She began walking towards the little garden of medicinal herbs that she had cultivated over the years, not caring much if Chiodos followed. To no surprise, he did. ”I would love to.” His words were soft, which threw Kanaya off slightly, her snake-scaled bracers continuing to walk. She was hyper-aware of his presence behind her as they walked to her haven. It passed through her mind that she had not picked a heir theta yet, who should be the first to see this cultivation of hers. Certainly, the last person she wanted to show this hobby of hers, if you will, was a mate forced upon her not only by her daughter but also the fates. She slowed, taking a deep breath in. This patch of Hawthorne was hers. Not even Damian had seen it… She was brought out of her thoughts by the youngling, at least, relative to her. ”So,” She turned her head towards him, her green eyes looking at his head, not necessarily attempting to make eye contact. ”I can’t help but notice you seem troubled by all of this.” Great – she turned her head away, but kept ears oriented towards his voice, showing she was attentive to what he was to say next.

The vampiric, gaseous reptilian canine began to pick some Echinacea, although a pretty flower to most, it was one of her most used remedies, having multiple, varied uses. ”I can’t help but notice you seem troubled by all of this.” She bit her tongue and instead thought her comment: no sh!t sherlock. He was quick to rephrase the words. ”What I mean is the tie, more so… I’m sorry.” She paused for a brief moment. He had nothing to be sorry for. ”It’s my fault, my mother and father were tied as well, so it makes sense I would have one.” Unintentionally, a quiet ‘heh’ left her mouth where more Echinacea had collected. ”I’m just glad it’s with you and not with someone outside of the treaty.” She raised her head, walking back to where he stood, before dipping her head down once again to place the healing flowers next to him in a small pile. ”You really don’t know me well, huh?” Kanaya spoke, her tone unassuming as she rose her head once more. ”I was one of the first wolves here to have a soul tie, and have children from a soul tie, likely before you were born. Perhaps before you were even thought of.” Although her words themselves were sassy, her tone was very monotone and matter-of-fact.

Kanaya began to walk over to her next patch of herbs, this time some ashwagandha, which was her go-to for wolves of the anxious type, or for those recovering from trauma. The aftermath of Phobus’s war was when she used it the most. ”This tie is not your fault, and I’m not blaming you.” She pulled some from the shrub into her maw, dropping it on the ground and repeating the process as she continued to speak, a few words at a time. ”It’s the" Rip. ”damned fates Rip. ”to blame.” Rip Upon pulling off the last bit, she collected all of the ashwagandha in her maw and walked back to Chiodos and the pile of flowers, making a secondary pile. The crimson skirted ess briefly looked at Chiodos before speaking once more. ”If anything, they tied us because of me.” She hesitated, and then refrained from saying any more. She was not going to dump all that trauma onto this youngling. Not yet, at least. Kanaya knew it would eventually have to come out, given that she was deemed to be paired with this boy by not only a pack-wide marriage pact, but also the fates. So, all that left her maw was a sigh.

Her emerald eyes scanned over the patch of land that she had called her miniature garden, going through a mental checklist. If Chiodos had begun to speak as she did so, Kan would lift her snakeskin braced front paw as if in a shushing motion. Upon her finishing her mental checklist, reflecting on what she had at her den and her theta quarters, she gave a small nod before sitting down next to the nightmare, their bodies separated by two piles of herbs she had collected. Her cranium and emerald gaze then turned to the Amaya lad, as an invitation that he could speak and respond to her particularly strong statements. Once he got those thoughts out, the brute spoke again: ”I do want to say, I’m not in a rush for anything. I’m just very thrilled to meet you and with our arrangement. I appreciate you are still humoring the tie and idea of this all, despite seeming to be unhappy.” She held back the urge to look away. She sooo needed to – Kan was unhappy. The lady had to do this for the sake of her family. ”I will do my best to grow on you. After all, Amaya laws are that women pick their mates. You haven’t picked me, so I’ll just have to try to win you over.” The smile that found its way onto his maw was certainly hesitant, tentative. He really was trying to win over a woman likely twice his age, if not older. Sure, the vampirism Kanaya now had essentially made her look as if she took a bath in the fountain of youth on a normal basis, but the crimson skirted lass would be bothered by the age difference, even if the fates were tying them together for a reason.

A soft sigh left her maw, before she spoke again, looking down towards the ground and her paws, which were tucked in close to her body. ”Chiodos, please understand that it will take me a while. It’s…“ A deep breath. ”This has been a lot for me to process. I barely had time to mentally prepare before your arrival.” Her emerald eyes and cranium moved to look up at him, all the sad emotions presented in them being replaced with a more stoic, yet curious stare. ”What do you know about me? You mentioned my reputation, however, you were unaware of my background with soul-ties.” She paused, looking him over. The horned skull, the acid green eye color, the primarily black pelt, the unicorn horn…it all snapped into place, her eyes widening for a moment as it did. Kanaya had killed his brother, the source of the plague. Also the reason for her now having the ability to wield noxious fumes. Her eyes relaxed, a confident and challenging smirk lacing her lips. ”I probably know more about you, Chiodos, than you know about me.”

Actions and thoughts and "Words."