The night was falling, the cool mountain air beginning to grow heavy. Pacing through their camp, the woman tugged a shawl further around her shoulders. The dark fabric, rough though clearly beginning to grow threadbare, was one which was obviously well-worn in her human form. Then again, it was also smattered indiscriminately with random hair fibers from all manner of creatures… As was expected given the diversity in their pack. It was times like this when she perhaps wished also that she had proper shoes. Then again, shifting into her other body would’ve easily rectified any of these issues. Curling her toes against the soft soil, she glanced around, noting the dimming of the lanterns around camp as many settled in to sleep for the night.

She felt restless.

The last weeks since Warin’s arrival had been business as usual, though as was customary, even if she was unseen, she had still been paying careful attention to the newcomer. Thus far, he had been very helpful. Surprisingly so. Dedicated, an attentive worker – it was admirable. It reaffirmed her decision to that time… And as such, he was not the reason for her unease. Rather, the lack of conflict was something which she found unsettling. She couldn’t sake the animal instinct of something impending happening. It was true that the feeling was not one of intense anxiousness, but it made her weary. Suspicious.

Eyes falling to a soft glow under one nearby structure, Alvina tilted her head. She could hear rustling, the sound of rock or… glass?... being tossed around. Inhaling, eyes perhaps briefly reflecting scarlet, it was after only a couple of steps that the scent of the person perpetrating the sound reached her nostrils. Ah, so this is where he set up. She had not been unaware of his negotiations to requisition materials, though she did find herself somewhat surprised at the specificity of the work. After all, she had not been in the room to hear Nicole’s musings of stained glass panes.

Silently emerging from the shadows, she propped herself against one of the supporting legs of the structure, simply enjoying the warm glow of the furnace and the lighting, and watching the other Were a moment before she spoke. “What are you trying to make exactly?” Her expression was less rigid than in day time, perhaps a little more curious than authoritative.

Alvina blinked at him coolly as the string of curses fell from his mouth, not moving from where she’d settled against the support. Alvina would not have blamed herself in the least, even were the insults hurled her direction. She had startled him, true, but she also hadn’t been purposefully trying to conceal her approach either. Him not paying attention to his surroundings was his own issue. At least he seemed to take it in stride.

Her eyes flicked to the rod and fractured glass, before he cast it aside. Curious. Such a thing was not something familiar to her. She whole-heartedly embraced running headlong into the forest. She had never been the sort to venture into the city for long, even if she too had admired a cathedral window or two in her days. Watching the process, however, was far from her realm, not something she’d seen before. Even if he performed poorly.

A moment later, her gaze darted to his face. It was rather amusing, how his forehead wrinkled with the arching of his brow. Especially given the large smear of soot that he seemed oblivious to. Perhaps she would let him leave it there for the moment. “I would think you aren’t doing it right if it’s breaking like that.” She quipped mildly, following his explanation. Finally, however, curiosity seemed to get the best of her. Drifting forward, her head tilted, a small furrow between her brows briefly appearing. “What sorts of things did he make?”

Looking over the rod, then the furnace, it was quite apparent that gears were turning in her head. She knew that the glass melted into a globule on the rod, then allowing its shape to be changed. That part made sense. What she didn’t quite understand was his reasoning for setting everything up in the way he had. “You’re obviously free to do with your time what you will, but why this?” She gestured toward the ill-formed lump that would’ve been a butterfly had she not interrupted.

The glow of the forge illuminated a small ring around her dark pupil as she regarded it. From the corner of her eye, she watched his shoulders hunch ever so slightly before he scrubbed his hand on his pants. She did enjoy riling him up, every bit as much as he enjoyed getting a rise out of her. Perhaps not the best dynamic between an Alpha and a pack member… but somehow it had proven functional over the last few weeks.

Hearing his musings of a time long passed, a distant quality gradually filled her face. It was as if she were looking at something far away. A hobby. A mate. Gifts for a mate. Something about those thoughts churned something in her a little. Swallowing, her hands tightened ever so slightly against the fiber of her shawl. “I see.” Her expression was stoic, if distant, not quite giving away her thoughts. There were many things, small hobbies, interesting gifts she had once practiced nearly a century ago. Many of the rugs, for example, which padded the floors of structures all around camp had been a product of his labors. Of course, Alvina wouldn’t go out of the way to mention it. To acknowledge it consciously was to invite a deep agony that she worked every day to carefully manage.

She shook her head, breaking her self-imposed silence. “I’m thankful that you’re trying to make something for yourself here. That you are so inclined to help. And the idea of such a floral garden – it sounds beautiful. Had you considered trying to make any, flowers I mean?” Another thought at once popped into her mind. “Have you seen the Moonflowers yet?” As if he’d know right away what it was. Surely not… Given that he hadn’t been there that long, and that it was finally a waning moon, it might finally be darkening enough to go see the place.

