Redhawk Caldera Break my neck for the holy bassgod.

For the most part, it was easy to stash away in the cave with @Reyes, especially with the blizzard. But when the wind died down today, leaving behind a soft snowfall, Towhee decided to stretch her legs. She emerged into a beautiful, snowy twilight and decided she would take the time to go check on @Niamh. Not only was her Regent in the same state, she knew her sister-in-law was still grappling with their recent losses, perhaps harder than anyone else.

As she approached her Regents' abode, Towhee looked around warily. She would prefer to avoid @Phox and any other dude, for that matter, aside from her chosen consort. But if he was here with Niamh, she didn't want to force him away. He was reeling too. Although hopefully they were also trying, which would bring new hope and life to the hard-hit family.

In the final week of the month, Niamh found herself feeling completely overwhelmed, and incapable of dealing with either her grief or her hormones properly. At her best she was demanding, hyper-affectionate and needy, and at her worst distant and broken; her moods shifted like snowbanks under the toss and whirl of winter gales. In between the polar waves of emotions she felt blank and empty. She hid herself away in the den most times, not feeling at all selfish for doing so as it was the only way she could make sure she didn't cave in to emotional physical and weaknesses, and it was only in the private darkness of the den that she felt safe to grieve. 

She heard footfalls and wrinkled her nose when she caught Towhee's scent. Something about catching the scent of another hormonal woman irked her, though she respected Towhee's right to breed. She knew she didn't need to fear for Phox being tempted, as this was his sister- but there was still something deep and instinctive that made her wish Towhee would just walk away and leave the area, and take her hormones with her. 

So she didn't try to hide the exhausted, woebegone look she'd been sporting since Primrose's death when she emerged from the den. She caught Towhee's eye, and gave her a nod before she sat down. Her brow furrowed as a thought struck her. While she felt incredibly sullen, she did care about Towhee, and was curious to know why she was even still on the Caldera. They'd talked quite a bit about what her plans would be- so it was odd to see her at her own doorstep, of all places. -"Aren't you supposed to be on a sexcapade?"- She asked.

A frown touched her lips when Niamh emerged, thankfully alone. She looked very glum and her greeting wasn't particularly warm. Towhee knew better than to blame the Regent. In fact, she strode right up to her and pressed her muzzle into the other woman's neck, letting out a sigh of camaraderie. Primrose may have been her kid too, though Towhee hadn't carried him, delivered him, nursed him. She imagined her pain didn't really compare to Niamh's, despite its poignancy.

Drawing back after a moment, she replied, "Leaving the caldera wasn't an option." There were so many reasons, which she didn't bother dredging up with any specificity. "So Plan A was out. But Plan B is actually turning out to be pretty awesome. I found myself a consort, right here." Towhee paused, then revealed, "It's Reyes," either unaware or forgetful of the fact that he was Niamh's nephew.

She stiffened when Towhee reached out to show affection, but she didn't pull away. She was overwhelmed and uncomfortable, and not entirely certain what to make of the greeting so she did little else to acknowledge the gesture but nod. She was too lost in her own grief to realize that Towhee was hurting too; she was barely even capable of handling Phox's grief. She frowned more deeply when Towhee pointed out that it wasn't necessarily the best time to be leaving the Caldera, given the unusual circumstances involving other predators. The perplexing aspect was the fact that Towhee didn't seem too upset- but she was quick to clarify exactly why she didn't seem as disappointed as Niamh had thought she might be. 

For a moment, she was more confused than anything. Perhaps it was because she was overtired and couldn't think for the brain fog she felt, but she couldn't think of anyone who would even be a potential "Plan B" to act as a father. Towhee had had plans to find Meerkat's father, and make another one of her- but not if she was staying on the Plateau, and as far as Niamh knew, he had been Plan A. She leaned in a bit, curious about what Towhee's scheme was- but she reeled back in surprise when the truth was revealed. 

"Reyes?!" She blurted. The truth hit her hard- and for some reason, it stung. Reyes was her nephew- and he was the same age as Bronco. Something about all of that just seemed wrong to Niamh. But then the real realization hit, and she had to hold her breath to keep herself from wailing. "Fuck." She said. -"Did I...Fuck. I never told you."- She said. This was almost dizzying; but she realized she shouldn't keep Towhee in suspense. -"He's my nephew."- She grated. It wasn't that she disapproved of Towhee's plans to get pregnant by whatever means- nor did she dislike Reyes a great amount. 

But if he impregnanted Towhee, that would make Niamh a great-aunt. And that just sounded old.

That's the general idea, Towhee thought inanely, otherwise caught off guard by Niamh's reaction. She drew in a breath at those foreboding words. What hadn't Niamh told her? The Sovereign could feel her insides tightening with dread, uncertain what might come out of her Regent's mouth.

