Lark had hardly noticed Sparrow's irritation at the meeting. Maybe because it was so... typical of her, as awful as that sounded. He'd gotten used to tension at meetings long ago and it hardly phased him now. He'd spent quite some time feeling terrible about how everything had turned out in his life, and he'd learned it was easier to ignore it most of the time. He hated that his siblings seemed to like coming and going so much, hated that he was no longer surprised when someone else left his life for an indeterminate amount of time. Part of him wished things were easier, like when he'd been a child, but he knew too much nostalgia would do him no good; things wouldn't ever go back to how they once had been and it was a waste of time to think they would. After the training session was concluded, he headed toward the rapids. Part of him wanted to find Lillie again, but he was in a more dreary mood than he had been earlier today, and judging by his father's reaction to his being late he mostly wanted to be alone. He felt fatigue settle in his limbs as he headed toward the edge of the water, thinking of little more than getting a quick drink. Until he smelled Sparrow, that was. It'd been awhile since he'd been close to his sister, it really had.. he'd always bonded most with Finch above them all, though he loved them all just the same. It seemed Sparrow was home permanently now, after coming and going so often when they were younger, which he was grateful for. Curious, he headed down the rapids to meet her, head dipping as he approached. His gaze was warm, his words soft. "Godetevi la vostra formazione?" he'd ask, the Italian rough on his tongue, unused for some time now. He'd never caught on as easily as, say, Starling, but as he got older he recognized the importance of tradition and he enjoyed having a way to speak with his siblings that most others couldn't comprehend.

"Godetevi la vostra formazione?"

Sparrow had been zoned out. She couldn't say she felt better, but she felt less angry. She was still brooding on it, so Lark's voice came as a surprise. The small girl jumped slightly. She didn't really make it a point to talk to anyone in the pack, so most times when she heard someone, she didn't pay much attention. Lark's approach and words caught her off guard.

She grimaced briefly, glad her back was to him. Now wasn't the time for chewing out her brother, no matter what kind of idiot he was playing by whoring around with an in-heat female.

Sparrow felt in her gut that there'd be pups later. Whether they'd be Lark's or not, she didn't know, but she wasn't keen on being around any of Lillianna's spawn, much less if they shared her genetics.

Sparrow's stomach twisted. She swallowed hard. As she turned to Lark, she debated back and forth between English and Italian for some time. She didn't know what to say in either language to be honest, so she was glad he asked a direct question.

"La formazione è andato bene. Se non ero così piccolo, sarei un combattente for sure."

Without realizing it at first, she threw in English at the end. When she did realize, she snorted, "È da un po, eh?"

She didn't have much else to say. She didn't really know what to say. Sparrow tried to separate her intrusive thoughts from the present conversation. Her mouth felt dry. She wanted to start coughing. Was she panicking at speaking to her own brother?

"Che ne dici di tuo?" she asked roughly while her mind scrambled to gain its composure. She smiled lopsidedly, trying to hide her awkwardness behind some casual, lose smile she had picked up from someone a long time ago.

"Please don't mention her," Sparrow mentally begged.

