not quite meet the parents

Spirit watched as Gloom suddenly deflated. They'd both watched her be bolstered up in their time together, away from Abaven. She'd grown somewhat self-assured, standing taller now - and while he had a hunch that neither he nor Gloom would ever be the type of wolves to seem outwardly confident, he knew they'd both made considerable progress. And now he watched as she reeled months and months backwards, right before his eyes. Plague was forgotten as he moved to lay with her, on the side opposite Void, feeling tears beginning to well in his eyes. "Gloom, i-it's okay," he stammered softly as he pressed himself into her, hoping the presence of her brothers might bring her some relief from the sudden fears that gripped her.

He felt something similar welling inside his own chest. He'd made progress interacting with strangers, to the point where he didn't feel like he'd immediately cave under the pressure of conversation. He felt himself reeling backwards too though he tried to hold steady and remind himself that Void wouldn't hurt them, he wouldn't do anything that would ever compromise what was left of their family. Spirit had to believe that. "I-it's not your fault," he offered to Plague, though refused to meet his gaze, his attention on Gloom and calming her down. "S-she's..." She was his sister. She was like Spirit, her anxieties only amplified. He understood, but he wasn't sure anyone else would, not anyone who didn't already know her well.

The decision wasn't his own, if Plague would join them or not, but a group decision. And he wasn't sure Plague would be so ready to answer him right away. "I don't mind... help. J-just... don't take Void away from us. P-please." We need him, he thought silently to himself as he helped cradle his sister and try to steady his own erratic breathing. They'd lost their mother and Poltergeist - he couldn't bear to see Void lost to them now too, with a man that was a stranger to them.