*Home turf, Serpent Plains

Finch Sartaddi-Destruction It wasn't often that the Destruction girl missed her mother, but this was one of those times. She sat by the lake, pushing her paws into the mud by the shore. She was at a completely loss of what to do about the little crush she had on Tib. When he told her that there would be no getting rid of him now, it made her heart skip a beat. She felt like a child, there was no way she could do this on her own. She'd had enough with bumbling around and looking like a fool, she didn't feel her age at all. She was no longer a whelp but it sure as hell felt like it. There was no way that she would go to Bass about this kind of advice, he was awkward enough as it was. And Sparrow... well she hadn't really seen her around a lot. She looked so unlike herself at the meeting it was scary. Piper was younger than she was, it would be Finch's place to give her advice when the time came. But how could she? She didn't even know what to do herself! Frustrated, she swiped her paw at the rippling water, droplets spraying around her as she did so. Why the hell was this so hard? Letting out a soft thrill, Civetta came and landed on her head, snuggling into her ear. "Just tell him you like him!" the bird sang, making the wolf shake her head to set her off her perch. "Never in a million years, do you know how embarrassing that would be? I don't even know if he likes you!" Finch's ears pinned in her irradiated mood, her cheeks warming in a flush. "Of course he does," the song bird explained, settling on a nearby rock. "He was just as sweet and bashful as you were. I really like him, he's super cute but he's really big! How would that even work?" Confused, Finch eyed the bird with her big blue eyes. Do... what? Her brows knit together as she thought about what that could possibly mean. And then it clicked. IT. THAT. Shuddering, she recoiled from the bird and looked at her friend in horror. Her whole face felt hot as she blushed with a new flurry, stuttering as she tried to get out a single word. Her bird chirped in laughter, dodging the pale paw that came to knock her off the rock. "I... how... what even Civetta!" That was all she managed to get out, far too embarrassed to say anything else. "SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN" "CIVETTA SPEAK"

Livi had been moping around the Abaven lands letting her bruises and the few scratches she got from her last spear heal up before she went out looking for another fight. She still couldn't get over that wimp of a man that had accepted her challenge. Who would just quit in the middle of the fight? If she was going to win she wanted to work for it! She huffed grumpily as she walked, her steps still holding a slight limp on her left side. Her shoulder was just a bit sore still and it just made her even more grumpy. Bruises and not even a decent fight to show for it. She ignored the ever present hissing of the snakes that were hidden among the dried grasses as she walked past them. Well, what few that were left that was. She assumed they'd all be hibernating soon. A high-pitched voice caught her attention and she slowed to a stop as she listened. "...like him, he's super cute but he's really big! How would that even work?" Of course she was immediately curious at that. Distracted for a moment from her own frustrations, she turned toward the voice and spotted one of Bass' daughters just as the girl got a horrified look on her face and tried to swat at the bird that she seemed to be talking to. Now that she saw the girl the statement that had caught her attention in the first place replayed in her head and it all clicked together like a puzzle. She snorted with laughter and she grinned at the pale girl and her little friend. "Are you having a bit of boy trouble?" She wasn't sure why she was even asking. It wasn't like she knew this girl at all other than just seeing her in passing at pack meetings. It did remind her a bit of talking with her mother and younger sisters about this sort of thing though and it made her strangely nostalgic. "Talk" "You" Think

Finch Sartaddi-Destruction She was so baffled by what her bird had said, that she hadn't heard the woman approach her. It wasn't until a voice sounded behind her that she even knew that Liviana was there. Nearly leaping out of her skin, she spun around to face the brown woman. A huge rush of heat shot through her body, her ears laying sideways slightly as a sheepish grin took over her features. She had asked if she was having boy troubles, which made her pause for a moment. How did she know? Did she hear what her and Civetta were talking about? Oh darn, that just made this whole situation a whole lot worse. But, Livi was another woman, even though they were the same age. Did she know anything about men? Swallowing hard, she slowly nodded her head up and down. "Y-yeah, my mom never was around to help me out with this kind of stuff and I uhh... don't know what to do," It was hard for her to admit, but she was just hoping that the other wolf knew about this kind of stuff. Because there was no way that she was going to go to her father about any of this, that was not ideal. Shifting her weight across her paws, she looked over her shoulder to see what Civetta was doing only to notice that the bird had taken off. Huffing to herself, she met Livi's sapphire gaze once again. "SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN" "CIVETTA SPEAK"

Liviana watched as Bass' daughter spun around to look at her, obviously embarrassed about the whole thing. Livi just gave her a grin and settled down on her haunches. She realized that the two of them were almost the same age, but it felt like the pale girl was so much younger and naive. She knew a lot of that was how she was raised and when the woman across from her explained how her mother had never been around to explain these things it just solidified that their upbringing played a big part in it. It was hard for her to remember sometimes that not everyone was raised to be an adult by the time they are a year old and not everyone had killed a wolf before they turned two. Sometimes wolves had a more calm, less violent childhood like she obviously had. If Liviana was back home it was very possible she would be a part of some arranged marriage by now, but instead she was just trying to figure out how she felt about this new pack and sitting here with a girl that didn't know how sex worked. She had to rack her brain for a moment, but she thought she remembered her name after a moment from hearing it in passing. She saw Finch look for her bird friend briefly, but it seemed like her buddy had abandoned her. "Well tell me about him um... It's Finch, right?" She didn't want to just assume her name since they had never really been formally introduced. She figured they could at least start out on an easy foot for Finch to talk about if she really wanted Liviana to talk about this stuff with her. "Talk" "You" Think

