Satu's jaunty trot once more carried her into Ludicael lands, a hare clasped lightly in her jaws. The brief foray into lands afar had temporarily sated her hunger for adventure. Well, less sated and more mildly appeased. Now her still-recovering body demanded rest so she was returning to Ludicael to sleep off her long run. She'd stopped to hunt on her way back, thus the hare, and she was on her way to Novella's den with the intention of offering the meal to her since she'd filled up already with a couple squirrels before catching the big lagomorph.
Dropping the hare outside the den, she called out a cheerful, "Hey, Novella, you home?" to her younger cousin.
There was no denying it now, the Destruction girl was definitely coming into heat. She felt slightly different this time around a confusing feeling that she simply couldn't quite place and it meant that once more she had opted to distance herself, the excuse simply that she didn't feel very well. Sooner or later she'd have to face the world again though for now she was planning on putting it off.
Novella was of course to be mistaken however, that plan certainly wouldn't go into action. The voice outside her den however was Satu and so she wouldn't ignore her cousin and instead poke her head out of the den as she greeted the brown girl with a smile. "You're back." She would declare rather cheerfully. Her cousin had also left for a little while, Novella meanwhile was currently grounded, no exploring for her. A part of her was tempted to of course though she knew better than to listen to those thoughts, multiple reasons springing to mind.
Satu's tail wagged as her cousin peeked out of the den to see her. "Hi, Novella," she greeted happily in return. "I just got back in. You hungry? I brought you a bunny." She nudged the hare with one paw, then cocked her head to the side. "So what's been up in Ludicael since I've been gone? How's the family? What sort of trouble have you been getting up to?" she teased. Out of all their family Novella seemed one of the least likely to get into any sort of trouble, really, despite her own adventurous and carefree nature. Satu just couldn't fathom the idea of Novella causing trouble, which made the comment that much more funny to Satu.
Despite her confusion she couldn't help but feel glad to see Satu there now. She was easily the cousin that she was closest too and had missed their time together, the other had been ill and before that busy babysitting her brother as he regained his memory, which meant that they hadn't really had enough time together. Now at least could begin to change that fact and the smile that crossed her features was genuine.
"Thanks." She would respond gratefully, as part of this pretending to be ill thing she hadn't actually left her den to hunt, the meal was certainly welcomed though she wouldn't eat it yet, she'd save it till after Satu had left.
Now the question would bring a sheepish look to Novella's face. It may have only been a joke but Novella had gotten herself into a fair bit of trouble as of late. "My parents have banned me from leaving Ludicael for a month." Novella responded, she wasn't sure she wanted to retell the entire tale but she supposed she had to so that Satu could understand why, the question was bound to come after all. "I brought a rogue home to join the pack one night and we sort of fell asleep in my den. My mum found us the next morning after I'd missed my lesson, let's just say she and dad weren't exactly happy."
Satu beamed as Novella accepted her gift, but then her smile twisted up into confusion as Novella's expression changed to... guilt? Sheepishness? What was this? Novella had gotten in trouble? Her cousin went on to explain, and Satu's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Wait, Novella had brought a rogue home without telling her parents first? And they'd fallen asleep in her den together? And then of all things her parents found them together? Wow. "I'll bet they were. That's totally bad luck," she said sympathetically. But then a thought occurred to her, and her expression of surprised turned into sly amusement. "Was it a boy rogue?"
Symphony had been sympathetic to the entire ordeal, sticking up for Novella and Frith as they were scolded by Novel and Dutiron. It hadn't done too much good though to be honest she was still thankful for the gesture all the same. Satu now would express the same feeling, it was too late to do anything now and at least they'd gotten off rather lightly on punishments really, she couldn't complain too much.
At her cousin's next comment however Novella would shift emotions from grateful to a slightly more embarrassed feeling. Symphony had perhaps made the guess that she and Frith were more than friends though they weren't, not then and not now either. So why the blushing now? She would ignore the thought and simply respond to Satu, her voice calm as she spoke. "Yeah, his name's Frith. They still let him join in the end thankfully."
The embarrassed expression her question drew from her cousin caused a gleeful smile to stretch Satu's muzzle. Was that a blush beneath the white wolf's fur? "Oh ho ho," Satu crowed. "Aunt Novel and Uncle Dutiron found you with a boy in your den? And all you got was grounded? You are soooo lucky." Her grin was mischievous as she reached out to nudge the younger girl. "You have to tell me more, Novella! Is he nice? Is he haaaaandsooome?"
She giggled brightly, then sobered up a little. A very, very little. She flopped herself down next to her cousin and stared at her in interest. "Seriously though, is he cute? You can't leave me hanging like this!"
Satu was having far too much fun with this she decided. The fact that Novella was in trouble and in trouble for sleeping with a boy. Oh how long would it take to live this one down she wondered? "It's not like anything happened Satu, we just fell asleep." She would remind her cousin, she was certainly still in trouble however.
She would have liked to roll her eyes at her cousin's insistence with the question on Frith's looks. Something within her however bubbled up, Satu couldn't stake a claim on him if he was, which of course he was, it was useless to deny such a thing. She figured Satu was more after teasing rights however and as much as she wished to avoid it, her cousin knew her too well and would likely notice the slight embarrassment spreading over her once more. "I guess so."
Novella's insistence that nothing had happened brought a lopsided smile to Satu's muzzle. She was still pretty much indifferent to the opposite sex despite having just turned four, but that didn't mean she was completely blind and deaf. "Well why not?" she asked, with no teasing whatsoever. "You like him, don't you? You wouldn't have brought him home if you didn't like him. And he's cute... I guess... so what's holding you back?" She cocked her head curiously at her younger cousin, chocolate brown eyes intent. "Does he have bad breath or something? Cross-eyed? Bad temper? No, you wouldn't like him if he had a bad temper." She raised her eye brows at Novella, inviting her to speak up.
Once more, this was far too much fun for one of the pair, for Novella it was simply awkward. "Why not?" She repeated her cousin's question rhetorically. "He's my friend Satu. He just wanted a home." She explained, of course relationships could begin from friendships though certainly lacking experience in the area she hadn't really considered the idea. Satu continued however, and Novella would fall quiet, only a small sigh perhaps a sign of her lack of argument.
The smile would soon return to her features however as Satu thought of possible things that might be wrong with the boy and she would scoff lightly at the list. "No." She responded simply but there was nothing else that she could really say. There wasn't anything that she found wrong with the boy after all. She truly hadn't considered the idea of him being anything other than a friend though and whilst Satu had jumped to the conclusion Novella still had no idea. Even if she did want it to be more than a friendship though, how on earth did a romantic relationship even begin to grow?
