He knew that distancing himself from Aranea was the right choice, no matter how difficult it was. Besides the obvious guilt he felt of feeling like he had created an even deeper divide between Aranea and her children, he had finally realized that it wasn't healthy for him either. All of the back and forth, the flip flop of it all, hadn't been good for him and he knew it wasn't good for his children. If he had felt like there was a stable future in the cards for that relationship he might have pursued it more seriously, but he couldn't do that and feel good about it morally. His biggest commitment would always be do his pups and he needed to know that whenever he did decide to move on to someone else more permanently it would be with someone who could be a good mother for them as well.

It felt like a miracle that Ezra was finally starting to come around and he could see the boy's spirits begin to brighten. He knew Resin had spoken to the boy, but he had no idea what she had told him. Whatever it was, it had seemingly worked. There was still the obvious loss of his mother and sister to work through, but he no longer felt like they were constantly fighting. Maybe it was because he no longer felt so strained and was able to turn his attention away from Ezra for a moment that he really began to focus more on how his other children were coping. Jane still seemed mostly unfazed and as cheerful as ever - something he was grateful for. He could see traces of Fihona around and had seen her in passing, but nothing seemed too concerning as of yet.

Where he really felt like he needed to focus his attention was on Emile. The boy had been noticeably absent and detached as of late and Ulric knew he wanted to try and help sooner rather than later. He hadn't cut it off at the pass with Ezra and that had only boiled to a raging intensity before he noticed and it was too late for him to handle it. He went looking for his brindled boy after he finished his usual morning patrols, going back up to the hall that was lined with the rooms each of his children had claimed and walking over to Emile's. He nudged the door open gently, tapping on the wood with his paw like a knock. "Emile? Are you in here?"

Walk | "Talk" | think

There weren't exactly any other places Emile could be expected to be seen anymore, he had started holing up in his room nearly every day, he wouldn't necessarily let his father know that. He'd been careful to give him at least one greeting or welcome back whenever the man left for the morning or returned from his patrols... but outside of that, he didn't exactly feel there was much left for him to leave the room for, his father was busy with his attention elsewhere... always elsewhere and his only friend Bowen had gone off... abandoned once again, just like he had been by anyone he'd cared about since his mother had disappeared... just the first to abandon him. So maybe he was further into his own turmoil than his father realized, it wasn't exactly something he could nip in the bud when it had fully blossomed in his own heart... he simply wasn't showing it the way his brother had. He wasn't not angry, he had resentment, yes but he was more encompassed by deep aching grief than by any of the anger he felt about the lot life had dealt him. But that did mean he was in his room when his father knocked. Emile screwed his eyes closed and groaned, pushing out of the pile of textiles he'd made into a nest of sorts... a little nest he could burry himself into to shut out the rest of the world, where he'd stay most of the day, sleeping mostly. "Coming." He did his best to quickly groom himself, knowing he probably looked like he had slept through the day... which was true... and that he hadn't eaten in some time... also true, before he finally figured he looked well enough he wouldn't worry his father and swung the door open, lifting forest green gaze up to the man. It had been some time since he'd been close enough to his father to really notice how much he'd grown in comparison to him, though Ulric would always be taller than himself Emile realized with a start he didn't need to crane his neck back to look at his father's face. The young boy adopted a smile, the easy lie he'd mastered for greeting his father every day. "You were looking for me?" "Speech"

Art by Sigath

Ulric heard Emile's voice calling to him from within the room so he paused, lingering just outside the door while he waited for his son to appear. He heard a bit of muffled rustling from behind the still mostly closed door and he lifted a curious brow as seconds began to tick by. He waited patiently though all while wondering to himself what it was his son was doing and what might be keeping him. He glanced toward a window that opened up to the outside world at the end of the corridor and saw that the sun was now high in the sky. Had Emile been in here all the way through to mid day? He could have sworn that he had seen the boy earlier that morning...

Just as the thought crossed his mind Emile opened the door and he brought his silver gaze back down to meet the boy's emerald eyes. He returned Emile's smile, though now that his concern was first and foremost on his mind, Ulric could see now how the smile didn't quite reach his son's eyes. "I was," he confirmed with a nod. "I haven't seen you around so I wanted to come check on you." Again, with his worries over his son's well being as his main focus in this moment, he could notice some things that perhaps his son didn't want him to notice - some spots on his back where his fur stuck up in odd places from where he had obviously been sleeping the day away, the slight outline of his ribs that spoke to the fact that he hadn't been taking care of himself. A little pang of guilt twisted at his gut for not coming to check on Emile sooner, but with everything that had gone on in the pack, Lilith still recovering from her seasons long illness, Ezra lashing out and unwilling to attend his training... His attention had been pulled in a thousand different directions. He knew that would only become more true as he stepped into his new role.

"I was just about to go down to the store rooms and get something to eat. Would you like to join me?" he asked, the nod of his head and his tone suggesting that it wasn't really a question as much as a strong suggestion. He didn't know exactly what was going on just yet, but he was determined to at least get Emile away from his room for a bit so they could talk.

Walk | "Talk" | think