NO GUTS, NO GLORY — meeting

The smoke from his cigarette fight upwards against the falling snow, conforming around the frozen droplets as Winterhorchata takes a seat in front of his mother, his posture somewhat lazy, but he is clearly focused on her, taking long drags while he waits.

coffee makes it a priority to heed his mother's call, dark legs almost speed-walking ( well, more like limping due to the coffee mug held in a paw ) in order to not be five nanoseconds late. chocolate eyes shoot winterhorchata a glance and a disapproving grunt rises in his throat as he takes his seat.

"this is the truth about it" -- tags

TAGS ✦ ✧ ✦ — he had no energy for this. not at all. not after what he had done. with sluggish steps, the caracal had placed himself in his usual spot. away from everyone else, keeping his paws close to himself. he really only cared for one thing, and that was the news. he'd leave promptly after that "text."

green eyes scanned the faces of those who had already arrived at the call for a meeting. the wild cat offered a charming half smirk as she arrived before licking her lips and sitting down, taking less than a second to get comfortable.

Cream had heard the meetings before. From outside her window. She never bothered to pay attention, but... perhaps she should now. It was better this way. More fulfilling. Though it was cold, and she could feel faint from just being outside alone.

✦ ✧ ✦ — sky was the next to approach, eyes skittering deliberately from side to side, familiar form to familiar form, as he slid up to the gathering of creatures. this was his first meeting since he'd returned to the group, and he was excited to hear about everything that had been and would be going on. when he looked up at chicagocrimes, there was an empty pang in his chest, and some of the excitement was replaced by a mellowing flood of bittersweet nostalgia. with chica at the head of the clan and his mind as healed as it would ever be, it felt just like the old days. he suddenly itched to be up there with her, or close-by, in one of the positions of power that he used to hold, serving his clan so that he could begin to pay back each and every one of them for all they'd given him just by letting him be in their presences. his lips twitches at the corners, and he forced himself to look away. maybe someday, but not today.

and then he saw saeran. months ago, he would've raced up to the caracal at first sight, throwing his arms around him in a hug or a few amused comments at him from behind, and they would've sat together through the meeting. meetings at saeran's side were always more entertaining; everything was better when he was with him, it seemed, and it'd always felt that way. except now. now, after how their first interaction had gone down, sky mostly wished that he could hide from the familiar boy for a few days without having to hide from the rest of the clan. that, however, was proving very difficult. the lilac tabby sidestepped behind another creature in the crowd, hoping to get out of sae's line of vision in a way that looked like an accident, and forced his eyes down to his paws. if he couldn't look at chica, and he couldn't look at sae, his only choice seemed to be acting like the ground had snatched his interest; of course, him being skylines, characterized by his unreliable attention span and eccentric interests, that shouldn't seem too absurd. he would call himself lucky for that, but nothing in this situation felt lucky at all-- not in the least bit.

//here he comes to steal yo boi

Destrian decided that he might as well stick around. Heck, the people here were insane and hilarious, his mom was back, and he had a family he didn't even know about. Perhaps after the meeting he could discuss officially having a dual-alliance here in the Sanctuary along with Riverside. He hated to keep milling about when he didn't actually belong here. A meeting was a good place to start getting settled in, and so at the call, Destrian wandered over to see what was up. He could see so many familiar faces, which actually surprised him. His new brother, Coffee, that weird guy from when he had been stargazing, and that girl who had joined him in stargazing. Of course, his mom stood at the heads and there were a few unfamiliar faces, but... Wait, was that Skylines? Destrian's Wes narrowed as he came to a halt, mouth falling open. It was! He could recognize that face and its anxiety anywhere!

Rushing now, the silver bengal raced up to the other male, icy eyes wide and a grin spreading across his face. "Skylines! It's me, Destrian!" He exclaimed, nearly hopping in excitement, "You're back!" He resisted the urge to nudge Sky in greeting, but held himself back just in case. It had been some time; perhaps the other wouldn't recognize him or wouldn't share his joy. But boy, was Des glad to see his old friend.

tequila quickly made her way over, eager to hear the news her mother had to share. she glanced over at des as he interacted with skylines, rather curious but she knew better than to eavesdrop, so she turned her attention back to chicago. a small smile was lifted towards her as the ragdoll awaited her words.

tags "speech"

She was promoted? Promoted for what? Cream tilted her head. She hasn't even done anything yet. The cream cat tilted her head, raising a brow. She turned around, as if expecting another Creamsoda to start crying out in joy. When her doppelganger was missing, she turned back up. Thanks, mama. she smiled, ears perking up. Huh. Maybe outside wasn't that bad after all.

