Checking In

Despite his young age and the hardships he had faced Ricin always surprised her with the depth of his view of the world and the brightness he seemed to see it with. To her it seemed like if there was anyone that had the right to see things for the darkness that they were it would be Ricin, but he never did. Perhaps that was why he was able to see so much good in her despite the depravity in which she lived her life. She smirked a little and nodded as he spoke about the beauty of the world that could be missed if they always looked toward tomorrow instead of living in the now. "You're certainly right about that." As he dipped his head with a bashful dismissal of his rambling thoughts, she reached up and caught the paw that was waving them away, giving him a smile as she gave his paw a gentle, reassuring squeeze with her larger paw. "Don't be sorry for sharing your thoughts. They're far more insightful and wise than others that are twice your age. Be proud and share them when you have them." Releasing his paw she gave him a smile before their conversation shifted to the length of time that he and his brother had been a part of their family here.

There was a glimpse of the excited pup she had helped to raise in his excitement over how long they had been together and she chuckled, grinning a bit at his enthusiasm. There was a part of her that wished that he, Chade, Avacyn, and Saracyn had been allowed even more freedom and the ability to just be excited pups longer. It was simply a result of the situation they were in at the time where she had no real choice but to rely on these young wolves as a crucial part of her pack. She tried her best to let them enjoy their younger days as much as she could and hid the worst of the stress that building this pack had created for as long as she could, but it was still a small regret for her.

He showed this older than his years side of himself again as he spoke of the changes that happened in their lives and the wolves that came and went around them. When he mentioned the love that her family had for her—blood and not—Manea couldn't help the touched smile that pulled at her lips, her ears flicking with a bashfulness that was unlike her. Her whole life had centered around service to her family and all she could really hope for was to make them proud and do right by them. Hearing things like that from Ricin made her feel like she must be doing something right. "I do hope so," she replied quietly. She knew that she couldn't make everyone happy or do everything right all the time, but if she could just manage to get through this life with all of her loved ones happy and healthy then she hoped that would be enough. If she ended up with their love at the end of it then that was just a bonus.

Manea watched Ricin glance toward the ground as he mentioned how at one point he hadn't thought that he would even see his first birthday and her expression softened with understanding, emotion sitting heavy on her chest as she thought about the state the boys had been in when she found them with Avacyn. In the grand scheme of the Mendacium family and the tenants that they tended to live by she knew that taking these boys in as her own and loving them the way she had was unlike much of her family's views on the world, but she didn't care. She felt confident that she had given them a good life here and she was proud of the young men they had grown into. Swallowing past the emotion that was threatening to form into tears, Manea got up and stepped forward, slipping a foreleg around his shoulders and pulling him into a tight embrace. "I'll be forever grateful that I found you that day. I'm so proud of you and your brother." She leaned back a bit, her aqua gaze catching his ruby eyes with a warm smile. "And I love you both very much."

Manea | Temno | Ciemny