Sea Lion Shores What immortal hand or eye

Coelacanth tossed her head like a spirited filly as she sped down the beach at Niamh’s side, egged on by the leggy blonde’s, “Go, go, go!” She wove in and out of the shallows, kicking up sea spray, her feathered tail acting as a rudder as she darted this way and that. Breathless with excitement, she slowed when the honey-eyed daredevil did, whuffing in an exhilarated manner.

The wicked glint in Niamh’s eyes clued the atramentous sheepdog in to the fact that their play was far from over, and she splayed her willowy forelimbs into a sloppy crouch, hips wiggling eagerly as she bounced away from the soft click of the younger female’s incisors. Seelie drew the deepest breath she could, shimmying sideward with a scooping motion of her forelimbs akin to an American football player snapping the ball at the start of a play, and let out her deepest, most impressive growl. By any canid’s standards, it was a pathetic attempt — due to her impediment, it emerged as a kittenish ticking more than anything else — but her tail flagged wildly with excitement.

With no time to waste, Coelacanth made her retaliating lunge. Her Neptune eyes were wide and wild as she darted in, but her body language was loose and easy, and she was clearly “pulling her punches” — canting her head to the side, tufted ears snapped back against her skull she surged forward in an attempt to tag the other girl’s hip with her nose. Velveteen flews were tipped up at the corners, tongue lolling as her fox-fine muzzle parted in a silly dog smile.