Hate to impose

So this was awkward... The slight woman was leaning against the earthen woman she'd only really just met, Audra. Her very broken and bitten ankle tucked up against Gloom's chest. The going had been slow but it had been decided, though how Gloom would never know considering her own deep anxiety even speak with a stranger, and Audra's own clear shyness, that it was probably better to bring Gloom to Audra's pack rather than let her try to hobble her way all the way back up to Boreas. So here they were, two clearly very flustered and awkward women, one with a broken ankle and the other- Well Gloom really didn't know anything about Audra yet so she couldn't say but she certainly felt self-conscious about it all.

How would she survive in a pack, even temporarily, full of nothing but strangers when she'd been such a mess in a pack that had been almost nothing but family? Oh gods! Her family! She'd have to make sure they knew she was okay, that she'd be back once she was able to make the trip back. Spirit especially needed to know that she was not simply abandoning them, she and her brother had been so dependent on each other in the last few years she hated to think that even now he might be worrying after her... And no doubt he would when she didn't return home tonight. Gloom grimaced, unable to hide the worry on her face and she tried desperately to keep herself from bursting into tears, again, she settled on her haunches as they drew close and tried to take deep breathes, but they were shaky and shallow and she was doing an absolutely terrible job hiding the new surge of anxiety this whole thing had brought her. She tried instead to think of the feeling of peace she'd had all too briefly during the nature walk, a sort of weird tingle in her stomach as the image of Audra walking beside her, bathed in the unnatural autumnal light entered her mind. Better to quickly push that off for now, she was already too worried about everything to begin trying to figure out what that tingle was or meant, with her luck, it meant she was dying.

"Speech"