Invidie

Briar's ears perked when Art began to stir, his movement and seeing his familiar amber gaze making heavy relief wash over her. She felt guilty for accidentally waking him up, but hearing his voice made a smile pull across her lips and more tears shimmer in her eyes. Knowing he was alive was different than knowing he was okay. Yes, he had been laying here breathing and asleep, but seeing him respond and move and greet her smoothed the panic in her chest. "Hey you," she replied softly in return, a little chuckle escaping her. She brushed her muzzle against his paw since it was closest to her, but once he lifted his head she did the same, lifting a paw to rest it over his. She was still a little furious with him for acting so recklessly, but that could be a discussion for another time. For now she was just happy that he was alive and healing and would be okay. She couldn't quite shake the guilt over the fact that she wasn't here to help him, but there was nothing that could be done about that right now. She was trapped somewhere she didn't want to be and nothing could change that besides time and age.

Her smile faded slightly when he started to look around until he spotted Bowen sitting at the end of his bed. She really did try her best to not let jealousy start creeping up on her, but she just reminded herself that this was the first time she had to force herself to share. Artorias had been hers alone for nearly as long as she could remember now and suddenly that had changed. With her emotions running so high already it was hard to keep herself in check as Artorias looked between them and talked to them both and she saw the dejected emotions in Bowen as she went to excuse herself and leave the infirmary. Her ears flicked and a little frown pulled at her lips as she watched Bowen go for a moment before she sighed softly and looked to Artorias again. She didn't want to be the bigger woman here. She wanted to be selfish with this moment she had with Artorias considering Bowen got to live with him and she didn't, but she'd force herself to at least check on Bowen and clear the air for Artorias' sake.

She leaned down an left a kiss on his cheek, saying, "I'll be right back," before slipping away and following Bowen out into the hall. "Hey," she said simply once the door was closed behind her, getting Bowen's attention as she approached the smaller woman. She didn't really know how to approach this. How did she approach someone she barely knew that her boyfriend wanted to be with? "I know this is weird for both of us," she said with an uncertain flick of her ears, "But if this is going to work I want us both to be on the same page. I agreed to Art's wishes to be able to sleep with other women because I wanted him to be happy and I knew at the very least you weren't some random woman, but I hope you can understand why I'd feel better about him being with you if I got to know you better. I don't want us to be jealous of each other, especially right now since we both want to be here for him. We can get to know each other better once this has calmed down some if that's okay with you?"

"Briar Fatalis"