Zee stood as patiently as a heavy, round, but small wolf could manage. Each moment she let her weight rest upon a different paw, and at some point she thought maybe she heard a whine escape her own mouth as her discomfort raged. Resin had claimed these lands, and while they were considered allies and Sirius had assured her she'd be welcomed, Zee still could not bring herself to step foot over the border without explicit permission. She also couldn't convince herself to howl for the alpha, to bother her mother-in-law with such a stupid request. The heavily pregnant queen just wanted to soak in the springs, damnit. Why was this so hard? And so she waited, and waited. Her neck arched as she peered out over the border, hoping someone friendly would show up and invite her in so she could stop looking and feeling an idiot. A few times her paw nearly crossed over, but logic was enough to keep her firmly on the no-man's-land side of the border. After all, it was likely that Resin had recruited new warriors. Warriors who would not know her scent and whom might injure her or her unborn pups before she could explain that she was definitely not a trespasser. "Speech"

Tamsyn had found a quick friend and companion in Ulric's mate since the pair joined their pack recently. She knew that part of it was just the fact that they would go through their pregnancies together and their children were sure to be together quite a bit as long as Azariah and Ulric remained in the Hallows, but she was also just happy to have another wolf that she could relate with so well. They were both first time mothers trying to support their lovers the best they could in their endeavors - how much more did they really need to form a friendship over? She walked around the border of the Hot Springs to do her usual patrol, but she was moving a bit slower than normal these days and it had become more of a time for her to chat and stretch her legs with Azariah than it really had been to do any kind of real patrol. She left that part to the fighters like Askan and Ulric. This was more just out of boredom and habit than anything. She wasn't so large that it was uncomfortable to get around just yet, but she was very noticeably pregnant with what she had been told was probably going to be a large litter of pups. A familiar figure standing at the border caught her attention and she blinked with surprise. Not only was she confused by the fact that Zee was waiting at the border instead of just coming into the pack lands, she also hadn't seen her old friend in quite some time so seeing her so incredibly pregnant was a shock in of itself. She wondered what the chances were that they were all pregnant at nearly the same time and it was odds that Tamsyn couldn't hope to calculate. She picked up the pace just a bit to hurry over to Zee, giving the spiral horned woman a wide grin. "Welcome to our pregnant woman club," she teased with a laugh as she went up to press her nose to Zee's cheek, her tail wagging gently behind her. "Though from the look of it you were probably the founder." She nodded her head toward Azariah, giving her friend a smile. "Zee, this is Azariah. Azariah, this is Zee - she's one of the leaders of mine and Resin's former pack." She was much more than that in Tam's eyes, but that was enough to explain the connection. Turning her attention back to Zee, she asked, "What are you doing out here? Why didn't you just come in? Or at least call for us!" "Talk"

Azariah was in awe, so far, pack life had been surprisingly good! She even found a friend in the alpha's partner! The monochrome witch hoped it wasn't only because of their shared pregnancies, but from a genuine connection, she was very genuine about it. Friendship was good for pregnant women, Aza beamed at the thought that once again struck her. She was pregnant! Ulric had done something the devil hadn't even been able to do! She moved with a prouder gait, some inner confidence finally boosted by the thought of hosting life within her. Ever since the ebony woman had made the symptoms she experienced make sense, there had been a noticeable rise in Fae activity, constant tinkling heard as each one gossiped about her condition. Sometimes it was a bit much to block out, harder to watch the glowing figures when she was almost always within ear shot of someone.

Azariah wanted to be a good pack member, while she may not be a fighter, she could alert someone with a surprising amount of skill. She had made a ritual of sorts out of meeting Tamsyn on her outings, walking being good for women as well, Azariah was more than happy to not be alone on what basically amounted to an alarm patrol. Tamsyn was a good companion, she was easy to get along with and Azariah owed her knowledge of her pregnancy to. So when they met up for the day's patrol, Azariah was quick to smile and wave her tail, chatting as they went on their way. She wasn't far behind Tam with her litter and she could already tell her and Ulric's love had overdone its job.

It wasn't long until they spied a figure waiting on the border, one Tam seemed quite happy to see. Both women hurried their way over, Azariah close behind the second in command as they made to greet the wolf. Wolf? The horned woman sat waiting, practically bursting with life herself. Azariah had never seen horns on a wolf, and she found she couldn't stop staring, though her ruby gaze was not a rude or invasive one. Aza gave a smile as her ebony friend greeted and introduced her to the woman, Zee. The only response that Azariah could think of came bursting from her mouth before she could think of something more elegant to say. "Hi, nice to meet you! I like your horns!" The monochrome woman didn't want to sound like a complete idiot, but she was a socially awkward individual.

Walk. "Talk." Think. "Umbra."

Art by MONSTER