It didn't bother him that Hotaru enjoyed such things. If anything, he'd leaned on her experience and expertise with such social gatherings more than once, and he appreciated having a best friend who could help him out with such events. Not that he would usually admit it, of course, in their usual course of banter and teasing. But he had lived in chosen isolation too long to ever by truly comfortable in crowds and parties, and he had spent too much time among his dogs and their joyful honesty to ever understand the clever human intrigues so at home in the halls of power and politics. As others might rely on him to guide them over the featureless Tundra or the Sea of Glass, so he relied on Hotaru to guide him through the baffling jungle of social niceties that he kept finding himself in.
If any of the questions she was asking had easy answers, he knew she would have already found them. All he could do was hold her close and wish he was more clever, or more experienced, or at least just a little wiser, so that he could offer her something to ease her troubled heart.
The logs in the fire shifted and Boreal rolled over to poke them back in with a swift, pale claw so the humans wouldn't be interrupted. Tal stayed quiet, thinking fiercely as Hotaru answered his question in her own time and from her heart, and he gave her a small squeeze of appreciation when he was on the short, exclusive list. "I dunno how t'fill that kinda space, either," he admitted slowly. "Except t'just keep tryin' new things until you find ones that feel right for where y'are now." He found a small smile, lips curving against her head. "An' a vacation sounds like a good time t'explore stuff. Y'could take up basket weavin', or sword smithin'... or, hail, y'could even sign on as an apprentice courier," he teased lightly. "See new places, meet interestin' people, get chased by molten tigers..."
If any of the questions she was asking had easy answers, he knew she would have already found them. All he could do was hold her close and wish he was more clever, or more experienced, or at least just a little wiser, so that he could offer her something to ease her troubled heart.
The logs in the fire shifted and Boreal rolled over to poke them back in with a swift, pale claw so the humans wouldn't be interrupted. Tal stayed quiet, thinking fiercely as Hotaru answered his question in her own time and from her heart, and he gave her a small squeeze of appreciation when he was on the short, exclusive list. "I dunno how t'fill that kinda space, either," he admitted slowly. "Except t'just keep tryin' new things until you find ones that feel right for where y'are now." He found a small smile, lips curving against her head. "An' a vacation sounds like a good time t'explore stuff. Y'could take up basket weavin', or sword smithin'... or, hail, y'could even sign on as an apprentice courier," he teased lightly. "See new places, meet interestin' people, get chased by molten tigers..."
