ooc: Ice breaker, anyone? 
The perks that came with leadership had yet to be experienced until the invitation was received by Nayru and herself. A gathering for all the heads of the pack to join, socialize and be merry, which of course awarded opportunities for the heads to get better acquainted and perhaps bridge relations. The woman believed herself ahead of the game by already knowing Cavalarie’s lead Jazper, but far behind in knowing none others. While Inferni’s borders had been a frequent haunt of hers whilst visiting her friend and student, she hadn’t the unique pleasure of meeting the ruler that corralled the coyote hybrids to their call. She had hoped to put a face to this nameless force and perhaps assess if this ruler was a threat to be cautious of.
But outside of appeasing her own curiosities, this was a splendid opportunity to work on socializing with others. Though she was kind by her perception, she didn’t believe she harbored the necessary social grace that came with this newly bequeathed rank, nor did she understand how to conduct herself in the presence of leads. She could only assume they commanded a certain respect as all Alpha orient individuals did, as well as a bit of candor when speaking of certain topics. She had watched her father speak with their familiar heads whenever they neared their lands, but found it utterly boring while they talked politics and bartered for things she couldn’t be bothered to understand. Her attention was only peaked when they discussed trading off members of their pack to mate with their neighbors. She ever cared because she dreaded whom among her warrior family she would have to bid farewell. Hopefully this engagement was nothing like that…
Nayru was relatively calm about the engagement, conducting herself as a Lady of her caliber should with not an ounce of worry on her face. The Seiki was more than willing to follow this example but found it difficult to dispel her nervousness and took to fiddling with a hoof of a young fawn slung across her shoulder. Lady Nayru was more subtle with her gift for the gathering; assorted bottles of wines from Ichika’s orchards. Perhaps the Nomad could have done better to provide something more to compliment the Ryu’s offering… their local cannabis perhaps, or maybe herbs. But the deer felt right… mainly because the decision was greatly influenced by her mate and she was much more confident about his opinion on these matters than her own.
But she couldn’t play the part of a nervous woman now, and forced herself to stop toying with the hoof as they neared the tent. She motioned for the Lady Nayru to proceed first before coming in quietly behind her, lingering to the back of the gathering in the hopes of not garnering attention until she found her nerve. ‘You’re breathing loudly…’ the woman nearly jumped in place at the soft spoken word of her companion set precariously on her fox-furred shoulder. How she had forgotten he was there was beyond her… none the less it had happened. She cut the owl a hardened glance from her peripheral before hoisting the venison higher up on her opposite shoulder. “I am not,” she contested in a whisper, then fell silent as their host made his opening speech.
The greeting was swift and to the point, leaving more opportunity for the foreign attendees to greet and mingle with each other, but still X’yrin lingered to the rear of the tent, again trying to collect herself. She combed back the loose bangs from her eyes and inhaled the mingled scents of the foreign leads. She shouldn’t have been nervous, she knew this for certain. It was a gathering, nothing more, no different than the dancing tent she frequented. She had to believe that, if she wanted to overcome this bout of frighten. And so she breathed deeply again and proceeded with a quiet step forward toward the section meant for their pack offerings. She followed her Lady’s lead and placed the young deer beside the offering of wine and felt a tremendous weight leave her shoulder. His perch now unoccupied, her nameless companion set himself aloft then settled on his usual side, relieved to no longer have the various hanging furs beneath his talons. ‘Most talk at gatherings…’ he offered knowingly, earning a peculiar look from his companion. “How would you know that?”
The bird had fallen silent then, turning his a full 90 degrees away then tucked himself within his down, falling quiet and useless. Despite her confusion, she knew he was right. Standing idle and simple wouldn’t accomplish thing other than looking just like that. She needed to speak… but to who? When all the faces but Jazper and Nayru looked unfamiliar, who acquaintance would she choose to make? Yet despite her earlier proactive intentions, the Nomad was left to stand bothering the tail end of her braid as she watched others interact and be social.