Sharing the news

Briar chuckled softly and gave a shrug as Kotori shared how their father hadn't fought him on the decision at all—not even in the form of a challenge or chore to do it. She had stopped trying to understand her father or his motivations. Sometimes his possessive and clingy tendencies showed and sometimes they were more lax. Regardless, she was happy for her brother and these ambitions he was acting on and proud of her father for letting his children go out on their own even though she knew how hard it was for him to allow that at times. Her brother then shared how many of their siblings would be joining him in his endeavors and her ears perked as he listed them off, naming all of her closest and dearest siblings among them. She grinned happily at the mention of Aslatiel especially. Ever since their older sister had set off on her own with her children it had been difficult to know where and how to find her so now she was glad she would be able to find her more easily.

At her brother's request for alcohol for a party that he planned to throw, Briar grinned and laughed lightly. It was certainly not the kind of help she expected to be asked for, but boy was it one she could certainly deliver on! They had just crossed through the castle gates into the courtyard when he asked about providing drinks for his gathering and invited her—as well as all the other Hallows wolves—so she decided to show him what they could offer in the way of libations for the party. She gave his shoulder a light nudge with her own and she replied, "I wouldn't miss it. As long as I'm able to get there you know I will be." She didn't elaborate on the fact that it might end up being a bit difficult for her to get there depending on the timing of said party, but... she'd leave that news for a bit later. "Come on, let me show you what I've been working on!" She led him into the castle, though the main dining hall and into the storage cellar underneath. Some light was filtering in through narrow windows at the top of one of the walls and it showed the rows and rows of casks and bottles of various kinds of wine, some of them marked with various symbols to help her keep track of which kind was which. "I've started making my own wines since moving into the Hallows," she explained, "with some help from some of the other members of course. We've been making great use of the wild berry grove and the grapevine cathedral to make all kinds of wines so I think we can definitely keep you stocked up on drinks for your party."

With her hard work shown off to her brother, she took them back up to the great hall and took a seat at one of the long table, motioning for Kotori to do the same across from her. The hall was more plain than he had usually seen in since he had only been here during large events that they had done up the hall in decor and flowers for, but it was quite a useful space in their day to day lives regardless. He then asked if there was any news she wanted to share with her brother in turn. She smirked and figured now was as good a time as any to share the little secret she was keeping. It was still very early on in her pregnancy—so early in fact that she hadn't even gotten to officially tell Artorias—but she would rather tell her brother now since she wasn't sure if she'd see him again before she was extremely round with pups. "Well... It's still very early and a lot of things could happen, but... I can say that it's probably pretty likely that you'll be an uncle again fairly soon," she told him, the grin widening across her lips as she spoke. It was still really too soon to tell if their attempts had fully taken hold, but she had a good feeling that they had and it made a nervous, excited flutter kick up in her stomach.

"Briar Carpathius"