YOU'RE ONLY AS SICK AS YOUR SECRETS
Her brother is not the first to meet her at the cave. Aela's eyes move first to the raptor that lands and the way that its feather rise, the way that its molten gaze regards her. Even if she can't see Reave yet, she knows that the Nerinian leader is nearby. Her usual expression of indifference changes slightly as she studies the creature, taking note of its size and how much it had appeared to have grown since their last meeting.
She sighs, turning away from the eagle as the minutes continue to pass. (Aela likes Reave. But she doesn't like anybody enough to be kept waiting for long.) Her flaxen tail whips against her golden haunches, the only outward sign of her irritation.
Finally. @[Reave] emerges with his ivory bones catching on the sunlight. Aela - who had been lingering on one side of the cave - takes step towards the center. Her lovely head lifts and tilts towards one side, taking a moment to appreciate Reave's growth as much as she had noted his companion. Those bones made him a jarring figure, made him appear as something harsh and brutal even when Aela suspects that chestnut might have the same soft heart as the mother they share.
But the slow grin is inspiring.
Perhaps not.
Aela offers a cool smile in reply, "Oh, do show darling." Her blue eyes brighten and flash mischievously. She had hoped that he would be stirring up trouble; when she had come across Nashua and the two had so viciously argued, she had told herself that Reave would be worth it. The pretty smile that she shares with her half-brother could make a beggar out of a king. And to sweeten it, she adds: "and perhaps I'll tell you what I've been up to."
