but you never close the door

At least, with Lillie, he knew precisely what to expect. In a sense - she was still stubborn enough to be considered unpredictable at times, but he felt confident she wasn't going to up and leave Abaven, a tradition growing more common among his family members, it seemed. Even though they often butted heads, they had secured their friendship, and he had no fear that one day he'd wake up to find her gone. It gave him a constant in life, which was something he appreciated and needed these days.

Seeing her, today, seemed to instantly brighten his mood. It certainly couldn't dampen it. A lopsided grin would appear on his face as she moved forward, his tail batting gently behind him. Her touch was always surprising to him, for she didn't strike him as a particularly affectionate wolf - but what did he know? "How are you?" he'd ask gently, his mood sobering a bit as he greeted her. He wasn't having the greatest of days; he was irritable and thinking about things that he couldn't change.

It took him a moment to realize that her scent was different. He'd noticed it before, last spring, and he'd found himself acting weirdly around her because of it. It hit him suddenly and he found himself taking an involuntary step backwards. Her scent was much nicer now - he was half-tempted to bump his own nose into her neck for a better whiff of it but realized that the moment to greet her was over, and he wanted to avoid any possibility of bodily injury today.