Heron Lake Plateau Sooner rather than later

Phox seemed to relax, and with this change Raven felt some of tension ease out of her own stance and demeanor. She was still furious, make no mistake. But while her temper was black and terrible, she had never been the type to maintain it for very long. She nodded to his assent, recognizing that that was about as close to an apology as she was likely to get from him. One thing about Phox she knew to be true was that he was honest -- sometimes brutally so -- and while he might have worded his sentiments regarding Quixote poorly, she knew it was legitimately how he felt and no matter how this clusterfuck shook out, that was a problem none of them could ignore.

Towhee suddenly arrived in the way only Towhee could, and it might have been funny as hell had Raven not been a hairsbreadth from strangling her brother only moments before. Phox quickly explained to Towhee what was going on, not understanding the sign he used to describe her mate at the end and certainly not wanting to know it. To the question left suspended at the end of his comments, Raven said nothing. Her decision was not made yet. She just looked at him for a moment, her gaze heavy with the bitterness and betrayal she felt, before turning her eyes to Towhee. She maintained her silence, waiting to see what Towhee had to say about all of this.