Duck Lake The Better to Hear with, My Dear

This thread is set February 6th
@Poppy

  

     Casimir was incredibly weary, after his paw had healed enough for him to run, the boy had set off from his previous location, companionship on his mind. The woman, Mara, had been so kind, but he had also found a nearly obsolete part of himself again, which made Casimir uncomfortable. The young boy had been functioning as a flirtatious wanderer for so long that when his 'son' persona surfaced, he had been flabbergasted. He missed his mother so much, and though he had tried to store away those feelings, Mara had caused them to drift to the front of his mind. In hindsight, it wasn't entirely her fault. The boy had been daydreaming about his family, which led him to tripping, which led him to injuring himself, which led him to meeting mara, which led him to reminiscing.
     Now, he was far from where he had met the girl, and continuing his travels. Along his own little odyssey, the boy had come across a lake, and decided it would be his next pitt stop. He padded up towards the cool surface of the water, dipping his silvery maw into the cool liquid and lapping vigorously. Casimir had never felt so exhausted (or parched) in his life. Not even on the great journey to find a home with Ezimette and his siblings had he found himself so tired. After grabbing a drink the boy backed up a few steps,
*Plop*
 and dropped flat onto the sand, his emeralds gazing up at the sky as his body was racked with shaky breaths. "Aughhhhhhhhhh."

She'd awoken that morning with an odd amount of energy, bolted from the den like a startled hare and proceeded to whiz around the den site until she got the general feeling she might have become a tad annoying. With a quick murmur to Murdock that she was off to wear out her energy, the sheepdog had traveled in spurts farther than she'd intended. Still her energy as not worn out; rather, her good mood was bolstered by the progression of her healing and the novelty of her mateship with Murdock. 

She startled a small flock of doves, and chased them with wild leaps as they fluttered towards a tree at the water's edge. She twisted and writhed as she jumped, long leaps coming to a screeching halt as soon as she noticed the man that lay crumpled in the snow. Landing nimbly a short distance away from him, chest heaving with happy exertion, she chirped a "hello!" As her breath returned, she studied the male a little harder, noting his odd breaths. "are you all right, mister?" She asked this was a touch of concern, words choppy through her own gulping breaths, hardly feeling the cold through the warmth of her exertion.

Upon hearing a sweet voice, the boy sharply raised hsi head to find himself staring upon...something. Not a wolf, surely, he had met plenty of those and they did not look like this. If this meeting was under normal circumstaces, the young boy would've quickly risen to his feet and gone on alert, but this curious creature fascinated him. Also, she was small and didn't seem to pose much of a threat. This looked like one of those creatures that raised Ezimete..dof? "I'm good. Are you a dof? You are right? My mom told me about dofes, she was raised by a dof." The boy gave a charming smile. "If you are a dof, you are quite a beautiful dof." Casimir winked. He didn't usually go for femmes, but it was fun to tease the little...dof?
     The boy rolled in the snow playfully, occasionally giving coquettish smiles. "Who are you, where are you from?" He blinked those big emerald eyes of his, baring his teeth in a grin.

He did seem to be all right, for no more than a moment later did he begin to speak. At first, her ears fell sideways in confusion before perking back up when she realized his mistake. She did not mean to find it funny, really, rather, it seemed rude to laugh. Still, he said dof with such confidence that it had her spend all her energy on suppressing a laugh, for surely that'd be rude. 

Instead, she pranced from paw to paw, doing an odd little dance before abruptly falling still and plopping onto her rear. "I'm a dog, yes." She said carefully, attempting to correct him without appearing rude (at least she hadn't laughed). "a sheepdog,"  She blinked at the seemingly joyful boy, tail beating the snow behind her still.  

She shifted her weight a moment before responding, not quite able to sit still, yet. "I'm Poppy - like the flower. From Easthollow." She chirped, eyeing the rolling boy playfully, but unsure if it was a good idea to go rolling around in the snow with a wolf she'd just met, even though it seemed a delightful outlet for her energy.

