In Plain Sight [M] [DragonSong]

[Juno]

He watched until they'd disappeared from view and gave the two omegas a gentle pat and scratching each before he stood up again. Her prompting had him eyeing the den opening warily but he was uncertain if he was truly welcome to it at all.

"If it's safe," he told her, glancing to Brenna warily as he moved to step in with a curious glint to his eyes. He hadn't realized just how cold he'd been out in the open but the sudden lack of buffeting wind was enough to be a considerable relief on its own.

"Thank you." The shifter nodded to her with a small smile, rubbing his hands together a bit as he looked at his new surroundings.

"So this is where you...live? This is home?" he tried.

[DragonSong]

"Home," Brenna agreed, nodding happily. Shade and Broketooth settled in on either side of her, sharing their warmth, and she snuggled into their fur.

She eyed Christopher's clothes curiously. "That is all your fur? You...have nothing else?" She frowned a bit. "How do you stay warm without your pack?"

[Juno]

His eyes went wide a bit at her mentioning of fur. Looking down at himself Christopher chuckled knowingly. "Not exactly. I don't really need their company, I can stay warm on my own. If it's too cold out I will stay as my leopard for as long as I need. It doesn't bother him, really. He likes it," he explained, gesturing to the wolves around her. "His fur is a lot like theirs."

Pausing to stare across at her he realized she might not have any idea what one of his kind looked like. "Have you ever seen a leopard, Bryn?"

[DragonSong]

Something in her reacted to the nicknames and she smiled. "Leopard, no I-" She frowned a bit. Shaking her head slowly, she tried the word again. "Leopard?" She pursed her lips- something in that didn't sound quite right, her inflection was a little bit off maybe.

"You said cat before," she remembered, putting it from her mind. A small smile stole across her face. "I don't think...I understand. Cat?" She held her hands up, roughly sketching the size she thought she remembered the domestic creature being. She mimicked the sound of meow, making Shade huff in amusement.

Still smiling, she tilted her head at Christopher. "No?"

[Juno]

"Well leopard is a kind of cat," he tried again, smiling encouragingly as he recognized the sound she was trying to mimic. "Almost. Very close," he chuckled, holding out his arms to stretch out fully and demonstrate a more proper size to her.

"Very big cat," he told her, wiggling his fingers a bit to try and indicate to her that he was not limited to just the length his arms could stretch.

"I could show you," he added, though a bit nervously as he did not wish to shift in the middle of a wolf den when the entire pack was obviously quite hungry and would likely be returning shortly. There was no need to cause them any further stress if they might not accept his other form as a friendly non-threat. "Later. After you eat," he suggested.

[DragonSong]

Brenna pouted a bit- now she was really curious- but she nodded. "Okay." She couldn't picture a cat that big. Well, she could, but it was rather comical, and she thought the image in her head must not be quite right.

Shade suddenly stood, stretching and cracking his jaws open in a massive yawn, and moved across the den to sniff at Christopher curiously. Brenna chuckled, red-gold eyes glinting. "He isn't scared anymore," she explained. "More comfortable around you now, probably gonna-"

The wolf sneezed and pawed at the shifter playfully wagging his tail. His tongue flicked out to lick the top of his head and he huffed, dropping into a play crouch.

Brenna started to laugh. "Sorry," she said, standing and moving to the omega's side, scratching his ruff. "He's always like this. Don't mind it." Her pack mate gave a mock growl and tugged at her pant leg, tail wagging. Broketooth huffed and rolled his eyes at them.

[Juno]

"Well he has no reason to be scared of me," he defended, his brow raised in amusement as the curious wolf approached to shower him in his playful affections. Sticking his tongue out at Shade, Christopher swiped at his mussed hair before reaching out to playfully ruffle his fur.

"I don't mind, this is actually more...normal for me," he tried to explain to her, smiling to himself as he distractedly played with the wolf by 'mouthing' him with his hands. "More like the village dogs," he mused. "They like to play, too." Looking over to Broketooth he gestured silently with his hand for the other omega to join them if he wished.