At least the adrenaline from a fight, albeit it had only been a practice one, had made him feel just slightly better. The day had started off great, but upon seeing how late he was to the meeting, and seeing his father's blank stare -- which said more than words ever could -- had fouled his mood. Fighting was supposed to be his thing. He was supposed to be a warrior, a protector, though he felt anything but. Seeing his sister brightened his mood too, even if his own presence made her recoil. A slight grin tugged at the corner of his mouth at her words, blissfully unaware of the slight strain in her voice. Now that was one thing Lark was good at.. being utterly, terrifically oblivious.  "Oh, si potrebbe ancora essere un combattente, nonostante le dimensioni. Non vi resta che lavorare con i tuoi punti di forza, invece di concentrarsi sulle vostre debolezze." Lark shrugged gently, wondering how interested in fighting she truly was. He knew most of her interests lay in the field of healing... or they had, some time ago. He thought of how long it had been since he'd truly had a conversation with Sparrow. He tried to push thoughts aside of what he had missed in the lives of his siblings. His smile wilted at her acknowledgement of the very fact he'd been considering, though didn't waver entirely. "It has," he agreed, a touch of remorse reaching his voice. "It's.. strange how much time passes without us realizing it." Their lives had not turn out how he had expected them, not at all. Still, he was thankful Abaven had persevered, and he still had family at his side. However strained their relationships might be. It was never too late to fix that, though, was it? Lark was quiet for a moment as he moved to sit at Sparrow's side, leaning to nudge her shoulder lightly. "Mine was fine," he offered with a shrug, not wanting to really get into how his lack of fighting experience made him feel wildly inadequate. It still bothered him that he'd never fought in the siege, though he'd been young then. His hesitation had cost him the chance to prove his skill to his family -- why he was still hanging on to that, he wasn't quite sure. He stifled a faint sigh. "Didn't mean to be late to the meeting though. Did you see the look dad gave me?" Attempting to jest with her, he chuckled and eyed her from the corner of his gaze. Bass really hadn't done much more than glance his way, but he could tell his father hadn't been that impressed, and why would he be? He tried not to cringe at the thought.

Lark offered her some words of encouragement, noting how she should focus on her strengths. Sparrow grimaced slightly. What was she even good at? After a second, she threw on a grin, "I'm trying to be realistic, not get killed. It would be cool to be a fearless warrior, huh?" Sparrow briefly fantasized how a confrontation with Lillianna would go if she were a warrior. She liked the outcome, but decided not to indulge herself too much.

Lark was dead on about time passing without realizing it.

"I don't even really feel like an adult. It's funny, I imagined I'd have a family by now, and old friends with their own families, but neither happened. I- uh- don't really have any friends, I don't think, not to mention old friends. Now I'm almost an old lady. I could have almost grandchildren, realistically. Isn't that crazy?"

Sparrow laughed a little to herself, though her heart clenched in her chest. For a moment she wondered if she'd ever have a family, or if she'd die alone.

Next topic.

Lark mentioned being late to the meeting.

Wait, not that topic.

Sparrow tried not to let herself react, and as a result became stiff. Not here. Not now. She didn't want to talk about this right now. She wanted to enjoy her brother's company. She didn't want to fight. She would, one day, she knew she'd have to probably, but not now. How could she avoid it?

Humor, yes, humor!

Sparrow chuckled. It was forced.

"Dad's face was a little scary. It didn't make it better when-" Sparrow paused at her name. She didn't want to say it. The girl swallowed, opened her maw to speak, but nothing came out. She closed it and tried again. She laughed again, nervously this time.

"Needless to say, with that announcement, I think the whole pack got a pretty clear idea of what you two were doing."

Her words started with a smile, but ended flatly. She could feel her face and ears heat up though she wasn't sure if it was out of embarrassment or anger. She felt like she should warn her brother to be careful, but she was treading on thin ice already.

Sparrow plopped her fluffy tail on the ground several times, "I couldn't look up at any of the other pack mates to catch their expressions, though."

She didn't mention that it was because she was trying to stare into her father's soul, silently commanding him to do something- anything- or that she was forcing herself to stay planted to the ground in fear or confronting the woman herself right then and there.

Sparrow looked into the distance, a plastic smile plastered to her face as she tried to shrink away from her feelings and just try to be a normal sibling to a wolf who had a totally normal and not manipulative (and possibly murderous) girlfriend. Wait. Were they together like that or was it casual? Sparrow felt herself suck in a breath as minty eyes widened.

She wasn't sure which possibility was worse.

She didn't want to talk about this anymore.

Change the subject.

Think of anything.

Her mind was blank.

