Something had stuck with the antlered girl after her unapproved visit to The Hallows and no matter how much she pestered Marigold to answer her, the fox just continued to tell her that she had to ask her father. She already felt like she was probably at least in a liiiiittle bit of trouble for spending a whole day and night away without getting permission first, but how was she going to get her answers if she didn't go to her father? She did consider trying to get Asla to talk to her or maybe going to bother Naiche or any of the adults around the pack really... But Marigold insisted it had to come from her father - though she didn't really know why and the fox just kept giggling when she questioned the direction. With a fed up huff she finally went to find her father, leaving her companions behind just so she wouldn't have Marigold snickering over her shoulder the whole time. She trotted through the snow, searching around the pack for a while to find him. It was always hard to say where exactly he would be, though she did generally check his patrol route or around the den first. When she did finally find him she put on her best sweet daughter smile and found her way to his side, leaning into him with big, puppy dog, turquoise eyes. She had gone through another growth spirt in the last month or so and instead of feeling like he was towering over her she felt the top of her shoulder reach the upper part of his foreleg. She was still very slender and lanky though so there was clearly still some growing to do. "Dad, can I ask you a question?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him. "Briar" | "Marigold"

He was not happy with Briar. Marshal had scouted her exit to the pack and ensured she was watched and safe on her journey to the Southern pack. All the same, Sirius was remarkably lenient with his children. Despite how young they were, he gave them a large amount of freedom. His rules were only to ensure their safety as they learnt and explored. Having one of his children flaunt his rules and leave without an experienced guide frustrated him. She knew she needed only to ask for Marshal, the Bear, or Bast and would be relatively free with her silent watcher.

When the trouble in question approached him, he regarded her with stern eyes, and withheld the affection he was always so free with when it came to his kids. Instead he lightly leaned over and tapped her nose with a paw. “Ask your question first, and then we will speak after.”

She could tell from his stern gaze that her big, sweet eyes hadn't saved her from being in trouble this time. It certainly wasn't the first time she had gotten that look, and it probably wouldn't be the last, but she hadn't seen him not give in to her affections before so she knew she was actually in trouble this time. Her ears flicked back when he tapped her nose with his paw and she pouted up at him. A little part of her wanted to abandon her question, but she was far too curious and confused over it to not ask now that she had spent all this time trying to find him. Ignoring the fact that she was in trouble for a moment she looked up at him curiously, her antlered head tipping slightly to the side. "So... What would make a boy act all shy? Like... What if he doesn't seem shy around anyone else, but when I talk to him he's suddenly kind of awkward and shy? Why would he act like that?" the oblivious girl asked, frowning as she remembered all the times that she'd be talking to Artorias during her trip when he'd get kind of quiet or look away in the middle of them talking or any sort of thing like that. Blue Boy always seemed so charismatic, but he wasn't always when she was around and it didn't make sense in her head. Sure, she had picked on him, but not that much. So he couldn't be mad at her or something, right? Why would he give her a tour around the castle if he didn't like her? There were just too many questions that didn't have answers and she simply had to get to the bottom of it. "Briar" | "Marigold"

Frustrated or not, he could put aside the lecture to be there when she needed him to. He was learning the importance of being reachable to his children, and did not squander their trust. He listened carefully as she began to explain. Naturally, his ears flattened at the dreaded mention of a ‘boy’ but he refrained from speaking for a moment. His inner wolf wanted to snap ‘Boy, what boy!’ but he had no desire to scare her away.

Instead, he feigned patience and sat before her. Offering her the affection he had denied her a moment ago. Absentmindedly, his cat-like claws stretched out and began to groom the fur behind her ears and down her spine. “Perhaps your friendship means something to this boy. Perhaps he is afraid of mucking it up, and thinks twice and thrice before saying something. A caution like that would make him seem jerky and uncertain when before he might seem far more natural to be around. It might help if I knew the boy, and the circumstances of when he started acting so.” he said, carefully, carefully. Prying for more information, without seeming as though that was what he was doing.

