Gwen didn't mind Sirius tagging along. In a way, she almost felt responsible for him because he was hired to find her. But since he was a guest, he was free to leave whenever he wanted.
Jeim was running around playing with some of the other kids in the tribe while Rhes watched them from outside their tent. She smiled and waved at Gwen and Sirius as they approached. “Hello there! Morning training finished already?”
Sirus would've told her that she didn't need to feel that way about him, but since he didn't know, that was irrelevant. What was relevant now was the small boy from the previous evening, and the boy's overly perceptive mother. Mother… the word brought a small twinge of pain that was quickly shoved down into a tiny box at his core, not wanting to think of the implications of the word, or personification, in relevance to himself.
Gwen smiled back at the other woman, ruffling Jeim’s hair as he ran past. “Yeah. Corbin had me and Sirius spar after a quick target practice.”
Rhes raised a brow slightly at that and gave Sirius a slight look. “Really? Must have been an interesting fight.” she commented.
Sirus rolled his eyes without giving much of an answer to the lady, "She's a decent fighter." he said softly after a long moment, figuring that not answering would just be rude.
“He beat me.” Gwen admitted plainly, trying to ignore the heat on her face at the compliment.
Rhes chuckled a little but wasn't surprised by Gwen’s news. She smiled gently at Sirius. “Thank you. She was an eager student, according to my husband. And I know he's a good teacher.” she responded.
Sirus nodded in return, seeming slightly amused by the heat on Gwens face, but otherwise emotionally blank. In truth, Rhes' kindness set him on edge, and he felt the older woman was better at subtly calling him out for old, lessthan great habits, and more importantly, was better at guessing why they were there. "Truthfully the biggest advantage I have on her is experience, otherwise it's a fairly even match hand to hand." he said calmly, leaving unspoken his opinion on what may have happened had there been weapons, or if he had shifted.
“Oh, I’m sure.” Rhes agreed since it was very likely that he had been fighting for much longer compared to the sheltered life Gwen had before joining the tribe.
To avoid further embarrassment, Gwen scurried past Rhes into the tent to check on the water and bring out any buckets that needed to be refilled.
Sirus hadn't meant to embarrass her, though he also didn't realize that was how she felt as he stood outside the tent like a black shadow that didn't belong there, suddenly feeling out of place as he had no clue what he should be doing, if anything at all.
Rhes chuckled at the young girl’s antics and shook her head. “Don’t worry. You are very welcome here anytime.” she assured him. “Gwen just doesn't get many direct compliments on her fighting aside from my family and a few others.”
Sirus nodded quietly, still feeling awkward as he moved off to the side and out of the path, trying not to seem as out of place as he felt.
Rhes smiled at the bounty hunter. “You know, you're only as out of place as you feel.” she said, easily reading his body language. “If you act like that, then just about everyone can tell you're a stranger. But if you act like you've always been here, people won't look at you twice.”
Sirus nodded in quiet acceptance of this info, silently plopping himself down in an effort to be less conspicuous. For the most part he also kept his mouth shut, not wanting to reveal more than he had to in the presence of this perceptive woman. Of course if he had responded it would've been to point out that it was hard to act like you belonged anywhere when you were raised to believe you didn't belong in your own skin.
Rhes nodded a little, approving of his effort. She did find it a little odd that a bounty hunter didn't already know that lesson. It seemed like something he should have learned early in his line of work.
Before she could ponder this train of thought much longer, Gwen emerged from the tent carrying two empty buckets.
This was a fair point, and quite honestly it wasn't something he had to employ often, relying more on actual hiding or doing work quickly and effectively over hiding in plain sight. Sirus of course wasn't about to ponder this for long, already rising to his feet to follow Gwen.
“You can stay here a bit longer if you want.” Gwen told him when she noticed him starting to stand. “I just have to get one bucket from my tent, then we can go over to the river.” she explained.
Sirus shook his head, "It's alright." he said quietly. I'll feel less awkward if I'm moving anyway…
“Your choice.” Gwen shrugged in nonchalance and started walking to her tent. “See you in a bit, Rhes.”
“Take care. It was nice talking to you, Sirus.” Rhes smiled warmly.
Sirus nodded in response to Rhes, and kept quiet as he followed Gwen, the warmth coming from the older female making him feel… not necessarily uncomfortable, but rather her warmth brought up emotions that were unfamiliar and therefore less than comfortable and more than a little confusing.
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(So, quick thing (Not to be mean I swear!! As far as I know it's just an autocorrect thing or smth), Sirus name is not spelled with 2 "i"s. And it's pronounced how it's spelled (I totally understand if it's autocorrecting on you if you're using a phone/tablet tho, it does that to me too.).
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And before u ask, yes Sirus' name is based off of the Harry Potter character Sirius Black.
I actually mispronounced Sirius' name as "Sirus" (Or Cyrus, for alternate spelling) for the longest time and gave my chara the same name cause I was going for similar vibes, and I didn't realize the mispronunciation until I FINALLY watched the movies, since I never actually said it out loud when reading the books)
Gwen raised a brow slightly at Sirus but didn't break her stride. “What did you and m- Rhes talk about?”
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(😳 Oops! Sorry, it is mostly autocorrect on my phone but it's also my dumb self being forgetful…)
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(I had a small suspicion about the base for your character, and I don't blame you for it. Honestly, I never read the books but I have seen the movies so… I think I get the vibes you were going for.)
(Yeah, at first I was thinking, oo! Black fur, dark pack, dark origin story! =Sirus!! and then later when I learned more about Sirius origins, (Canon origins not in the books)… it just.. it fits even more than it did originally. And then of course I named Sirus' future kid Damian after the youngest Robin.)
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(and don't worry about it! I just wasn't sure if you knew you were doing it or not… It's okay if u forget once in awhile, also for the autocorrect thing, try putting the name in your personal dictionary. It's not a 100% fix, but it does help.)
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Sirus blinked up at her for a moment, then shrugged, "Nothing much." he said quietly, wanting them to be out in the woods so he could shift and go back to not talking without being rude.
(Very nice. I’ll try that with the dictionary, hopefully it will help.)
(Hey… Should we do the attack soon or the next day?)
Gwen nodded a little, setting the two buckets down outside her tent. “You’re a literal shadow, aren't you?” she chuckled, going back to easy teasing.
(Maybe later this evening? After their second sparring match.)
(And good luck w the dictionary!)
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Sirus shrugged, "Well I am a shadow wolf." he said softly, "It only makes sense."
(Ok then. Want any of the hunters to have magic?)
Gwen chuckled. “I guess so. I just meant that your personality also fits.” she explained as she ducked inside. “You’re often quiet, mysterious, and follow me everywhere.”
(Maybe? If they do it'll be like, 1-2 goons, 4 max, and they'd be high level bandits.)
Sirus shrugged, "I like the being in the background of things…" he said softly, It's safer, less painful… and it's not like I've really been given the chance to do much more than that… Coming out of the shadows now… he trailed off, shoving away the memories of flashing claws and fangs.
(Ok. Honestly, though I don’t have a magic system so… I’ll leave it up to you if you want magic users in the attack.)
Gwen shook her head softly as she walked back out with the bucket. “Well, it's your choice I guess. Personally, I can’t stand just being in the background… Being invisible…” she trailed off before forcefully shaking away the thought.