Lark was well aware that he had been... less than present in Abaven for some time. Both in pack affairs, and in keeping up with his siblings too. They'd been inseparable as kids, but slowly they'd grown apart in adulthood. He felt good about approaching Sparrow now and talking to her, even if their relationship was somewhat strained. It could only get better from here, right? Bantering about fighting made him relax a bit as he settled down on his haunches at her side. "It would be," he said, a bit dreamily. Lark had always dreamed of being some great warrior, but truthfully there had never been need of it, which he was mostly thankful for. Sparrow had always seemed good at healing though, something he'd never had an interest in, so the fact that she knew that and some fighting skills too was impressive on its own. The topic shifted to slightly more earnest things, which he didn't mind. "I don't feel like an adult either, actually," he agreed with a soft chuckle, feeling strange admitting it out loud, but it was so true. "I'm pretty sure we're actually older than Dad was when he had us. Super weird, huh?" And their mom, too, but he preferred not thinking about her much anymore. Not talking about her made it only marginally easier, but he tried to avoid it anyway. He hadn't thought about having a family either. It was odd that his father, at Lark's age, had already started a pack, and had a wife and children. These were things that Lark had only considered vaguely. Besides his family, Lillie was his closest friend, and he had trouble deciding what he considered her. He'd settled on definitively calling her his best friend, but anything beyond that he was still in denial about. Her laugh sounded hollow and slightly contrived, but he supposed maybe that the time they had spent apart had put a bigger strain on their relationship than he'd thought. Ah well. He snorted softly at her reply, clearly amused at her assumption. "We weren't quite, uh-" he felt the heat rise to his face. Lark had never really talked to anyone about this sort of thing, feeling as though it was slightly uncouth. Not that he had ever cared much for manners before, but this was.. different, somehow. "Not - uh - yet, at least. I mean..." Oh god. Was that awkward to admit? Lark frowned suddenly, wondering if it was too much information that the meeting was what had interrupted their time together. They had done more, before, but that had been awhile ago and things had been a bit different then, before Lillie left. If he had known there would've been a meeting, he probably would've miraculously found something else to do that morning, something not involving Lillie. Not that he was ashamed of her, or of how close they'd gotten -- he sorta just liked keeping it private. It made things easier, and let him avoid questions he didn't want to answer, though at this point he figured most had figured something was going on. He chuckled again after a moment, the sound a slightly nervous one too. "Sorry, that's weird to bring up," he said after a moment, hoping a grin made things suddenly better. "Though I do fear the day Dad brings it up to me." He snorted, lightening to mood, though it was true; he hated the thought of that conversational. "What about you, though? Are there any, uh, men in your life? Or... ladies?" He realized he didn't know enough about Sparrow to know if she was even into guys. He felt even more awkward now, and averted his gaze away from her, hoping the conversation was one that siblings normally had, though fearing suddenly it wasn't.

Lark mirrored her feelings of not being an adult. Of course, the pleasant conversation was cut short by the mention of... that.

They weren't quite???

Not YET at LEAST???

Sparrow set her jaw to stop herself. She couldn't. No, he wouldn't believe her. No way. She had gotten to Lark that much? What kind of mind-numbing whoreness did Lillianna possess to move through her siblings like water? Starling, then Finch, now Lark?

She felt her heart rate rise. Was her fur going on end? No, stop that. Sparrow took in a slow, quiet breath.

Nope. Thoughts flooded her head again. She left for, like, how long, right when their little sibling disappeared and then she comes back and Lark gets all horny around her? No way, this was literally crazy. How was she doing all this? Sparrow stared at her paws, tears pricking at her eyes. She wasn't sad, just... confused and maybe somehow hurt by this. Disappointed? She expected Lark to see through Lillianna better than this.

Sparrow blinked a few times, thankful that Lark could only see the top of her head. Lark said he feared the day their dad brought it up, but Sparrow was far more worried about the day everyone figured out about Lillianna. Would he end up like their father, betrayed by the woman he loved? What if this fling resulted in pups? Would it be just like their mother? Lillianna wasn't the best about staying in the pack either.

Sparrow didn't have time to think long before Lark sprung the "are there any men (or ladies) in your life" question. Caught off-guard, Sparrow could only think of Ashmedai and Pere.