Briar blinked and looked back up at her father as his light scratching around her ears and back pulled her out of her own musing and brought a smile back to her lips. She knew her father couldn't be too mad at her for long. She leaned into he touch happily, her tail wagging behind her. Then he started answering her question and she looked up at him with a doubtful raise of a brow. All of that just because Blue Boy cared about their friendship? He didn't act like that with anyone else, at least not from what she could tell, so did he not care about his friendship with anyone else? That didn't seem quite right. Although, as she tried to reason with herself to justify her father's answer since he just couldn't possibly be wrong in her eyes, she did consider the fact that maybe he was just trying to make a good impression since she was his guest and their families were so close. Maybe he just didn't want it getting back to her father that he was rude to her or something accidentally. She smiled a little as she satisfied herself with her own answer before returning her attention to her father's questioning of who it was and what was happening. "Oh, it was just Blue Bo- erm, I mean, It was just Artorias," she explained, grinning guiltily as she stumbled into her own teasing name for the boy. "He found me when I was around the gardens near their castle. He got so weird when I was just examining some cuts he had on his cheek and then again when he was giving me a tour of the big meeting hall they have when we were sitting in some chairs next to each other." Her father already knew about her trip at this point so she didn't feel like it was really necessary to hide any incriminating evidence from him or anything like that. In fact she was pretty sure that if she tried to hide anything she'd just end up in worse trouble and she certainly didn't want that. "Briar" | "Marigold"

He didn’t think she would understand if he started mentioning crushes and relationships. She was far too young, and he hoped it wasn’t that between the two of them. He liked Art, he was a good kid, and Briar innocently gave him the name of that boy without hesitation. But, like him or not, he wasn’t sure he was ready for anyone to chase his little girl. “Sounds like he was making an effort to show off, and maybe he was a little overwhelmed” he suggested to his daughter, though his thoughts were already on the Hallow, and Art. Too young. Too young by far. He frowned, through luckily Briar wouldn’t be able to see it from this angle. He continued to absent mindedly groom her coat. Now, he would have to think of some proper repercussions for her actions. She was also far too young to go on such a journey by herself. He allowed them so much freedom, but in turn, he expected them to obey his rules. “Do you understand why you are not allowed to go to the Hallows by yourself?” he asked as a starting point. "Speech"

Briar hummed thoughtfully when the suggestion was made that Artorias was just trying to show off and was overwhelmed. Maybe so... He was pretty eager about showing off the castle to her at least so that checked out. That was at least enough to satisfy her curiosity for now, though there was still so much she wanted his opinion on from the trip. Seeing Indigo, why they lived in the plains instead of somewhere cool like the castle, suggesting they move south too... Before she could continue questioning and picking apart the visit though, he brought up the fact that she was still in trouble again with a question confirming why she couldn't go off like that on her own. Her ears flicked back guiltily, though she still leaned into the affection and grooming he was giving her. "Yes, sir," she agreed quietly, peering up at him around his large paw. At least in her mind she wasn't a little puppy any more, but she knew her father didn't really see it that way. She was only a few months away from being a whole year old, but the rules were still there and she had still broken the rules - no matter how much she didn't like them. Speaking of breaking the rules... "Resin got on to us about it too," she mentioned with a frown, hoping maybe the fact that she had effectively been scolded twice now might help him lighten up on her a bit. Thinking about Resin reminded her of something else and she looked up at him with a little tilt of her head, questioning, "Do you know who Oxx is? Resin called Artorias that - accidentally I think - but Artorias didn't know who that was. It looked like maybe she had a headache or something though so it was probably just a mistake." She knew her father and Resin were really close, but she didn't know how much he knew about her either so maybe it was a shot in the dark, but if he knew maybe she could tell Blue Boy next time she saw him. "Briar" | "Marigold"

He let her answer the leading question, though her answer was short, and gave little away to prove her understanding. He did bite back a soft chuckle, hearing how Resin had scolded the two as well. good he knew he could trust Resin to help drive the issue home. She worked just as hard to ensure the safety of their pups and his as he did. His thoughts derailed at Briar’s next words. For a moment, his mind went back to the day - quite some time now - when a bear had endangered one of his wolves, and in his rage and need to kill it, he had lost his mind. He had fought Resin, unknowingly, and the older woman had dragged his sorry ass back to reason. What would drive the strong, steady wolf such as Resin to confuse her surroundings? No matter, he would go to her, and ensure for himself that all was well. She was like a mother to him, for a wolf that had been raised by none. He forgot entirely about punishing Briar, his concern only for Resin. “Being a leader can be a big task, perhaps she was just tired.” he lied to Briar, kissing her on the head. “I have to go, we’ll talk about your punishment later” he warned her, but his expression was distracted as he got to his paws and turned to leave. -exit Sirius- "Speech"