Hush. A name that suggested a quiet nature, and Sleek wasn’t quite sure if that was appropriate for the girl that sat opposite him, eyes freely roaming his physique even as his gazed at her. All the same, he liked the name. It was easy to remember and simple enough in a land that seemed to be filled with complicated names given for deities and the like. Yes, Sleekwing found himself coming to enjoy this Hush more and more as the minutes passed between them. It was good to meet new faces.

As silence filled the air for just a moment too long, he nearly apologized for his earlier question, fearing he had perhaps pried too much for a first time meeting. But when she rose to her feet, shaking away the anxiety that had visibly stiffened her bodice, her eyes returned to him and relief swept through Sleekwing’s belly. She did not look upon him with dismissal – she was not rising to leave his company so soon. And then she spoke of the trials life had thrown in her direction recently – an attack by a maddened wolf. Her definitive glance pierced his eyes and his ears flicked forward attentively. Immediately thereafter a single audit rotated backwards, listening to the movements of nature around them. It would seem they were still alone. Perhaps for the first time in a while she could have an easy, normal day that consisted merely of making a new friend in him.

Her attention waned then as she brought up yesterday. No details were given, just a generalization – awful and confusing. His brow furrowed, how could so many terrible things befall this lovely shewolf? She seemed genuinely pleasant and easy to get along with. Fate had a weird way of messing things up for the good guys and giving undeserved gifts to those who were of a cruel nature.

When her gaze lifted again her smile had vanished. She asked him a question he could not possibly know the answer to, not really anyways. He had not felt the joy and torment of imprinting. But his father had tried to explain the phenomenon to him. And so he would do his best to relay the information to her, for in all his silence as he listened to her words he could detect that she merely wanted to understand what in the world was happening to her. A slight grin tugged at the corner of one side of his maw. “Unfortunately, I cannot give you a firsthand account. But my parents were blessed by the magic of imprinting,” he said, his words softer than those which he had previously spoke, handling the topic with delicate paws. “My father said when his gaze first met my mother’s, the axis of his entire world shifted to her heart. He felt, and still feels, a compulsion to do anything for her. Whether that is keep her warm on the coldest of nights as she shivers in the den or to go as far away from her as possible if that was what she were to request, he would do it despite the pain it would cause him.” He paused for a moment, feeling that his words lacked conviction. He couldn’t explain it the way Alcide had, the tenacity with which he had described it could not be matched. “She is his everything, and he will be anything for her,” he concluded, hoping this would help her to understand.

His gaze had shifted while he spoke, looking off into the distance. A certain longing tugged at his chest, an innate desire to find his own imprint rooted deep in his history. Taking a long breath, he exhaled it completely before returning his eyes to her, wanting for her reaction to his attempt at an explanation. He could only assume that she was the victim of an imprinting she did not agree with. And he only wondered what the male could have done to push her away, for from his understanding it would tear one’s heart in two to displease one’s imprint.