Heron Lake Plateau And you know dogs, they need ample time outside

forward-dated to May 26

After having a restful night's sleep in her cozy, feather-filled den after returning from the Drageda mission, Niamh awoke, stretched and eventually, lazily pulled herself to her feet and walked into the sunlight. She shook one brown and black feather from her pelt- it had likely belonged to a grouse or a partridge, and she had plenty of others so she left it sitting at the mouth of her den. She could always replace it later, as birds were a particular interest of hers. 

As were crabs, apparently- and remembering what she'd done, she picked up a trot and headed for the lake. She would go on a patrol afterwards, but first, she wanted to check up on the crab she'd left at the lake, after having carried it carefully back from the coast. She thought she might take another trip out to grab another one at some point, but that was only if this one did alright.

Naturally, the crab was nowhere to be seen along the lake's shore- but she did see some odd prints in the mud, little pokey holes coming from the water and meandering along the shore and then back into the water that confirmed her belief that the crab was still alive. Pleased, the girl smiled, dipped her head and began to drink. Soon they'd have a new form of prey that could be easily stocked and hunted, or so she thought.

She wouldn't deny it: the (thankfully minor) heatstroke had frightened her badly. Although it was difficult for Towhee to take it easy, that's what she did, per @Raven's instructions. She withdrew into the copse on The Roost, alternating between eating and sleeping. It was incredibly boring, though she did have to admit it was nice to take a break. And, slowly, the malaise left her and she emerged, days later, refreshed.

Although she didn't want to push herself too hard, too soon, Towhee fully intended to resume patrolling today. She rose early—while the air was still pleasantly cool, if thick with humidity—and paddled across to the main shore. As she was shaking the water from her paws, she caught sight of Niamh further down the bank. Pleased to see her friend, the Beta began trotting in her direction, mindful of her pace.

"How was your trip?" she said in way of greeting, feeling an almost queerly strong sense of relief as she closed the gap between them. She'd missed Niamh, which was weird considering they didn't know one another that well. But with all the drama going on with her family, maybe that was exactly why Towhee felt particularly drawn to the towheaded she-wolf. It was unprecedented really: today, she preferred the outsider.

Having forgotten about the Roost, she was surprised when she saw a dark figure swimming across the lake from the island- but she smiled when she realized that there was really only one wolf she knew who would lay claim to the island, and that was Towhee. She moved toward her friend, tail swinging happily from side to side, and she did a silly jig sideways just before greeting her beta to show how happy she was to see her again. She touched her nose against Towhee's cheek, and whuffed a useless but instinctual greeting to her, certain at least that Towhee would feel the breath against her cheek. 

She nodded in response. "It was good; Tegan's pretty fun, once you get past the ego," She said with a chuckle. Perhaps it wasn't ego, but she couldn't think of another way to describe the sort of proud conviction he had about him. "Wildfire was pretty cool, too." She said. Part of her smile began to fade when she remembered what they'd gone for- to tell Wildfire that Raven was pregnant with Quixote's pups, but she brushed the thought aside, as well as she could. "Anything crazy happen while we were gone?" She asked, though she fully expected that life had gone on, boring as per usual, even without her and Tegan around.

Towhee barked a laugh at the Delta's comment. "He's a hoot, isn't he?" Of course, he could also be infuriating, though largely the Beta was rather fond of her irreverent younger brother. She liked her older sister, Wildfire, well enough too, though they really only barely knew one another. She acknowledged Niamh's mention of her with a dip of her snout, then cocked her head at her friend's question.

After a moment's thought, she said, "Not a whole lot." That was a fib, of course. There had been the heatstroke. And her emotionally-charged encounters with various pack mates, including Colt. But unlike him, Towhee didn't immediately seek out someone to bitch about him every single time they encountered one another. She also didn't want to burden Niamh by unloading about her complications with the likes of Finley, Elwood and Screech. So she left it at that.

"So how's Drageda?" Towhee pictured Tegan interacting with their leader, Thuringwethil, and that thought brought an amused smile to her lips.

Niamh smiled faintly and nodded in response to Towhee's comment about Tegan. "And a holler," She added, meaning it in the best possible way; after all, there was a lot of conversation that happened when talking to Tegan, whether one wanted it or not- and whether one understood all his slang or not. Niamh actually took to it quite well, and had started thinking up her own words to use, and see if any impressed him.

