First message
The field had been chosen for its openness more than anything else—wide grass, scattered wildflowers, and enough space for everyone to settle without crowding. It wasn’t formal, just a pack function in the simplest sense: a chance to meet, share space, and let the day pass without the walls of dens or homes pressing in.
She arrives a little later than the others, stepping through the edge of the tall grass where the wind moves freely. Conversation is already scattered across the field in small clusters—laughter, low voices, the occasional burst of movement as someone shifts position or calls out to another group.
The pack is spread out comfortably. No formation, no hierarchy on display, just familiarity in the way people drift near or away from each other without thinking about it.
He’s there too, not isolated, but not at the center of anything either—half-leaning back on his hands in the grass, listening more than speaking. When he notices her arrival, it’s subtle: a glance, brief acknowledgment, then nothing dramatic after that.
Someone nearby calls out something about food being passed around, and the attention of the group shifts easily with it. A shared pause, a shared moment, nothing more structured than that.
She finds a place to sit naturally, as if she’s always been part of the spacing the group unconsciously left open.
And just like that, the field keeps moving around them—easy, ordinary, uninterrupted.