((Ah, I'm so sorry for being gone...

I was busy these last few days...))
Eiko nodded, a quick tiny nod, as soul answer to Kari's question. She felt so uncomfortable... Everyone was nice, she knew, but she couldn't help feeling clumsy, couldn't help thinking that she was a weight to others, couldn't stop that rushing heartbeat in her chest. She wanted to say something, opened her jaw to do so but hesitated, her voice sounding awkward to her own ears.
No, she told herself forcefully, her tails wrapped tighter around her legs, squeezing them as if they independently searched for comfort in their grey fur,
It's hard to talk but... Silence is just so bad... Hesitantly resolute, she searched her shy mind for an opening, active question that would help engage a conversation or simply keep away that embarrassing tight silence. But it might just make things worse... She bit her lip, this was so risky, she hated this, but she nonetheless pushed a few words out of her mouth. "You're Kari right?" she said quietly, her voice polite, barely more than whisper, "Are you new here? I've never seen you around in the pack." She almost smiled triumphantly: it was an amazing sentence in her own shy-wolf norms, something she'd believed she could never have said and yet... yet she was actively diving into the dangerous waters of a conversation.