Nothing massive had happened while she'd been gone- as she suspected- and Towhee asked about Wildfire, who was yet another wolf related to all the Caldera wolves. "She seems good. Had pups not too long ago," She said, and passed on a bit more information to Towhee depending on what happens in the other thread and forward-dating stuff can be fun sometimes. Ahem. "She seems pretty cool," She commented, trying then to keep her spirits up and keep the topic off Raven and Quixote.

The Beta paused, wondering if she'd somehow bungled her words (it would not be the first time). She'd asked about Drageda specifically, not Wildfire. She didn't mind hearing more about her elder sister, though she looked at Niamh curiously. She seemed almost... preoccupied. Towhee was exceptional at reading expressions and body language. As her orange eyes scanned over her friend, she picked up little clues.

"Something's up." It was a statement, not a question. "Everything okay?"

Niamh's eyes rolled over to Towhee reluctantly, when she cottoned onto her body language- and she should've known better, and probably should have tried harder to hide it. After all, Towhee was deaf, not blind- and she relied on her ability to not only read lips but expressions as well. Niamh frowned, brown furrowing- not entirely sure what to say. She didn't exactly want to tell the truth- she didn't know anyone she wanted to share that with- everyone was so closely intermingled in the pack, surely it'd get back to the wrong wolf here or there, especially since they were all pretty much related- especially so, now, that Quixote and Raven were mates. 

She couldn't lie to Towhee, or try to brush off her observation, could she? If she didn't, she'd have to say something- she didn't want Towhee to think she couldn't talk to her. Confused and unsure of what to do, she slumped, put her paws over her muzzle and confessed all her troubles- beneath her paws. Her voice came out garbled and the words were all over the place, so even someone who could hear wouldn't have had an easy time making out what she was saying...But Towhee wouldn't have been able to read her lips. She sighed, exhasperated, and shook her head. That wasn't a respectful way to answer her beta's question, either- by answering in a way she couldn't possibly understand.

"Shitbiscuits. I'm just being silly. It's stupid." She said, lifting her head and pointing her muzzle toward Towhee. "I'm an idiot, but it's nothing you'll have to worry about. I'll sort it out." She said, not wanting Towhee to be concerned. Voice softening, she confessed. "I think it's just something I have to sort out on my own." She looked up, apologetically. How else could she sort that kind of a shitstorm out? She didn't feel like there was anyone she could talk to that wouldn't already have ties to Quixote or Raven- so it was probably something she'd just have to work through on her own, if she was even able to do so.

Niamh quickly deflected, which only made Towhee all the more curious. After several self-deprecating remarks, Niamh assured Towhee that she wouldn't need to worry about it and that she'd sort it out on her own. The Beta would've liked to say she was the respectful sort who'd simply take her friend's words at face value and respectfully drop the subject, but that wasn't entirely true.

"You sure? I know I'm deaf but I can be a good listener," she quipped lightly before adding, a touch more sincerely, "You can talk to me if you need." Towhee couldn't guess at the source of Niamh's discomfiture, though it probably involved (an)other member(s) of the pack, hence her reluctance (and the leader's intrigue). But everyone needed a confidant and, despite many of the other Redhawks' penchant for going around trash-talking behind each others' backs, Towhee wasn't really the type (she preferred to be mean right to your face). If Niamh chose to unload on her, she could keep it to herself.

A forced half-smile pulled at one corner of Niamh's mouth when Towhee mentioned she'd be a good listener- just because of the irony of such a statement. She was quiet for a moment, looking down at her paws before her, and eventually she huffed a sigh and pushed herself back up into a seated position. She still stared out across the water with a hard look as she tried to wrangle her thoughts into words- and figure out which words she wanted left unsaid. Obviously, there were certain things she didn't want to say- and she didn't want to be completely honest about who she was thinking about. She ended up shrugging slightly- a gesture which was practically her signature- and turned her muzzle toward Towhee.

