Aura thought about that for a moment.

"Let's see if she perks back up after a shower and some more sleep," she said. "It might be that she's just exhausted." She knew what it looked like when he friend pushed herself, although she hadn't seen it this bad before. "Her youki is low, anyway, I can tell. She isn't as fizzy as she usually is."

Shippou nodded. He'd felt that, too. And it worried him a little, that her youki was so low. But he didn't say anything else, just listening when he heard the water running.

Picking him up, Aura cuddled him a bit.

"She'll be alright," she told him. "I'll go check on her in a little while to make sure she didn't fall asleep in the bath."

Shippou hugged her back thankfully and just stayed there for a little while. When he finally moved, he yawned again, too. Naptime sounded good to him.

Once Shippou started yawning, Aura took him upstairs and settled him in his bed. She knew the 'naptime' look when she saw it. Once he was settled in, she went to check on Kris.

Kris wasn't asleep in the tub, but she wasn't moving much. She sat with the water up to her chin, slumped down so her head was leaned back against the lip of the tub, staring up at the ceiling. She barely even glanced at Aura when the other entered.

"Hey," Aura said softly when she entered the bathroom. "Talk to me, Kris. What's wrong?" And she knew something was wrong, so she skipped the whole 'is everything alright' entirely.

Kris glanced over at her before she sighed and closed her eyes again. "Just a stupid instinctual thing," she mumbled, shifting her weight uncomfortably. She was feeling better, but something was still bothering her.

Aura sighed and sat down next to the tub.

"Talk to me," she said. "I can't understand if you don't explain to me. And I want to understand."

Kris was quiet for a few moments, figuring things out in her own head in a way that Aura could understand.

"You picked him over me. I know you didn't really, and I know you didn't intend to, but that day... everything was telling me that you were picking him over me, even though he hadn't asked permission or anything."

"I would never pick anyone over you," Aura said. "You're family, and you don't replace family. I just... I didn't know what was going on." She hesitated a little. "And... I guess I kind of felt like you were pushing me aside for Shippou."

Kris sighed. "I know. I have a hard time trying to think about things the human way. But remember when I first adopted you into my pack? I don't think I left you alone for more than a few hours for the first two weeks." She managed a weak smile.

"You didn't," Aura agreed. She remembered; she'd been forced to get used to Kris being all touchy-feely very quickly. "Then again, you still don't like to leave me alone sometimes." She sighed slightly. "But it's just... It's been more than a couple of weeks and..." she trailed off.

"I know. I wasn't thinking." Kris sighed and closed her eyes again, sinking down farther into the water. "Just kind of lost my head, I guess. I am really sorry about that, though."

Aura reached over and rubbed one of Kris's ears.

"It's alright," she said. "I'm sorry for upsetting you. I really didn't mean to."

"I know," Kris muttered. "Guess we were both messing up, huh?" She forced a smile, even though she didn't really mean it. Not yet.

"I think I messed up a bit more," Aura replied. She rubbed one of Kris's ears for a moment before standing up. "I'm going to go check on Shippou, he's been napping for a little while. Maybe, once you're dressed, you could check on him too? He's wanted to jump on you since you got back."

Kris nodded her agreement. "Yeah. Once I've check everything outside I'll go check in on him." She did need to do a perimeter check anyway. Just to keep herself sane. Ish.

"Fair enough," Aura said. She knew that was the best she was going to get out of her friend at the moment, and that was good enough. "I'll leave you to your bath, then." She grinned. "Try not to fall asleep in the tub, alright?"

Kris snorted. "Yeah, doubt that'll be a problem." She stretched briefly before rolling her shoulders. She probably wouldn't spend too much longer in the bath.

Aura couldn't help but grin a little as she left the room so Kris could finish up. Things weren't back to normal yet, but they were getting better. Slowly. As she walked by Shippou's room, she looked in to make sure he was alright, like she said she would.

Shippou was curled up in bed asleep, snoring quietly.

Kris finished up in the bathroom and got dressed again before she went to go check the perimeter. Just in case.

Aura glanced over towards the door when Kris went by, from where she was sitting in her library reading. She didn't get up, but she knew how long it would take for Kris to do one of her 'patrols,' so she wouldn't worry just yet.

Kris came back as soon as she was done, slipping up the stairs to go check on Shippou. Once she'd assured herself that he was okay, she went to the library. She'd already slept enough for a week or so normally, so she decided to go read for a while.

Plus that way she'd be closer to Aura, too.

Aura was already deeply absorbed into a book. It was a new addition to the library, from only within the last couple of days, so she hadn't had a chance to actually finish it yet. She did, however, glance up from the book when Kris came in.

"I thought you were going to go sleep some more," she said.