"Do you have any favorites? Ah- Any that you like best? Better than the others?" He phrased it as many ways as he could think hoping she might at least understand one of them.

[DragonSong]

Favorite. She knew that word. She shook her head at Broketooth moved toward them a little more sedately than his younger counterpart, wrapping an arm around his neck and leaning into his side.

She shook her head. "No, no favorites." She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Do you have favorites in your pack? Your family?" Was that something most humans did, pick favorites in their family? she scratched the wolf's neck distractedly as she waited, smiling a bit when Shade responded to Christopher's attention by flopping to the floor and rolling onto his back, tongue lolling.

[Juno]

Christopher pet at the pair distractedly, shaking his head as he smiled a little for her reaction. It seemed as though it might have been a little offensive to propose there may have been a favorite. He wasn't sure if such a thing happened very often, but it confirmed to him that she probably saw the wolves as more family than the pets he thought they might have been.

"If anyone is the favorite I am," he chuckled, though he knew how much his sisters would have protested such a thing. "But I don't think so. We are apart so often it would not make much of a difference anyway."

Letting his attention fall to her again he relaxed his play with the wolves and leaned back a bit to let them do as they wished before him. "Did you want to know any more words while we wait?" he asked, gesturing to opening of the den and its obvious emptiness, though how long that might last he did not know.

[DragonSong]

Brenna frowned a bit when he said his pack- family- was apart often. That seemed sad to her, she couldn't imagine leaving her pack for any real length of time.

Then he offered to teach her more words and her expression immediately lit up with a smile. "Yes," she said, nodding eagerly and plopping down to  sit on the floor of the den, legs crossed and leaning toward him expectantly.

The omegas huffed, sensing a slight change in the playful atmosphere, and settled down a bit, watching the two-leggers curiously.

[Juno]

He was beginning to realize how infectious her smile was, unable to hide the small lift in his own expression as she got herself settled beside him. "Right. What else should I tell you about? Maybe the villages?" he suggested, finally shrugging out of his heavier weapons to set the bow and quiver on his other side. With it gone he could finally relax and lean against the wall of the den.

"There are roads there but they get covered in snow. You have to find them by memory a lot," he began. "There are houses. Homes. Like this place but bigger and more....human. Buildings?

"They like all sorts of things but I go to them to trade meat and furs for other supplies. Do you...ever go there?" the shifter asked.

[DragonSong]

"Villages?... Buildings?" She shook her head, eyes wide. "I-I know houses. I was in a house, before. A den above ground." She tented her arms above her head in an effort to mimic the shape of a roof, or at least what she vaguely remembered a roof to be.

Dropping her arms again, she said, "But no villages. Buildings...I remember words, but..." She shrugged helplessly, shaking her head again. The word was familiar, but she had no real meanings to attach to them.

"Never go there," she said quietly, glancing out at the white landscape stretching away from the mouth of the den. "Two-leggers- humans- afraid of us. Get angry, throw things, sometimes chase us."

[Juno]

"Yes, a den above ground," he agreed, nodding encouragingly as he recognized her gestures for a roof. It was concerning to him, though, if other humans truly chased her out. That had never been what he'd encountered in his lifetime. Sure, there were plenty of meaner ones same as any species but he doubted a whole community would stand against a lone woman in such a way. Maybe she meant just the wolves.

"Have you tried to go alone? Um, no wolves. Just Bryn?"

[DragonSong]

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Just- just Bryn?" She shook her head slowly. "No. Pack stays together. I'm pack. I don't...go anywhere alone. Just Bryn."

She shivered a bit at the thought, wrapping her arms around her torso. She only had one real memory to associate with "alone" and it was cold and afraid and tired. Trudging through snowdrifts as high as her head, calling desperately for parents who wouldn't wake up, stumbling and crying as she tried to make her way to somewhere- anywhere- warm.

Brenna shuddered again, shaking her head determinedly. "I don't like alone," she decided quietly.

[Juno]

It was understandable if she only wanted companionship, but Christopher thought it was unusual that she didn't want to try seeing other humans on her own. In his experience they always stayed together in their own family units, though he was unfamiliar with what her exact personal experiences were. Sure they might have had a pet but animal companionship rarely went beyond that in his own experience. Living only with wolves made her quite the oddity still.