The boy was quite surprised when the girl corrected him. He was almost certain it was dof, but here she was claiming she was a 'dog'. The boy cocked a brow for a moment, parting his jaws in order to disagree, but ultimately he shut his maw. Dog. Okay then. Poppy, that was a pretty name. It was another simple name, but the boy could not dwell on his name right now...He watched her little dance with curiosity, wondering how it was that she was so calm around a tall creature such as him. And then, he realized. From Easthollow. "D-do you live with wolves dear?" The boy ceased his rolling for now, gazing up at her with hope. This, this could be what he was looking for. He tried desperately to hld his mask of 'cool', but underneath, that wonderous bewilderment glowed in his green eyes and his tail thumped the ground wildly. Hope radiated from the boy as he patiently awaited an answer.

After delivering her short introduction, she watched curiously as he seemed to change, somehow; he seemed almost hopeful, and his tail beat the ground behind him. "yes," She supplied, finding it a bit easier to settle down now that she had the male to focus on. "it's back there - the territory with the big stone circle." She flicked her muzzle back the way she'd come, forelimb bouncing as it alone tried to work off her energy. "what's your name?" It seemed only fair that she receive a name in return, and she decided she rather liked this man - he seemed friendly.

This was...this was what he wanted in his life, delivered in the form of a hyper dof-, dog. Once he had recovered from the majority of the excitement/shock wave that had just slapped him upside the maw, the boy answered her question. "I'm Casimir, it's nice to meet you Poppy Like The Flower." He gave her a smile, just the slightest bit wry. Although he was unfamiliar with the territory she spoke of, his excitement was not dimmed in the least. He flashed her a smile.
     "I'm a wolf, I'm-uh, actually looking for a pack right now. I had a-um," the boy felt a sting as he thought of his mama,"a friend, who lived in this leg of the wilds once. How long have you lived with these wolves, how many of them are there where you come from?" The boy had many inquiries to come, he needed to figure out as much as possible, there was a home on the line.

 Casimir sounded like another fancy name; she noted dully. She had not met a wolf yet who carried the same kind of simple name she did, and she wondered if names were yet another difference between dogs and wolves. She did not dwell on this long, however, and his question had her consider a moment all the time she'd been and spent in Easthollow. "a few weeks - and there're lots. Valette's the alpha, and she's friendly but also a little scary, sometimes. And Nanook's the beta, " Here was a term she'd learned recently, from Murdock, one she'd come to learn meant the second leader. She was stopped only from going through a list of every pack member by the realization that it might bore him, and lapsed into happy silence.

The boy's eyes widened as the girl further explained. This was exactly what Ezimette had told him and his siblings, in more detail of course. Many wolves, a pack with structure, the commanding alpha with a sweet heart...Casimir wished to hear so much more. He smiled at her with a bright grin, his sparkling green eyes sparking with excitement.
     "So, are they welcoming to newcomers?" The boy was inquiring hesitantly, as he did not wish to spook her with his sprightly joy. "Would...would you consider leading me there?" The boy had hope radiating from his irises and his tail was thumping proudly. Here he was, new to the Teekon, and already finding a line to what could be a future pack for himself.

The boy seemed thrilled by her talk of a pack, reminding her of herself when she'd first come to these lands. For a moment, she paused - for surely if he reminded her of herself in the past tense, then, somehow, she'd changed. The thought was mildly concerning a moment, but she took the pause to think f Murdock, her life in the pack and the wolves she surrounded herself with. She remembered too the chickenwire coop and the flat, flat plain, the dying sheep and the dust that settled thickly on her old life.

She smiled then, half at the thought and half at the boy's question, almost forgetting to answer. "yes," she began brightly, "no one's tried eating me, even though they probably could."  She had realized the ease with how the wolves might hunt her as they hunted their fox a while pack, but somehow, it did not concern her. She nodded at his next question, turning a tight circle as her energy rushed back, odd thoughts pushed aside. "follow me!" She offered this only a moment before twisting and darting back the way she'd come, frequently circling back to make sure the male followed her well enough.

Casimir gave a lighthearted laugh as the young dog explained that the wolves hadn’t eaten her. Who would want to eat a dog anyway? I mean, he guessed he could see it, but it didn’t sound too appetizing, now did it? In his little thoughts, the boy was caught off-guard as the little creature began to run. The elegant boy took after her, his long limbs carrying him back up to her stride. He was glad to see that she seemed happy to take him, it proved an openness from the pack, or so he thought... Either way, this was a new start...this was his start.