Sun Mote Copse But if I can make it to the street

Nellie changed her tune, instead deciding to accompany them for a drink. Phox didn't mind either way, and he set off shoulder-to-shoulder with Niamh, who mentioned Bronco and Fennec spending time together. Is that right? As a younger wolf, Phox had never had many crushes. The closest he'd come to one was probably Sassafras, but she'd been more of a guardian than anything. He did occasionally wonder what her fate had been, although he had never asked. He just assumed she'd dispersed like so many wolves seemed to do.

Phox wondered if it would be odd for Fennec and Bronco to get together, but he decided it probably wouldn't. It wasn't until Fennec had run away, just before the landslide, that they'd lived in the same place. They were decidedly unlike Phox and his same-aged Blackthorn cousins in that regard. He really did want to see both of his kids happy, even if that didn't mean settling down with a mate and kids of their own. Not that kids would be on the table for either of them anytime soon, of course!

She followed the two to the stream, fighting the urge to walk in between them to make sure they weren't too close for her liking - instead opting to bite her lower lip to get rid of her anxiety right now. She gave Niamh an unnoticeable side-eye - play that meme callled "have you ever wondered what is going on in someone's head". Had she said too much about her crush's eye color — Was her painfully apparent stress and panic a dead giveaway as to what was happening?

Good thing you two ain't together-together, I don't think Bronco would like hookin' up with his step-sis. She snorted as she joked about it, but in the back of her mind she kind of wanted to choke her mom out and scream "you better not get together with this guy, or else". Had it been the best move to tell Nellie about sex that day? That depended on who you were asking.

Phox's comment was well-received; but Nellie's wasn't. There was an edge to her daughter's comment that she found to be somewhat tacky, though she still didn't feel like now was the time to break the news to Nellie. Then again...Would later be any better? Her daughter was testing her, and she didn't care for it...But she also knew better than to simply pretend that things were different than they were. There was possibly a better time to talk about this- but at the same time...Hiding it likely wouldn't have made things any easier. 

"Nellie," She said, having caught the tone in Nellie's voice that seemed to insinuate that there was more than one good reason for her and Phox to not be together. Whether he was aware of her crush or not was beyond her, but she had to operate under the assumption that he likely didn't know. He was probably too fixated on her to notice that her daughter seemed to have been crushing on him. If it was even him, and not Orr. Oh god, why couldn't Nellie have just fallen for one of Raven and Quixote's kids? Even if it meant that she and Quixote might have to share more milk-toast conversations together, at least that would be better than this. 

She cleared her throat, hoping that that was enough to tell her daughter to curb her impoliteness. "I don't think they're 'hooking-up,' all I know is that they're friends." She said, "Though I doubt very much I'd be the first person Bronco would confess his crush to, if he had one. I just imagine some day he's going to bring someone home and that's going to be that. I don't think there'll be any 'come meet my Mother' or asking permission or anything from him." She confessed. There- keep the topic elsewhere.

But Niamh was too petty to keep her mouth shut; and she knew, like her daughter, where to dig, too. "For the best anyway. I'm not good at keeping secrets," She chuckled, and aimed a slight, quick, but meaningful side-eye at her daughter.

When Nellie said the "hypothetical" out loud about Niamh and Phox, he shot the older Blackthorn a slightly worried, helpless look. Had they been found out? Was that okay? Should Phox confirm or deny their relationship (whatever it was)? He didn't know, and he clicked his mouth shut to let Niamh do the talking. Besides, they were just a few more paces away from the stream, and Phox shoved his face into it as soon as they got there, gulping up the water so he wouldn't say anything stupid.

Phox only half-listened to Niamh lecturing Nellie, preferring instead to think about how he was going to tell his kids about his courtship with Niamh. They were still in the early stages, but considering they would likely have children in the coming months, Phox had already committed himself to Niamh, whether she knew that or not. He had never been one to try and wrestle more than one romantic/sexual relationship at once, and he wasn't about to start now.

Once he'd taken his fill of water, he licked his lips and glanced at both of them, his gaze unintentionally lingering on Niamh. I'm gonna go check on the kids, he said. He couldn't remember if Nellie could read ptero or not, though it crossed his mind that it might be useful if she couldn't. Not wanting to risk it, he simply gave Niamh another lingering look, then set off. He'd be back, hopefully before Nellie was.

