Haunted Wood i ain’t politicking, i ain’t kissing no babies

@Serem

sleeping and eating; eating and sleeping — famine was living the good life. the adults rarely bothered him, unless it was for some sort of training, which allowed him to spend most of each day lounging with a full belly. though his language skills still weren't perfect, he'd already learned the names of his three favorite meats: coneno, deer, and birdies.

several hours had passed since his last meal. feeling peckish, famine sauntered from his perch toward the nearby meat store, crossing through the rendevouz site  to get there.

-steals this-

Oh, his favorite little creature! Clarence spotted the little gray pup from a distance, tail swishing excitedly over his back as he bounded over to the boy. "Hey," he greeted, beaming down at the chubby puppy. He was so cute. "Where are you heading?" The question was bright and chipper, excited to spend some time with the younger boy.

clarence's voice was both familiar and welcome. turning with a smile, famine barked his short greeting. he was looking for food, of course; what else was there to do? assuming his companion might have come along, famine continued walking toward the food store. though, there was still an opportunity to interrupt his mission, should clarence wish...

Ah, the boy was on a mission. Clarence smiled as he trotted alongside Famine, noticing they were heading for the cache of food. A smile formed on his maw and he moved ahead a bit, turning and facing the child and dropping his chest to the ground in a playful position. 

"Want to play?" he asked, tipping his head to the side. Maybe it would be good to help the kid know he had to work for his food.

uh-oh, famine whispered to himself. he rolled his eyes and flagged his tail, silently communicating his annoyance with clarence's antics. this was the same thing memory had done before, keeping the child from his meal. why couldn't they just let him eat in peace?

famine wouldn't have been opposed to playing after he'd eaten (and, of course, napped) but that never seemed to be an option. he looked up and saw clarence's tilted head, then reared onto hind legs to bat at the man with a paw. 

if his pal didn't get it, the message was: hey, let a kid eat?

Clarence didn't quite understand the body language, but he did see that Famine was... annoyed? That was probably the word for it. Still, the boy batted at him with a paw and Clarence fell to the side in dramatic fashion, rolling onto his side with a dramatic groan. 

Unwittingly, he opened up Famine's ability to just walk by and get his food.

clarence collapsed onto the ground with a satisfying thud. famine was proud of this accomplishment, and showed it with a boastful laugh. the food cache was within view, its sweet scent wafting through the air, but the child's attention was now caught by something much more interesting. 

he thought through his options, then leapt onto clarence's side as a young kid might its bovine mother. with transitioning teeth bared for blood, he aimed to land a bite wherever was available.

Clarence let out a soft laugh as well, the breath partially driven out of him when the pup landed on his side. Needle teeth would fasten into his shoulder, and it hurt, yeah, but Clarence was... used to it. It certainly was nothing like the actual fights in the ring - there was no danger here. 

A playful growl escaped him and he rolled a little, moving his paw to bat at Famine's side - gentle, but firm. His tail swished against the ground, eager to play with the pup.

normally, growling meant that something was wrong. famine had come to understand it as a warning, though he had no intention of stopping now. he released his grip and went in for another bite, but was knocked from his vantage point before he could land another hit.

famine rolled semi-dramatically on the ground, then stood up to shake out his fur. clarence's moving tail was his next point of attack; the child bounded forward, hoping to subdue his target.

permission given to powerplay

His tail was the next target for the pup, and Clarence huffed out another laugh, wincing when teeth sank into his tail. The boy lunged then and nudged the child over, nuzzling against his soft belly in a way that a person might blow a raspberry on a baby. 

Still, it was only for a minute, as he was intent on letting the kid think he'd won the fight in the end.

the duality of puppy — both rage-filled and humored, famine couldn't decide how to react. he initially rejected the motion with a loud whine, but was then taken hostage by hysterics.

eventually, clarence did let him go. after taking a moment to compose himself, famine stood on shaky legs and frowned at his once-friend. how could clarence betray him like this, embarrassing him out in the open? and to top everything off, he still hadn't gotten to eat!

there was time for one last blow before the tears started to come. famine barreled forward with his eyes set on clarence's thigh.

Clarence, completely unaware of his betrayal, let out a squeak when Famine ran into his thigh. Puppy teeth were really sharp! He would be surprised if he wasn't bleeding a little from that one. But hey, that was good, right? That meant Famine might be a good fighter. 

The piebald wolf flopped dramatically onto his side, feigning death. Famine would have "won" this little altercation.

winning wasn't the important thing. famine could have fought any of his remaining siblings, were success the goal. he'd tried to prove a point, that keeping the fatman from his food wasn't acceptable.

seeing clarence submit did give him some instinctual satisfaction, sure, but his feelings were still hurt. famine turned toward the food cache with eyes searching for something to heal his broken heart.

Well, that hadn't been what he'd expected. Clarence had thought the boy might be excited, triumphant, but he just looked sad.

Getting to his paws, the piebald wolf trotted after the little gray wolf, brows knitted together. "Hey," he said softly, tipping his head to the side. "What's the matter?"

the rabbit corpse was half-rotted, but that didn't matter much; he'd already started digging into the remaining meat when clarence started speaking. famine finished chewing his first bite and released a heavy sigh, replying: teng'ambre, 'n...no playin'. 

famine shook his head with an affirming huff as he settled back into a seat. then, still eating from the spoiled aged carcass, he looked over at clarence. playin', but here gotta get coneno. that made sense, right?

That... didn't make sense, but it sounded like words that Santiago might say. He wrinkled his nose a little at the spoiled carcass but didn't take it away from the boy. For several moments, Clarence mulled over the words in his head, humming in thought. 

"Are you mad because I wanted to play? Were you hungry?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. That was the only thing that he could come up with.

obviously! famine's paws were thrown with an exasperated sigh while his mouth continued chewing loudly. why couldn't anyone let him eat in peace? every-all-the-times, he clarified; this wasn't the first time something like this had happened.

famine took another bite from the rabbit while considering his next response. his growing vocabulary was still pretty small, but that didn't mean he didn't have things to say. with a shrug, he said: likin' food.

"Well... food is good," he responded with a soft laugh, figuring he had probably done something bad in the pup's eyes. "I'll make sure I don't do that again, okay?" Red eyes sought out the little one's purple, tilting his head to the side. "I'm sorry I didn't let you eat your food."

Clarence scooted forward to nudge the boy's shoulder with his nose. "Don't be mad?"

hell yeah, food is good. that one shared sentiment was enough to brighten famine's mood, if only by a small amount. he looked sheepishly toward his companion with wide eyes, internalizing the apology.

luckily, it was enough. clarence promised to let famine eat in peace, which meant that they could spend the non-eating time as friends. okay, he nodded, a small smile teasing on his maw.

"Okay," Clarence agreed with a small smile, turning to let the boy eat in peace. Maybe next time, he wouldn't intercept the boy on his trip to getting food. But he didn't worry about leaving the child alone to eat - the territory was safe, Famine was bigger now, and he'd stay nearby for a while just in case. "See you later, Famine!"

fade