Past the tribulation

She grinned and chuckled at the thought of him climbing trees, trying to imagine what a man as big as him might have looked like as a pup. She didn't have many opportunities to be around pups, but the few times she had she always loved their sweet innocence. Even the ones that had been sold into slavery like herself always started out with such hope, looking for the brightest things in the darkest moments. She had always done her best to shield them from the darkness happening around them, but it never failed that eventually they would stop asking their silly questions, they would stop beaming at her when she found something silly to do with them. Slowly that darkness would creep in on them just like it had on her and she would watch that brightness fade away.

"I'm sure you were adorable as a child while you were climbing trees," she joked, desperately trying to shove away her train of thoughts. Living in a place like this she was sure he was afforded a far nicer childhood than she had endured, but she didn't hold any sort of jealousy or malice toward him for it. She knew of some slaves that resented the wolves that owned them or lived above them, but she didn't - especially not for wolves like Sirius or Mortis who were kind to her. She held a heavy resentment for the wolves that hurt her and for the man that took her from her family, but never for these wolves that were helping her.

Suddenly she realized that her statement made it sound like he wasn't adorable now and she paused for a moment, stumbling over her words as she tried to catch herself. "I mean... Not that you're not adorable now- I, um... Or attractive, I guess is a better word, but not that I should say... I'm mean-" she shut her mouth to make herself stop the tumbling words that only dug her hole deeper. Her face flushed hot with embarrassment and her pink eyes fell toward the ground while her ears folded back against her head. "I'm so sorry, sir, I shouldn't have said anything," she said in a rush, desperately trying to cover her tracks.

"Iris"