Yikes, maybe she shouldn't have been so forward about it - but the thought of Phox and her mom being together made her so very angry and kind of disgusted. She believed herself to be a younger (and hotter ;)) version of her mother, so why would Phox not go for her instead? She was joining the adult ranks very soon now, there shouldn't be anything wrong with their age difference and they'd already established trust and friendship. Things could only evolve from where Nellie was standing, hoping and wishing for Phox to have the same idea. Then there was the whole thing about her not wanting Colt to be replaced in their family - it was broken enough as it was already, without Phox in the picture. Even if it was some completely random ass guy that Niamh had decided to take home as her new baby-daddy, Nellie would've taken issue with it either way because of real father.

She stepped into the trap of keeping the subject elsewhere blindly. She gave a slight snort. 'Bronco's too weird 'bout females to get a girlfriend anyway. She recalled the mind blowing conversation they had had over lunch and him getting all flustered when his sister had sprawled out like a little fille de joie. She then realized it was only for the better she hadn't outright stated who her crush was - when Niamh said she was bad at keeping secrets, Nellie knew that who her crush was had been the first talking point if she had left Phox and her alone moments ago. Maybe she wasn't gonna tell her mom about any of her secrets anymore; that's why they were secrets, right?

She dipped her muzzle into the water, sipping up only a little bit because she had been lying about being thirsty. She narrowed her gaze on Phox and the manner in which he was preparing to leave, this time faking a better smile than before - one that almost felt real. Say 'Hi' to Fig for me, will ya? She said casually, waving him goodbye. Mission keeping Niamh and Phox apart: successful.

Niamh chuckled at Nellie's observation and for a moment she was distracted by the truth about it. Not that Bronco was weird- but he certainly seemed weirded about reproduction more than Niamh would have expected. It was probably a talk which should have come from his father- maybe he would have accepted the education better from a male role model, but...Niamh had to be both parents, which meant handling the Dad things too. She couldn't help but think that Colt probably would have laughed his ass off, had he seen the look on Bronco's face. 

Niamh drank from the stream, looking up when Phox mentioned checking in on his kids. Their gaze met, and she gave him a smile held mostly within the sparkle of her eyes, knowing he would be back again later to see her. Nellie hastily slurped up the water that had been in her mouth and bid him an adieu with almost keen fervor. She was certainly glad to see him go, which hinted even more that the boy with the orange-ish eyes...Wasn't a boy. He was a man- and he was the man that Niamh was courting. But she had to cover it- she couldn't reveal her secret, nor did she want to point Nellie's out, so instead, she chuckled, and gave him a nod. Once he had walked far enough away, Niamh winked at Nellie. "Fig, eh?" She prodded. Figment's eyes were not orange-ish...But she wanted to derail Nellie a bit. She chuckled again and yawned, stretching out until her toes touched the water's surface. Mid yawn, she spoke- mouth wide open so that her words became a slurred "H'oooo eeee-ooo heee-ooo's," She said, more nonsense than anything, before she snapped her mouth shut, licking her lips with satisfaction. She had a drink, and now it was time for a nap. "Nappytime for Momma," She said, blinking slowly, and doing her best to give Nellie nothing but a motherly smile. "How about we do brunch tomorrow? Meet at the Nest and go for a hunt?" She suggested.

Thank fecking God that was over - Nellie was unsure how long she could keep from actually barfing due to stress and the butterflies in her stomach. No one had confirmed that Niamh and Phox were indeed seeing each other, but Nellie had a pretty good idea of what was going on - she thought. They were definitely doing the dirty, or were at least planning on doing so, and Nellie didn't want any part of it. If Phox wanted her milf mother over her, then... then why would she care?! She didn't, not one but, care about either of them and especially not both of them together. If either of them did ever spill the beans to her, to confirm her suspicions, she only had a few things to say about it.

Nellie stretched too, wondering if she looked as good as her mother when she did. Everyone said she was a near copy of the woman, but did that just mean that she was a lesser version? That would explain a lot. Nellie rolled her shoulders and shrugged. Fig is cool - maybe like the second coolest guy I know. That made her own brother the third, ouch - sorry Bronchie. She shook her blonde fur out, poof-ing up a little bit and nellie wasn't bothered about smoothing it back down.

Nellie smirked and raised a little eyebrow at her mom - if she thought what was happening was really happening, she should feel nothing but anger and envy for the woman, but her smile warmed her up instead. Nellie didn't like these conflicting feelings at all and was happy when Niamh said she was gonna go take a nap. Nellie nodded. Sounds good - don't nap for too long now, or you'll get all lazy. She joked, brushing up against her mother for something that resembled a hug before wanting to make her leave. She needed some air and a way to clear her mind.