HUSH, DON'T SPEAK

A few days of down time. Down time was a little foreign to her at this point, but she would do it for Themisto. The last thing that the woman would do was take his advice and not follow suit. With a nod to his reassurance, she would watch him, waiting for a possible explaination to what was on his mind. There was something bothering him, she was sharp enough to see that - but it could have been anything. She had lost a challenge and lay before him wounded after all - that was enough to quiet the friend of any lupine. "It seemed like there was something on your mind. Something important?" She would gently nudge him toward talking to her about it - it would be nice to get her mind off of her loss, of her wounds, and she wanted to hear him speak. His husked voice was soothing, and although she was too tired to really smile, it put her at ease to spend time with the healer.

As he politely responded to her thanks, she would wonder if he really understood what she was thanking him for. Not just his attention, not this one moment where he was making sure that she was alright - but for everything. For being there for her repeatedly, for making sure that she was alright, for fighting at her side, for tending to her physical and mental health. He made her happy, and there were few that did that for her the way that he did. Her mother, her daughter, and a few members of Valhalla could make her truly happy - but Themisto was the only exception that wasn't related to the pack that she once lead. "I don't know - I thought I would lead my father's pack forever, as silly as that sounds." No leader lasted forever - perhaps her days of leading were over, she was barely half way through her prime though there was no telling. "They are together now - on Nephilim." She would say, motioning toward the island that lay over the ocean before them. "I... think they'll stay together, whether under the banner of Valhalla or not I'm not sure."

"I will follow them, I'm sure. But maybe not forever." She didn't have to - she could support her family, no - she would support her family. Yet she didn't need to watch over them anymore, they didn't need her, they would appoint a new leader and Chrysanthe would accept whoever stepped forward. The healer before her had shown her that one could be supportive and be part of a different pack entirely - Themisto... did he realize what he and his question had shown her? How much she was free to do, had always been free to do? "I've always wanted a family, I thought Nephilm would be where I started one." She would say quietly, admitting something that she had been placing aside for over a year. It was never the right time for one reason or another - and now, for over the past two seasons, Gideon had been scarce, if not gone completely. She would hesitate, her gaze leaving Themisto's lovely gaze and dropping to the ground. Her voice held a guilty edge, she should have been a better wife. "Gideon's missing, I don't think he's coming back this time." Would he blame her for this? She had been his wife and... this was the first time that she was admitting out loud that he was not there and had not been there the way he should have been for so long.