Niamh didn't leave Towhee in suspense for long. It took her a moment to make sense of it, then she had to bite her lip to hold back the entirely inappropriate laugh. Was that all? Of course, the information intrigued Towhee and all sorts of questions popped into her head. She actually knew so little of Reyes's background and was now quite keen to learn more.

Like Niamh, the information had another effect on the Sovereign. One of the many things she didn't really know about Reyes included his age. For a second, Towhee wondered if she was some sort of creep. But, no, he was sexually mature. That was all that mattered to her, really. And if he proved to be a good father, then that was just a bonus.

Would it be tactful to say that though? Towhee looked closely at Niamh's features, trying to discern whether her friend was angry with her. "I didn't know," she replied, "but if he's related to you, then we know he comes from good genes, right?"

Towhee's expression was difficult to read. She didn't seem to understand what Niamh found was so troubling about the matter- so Niamh wondered if perhaps she was simply over-reacting. A likely case, she thought ruefully. And she felt she owed her friend an explanation, so she sighed softly. Good genes? Well...That was true- at least in part. She couldn't say so much for the other part of Reyes' heritage, as he came in part from the Rusalkan wolves, and had been raised by them as well. 

He hadn't caused much trouble since he'd come to the Firebirds though, had he? And he'd journeyed with them to the Caldera as well. From what she could tell, he'd been fulfilling his duties to the pack- and apparently, going above and beyond what was expected of him, for Towhee to have seen him as being an adequate sire to her children. Still- she knew the Rusalkan wolves to be fiery and tempermental, and that those traits existed within her side of the family as well. Towhee possibly had no idea what she was getting in to. 

"Yeah," She responded, with a despondent shrug. -"Just makes me feel old, is all.-" She admitted.

If anything, Niamh was sad about it, though not for any reason Towhee should take personally. Her head cocked and she gave her friend a sympathetic frown. Although the joke and inherent compliment hadn't cheered her, that wouldn't stop the Sovereign from trying some more.

"You are not old, Niamh. Know how I know? I'm older than you and I'm sure as shit not old." Towhee didn't actually know which of them was older but, well, she was going to claim seniority right now and the Regent couldn't do anything to disprove it. "We're in our prime," she added, which wasn't intended jokingly. Towhee was pretty sure it was true. Maybe it was downhill after this year but, heck.

"Anyway," Towhee said after a moment, gazing off into the darkening distance a moment before turning back to Niamh, "I wanted to come see how you were doing. If you need to talk, I'm here. If you'd rather not, that's okay too. I just—" Well, she wanted her sister-in-law to know Towhee was there for her, despite all the distractions, and she huddled a bit closer to her and stretched out a foreleg to tug the blonde into a loose side hug.

She frowned. She didn't want to be consoled, and it didn't necessarily hit home when Towhee compared their age- given the fact that Niamh had always assumed that they were born the same year. However many months separated them by age didn't really matter, now that they were both in their fourth year- and she shouldn't have been upset that her eldest children were now old enough to be parents themselves...But it had snuck up on her. She hadn't been ready to become a 'great' anything. 

The idea of them being in their prime also fell flat, considering the fact that Niamh was depressed, mourning and injured. This was supposed to be her prime? It was miserable. Her frown deepened slightly. She felt bad knowing that Towhee felt this was supposed to be their best year- when she felt that it had begun in a horrible fashion, with the loss of her precious Primrose. She didn't want to be reassured that things were supposed to be good- she was much more content to wallow in her sadness, and she felt odd knowing that Towhee wanted for her to feel happier about how things were going. 

She shrugged, then, as if to say this is how I'm doing, in response to Towhee telling her why she'd come. She would get over the news that Reyes had been chosen to sire Towhee's next litter, but she was not in a celebratory mood whatsoever so Towhee would get little from her at that moment. When she was pulled toward her Sovereign she stiffened slightly at first, but relented a moment later. She wasn't ready to give in and give Towhee the validation she perhaps sought, but she nodded slightly when she pulled away eventually. -"Thanks."-[/u] She uttered tonelessly. It did mean something to her, after all, to have Towhee at least come and check in on her. But there wasn't much good news she could give- she needed time, and she needed space. And she hated the fact that her hormones made her cling to Phox- and was still overwhelmed by the fact that Towhee, too, was in heat. [b]-"I'm gonna get some rest."- She said- the most polite way she could think of, to go back to the dark and quiet of her den. [/b]

She recognized the dismissal for what it was and felt a little prick to her ego before remembering what she'd literally just said to Niamh: "If you'd rather not, that's okay too." Towhee nodded silently, letting her forelegs slip from her friend's shoulders, though not before leaning in for a quick press of her nose to the Regent's cheek.

-Okay,- was her simple farewell otherwise, watching Niamh lurch back toward her den before turning to make the return trip to Reyes, waiting in their cave.