“Don’t be such a hog, give her here!” She waved her arms excitedly to hurry Niro along, then straight up reached for the silver puppy and took her from Niro’s hands. She collected her up to her chest, her arms and the puppy’s rump resting perfectly over the bump in her belly. “Tasha… like mom…” She muttered airily as she stared down into the child’s cute little face. “She even looks like her.” She nuzzled the child gently and gave her a little lick on the nose.
When Niro’s eyes had turned to her for confirmation of what he was trying to teach his daughter, Orin simply shook her head and said jokingly, “Niro, why would you call your own sister a bug? That’s a little insensitive, isn’t it?” The last part she said to the pup as though they were conspirators, then giggled.
When her golden eyes met the deep emerald gaze of her brother a small pang of guilt struck her, so she gave an animated and playful sigh and knelt down. Setting Tasha down, she rubbed her palm over the dirt to smooth it out. “This is what he means… Ant, like the bug, is spelled like this; A-N-T. Aunt, like your family member, like me, is spelled like this; A-U-N-T. See?” As she explained it, she drew out the letters in the dirt, then looked at Niro wondering if he had taught her her letters or reading yet. “Why don’t you try to copy it?” She suggested to the puppy as she stood up and brushed her hands off, though some of the brown never quite left her palms.
“D’Arte has changed its focus a lot, we’re a trading pack now,” she said, a not-so-smooth segue into telling him why she was out here. “We try to keep up good pack relations, so I’ve been traveling a lot.” If this was her excuse, her story had a lot of holes in it; like why didn’t she have any merchandise with her?
“But… really… I’ve come here to clear my head. Things have been… strange… It’s so good to see you too, it’s like you just appeared right here, right when I needed you again.” A hand fell on his shoulder and then gave his arm a little squeeze before she walked slowly past him to gaze out over the lake. The troubles returned to her and were reflected in her eyes. She didn’t even know quite where to begin.
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