Hazel was growing accustomed to seeing Harland alone on the borders, greeting strangers six times his size with perfect contentment. Part of her would always be concerned whenever Moon wasn't with him (and honestly, she was still worried when Moon was with him), but she was learning. It was odd: in the midst of her mental turbulence, she thought of Harland in a similar way she thought of Margy and Suite's children, even though they were much older. She would be virtually useless when it came to protecting the small boy, but that didn't seem to phase her as much as it would in other situations.

Coming to a stop by Harland, her own golden optics focused on the German shepherd, watching the light in his aura waver with confusion and irritation. She didn't particularly appreciate his indirect denial of Harland's question, but couldn't really blame him for his perplexed state. She simply curled her tail over the small stone of rose quartz that broke the surface of the earth, betraying her annoyance. "This is the Ascendants," Hazel quipped. "We live in the observatory just north of here. Who are you?"

—-  & children. of course bones knew what a child was, and he had been in the presence of a few throughout his lifetime. more or less, he had studied them as well, their behaviors and their actions. they made interesting cases, for sure. for the most part, they were lively and impulsive and carefree, as their brains were still developing as were their ideas of cultural norms and accepted societal behaviors. bones couldn't say that he was amazing with kids, simply because he wasn't. g o d , if only he could turn back time. if only he could've made the right decisons. now, bones knew that jack deserved better. it was probably for the best that he never saw his young son again, knowing that he would be extremely hurt and confused as to why he had been absent so far in his life. his son deserved a better father, and if not that, then a very devoted mother ( which he knew his former wife was ). hopefully, wherever he was and whatever he was doing right now, he was living his best life.

another feline had made her way onto the scene, this time appearing older in age. and, from the way it sounded, she easily could have been around jim's age. it was a damn good thing he wasn't here right now, or else he'd have to yank him away and yell at him to control his raging hormones. that was a lie. it was better to have jim here to yell at instead of him not being here at all. where the hell was that little shit, anyhow?

the ascendants. now, this had caught his attention. it was a whole group of ferals, apparently, who lived in an observatory. an observatory . . . like for studying stars and such? bones hadn't actually visited one; although perhaps the national space center was close enough. the german shepherd figured that he had to introduce himself first before jumping into things. he answered, "mccoy. leonard mccoy." of course, nobody hardly called him that. "they call me bones. that was the name that the humans had bestowed upon him, and it had stuck far much more than "leonard" had. next, the german shepherd sought to inquire about this feral group. "you... there's a group of you out here? and you live in an observatory?" so far, these guys didn't seem so bad. they weren't bloodthirsty, nor were they aggressive or threatening. ( not now, at least. it would be just his luck for him to gain their trust before getting eaten for their lunch ). giving a nod of his cranium to hazel, bones spoke in his southern drawl, "if it's alright with you, i'd like to request permission t' stay here. for a lil' while."

anybody that knew bones personally would likely agree that bones was being strictly cordial at the moment, and not chewing someone's ear off. not to worry, he would be back on his normal schedule in due time.