There had been a lot of joiners as of late - so many that Hazel honestly couldn't keep track of them all. It was partly her responsibility to know them all, too. But there were only so many she could remember, alright? The ones she did remember came with significant events that happened during their joining. Like Pixel, or Joel: both had crash-landed on Ascendant territory with injuries. She remembered August, too, because of his crow, but she had yet to see him around. The only other newcomer she could genuinely remember was Dale Cooper, the Aussie shepherd, for his odd mention of Starry.

It was so odd; this stranger that they had never met before showed up on their border and asked to speak to their leader. Part of her assumed that he might have heard of Starry when they had passed on the message of their leadership change to the other clans, but that didn't fit right. Dale had asked if he could speak to Starry, like he was still alive, which meant he hadn't heard the news. So...how did he know Starry at all?

The question had been persistently nagging at her since she had met the shepherd. In fact, she was so engaged in her curiosity, she was able to momentarily forget the irritation with Bastille that was constantly humming under her skin. Had she noticed, she would have been grateful. The anger was exhausting, both to keep at bay and maintain. Fear buzzed alongside it, making things all the more difficult.

Letting herself forget about Bastille and his self-destructive tendencies, Hazel picked herself up from where she sat in Margy's garden and began the trek to find Dale and ask him a couple questions. Or...maybe just to talk, first, if questions were too forward. She genuinely liked the guy, and found him interesting and polite. When she reached his room, the girl poked her head inside the door, hoping to find him inside. "Dale Cooper?"

★ — hazel — "speech" — seven months — the ascendants — tags — ★

Luckily, Dale was in his room; Hazel would have felt guilty had he not been. Sniffing through others things was rude and unseemly. But to her surprise, he wasn't in the same state of cheer as she had met him in; he looked upset and...kind of miserable, to be honest. Hazel hoped she wasn't intruding on something deeper.

"I hope I'm not bothering you." She said, stepping over the threshold at his gesture. She paused, concern glinting in her golden optics for a moment. "I've stopped by to see how you're settling in, if...you don't mind." And ask about Starry, a little voice persisted. Hazel frowned at it, wishing to not ruin her friendship with Dale by grilling him with questions.

"I apologize for the unwelcoming appearance of the basement. Not everyone spends a lot of time down here." She went on, glancing around at the blank walls. "I'm in the process of painting my room walls myself. But we do have a beautiful territory above ground, and an outer post with some extra space, if you ever get bored of staring at gray." The girl shrugged and smiled, remembering Margy's enthusiasm when Bastille had built her a room on the outer post. Oh, how things had been so much simpler back then...Hazel longed for those times.

★ — hazel — "speech" — seven months — the ascendants — tags — ★

Hazel smiled at the canine as he assured her that her presence wasn't a bother. He was interesting, wasn't he? Hazel couldn't remember encountering many dogs in her time, even though there had been a variety of creatures show up along their borders as of late. Suiteheart had been a polar bear at one point; there were tigers and iguanas and two horses and - well, Hazel did hear of a Raygun every now and again, but she'd never seen him. Supposedly he never left his room. And that was just flat out dedication, in her opinion.

Her mind wandered back to Dale as he spoke again, and found herself growing ever the more curious. She wondered if he'd previously had a hard time finding a home, based on how grateful he sounded. Hazel recalled being much of the same, but in a different sense. Back home, she did have a roof over her head - constantly. Rarely allowed out of the house, Hazel was amazed by the amount of freedom she had in the Ascendants. Her room was spacious and the door would stay open around the clock; just because she could.

"I'm glad to hear it," Hazel purred. "Care to take a walk outside? Margy's got a lovely garden." She offered, hoping he said yes. She was eager to get to know him better. Dale didn't seem like the mysterious loner that showed up on the border with a jar full of secrets and things - which, was what she was when she joined - but he had an interesting sort of aspect about him that just made Hazel want to know more.

★ — hazel — "speech" — eight months — the ascendants — tags — ★

Hazel beamed at his acceptance, and walked back the way she came. “Margy spent a lot of time creating her garden, so we’re all - er, most of us - are pretty careful with it.” Hazel said, remembering Bastille’s fiery fluke a couple days after she first joined. She glanced up at Dale before hopping up the staircase, two steps at a time. “I spend a lot of time there, myself. It’s a quiet place to get away without actually getting away.”

Once outside, the girl lead them toward the infamous garden, breathing in the deep, calming scent of roses and other flowers. She wasn’t lying when she said she came here often; it was a peaceful spot that provided many isolated spots Hazel could collect herself in when she was overwhelmed by something. She turned to Dale again, tilting her head. “Margy only grows a couple flowers, but we have a wild patch of all different sorts of flora by the border. Just behind the Starpool, actually.”

★ — hazel — "speech" — eight months — the ascendants — tags — ★