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The wood was smooth underneath her fingers, and the beautiful optime woman traced lazy circles on its worn surface with one sharp claw. Her meager weight was easily supported against the banister, and the she-dog's emerald eyes looked lazily to the rolling fields of brilliant green about her. Shaded by the balcony of the hotel, Alaine let the silence settle deep and soothing over her, a blanket of solitude. Caillen was upstairs, sleeping off the mixture of herbs she'd crushed into a poultice to try and ease his coughing. Her poor son had been very ill before she'd been brought here, but the now constant flow of food and comfort of a home was beginning to bring health back to the young boy's adorable features.


It had been a while since she'd seen another adult. The pack seemed out and about, too busy with their own doings to wonder or worry about the young single mother they'd left under house arrest. Sure, she'd been attempting to thieve from them less than a few nights before, but those had been desperate times! Aware of her boundaries within the house (the exotic lady would do nothing to put her position here in peril, not with winter on it's way), Alaine resisted the urge to wander out into the miles of land, shift into her lupus form and run recklessly with the wind that combed through her wild tangle of rich auburn-copper curls. Instead she remained in position at the hotel's entrance, the soft, faded linen dress she'd found in a chest upstairs billowing prettily about long, slender legs. All the while, those keen jade eyes remained alert, waiting for something... Someone... Anyone?


I'm supposed to be proving myself as an adequate healer... How can I do that if there is no one here to heal?


Her thoughts settled a disquiet on slender cream shoulders, and, scratching absently at a scabbed-over wound on her left shoulder, Alaine sighed heftily. Boredom was an unfamiliar feeling to the girl, whom had not had the opportunity to allow herself it for quite some time. Still, her hands fluttered restlessly, and the silence began to bug Alaine till she feared it would crush the very voice from her. Moving to lean against the thick, rotting door frame, the too-young mother sniffed petulantly. With another huffy sigh, she finally succumbed to boredom, and began to hum softly to herself. The tune was strange, foreign, but extremely alluring; A siren's call in the midday stillness. Without words, the music broke her free of silent chamber; remembering the strange melody as if she'd heard it but the day before, Alaine shut her eyes and enjoyed the sweet swell of sound.


Besides, there was nobody else around to hear her... Right?

Speak think walk!

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For a while, the young mother seemed lost in her own little world of music, seemingly oblivious to the world beyond. But when faint voices drifted merrily from across the sloping green, the collie-husky lady's tufted ears perked in interest, her jade eyes growing narrow as the scanned the surrounds for the owner of such voices.


Alaine spotted the little puppies first. One was darker, her pretty little face turned towards Chien hotel. The other was a little ivory male, and though they seemed to be talking at he same time, she didn't see their mother until a moment later. Immediately aware that she'd been seen, as the other woman was now swiftly approaching, Alaine straightened and set a pretty smile on her face. Trying hard to ignore the twists of nervousness and worry in her gut, the young woman tried to appear submissive. She didn't want to anger this other member of the pack.


" Good morn, ma'am. What darling children you have!"


Her voice was thick with that strange accent, not the romantic swirl of the French that mother and children had been speaking, but of something from far away. Alaine's tone was soft, a sweet swell of musical sound. Embarrassed by the thought that she might have been heard singing, the young mother felt a blush creep up under the fur of her cheekbones.

Speak think walk!

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The other woman seemed surprised by her voice, and Alaine felt self-conscious for a moment. She'd almost forgotten about her accent, she'd been here alone for seemingly so long! Like a few others she had met, the stranger spoke with a faintly French tone, a sound the cream lady found rather pretty. Ayita. She made a mental note to remember the older woman's name.


" Pleased to meet you, Amaranth and Kable," She spoke gently, emerald eyes growing soft at the sight of the two frolicking children. They reminded her so much of her own Caillen, " I have a son, too... But he is rather unwell, and has needed a lot of sleep lately. Perhaps he might play with you sometime!"


Slowly, she stepped further out onto the balcony, and smiled meekly and submissively at the other lady. She was rather pretty, with her long dark hair, and alaine suspected that she was considered very highly within the pack. Miss Ayita seemed to have that certain grace about her, that the young cream mother recognised easily. Alaine fiddled with her own copper curls nervously.