He smiled with her words, which she acknowledged with her own small smile and a nod. Though somewhere internally she might’ve sensed that his look was disguising something, she had not known him long enough to distinguish exactly what. That gut instinct had been reliable for decades; it was the quality that allowed her to take in refugees without them proving to be a detriment to the rest of the pack. Such a thing, however, especially in the context of that evening, was not one she chose to latch on and pry at, however. “Perhaps one day when you are more skilled with it then. They sound beautiful.”

Turning to regard him, the she-wolf draped a hand on her hip absently. “You’re in for a treat. I’d much rather show you than say.” Jerking her head off toward the darkness that would give way to the inky forest, a fleeting glimmer of something akin to excitement flashed in her eyes. She was always controlled, always calculated; she bore so much responsibility and held herself to such a standard in providing and doing the best she could for the pack. But in that moment, there was a dash of spontaneity in her blood. “Walk with me? It’s about a mile down” Perhaps not just spontaneity; with the memories, and the quiet embrace of the evening, she also liked the idea of a fleeting reprieve. To show someone something beautiful, not for a practical reason, but so they might appreciate it.

She watched him temper down the fire in the furnace, slipping his gloves and apron away moments more. Was right then the appropriate time to tell him about the streak of black which he'd accidentally smeared across his face? Well, it would’ve been a fair opportunity for certain. Her hand lingered on her hip until he finally made his way out from the cover of the structure to meet her.

Alvina arched a brow, offering a small shake of her head. When he leaned forward to present her the arm, the expression morphed slightly: brows drawing a little, almost in confusion. That was such a formal gesture, not something she was very used to even if many of the clan members held senses of reverence toward her. “It is a night for walking, but only because I don’t think you could see the place from above the canopy with much ease.” Normally, she might’ve pressed a hand against his shoulder to ease him upright. She would have, had it not been Warin. The gesture itself held something of a kind of respect that she was quickly beginning to recognize was a product of his background.

Without further hesitation, she lightly looped her hand through his arm and set them off at a leisurely gate. Her eyes were directed to the forest ahead when she spoke. “…that is of course not acknowledging the fact that I’d outrun you…” She cast him a side-eye, lip twitching in a small smirk. “If I’d been given a different form, I think I might’ve enjoyed wings.”

She appreciate the fact that he matched the quick pace she set them on without any sign of complaint. That appreciation was shown in the way in which she didn’t release her grip as they made their way along. In only a few hundred yards of walking, the lights of their little village had dimmed, lost in the thick trees. The waning moon, too, provided little light – though that was certainly not a difficulty, particularly with her vision.

“You think of me as a predator then.” Alvina observed mildly, seeming somewhat entertained. “And here I was sure that plenty would rather describe me as a dove.” She was of course teasing. The thought of her in such a small, unassuming form was an image that was detached in every way from how she perceived herself, and how that pack saw her. A small headshake, “I think being a falcon wouldn’t have been so bad. But I’d miss my teeth.” She flashed a smile that shown white in the darkness.

Silence stretched on between them for a few minutes thereafter, as she focused on navigating them down the correct path. When the slope of the land seemed to begin cutting downward, she began charting them a path down and eastward. “In all seriousness, how are you acclimating?” Her voice was perhaps more authoritative, more motherly than it had been minutes before. But the question came from a good place, and his answer was important. There had certainly been scenarios where pack members hadn’t worked out, and others which had developed better with some amount of attention. Her intuition in taking them usually didn’t fail, but it never hurt to check in. As it were, given his inclination toward the glass project and his attention in tasks to keep their operation running smoothly, she didn’t expect him to say it was going badly. Then again, she hadn’t been the most present, given patrols and other duties in the last weeks. It was high time, in her mind, to address that. "Normally, I'd have liked to check in sooner..."

The fact that he didn’t leap to respond right away seemed a good sign that he was being honest with his answer. That was a valuable trait, to her, in someone’s character. With the answer that followed, she seemed to contemplate a moment before offering a small nod. “I just take in strays who need a place.” Her smile was dry; had her hand not been looped through his arm, she might’ve flicked it dismissively. There was a small pause in her voice, however, before she continued. “It can take some time.” The response came in a tone that clearly conveyed her agreement. Some part of her was curious, though. Just how many places had he relocated to? “If anything comes up, you can tell me or Nicole. And if I can help, my home is always open.” By home, she most certainly was referring to one of many structures tucked away in the canopy in the periphery of their clearing.

She briefly released from where she’d held his arm for that time, nimbly making her way forward as the mossy ground gave way to a small, steeper span of boulders and hunks of granite. “We’re making good time. It isn’t far now.” In the distance, the sound of running water might've just reached their ears.