"I think I'm just being silly. Making a mountain out of a molehill," She confessed. "I just...I sort of like someone?" She asked, embarassed at how the words sounded when spoken out loud. She hadn't exactly had to confess anything like that before. Her ears flicked back, unsure of how much to divulge. "But I don't think anything's ever going to happen. I mean, it won't." She said. "And that just kind of sucks." She said. It was her first honest crush- aside from silly, childhood crushes. It felt different, to like someone now that she was a bit older. The only indication she'd had to realize she liked Quixote, though, was when she was hit by jealousy.

Towhee feigned patience as she waited for Niamh to spill. Her effort paid off when the other she-wolf eventually began divulging the source of her discomposure. She didn't name names, though, and the Beta's curiosity caused her to begin mentally inventorying the pack's male members (it didn't occur to her that Niamh could like another woman). Towhee immediately wondered if it was Screech. But she'd just spent some time traveling with Tegan. Somehow, she couldn't see Niamh taking to her kid brother that way. Maybe the dude wasn't even part of the pack, come to think of it, and that's why Niamh couldn't be with him.

"Why won't anything happen?" Towhee genuinely wondered. She'd never had a proper crush, so she couldn't exactly lend personal experience to the matter. But she could listen and try to offer feedback to the best of her ability, if that's what Niamh needed.

She hadn't thought that far ahead. Honestly, she'd figured that Towhee might try to ask who she liked, rather than why it wouldn't work. She shook her head, and shrugged again, using dismissive body language to accentuate the point she was about to make. "I'm fairly certain he has no idea. And like...That he doesn't like me back more than just as a friend." She said. It was easier to explain things that way, rather than to tell the truth, spill the beans and say that he was practically already married, with kids on the way. That would have told Towhee right away who she meant, and exactly how bad a person she was, for falling for someone who already had someone else.

She squinted at her friend's response. "I'm assuming he has no idea in part because you haven't told him how you feel?" Niamh didn't even need to answer, Towhee could see it in her expression. "You can't know any of this stuff unless you talk to him about it. I'm sure it's easier said than done but you have to tell him how you feel and see where it goes. He could totally be into you too." She was really talking out of her ass here but Towhee thought that Niamh seemed like a catch, so there was always a chance.

Niamh became visibly nervous when Towhee began to impress upon him that he tell whoever she liked that she liked him. She squinted slightly and shook her head, slightly in denial about that being a good idea whatsoever. She made good sense- if only it was as simple as that. If it was just someone, who was available, yeh, she'd make sure they knew she liked them. But this wasn't as simple as that, and for some reason, the next words she had to say just came tumbling out of her mouth without her being able to check them. 

"I can't, it's Quixote."

And then she shocked herself into silence. Her ears flattened, and eyes opened and she stared at Towhee for a second to get her reaction, before her gaze drifted to the ground. She bit her lip to keep any other unruly words in, before she softly shook her head. "I kind of...liked him. Then realized how stupid I was when Tegan said he and Raven were mates. I can't tell him, obviously." She said. "But you can't tell anyone!"

When going through her mental bullets, she had obviously dismissed the likes of Elwood and Quixote, since they were far from eligible bachelors. But Towhee realized her mistake when Niamh blurted the identity of her crush. The Beta blinked several times in quick succession as this information processed. She felt a disapproving look beginning to form on her face, though she quickly schooled her expression. Niamh couldn't help who she liked, only how she behaved about her feelings.

And as she sat there, continuing to digest the news, Towhee's defensiveness (that was her sister's baby daddy, dude) subsided and she found herself feeling bad for the Delta. "Ah, I see the problem now," Towhee concurred, then swiftly let Niamh know, "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." She paused. "That really sucks though. You're not stupid. It's not like you can help how you feel," she reasoned. "It's how you act that matters. I know Quixote would never betray my sister and it's not like you're a homewrecker—right?" Okay, she'd meant that rhetorically, mostly, but she found herself squinting again.

Fortunately, Towhee handled the entire thing with grace- which surprised her. Given that she was almost willing to bite her brother's face off over turf, Niamh had thought for a minute that she might get an ass-whooping for eyeing her sister's man. It was alarming how cool Towhee kept things, so she relaxed slightly, and reconsidered how dreadful she'd felt about telling her beta. This wasn't Towhee speaking as her beta, though, this was Towhee stepping outside of a role that would otherwise crush the face of someone who confessed what Niamh just had. 

