Shifts in priorities and perspectives

Briar was pleasantly surprised by the warm greeting she received from her sister-in-law and the invitation she received to join her on the fur rug. While Bowen had never really been outwardly hostile to her, their interactions had ranged everywhere from slightly tense to amicable in the time that they had known each other. Briar had been slightly concerned that her pregnancy might cause some sort of contention, but perhaps she was underestimating just how much her time away had helped the copper and cream woman. She accepted Bowen's invitation easily and settled onto the rug beside her, sighing gratefully as she lowered onto the fur and relieved the weight off of her constantly sore paws. Her pregnancy wasn't really a topic that could be avoided, she supposed, since she was every bit the elephant in the room right now, but she would have been content with not bringing it up. Bowen did it for her, however, asking her how she was feeling with a compliment for how motherhood suited her.

Briar smiled thankfully with a little chuckle. "I feel about as good as I possibly can in this position, I imagine," she joked, laughing lightly. "It's been a fairly easy pregnancy, all things considered. Other than some sickness and tiredness at the beginning the symptoms have been fairly mild. Now I just have to deal with getting as big as the castle." She flexed her toes a bit, bending and flexing her ankles to stretch them a bit and relieve the tension that had been on them from her morning spent moving around the castle and the grounds, going about her work for as long as her body would let her.

An idea came to mind and her ears perked with the realization, bringing her gaze back to Bowen's with a grin. "Oh! I've been working on my Carpathian with Gwyn some since I can't get out as much now. I really want to be able to help Artorias teach the pups so I figured there wasn't a better way to spend all of this time I have on my paws now." Her grin grew a bit more bashful and her ears flicked uncertainly as she added, "Honestly, I'm still struggling with it a little bit... I know you said you would help me learn before. Would you practice with me?"

"Briar Carpathius"