begin to sort through it all, let alone start dealing with it. Instead, she was opting to lash out and vent her anger on whoever was nearby, as she so often did.

"Are you always so nosy?" she question, feigning annoyance— but truthfully, she was glad for the idle conversation. "A very handsome someone," Magpie agreed, "so handsome I might need to have his pups when I'm old enough." She was joking, mostly; neither of them were even close to breeding age, and it seemed like a lifetime away. Besides, she doubted she was the parenting type— it didn't occur to her that Fox had likely felt the same. It seemed too much of a responsibility.