She shook her head in response. "No, no. That's why I feel so bad. I shouldn't like him- I didn't even know that I did. And no, I'd never do anything. I'm just kind of...Not avoiding him, but like...Yeah, kinda maybe avoiding him until I figure things out, sort of." She said. It did feel somewhat good, having the truth off her chest- but part of her was still on guard just in case Towhee decided to snap at her.

Niamh didn't take the accusatory look personally and was quick to reassure the Redhawk that she (and her sister) needn't worry. Towhee frowned thoughtfully as her friend continued to confess her feelings. She'd never dealt with any of this herself and suddenly she was glad for it. Unrequited attraction sounded like it sucked.

"It's probably not a bad idea," Towhee said, "avoiding him, I mean. It'll probably help you get over your feelings for him. Although I'm definitely no expert." Her head tilted. "Why do you feel bad though? It's not like you can control your feelings. I mean, I wish. But that's not how it works. As long as you don't act on them, then what's the problem? I mean, it still blows for you," she finished, frowning sympathetically now and reaching out to pat the other wolf's shoulder.

Niamh had to consider for a moment why she felt bad...She hadn't exactly spent much time thinking about that. "It just seems wrong. He's the wrong guy for me to have feelings for. It's just a crush, but still. He's got Raven, and kids on the way." She said. So she did have a moral compass- funny that only now it had chosen to make an appearance. Of course, a teeny tiny part of her felt bad because she wanted for things to change- but she didn't want Raven to end up with no father figure for her kids. She simply wished she could go back in time and maybe snag Quixote's attention, before he could fall for Raven. Impossible, of course, but still- it made for a nice daydream. 

She mustered a small smile when Towhee touched her shoulder. "Yeh, it sucks. I just hope the next one I fall for is like...Single." She said. "...And not an idiot, like me, heh."

The Beta shrugged her white-streaked shoulders. Feelings weren't very possible to control sometimes and it wasn't like Niamh had developed them on purpose. It was bad enough that nothing could ever come of them, so Towhee hated to see her beat herself up over it too.

"That's what you should do," the yearling said in reply to Niamh's joke, "find someone single to crush on instead. Like, um." She consulted that mental checklist again. So many of them were too young or, like, unworthy. "You could always try to fall in love with Tegan." She only said it because it was so ludicrously funny, not just because it was Tegan but because it wasn't like Niamh could just cherry-pick her next crush.

Deciding that shifting the focus was a better tact, Towhee decided to make her own confession: "I've never even had a crush before. What's it even like?"

She knew who Towhee was going to mention before she even said it. Of course she'd mention Tegan- after all, she'd just spent two weeks alone with him, travelling to Drageda and back. Her expression said as much, too- as soon as Towhee began saying she should find someone else, Tegan's name came to mind and she raised an eyebrow, grinning impishly. She laughed. "I knew you'd say Tegan." She said. "He's really funny; but I don't know, the maturity...It's not quite there," She said, figuring Towhee would know what she meant. The dude, after all, still made up his own swear words, and didn't really have a concept of how to speak respectfully to someone. Still- he was a cool cat. But she wasn't entirely sure that sort of uncouth behavior had much in the way of allure. 

She was slightly surprised to see that Towhee hadn't had a crush before. Not that Niamh was an expert, and she wasn't about to pretend to be, as it would have been condescending- and Towhee had just listened to her tell the truth, without jumping down her throat, so she too should be mature and fair. "Uhm, it's kind of weird?" She said. "Like...Your heart goes faster, and you get all nervous around them, and you think about them like...a lot. Something in your belly kind of flutters, too," She said. "You kind of want them to notice you, and like you back, but at the same time, it's kind of terrifying so you kind of don't want to see them at all." She said. "I dunno. It's a weird feeling. I don't really know what to think, or feel; it just makes you feel like a jumble of nerves and hopes."

The feelings Niamh described sounded unpleasant and the whole experience did not appeal to Towhee in any way. She wondered if it was odd that she'd never had a crush and that she wasn't interested in developing one anytime soon. She didn't care much for romance. Besides, who could she possibly fall in love with around here? She was related to 99% of the male population. She even included Colt in there (since he was Finley's brother) and, regardless, she wouldn't pair up with him even if they were the last two wolves on the planet and responsible for saving the species. There was really only Nevouku (pass, she thought) and Ben, she supposed. She was surprised he even came to mind; she barely remembered he was around most of the time.

