A moment of silence lingered between Meesei and Caleb. The rest of the group, except maybe Sabine, knew of their interactions. This didn't sit well with Angela, who was hoping to exacerbate Sabine's disposition toward's Caleb for fun. She splashed water at Caleb to snap him out of the stare-down.

"Don't be such a sour-puss, Caleb," she teased, "It's the Champion of Hircine. Saved the clan, remember?"

"I know," Caleb said, looking away and turning to the rest of the group, "So, what's the news?"

"Just the usual," Freida replied, "Roland hiding from everyone, Sabine's pet lizard...the little creature gave Roland a good scare!"

The relaxed time continued on with stability. Despite the abundant teasing, who liked whom was not the only topic of conversation. Much of it was complaining about parents, mentors, or work, funny anecdotes, and predominantly gossip. Over time, it became clear that there was the usual hierarchy that formed with girls their age. Angela was the queen bee; she lead most of the opinion. Through stoicism, Freida was a rival, but not in any malicious way. The other girls tended to follow after Angela, with Sabine included, while the boys did their own thing.

Each in the group had their sensitive points that they prodded at each other with, mostly with a good heart, but it had the potential to be bullying if taken too far. Sabine's was evidently Caleb, Rikki and Thyme had their own crushes around the clan, Roland was nervous in general and was easy to make blush with just about anything, Primus and Freida were harder to read in just one conversation. What kept Angela in check was an uncertain affection for Roland. She vehemently denied it at every turn, but her behaviour contradicted it often.

Sabine was clearly still shy. However, she did speak sometimes. It was clear that she enjoyed being in the company of her new friends. After it was time to leave the pool and get to other duties, Sabine was dressing herself alongside Meesei. "Caleb didn't seem to want to talk to you. Did you make him upset before?" Sabine asked.

[hr]
"Wait," Fendros stepped up to Ahnasha and leaned in to kiss her quickly on the lips, "I know it was hard to talk. I love you. I'll see you later."

With that, Fendros and Ahnasha parted ways for a while. Fendros still had the afternoon and evening off, so he found a book and spent his time reading in the quite of the pack's chambers while Rhazii slept. Rhazii awakened eventually, upon which time Fendros hushed him and played for a while. It continued on until dinner.

[hr]
Janius looked about uneasily. He tried to think of something - anything - else to say that would avoid the issue further. He didn't know how to be a father exactly. He didn't know how to hold himself or act. But, neither does Fendros, neither to many people, Janius thought. Would it be a mistake? What would go wrong? Kaleeth was correct that this was the best time if there ever was one. Would they even conceive? Janius had never heard of an Argonian sired by an Imperial.

"Kaleeth, I need..." Janius lowered his shoulders and placed his forehead against Kaleeth's, "...There is a lot going through my mind with this. I don't want to make a decision on a whim. Will you let me think about this tonight? I'll give you a final answer, I promise."