" Very nice to make your acquaintance, Lady Ayita. I am Alaine, Alaine Winters... Me and my son have only been here a few days. Might I be able to help you with anything?"

Speak think walk!

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" Oh, it's no problem."


She replied casually, smiling at the older woman. Alaine didn't mind the little pups and their antics at all - she hoped to see her son, when he was better, playing with such gusto. They really were a cute little pair, in any case. To Ayita's offer, the young mother looked pleasantly surprised, and took a few steps closer to the black-haired lady.


" That is so kind of you! I'm sure it would help his throat very much, if you would."


The stranger introduced herself as Ayita, and mentioned her search for something to help heal her infected wound. Alaine's fingers twitched and she cringed as the other woman shower her the ghastly cut, and she gingerly crouched down to get a better look at it.


" Thank you, Ayita... That is quite a nasty infection you've got there..." She straightened to look the other in the eye once more, though she was slightly shorter than Ayita, " If you wouldn't mind, I could have a look at that for you. It might need one or two stitched just to hold it together, and I've got some good herb poultices that I've been using to treat my son. They would clear up that infection nicely..."


She gestured back to the hotel, and considered running up to get the little back of medical supplies she had. It would probably be better to have Ayita sit down, though, if she accepted the cream lady's offer to put in one or two stitches.

Speak think walk!

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" No, not at all! Please, sit down."


Trying to sound amiable, Alaine smiled prettily at the older woman. Ayita was very beautiful, with all her long dark hair. Absently toying with one of her own coppery-auburn curls, the young mother thought wistfully of having just long and thick hair. But when Ayita grimaced as she sat down, Alaine immediately chastised herself for taking so long. She should be healing this poor woman, not thinking about how pretty her hair was!


She crouched down, and began to absently poke about Ayita's cut, trying to be as gently as possible. It was necessary, to see how bad the infection was, and how much bruising had already taken place. While she examined the wound, Alaine spoke cheerfully in reply to Ayita's question, trying to distract the older woman from any pain.


" T'was my son, actually... We traveled here from a pretty far way, and were in bad shape. His illness was worse than it is now, and I... I was rather banged up," Her expression remained masked, not allowing any of the horrors in her memories to slip forth. She'd never told anyone the truth about why she'd come here, and didn't know Ayita well enough to trust her with it, either, " I tried to steal a calf, down near Chien Hotel. A big black and white brute found me, and I thought he was going to hurt us... But we got accepted into the pack, because I told him about my healing skills."


From what she'd heard, the Cour des Miracles pack had had a healer sort once before... But whomever she was, she was gone now. Nobody cared to tell Alaine about this 'Svara', and Alaine wasn't curious enough to ask. Quickly rising, she dashed back into the hotel, and came back out with her little healer's pouch. Smiling gingerly at Ayita, she pulled from it a hand-carved needle and some thin twine.


" This is going to hurt a bit... But I need to give it some stitches before I can cleanse it properly. Is that alright?"

Speak think walk!

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Alaine looked surprised at Ayita's mention of living with Leroy. The big dark male had a mate? Did that mean that these children, Ayita's children, were also his? The slender collie-woman frowned slightly in confusion - She'd never have picked Leroy for the father/husband type. She nodded when the other woman gave her permission for Alaine to do the stitches, and the too-young mother immediately crouched down to survey the wound a final time.


One floppy chocolate ear flicked forwards to listen to Ayita, the lady had a very pleasant voice with it's strange accent. She seemed to think rather fondly of this Leroy, though there might have been a note of sadness to her tone. Just as the wolf-lady finished talking Alaine began to stitch the wound, and knowing it would be pretty painful in the infected wound, gave Ayita an apologetic look.


" Sorry, I know this hurts, but it'll heal much better this way. Just keep your leg still for me, I've only got one left to do..."


With a flourish of her hand, the cream collie-woman finished the final stitch, and broke the thread with a need tug. She smiled prettily up at Ayita, and began to rummage through her healing bag for the materials she would need to make a poultice.


" So, you and Leroy... Is it love?"

Speak think walk!