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about 10 months

Night had fallen over the festivities, and it was with a tired but pleasant grin that the boy excused himself from the festivities. He hadn't spotted his twin for a little while, and he suspected he knew where Asgeir was to be found. Sverke had given more than enough time to his duties as a prince - there were other duties he needed to tend to, with the shadows thick around every corner in the forest and the sky above studded with stars.

He didn't know where his brother was, but Sverke's first guess was to find a good vantage point to see the moon. He picked his way through the forest, his pawsteps disturbing the fireflies amongst the soft grasses. They flashed cheerily as they hovered lazily around the boy, before he shouldered his way past a thorny bush and spotted a darker than expected figure.

Sverke's brow dipped in thought. Maja? He huffed, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of the still-lively party. A firefly landed on his nose, and he went cross-eyed to squint suspiciously at it. Are you hiding? He would have expected that trick from Bragi, but he wasn't so sure about Maja.

"I'm not hiding."

It's not a lie, not really. There are a lot of people, and she needs a moment to think. She needs to consider the weight of her future, the way she's going to return triumphant and properly sorted among the ranks. This is the last day of her childhood, after all. From here on out, she's not allowed to be weak.

"You came out here, too."

It's an observation, but also a question. She doesn't care if he doesn't answer it, but she'd listen if he told her. Not that he has any reason to, honestly.

She said she wasn't hiding. Sverke offered her an unconvinced arch of his brow. Party was a bit too much, then. He swiped his tongue at the tufts of fur along his chest, ensuring they lay flat and pristine. I get it. He did, sort of, but he was mostly poking around to see if a gentler approach might make her spill the beans. He wasn't sure she had any good gossip or clear weak points, but Maja was always sort of around - watching, listening. Sverke would bet she knew a bit more than she let on.

She turned the accusation on him, and Sverke snorted derisively, giving a confident toss of his head. Yeah, so? You seen hide 'r hair of Asgeir anywhere?

"I don't get the appeal," she admits, looking less anxious and more bored with the idea of parties. It's not like anyone's ever asked her to dance at them, and it's not like she indulges in any of the vices of the rest of the pack. She's certainly old enough now-- and it's not like she had parents to stop her, even when she was younger. Sure, the pack has raised her, but if they couldn't even stop the twins and Cupid's daughters from indulging in berries, why would they stop her?

And frankly, she doesn't like losing control. She might let all her inside thoughts be outside thoughts.

"I haven't seen him, no," she says after a moment. "Has he also left the party, then?" What would he even be doing off on his own? Sverke looking for him makes sense. "Maybe he's tired." Asgeir never seemed like the type with much of a social battery, and the party had been going on all day.

Maja claimed not to 'get' parties, which Sverke considered for a moment with a thoughtful frown. He couldn't imagine one finding nothing at all appealing about Skjoldrheim's parties - there was always food to eat, drink to take the edge off, and gullible mainland wolves to cajole before ditching when he got inevitably bored or distracted. If she really didn't find any of that pleasant, there was the rest of the pack dancing and singing and chatting idly; rituals to partake in, gods to appease.

Spoken like a true hermit. He joked, somewhat aware his remark was more than a little mean-spirited but not quite sure how else to respond. He wasn't in the habit of offering empathy, or olive branches.

The prince tilted his head slightly as she returned the conversation to Asgeir's absence. Perhaps, I hadn't seen him around for a minute so I thought he might've left. Sverke looked slightly put out, then, glancing at the shadows that surrounded them as if he expected them to spit out the golden boy momentarily. He doesn't get tired. He remarked idly, as if this was well-known fact. Sverke knew this, remembered his own paws carrying him in an endless chase without blister or break. Their hunt was tireless, he remembered, he remembered, he remembered.

Sverke glanced back to Maja, clear-eyed and alert once more. I mean...maybe.