"I don't think they are afraid of you, just the pack. They know packs hunt," he explained, hoping she would understand why that might make a stranger nervous around them. "But humans can be nice. Just need to find the right humans, maybe." He didn't want to completely discourage her.

Glancing out to the snow beyond the den entrance for a moment he gave her a slightly apologetic smile. "I should go home soon," he warned her. "I need to hunt my own food. Not going to steal the pack's food." Maybe she might understand that explanation. Surely the wolves stole from each other sometimes, at least in play.

[DragonSong]

Brenna nodded, smiling to show she understood. "Longclaw will be happy," she said, lips twitching up wryly. Food supply was a major source of his irritation with having this strange predator brought to their den.

She thought over his explanation of the behavior she'd encountered from the few humans they'd come across since she'd lived with the pack. "But...humans hunt, yes? Why be scared- why would they be scared of wolves just for hunting?" She frowned a bit, drawing her knees toward her chest. "Humans are hunters. Kill wolves- but don't eat them. What's the point?" She shook her head with a sigh.

Looking back at Christopher, she gave him a small nod. "Can you..find your way back?" She wasn't sure why, but she was a little reluctant to see him go. Maybe it was just nice to talk to him, to remember what it was like before.

[Juno]

Her description was a little unsettling but he tried not to let it bother him too much. Hunting was just a part of life, though he hoped the pack had not suffered any losses at the hands of humans.

"I think I remember the way." Standing slowly he gathered up his things and resettled the quiver across his back as he made for the entrance. Remembering his promise to her, though, he paused and looked back inside once he was out in the snow once more.

"The cat... Will you still be here tomorrow?" he asked, uncertain if her pack might have had more than one den that they moved between. Plus, he still feared the alpha male's reaction if he dared show his cat within a stone's throw of their home while the pack was regaining its strength from the storm. "Or maybe a few days?"

[DragonSong]

"I will be here," Brenna confirmed, standing as well. She moved toward the mouth of the den and looked out over the tundra, eyes searching- there!

"Hunters coming back," she said, looking at Christopher. She pointed in the direction the wolves were returning from. "Game that way, if you need to hunt." Letting her hand drop, she simply stared at him for a moment, head tilted sightly to the side.

"Happy..." No, not quite right. "Good...to meet you?" she ventured, offering up a small smile.

[Juno]

Following her hand and peering out to where he saw the wolves filing back Christopher nodded. He turned his head again to hear what she had to say and smiled a little as well. "Yes. Was good to meet you, Brenna. Bryn, I mean. I'll be back another time." He reflected for a moment as he drummed his fingers along his bow in thought. "And I will bring you some human things," he added, stepping away from the den a bit more so it wouldn't feel so much like he was blocking it.

With a small wave he was off and hiking through the snow once more to resume the hunt that had been interrupted by his unusual visitors. Really it was neighbors now, he had no reason to run the pack off if they'd never been a disturbance to his life before.

[DragonSong]

Brenna blinked. "Human...things?"

But he was already gone. She found herself smiling though, shaking her head as she ducked back into the den. Only a few minutes later, the rest of the pack followed, leaving the kill just outside the opening.

Barking and growling in excitement, the wolves gathered around the massive bull elk and tucked into their meal with gusto. Brenna waited until there was a moment of clarity before diving in and cutting off her own portion with her knife, then sitting back to eat it.

Raw meat was normal to her. She'd never learned to build a fire, and probably wouldn't qite know what to do with one even if she had.

Longclaw gave a sharp bark, asking where the other two-legger had gone. She replied with a whine and a dip of her head, explaining he'd gone off to do hunting of his own, but he meant to return. The alpha male started to growl low in his throat, but his mate stopped it with a nuzzle to his neck and a lick to his cheek, telling him that the Little One needed this.

Brenna tilted her head, a bit confused by that comment, but put it from her mind. Her eyes skated out over the tundra and she found herself smiling again. Human things...

She couldn't wait.