Outside perspectives

Briar's ears perked with surprise when Asla explained how the new pack in Auster actually belonged to one of Empress Venom's brothers. She wasn't terribly familiar with Ashen or Venom other than the fact that Ashen and Armada were linked, but it still surprised her somehow that a man like that could come from a family so close to theirs. It was slowly becoming more and more clear to her that there was a lot of things she didn't know about and how much had been hidden from her, creating this false representation of how things were. That was even more true once she had gotten the issue laid out for her sister and Asla began to reveal some things and give her opinions.

She could at the very least agree that she was happy that Art shared these things with her and was honest with her about how he was feeling - especially with the fact that he had told her before actually acting on it. It was a lot easier to accept this way instead of after being cheated on and betrayed. Honesty was something she cared about very much so knowing that Art had been open and honest with her - even when it came to his feelings about his sister - helped this be an easier pill to swallow. When Asla moved on, mentioning how what she had to say could never leave this den, Briar blinked and focused all her attention on her sister. She nodded quietly in understanding, wondering what could be so serious that the secret had to stay between them.

When Asla revealed she loved Indigo, Briar's eyes widened with surprise and shock. Of all the things she could have guessed it certainly wouldn't have been that. Of course, she hadn't spent much time at all around Indigo. He had been gone for most of her life, only really seeing him the one time during her visit to The Hallows and again at their mother's false funeral. It was apparently a very well kept secret, until now at least. She let that truth sink in, trying to wrap her mind around it. She had thought it was strange when Artorias revealed that he felt that way about Bowen, but had mostly been able to brush it off. Now that Asla revealed she had felt this way about Indigo and had been sleeping with him as well... Maybe it was much more common than she knew - a more common concept as Asla said. She didn't respond right away, just taking everything in and digressing it as Asla continued.

Also revealed the numerous lovers she had - two here, two in another place, Indigo, others... Far more than Briar would have guessed. It wasn't exactly a secret that Arcturus and Satira had different fathers so that much she knew about, but all the other lovers - Indigo in particular - had been a surprise. It was something she still didn't quite understand since she had never felt that way for anyone other than Artorias, but there was so many similarities between what Asla was saying and what Art was saying that it was obvious he wasn't the only one that felt that way. Asla didn't want to deny a part of herself and neither did Art. Art sounded like he wouldn't be happy denying those urges and clearly Asla wouldn't be either. Some wolves just weren't meant for one partner. Keeping that in mind actually helped her more than Asla probably realized. It helped her understand that it wasn't that she wasn't enough for Artorias, this was just how he was hardwired.

She smiled softly when Asla insisted that none of it was more important than her happiness, that if she wasn't happy it would end up killing that love she had for him. She always appreciated how her sister put her needs and emotions above anything else whenever she came to get her advice. Sometimes it felt like those things were pushed down below the needs of the pack or their image or some other arbitrary thing, but not with Asla. "I understand," she said with a small nod. "As long as its just particular women and women I know... I'm okay with that. I don't even really mind it being his sister. As long as he's not sleeping around just for the hell of it then that's okay to me." If he was happy then she could be happy too.

"Briar Fatalis"