Stavanger Bay with flowers in the sunshine

It was a stupid comment; just another ingredient in his sour soup.

Raptor slicked his ears back as he stalked off in search of a shark's mouth — or another hole to die in. But Sandpiper was at his heels and bumping into him before he made three paces. He tried his damndest to keep his mouth tight and preserve his scowl, but there was a flicker of a smile playing at the corner of his mouth that eventually split into a toothy grin. He was about to take a snap at his companion's ear to see if he could rouse her to a scuffle when the party bus arrived.

"Hey, Roz," Raptor greeted, casually stepping away from Sandpiper to peer around the earthen she wolf at the paler figure that followed behind her at a distance. "Who's that?"

For the moment, all of Raptor's issues were stowed below deck.