Allies with benefits

Briar's cheeks flushed at Alastor's complimenting of her perfectly maintained fur and how beautiful her coat was, making her give him a shy smile in return. "Oh, well, thank you. That's very kind of you to say." She had never been very good at taking complements, especially not when it was about her appearance, but she always appreciated the sweet words regardless. Her gaze shifted to his tail when he started questioning whether Manea would want to braid his tail or if it would make him look ridiculous, Briar giggled at the thought, trying to imagine someone as big, hulking, and intimidating as himself with a beautifully braided tail. It was something that sounded like one of his young daughters might do as a silly prank, but even she could admit she couldn't see him walking around with a braided tail. It didn't fit the aura that he gave off normally. However, when he mentioned keeping it out of the way when Manea was trying to get to certain parts of him... She chuckled softly, her cheeks flushing again as a little grin tugged at her lips. "Well, you don't have to braid it, necessarily. Just tying it up in a couple of places to help keep it from flowing everywhere should help."

As their attention moved on to the wine she had brought with her, they both took generous sips from their respective bowls, the sweet, slightly tart drink flowing over her tongue. It was a familiar taste to her now, but even she had to admit this was one of the better iterations of her experiments and trails with the berries they collected from the grove. She was eager to hear his opinion on the wine and has he started talking about how he could taste the berries and how popular this one would be she couldn't help but grin, her tail wagging gently behind her. She was proud of her work and she was always glad to hear when it was paying off. She took another sip of the wine when he mentioned how this would be a good one to introduce young wolves to for their first alcoholic drinks and she nodded in agreement. It was sweet and easy to drink without the bite and sting that some alcohol had. She grinned again when he reaffirmed that claiming the wild berry grove had been the best move they had made. "I have to agree with you there. The berries there are an obvious bonus, but it's just a beautiful location and has all kinds of herbs and prey as well. It's been a good addition to our lands."

They both finished off their first bowls quickly and when he pushed his bowl toward her with a silent request for more she giggled softly and easily complied, tipping the bottle to fill both of their bowls again before she nudged it back in his direction. She glanced up at him when he asked her about what had gotten her into making wines and whether or not she did it all on her own, an easy smile lingering on her lips while they chatted and enjoyed each other's company. "Oh no, I have lots of help with it, especially with the harvesting. I handle most of the planning and working out the recipes, but I get a lot of help from the pack for gathering the grapes and berries to make it with and with the process of making it as well. Its become a bit of a hobby for several of us around the Hallows." She took another sip of her drink, gently swirling it in the bowl for a moment as she pondered the first half of his question. "I guess I really got into it after I moved to the Hallows to be with Artorias and I was just trying to figure out the best way to make myself useful." She shrugged a little and smiled as she lifted her gaze from her drink to look at Alastor again. "The Hallows already had a supply of wine in the cellars from whoever once used and owned the castle long ago, but I thought that making our own wine and creating new variations on it would give the pack another unique and more sustainable item for trade with other packs. It gave me a project to work on and helped me get settled into this whole directing and organizing other wolves thing once I became Queen."

"Briar Carpathius"