asleep at the wheel [fiori meeting & recruiting]

speech,

Athena tended to spend her days lounging in the shade of the mangroves these days, especially now that winter had come and a dusting of snow coated the ground and made this place feel even more like home. She liked to be available for any of her children or her wife, although these days it seemed those visits from any of them were growing fewer and fewer. Amalia had become so immersed in her studies that it felt like Ama was a ghost that only appeared when they were going to sleep. Athena wasn't blind, she could see something was wrong and she could feel the distance between them growing and as much as it hurt she couldn't for the life of her figure out what to do about it. Her boys were grown now, they didn't need her as much as she wished they did. She did get to see a good bit of Ritselli and occasionally Abby even though the purple girl spent a majority of her time with Bacchus.

Suddenly a howl cut through the air and interrupted her saddening thoughts. She sighed and pulled herself onto her paws so she could shake the snow from her thick coat before she trotted off to the meeting. By the time she arrived she saw the woman she was pretty sure was named Novel with her two boys as well as one of her own sons, Amalia, and Pip. She made a small mental note to actually introduce herself to Novel at some point before going up to Pip with a small smile. She still wasn't quite sure where she stood with the alpha, but she knew that Epiphron's head sentries had recently left so perhaps this could be her chance to make herself useful. "Hello, Pip, it's good to see you again," she said as she dipped her head respectfully. "I would like to speak with you at some point if you don't mind too much. Perhaps after the meeting or after you've spoken at least?" She gave Pip another smile and then took her leave to go sit with what of her small family had gathered so far.

She gave Bacchus a quick nuzzle and a lick on the cheek first, happy to see that one of her largest sons had been so prompt to the meeting, before coming over to sit next to Amalia who was leaning into their son's side. She gave Ama a little smile, hoping it didn't seem too forced, and leaned down to gently press her nose to Ama's cheek. Her heart was aching with a need to make her girl happy again, but she just didn't know how. Sighing softly she put her personal matters to the back of her mind so she could focus on the meeting and lifted her gaze to look for the rest of her children.