Finch Sartaddi-Destruction Shuffling on her paws slightly, Finch looked down when Livi asked her to talk about him. She nodded to confirm her name, taking a seat and clearing her throat. "He's a really big wolf, his name is Tiburtius. He's really sweet and he said that he likes my singing... and that he wants to protect me," her heart fluttered in her chest, a small smile spreading across her lips. "I think about him all the time, he is so kind to me and he thinks it's cute how shy I am. But I feel like a child, Liviana! I... I can hardly speak right around him and I'm always so flustered and... and..." Well, worse at conversations than she already was. The shy, tender girl was still very much like a pup, she had no idea how to handle herself at all. Sighing in frustration, she looked up at the other woman with desperation in her features. She had no idea what to do, how to talk to him or even figure out if he felt the same way about her. What if she was getting all worked up for nothing? He could only want to be friends, and then she would just be left flailing in the background. Finch couldn't say that she loved him, but there was definitely affection there. The pale woman swallowed hard, trying to push away the fear that this attraction might only be one sided. "SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN" "CIVETTA SPEAK"

Watching Finch kept a little smile on her lips. Finch was obviously one of those wolves that was just naturally tiny and cute and adorable. The exact opposite of herself of course, but there was a genuine innocence there that she just wasn't used to. Finch made innocence look adorable instead of weak somehow. She grinned a little when the girl's words fumbled into nothing. "Man, you really have it bad, don't you?" Liviana had only seen real love a couple of times. His parents had a respect for eachother, but once she saw some of her cousins and aunts fall in love she realized what her parents had wasn't love. They had a respect and a sense of duty to being the leaders of their pack, but not love. Finch really seemed to care about this Tiburtius guy though and she was almost a little jealous. If she had stayed in her home pack she would have probably been married by now, or at least expected to be. She hadn't really met anyone here that was even a real prospect for that. Finch seemed to be a lucky one though. "So what's the problem then?" she asked, truly curious about this woman and her relationship now for some reason. "It sounds like he cares about you a lot and you obviously care about him too. What's the hold up?" "Talk" "You" Think

Finch Sartaddi-Destruction Finch blinked at Livi in surprise when she said that she had it bad, more heat rushing to her face. She didn’t think that she could get any more embarrassed, and now this! Looking down at her paws she shuffled on them slightly. It seemed that she was overthinking it, because she asked her what the problem was. Slowly she looked up, her tail thumping on the ground behind her softly. "B-but what if he doesn’t like me?" she squeaked, her bright blue eyes growing wide as she admitted it out loud. That was her biggest fear, that she brought up liking him more than a friend and wanting to know more about him. But what if he didn’t feel the same way, and just wanted to be friends? That would ruin her, her hopes for actually finding someone in this world other than her brothers that understood her. "And what do I even do.. Or say?" It was shameful in how inexperienced she was, but honestly this was only her second crush, and she hadn’t done anything about the first. Her tail curled and uncurled from her side, her unease making her weight shuffle. She rocked slightly, her ears clinging to her head. She would fumble through life if it wasn’t for those who supported her. She had gotten herself lost and in trouble, developed a stutter from not talking and used to be scared of her own shadow. Finch had grown up a bit since then, but she knew that she was awfully naive for a woman of her age. She shouldn’t be asking a woman who was the same age as her what she was supposed to do, but it wasn’t like she had a mother to question. The pale girl would figure out something to do to repay the chocolate warrior, soon enough, but it was obvious that she was desperate. "SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN" "CIVETTA SPEAK"

Gods, this girl really was as innocent as she appeared, wasn't she? The poor girl was scared of a boy not liking her! Liviana smiled softly, resisting the urge to go pat the girl on the head. "You'll never know if he likes you or not if you don't ask him!" she stated simply with a light laugh. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had anything more than just a lust after a guy. This puppy love was adorable. "I bet he does. Hell, I just met you and I like you. He's probably head over heels for you by now. You just gotta stop overthinking it so much!" Of course she knew that was much easier to say than to do. She hummed and got up so she could pad a bit closer to Finch before she sat back on her haunches in front of the pale woman. "Okay, I'll be Tiburtius and you be you. Just pretend and tell me what you would say to him to tell him how you feel, okay?" She tried to puff up her fur and sit so that her shoulders were more bulky and man-like. It helped that she was a little taller than Finch already. She looked down at Finch with a little smile, saying, "Hey, Finch, what's going on?" in a deeper "man" voice. She had to bite back laughter at herself, trying to keep her expression calm and expectant as she watched the smaller woman. "Talk" "You" Think

Finch Sartaddi-Destruction A sigh burst out of her lungs in one forceful huff, she knew that the woman was right. If she just sat here and constantly worried over things then nothing would ever get done, would it? She just had to find the courage in her to say something. But that was the scary thing, she had never put herself out there like that. The only wolves she held dear until now was her family, and they were a lot easier to talk to. She knew that no matter what, they were stuck with her as a sister or a daughter. But Tib? It was his choice to have her in his life or not, and that terrified her. He could decide to walk out just like her mother did. That is probably where all the fear was coming from, watching her father get trampled all over as Wren came and went from their lives as she saw fit. She knew the pain of it, she had witnessed it as well as feeling the sense of being abandoned. It wasn't something that she liked, no sane wolf went out looking for that. She smiled as Liviana spoke again, saying that she was almost certain that he liked her too. That was only half the battle though, wasn't it? The rest was keeping them there. When she suggested practicing on her, her baby blue eyes grew wide before a huge grin broke across her lips. She giggled at her attempt of a manly voice before clearing her throat, trying to become more serious. "Tib, I..." she looked up at Livi and just burst out laughing, shaking her head back and forth. "I can't! It's too silly," she said, her tail thumping on the ground behind her. She appreciated that she was trying to help her, but she had a feeling that she was just going to have to wing it... "SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN" "CIVETTA SPEAK"