✦ ✧ ✦ — sky would've recognized him anywhere. bittersweet memories of the other boy had lingered in his mind much longer than he'd care to admit-- still did, in a way, though much differently than they originally had. his old friend, his first crush, his... "destrian..." more than anything, it was an exhale, a release, letting out everything that he'd packed up and buried so effectively inside himself since the last time he'd seen the blue-eyed feline. it felt like letting go of all of his regrets and "what ifs" at once, in one single choked puff of air.

the other boy's voice was like honey to his soul and it felt like, in that moment, his chest was so light he could've lifted up and floated away. destrian. his old, safe, comfortable destrian. seeing des felt like taking a trip straight to his past, to when he stepped foot onto sanctuary territory so many years ago and, for the first time in his entire life, realized that he had found his way to a real home. "i missed you." he was smiling now-- an easy, wide grin that softened his eyes.

he intended to say more, but chica's voice interrupted him from up at the gaia. he gave des a soft sideways glance, hoping to indicate that their conversation wasn't over, just postponed, before angling himself towards the leader and listening to her announcements with an attentive but comfortably set expression displayed on his facial features. when his name was mentioned, he glanced gracefully from side to side, meeting any eyes he caught with a quirk of his lips and a dip of his head.

and then there were the promotions and of course, curse the angels, of course, saeran's name was called, being that sky was now in a situation where he couldn't congratulate him. that's how things always worked out, wasn't it? great. just fucking great. skylines wasn't the heaviest of cursers, but as of right now, he was firing off a string of aggressive obscenities-- at sae, at the situation, but most importantly, at himself-- as he sashayed a step backwards in hopes of catching a glimpse of sae. if he could just see the look of satisfied joy, a rare look of self-pride and self-love, on sae's face, then he could leave. he could be happy for him from afar without trying to approach him and doubtlessly ruining everything for both of them. just one glance. something. because he was proud, of course, but that was nothing new. seeing sae proud of himself? that would be something beautifully new. something worth seeing. his beautiful boy. his beautiful broken boy, if he could just see him smile.

tags!!

his name is called, and chocolate eyes shift to meet chica's own. the canid clears his throat, murmuring a small "harbinger of healing," before kind of tuning out again. he hears his mother dismiss the meeting and throws out a small "congrats."

"this is the truth about it" -- tags

TAGS ✦ ✧ ✦ — all saeran had ever cared about was hearing his name in meetings. it was the only thing that related to him anyways. with a deep set scowl, blocking out any congratulations and voices, saeran had only dipped his head in acknowledgement. okay, so now he was a neophyte. he swore the ranks must've changed, it sounded different. but it didn't matter. and it didn't matter that destrain and skylines were going to end up talking the night away. missing any indication of eyes on him, the doberman had left in his usual silent way. quietly padding out without a word. "text."

Silly as it may sound, Liquor had never been to an official meeting in any clan. And perhaps even sillier, he was a bit excited at the prospect of seeing one for the first time. He wound his split tail between his front paws as he listened closely to the varying announcements with wide rosy eyes. His expression perked up at his own name, his eyes widening even further. He got a shoutout! Not that he knew exactly what that meant in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly sounded nice. With a small grin, he simply nodded to Chica before another voice caught his attention; Coffee deciding on the harbinger of healing. Liquor had already gone to the earlier herb lesson, but. . . he would have to ask for another sometime. "C-congrats Coffee."

His mom was calling a meeting! Bounding over to join his friends and family alike, Whiskey came to a startling halt beside Coffeeblends, casting a lop-sided grin to his brother. The welcome announcement she gave him caused a big tail-wag followed by a little dance in place, though he settled long enough to listen to the promotions. Oh, wow! A bunch of his siblings were promoted! Giving them all a big hug (or attempting to, in some cases), the golden retriever yipped, "Congrats!" He nodded to Chica as she mentioned the snowman building contest with the empire. He really had to get on that. After making a mental note to attend the herb training session, he dismissed himself.