"Both."

She answered too fast.

She shook her head.

"Neither?"

Was that any better? Sparrow tossed a glance at her brother.

"It's... complicated?" Sparrow finally settled on complicated. That's what it was, wasn't it? With both Ash and Pere gone, Sparrow didn't really have a whole lot company lately. Sparrow bit her tongue between her teeth lightly so that it stuck out as she wrinkled her nose at her brother. She didn't really know what else to do, but she didn't want the conversation to go back to Lillianna. Not yet. She wanted to enjoy her brother just a bit more.

"No one you have to worry about yet. I'll let you know if someone breaks my heart so you can beat them up for me."

Lark hadn't meant to make things weird, not at all. He knew he could discuss such things with Finch, though he hadn't gotten to yet, and his conversation with Sparrow had been comfortable enough for him that he figured he wouldn't completely freak her out. He wasn't sure if he'd made a good judgment call or not. She did seem a bit uncomfortable, though seemed to be trying to mask it for his sake as well as hers. He was grateful for the diversion though, when he casually - or, as casual as he could manage - mentioned love. He really didn't know much about where Sparrow had been in the periods she had been away from Abaven, and didn't want to assume much about her since so much was unknown to him. He felt a bit foolish for not knowing her better, and made a promise to himself then to spend more time with her in the future. Her quick response sounded flustered, and Lark found himself snorting with slight laughter. Not at her answer, but at the way she'd replied, and had immediately corrected herself. It wasn't his business, but he couldn't help but feel like he'd inadvertently learned something about Sparrow, and was pleased with himself for extracting a bit of information from her -- however slightly it might be. Her expression was slightly mirrored, his grin widening as he turned to face her better. "I will definitely beat someone up if they break your heart. I better be the first one you come to." Lark had always been fiercely protective of his family, especially his siblings, despite everything. He wouldn't hesitate to protect them from anything. "I'm glad you're back home, by the way," he added after a moment, his expression growing more serious. He had always preferred when his siblings stayed in Abaven, though many seemed to come and go. "Hopefully to stay awhile?" The grin he had worn before returned as he leaned to nudge her gently with his nose.

Lark laughed at her, but it didn't feel all that bad. Sparrow was glad they could converse and laugh together a little. He said that he would beat up anyone that broke her heart and that she better come to him first. She was glad. Her ears perked, wondering for a second what he would do if only he knew how she felt about Lillie. Did that count as breaking her heart? She had half the mind to ask, but stopped herself short.

He said he was glad she was back and Sparrow nodded in agreement as he asked if she planned to stay for a while.

"I do. I feel like there's some things I need to do here. Maybe a purpose?" Sparrow shook her head and pressed lightly into her brother.

"I'll be here for a while," she confirmed.

Truthfully, Lark was beyond grateful that their conversation had sailed right on past any real discussion of Lillianna. Hinting that he had some kind of relationship - though that word made him feel pretty conflicted - with her was as much as they needed to discuss. Weirdly, it lifted some of the weight he'd been carrying since the meeting, despite the fact that he'd hardly said anything at all. He was just happy that Sparrow gave him a small insight into something he hadn't known before. She'd mentioned it was complicated, had hinted she was, or had been, involved with both males and females but.. that was all he knew. He wished he had the heart to press her on that tidbit, but wasn't sure how receptive she would be to sharing. Lark found himself wishing they had that kind of sibling relationship, but they just didn't. Not at this moment, at least; he wouldn't mind that changing though now that he thought of it. "A purpose," Lark repeated, though he certainly wasn't mocking her. If anything, his words sounded thoughtful, wondering exactly what she meant by that. "I sorta feel the same way." Abaven had always just felt like home. He'd never considered leaving, not for longer than a few days, and even that long of a retreat was rare for him. He felt like he truly belonged here, even when he was too stuck in his own head to pay attention to anything around him. "Either way, I'm glad. It's better when you're around.