A shiv for me a shiv for you

She followed Rhyme as he walked towards a rock, and inspected what was there. She moved closer, seeing the antlers and ribs. She raised an eyebrow as she sniffed them curiously. “leftovers from lunch?” she teased, already understanding that he was using these for something. What was the man getting creative with here? He was going to make something, she was certain of it, and now she wanted to know what.

As she mentioned Tana, she would notice something about him darken, and she would pause, inspecting him carefully. He really had it bad for her, didn't he? He was feeling an anger about the way she was treated, one he didn’t show even for Spider, though she knew the feeling was there. This was personal to him, in a way that didn’t entirely link back to his own time as a slave.

She felt a touch of something in her breast, and she needed to pause and examine it carefully. Was she… jealous. that couldn’t be it. She was proud of the way Rhyme had stepped up - becoming an Alpha, looking out for others, taking Tana under his wing. So what if he fell for her, it didn’t make him any less hers. He was still her Alpha partner, and what they shared together, the burden of responsibility was unique. She scuffed a paw in the dirt, trying to push down the emotion. It was illogical, and wrong to ever wish they weren’t related. She slammed a lid on her emotions and looked up at Rhyme impassively.

He didn’t say anything about her question, or the emotion she had seen in his eyes, and she fell quiet as he explained what he had been planning. She knew she had taken her teasing a step to far, and mutely nodded as flipped over the ribs. “No, it was just a jumble of words.” she told him, her voice soft as she nudged an antler herself, changing the subject. “You were looking for a stone to sharpen them against?’ she clarified