Dark-lipped smile greets her as she rises heavily to her aching hooves, grateful for the numbing cold of the snow. She suspects she'll birth sometime in Birdsong, is grateful that the season will be welcoming to her children and prays for their health. Hotaru is unaware of Rexanna's relief, the emotions she'd felt upon seeing her dark rose frame against the roots of her parents' tree. Instead she focused on the familiar scent of Rexanna as it swept into her soft nares, muzzles brushing gently in companionable greeting. She held a deep fondness for the gilded lass herself, and Alice rumbled a noise only Hotaru could recognize as laughter. Beta, her hellhound proclaimed without any doubt or hesitation, drawing Hotaru's surprised gaze for a moment as she and Rexanna parted naturally. 

Alice was not a creature that dispensed her loyalty easily, and yet here she was, naming Rexanna the beta to Hotaru's alpha. The position of the trusted individuals in a pack, the strong and reliable, allowed to get close to the alpha. It said a lot about Alice, but it also said a lot about how Hotaru felt about Rexanna, for those feelings were the basis of Alice's decision. Before she could become too entrenched in her outwardly-silent conversation with her bonded, Rexanna's voice drew her back to the present. She was grateful that the mare did not show pity, or perhaps she did not understand that the tree had been crafted from the spot where her parents' bodies had lain. Either way, Hotaru wasn't going to say anything about it. Not when it made her heart hurt a little less to gloss over the truth. 

"Heavy little buggers, aren't they?" a tired smirk creeps across Hotaru's pale lips, shifting her hindquarters to adjust the weight off her spine as much as she could. But she is far more interested in what Rexanna has to say, and the interest must show on her face as her ears twitch and her head tilts inquisitively. 

"The Edge? Is the father there?" Perhaps it's a bold question, but she knows that neither she nor Deimos asked Rexanna to do anything on the Basin's behalf there, so it is the only other conclusion she can think of aside from visiting a friend or loved one. But the peaceful tone drops alongside Hotaru's shoulders, a deep sigh emanating from the pregnant mare. 

"Dealing. I was...stolen away by a nightmare from my past, and nearly killed. And then challenged by an annoying rule-abider while already injured on my way home." Her face is grim, and she hasn't told anyone about what had happened to her prior to the herd meeting. She lifts her eyes to Rexanna's, suddenly nervous. "I've not told anyone yet. Please don't share what I've said. I trust you." And wasn't that a shocking revelation, both in her mind and on her lips? Because Hotaru trusted very few individuals, and yet...she considered Rexanna something close to her friend. And it had the potential to grow even deeper, if the Thief was willing. 

Beta, Alice repeatedly smugly at her side, as if she had guessed the answer of the universe before the gods had spoken it. Hotaru tried not to roll her eyes. 

OOC thingies here