"That sounds like shit. Glad it's never happened to me. Hopefully it never does," Towhee declared before a thought struck her with the suddenness of a thunderclap. "There's always X." She smirked. Did she mean Niamh should go for him or she herself should pair off with the bird? Either way, the shit-eating grin on her face demonstrated the ridiculousness of the notion.

When Towhee brought up X, she laughed, and cast an eye around to see if the bird was anywhere in the area. She hadn't noticed him before- and wondered obtusely for a moment if maybe X would eat crabs, the same way she hoped the wolves could, once the population built up enough- and didn't see him then, either. Still, she raised an eyebrow and nodded. "I think you'd make a great pair." She said. "I'll let you have X," She said, winking at Towhee simply because such an idea was so ridiculous, "If he has like...A brother, or something, he could set me up with." She said. "Then we'd be sisters-in-claws!" She said, laughing at the terrible, terrible pun.

Towhee stared at Niamh. "Wow, that was terrible," she let her know because true friends don't stab you in the back, they stab you in the front. "But speaking of him, he's probably wondering where I am. I was meaning to head out for a patrol before it gets too hot." She still hadn't talked about her heatstroke and, now that Niamh had confided in her, the Beta reconsidered.

"Come with," she said, waving a paw and beginning to trot toward the slope that led to the plateau's foot. "I actually had a bit of a health scare while you two were gone. Rave called it heat poisoning. I didn't even know that was a thing. Anyway, I'm fine," Towhee continued rather breezily, "but I wanted to tell you, since you told me—since you're my person, now."

She shrugged in response- yeh, she knew it was terrible, but it wasn't like she could stop herself from making a pun- that'd just be impunsible. Clearly Niamh isn't the only one with said affliction.

She moved alongside Towhee, her expression becoming much more serious when Towhee admitted that she had had something Raven had called heat poisoning. Niamh didn't notice it, but the mention of Raven's name didn't even bother- as she was far more preoccupied with whatever heat poisoning was- and that Towhee, her own person, had had it. "What? That's crazy! What happened?" She asked, curious to see what exactly this heat poisoning entailed- and how to cure it, just in case something like that happened again.

More like my Person, Towhee decided, since it deserved a capital letter to designate its—Niamh's—importance. She couldn't explain exactly how the she-wolf had become her close friend so quickly, though it just felt natural. In fact, the Delta didn't react to the title at all, probably because it fit just right and was no big deal. It was weird because it wasn't weird.

"I just got really dizzy and felt off all of a sudden. It sucked but as soon as I hit the water, I was fine," Towhee explained. "Fiadh and Orca were there too. I have some great sisters." She paused. "Speaking of them, how're things going with the rest of the pack? I know there's been some tension and stuff. Has the ptero been helping at all...?"

Niamh frowned; she didn't like the idea that Towhee's sickness had hit so suddenly, which meant that it might be hard to avoid in the future. "Jeez," She said, when Towhee had finished explaining it. "That sounds pretty shitty. How do you avoid it? Just like...Avoid the heat or drink water, or...?" She asked, hoping that Towhee had some idea- so that such an incident could be avoided again. Niamh didn't want to get it- and wondered vaguely if it was something that one wolf might have, but another might not. She'd never seen it for herself, but even though she wasn't sure she'd get it, she didn't want Towhee to have a tendancy for getting it. 

She nodded sort of vaguely when Towhee asked about her relationships with the other pack members, but then she remembered her conversation with Clover and perked up. "Actually," She said, "It did. I actually had a decent conversation with Clover, right before Tegan and I left. I think she just really wants to protect her family, and doesn't trust Screech because of a bunch of things he's never had a chance to explain to her...There's two sides to everything. I talked to him too, and kind of heard his side of the story...I think maybe she leapt down his throat prematurely on a couple things, maybe." She said. "But you're the first person I've had a chance to talk to since I got back. 'Cause you're my Person too. Whatever." She said, with a slight shrug; not to lessen its importance, but to indicate that this sort of thing just felt natural. There was no contesting it- Towhee was her closest friend, and she had been honest when she said she was a good listener.