Barrow Fields lift me up, you take me higher

Backdated! Private

The moment she set foot upon the fields, Hydra took note of the odd, random mounds that rose up randomly. Massive anthills, her imagination suggested, but no creatures emerged from them. She moved through the open field with a strange sense of being followed, and her mien shifted to one that suggested she would be less than amused if provoked. Her ears cupped backward to listen for telltale signs of being followed, though if this were the case whoever it was did a grand job at remaining discreet. No scent, no sound, no sight of them.

Hydra decided, then, to appear more at ease. Let the hunter, if there was one, think she was an easy target—she determined this approach might make it easier to take out her would-be enemy, if her imagination was not playing tricks on her. Each mound she passed she casually observed to see if there were any hiding there, but each time there was nothing.

O HAYYYYY

he wasn't exactly discreet as he pedaled through the meadow, careless of any onlooker that might have spotted him. for one, he was exceptionally sad still -- for two, well, he had never been a wolf of discretion and wasn't about to start now.

he paused on a grassy knoll and expanded his chest as if to throw back a howl -- instead, he puffed himself up with a flick of his tail and tossed his head, looking about him in the most sovereign of fashions. outside of grimnismal he could dictate whatever he wanted -- and TODAY -- he dictated he was gonna mosey right on over to that dark female that didn't remind him a bit of chusi.

nope. not even a bit.

as he got closer, it was obvious she was not at all like the wolf he had called his girlfriend. despite the shapeliness of this woman's features ingram would not have described her as soft; she seemed sharp, despite the smoothness of her muzzle or the round lapis of her gaze. he slowed to a halt, now unsure that it was wise to have approached her. "hi." he offered, a wave of his tail given in self-doubt.

His obvious approach afforded him all of her grace; she was by no means shocked as he came toward her, not even behaving as though he were sleuthing about the territory. She could not even think that he might have been stalking her beforehand; it was not that he didn't seem the sort, it was that he approached her without any measure of maleficence that she recognized the fact that if it had been anyone who had been stalking her, it would not have been him. Though she would not define his physical appearance as welcoming—in fact, he appeared, from a distance, prickly and obtrusive, as though he would desire to be alone—his approach foretold that he was not one to shy away from, well, being seen. There was something roguishly handsome about him—Hydra had a preference for those of his complexion—and she patiently awaited his approach. 

His greeting shattered her perception of him. So, too, did his amicable body language. Up until that point, Hydra's gaze upon him had been hard and severe even despite her sudden attraction to him, but it softened considerably when he greeted her with his pleasant (enough) offering of friendliness. Hi, she echoed, her own tail waving. Come here often? She asked with a tilt of her head. It did not seem that he had any anxieties of being watched, despite the fact that she had felt such a way... perhaps no one was here at all after all, except for the two of them.

ingram remained blissfully unaware of any notion that he was being followed -- if hydra had felt hounded, ingram remained oblivious to it. as far as he was concerned, that type of malfeasance was way above his paygrade -- that and, he was not an interesting enough wolf to be shadowed by anything other than his siblings. who probably would only resort to such dark designs if he had eaten the last of their hostess cakes, or whatever. shouldn't have left them out if they didn't want them eaten!

the she-wolf seemed amicable enough to ingram, who upon seeing her reception of him was relatively lukewarm (he'd take any attention, even negative attention) flashed her his most brilliant smile. he looked around them, studying the warped nature of the pre-ocean plains. after a moment he turned back to her and nodded, supplying a shrug: "oh yeah, i live right over there." he motioned with a paw towards the distant keep called his home and continued. "was just taking a walk, now that the weather's nicer. you?"

A coastal wolf. Hydra remembered Rosalyn's warning, and kept it in mind. This other could behave nice, but she knew better than to immediately trust what she saw. On the other hand, she also was conscious she ought not to trust everything she heard, either. Hydra determined she would figure it out, but it was always best to be on the side of caution. His smile, though, was disarming—he was handsome, a veritable Johnny Depp in his prime—and her opinion of him rose. It paid to be handsome. While he took the time to survey the surroundings, Hydra used the opportunity to give him a thorough once over. Her eyes settled on his hindquarters (good gracious, ass bodacious) before returning to his face as he looked back to her. They then followed the way he gestured, and as he continued to speak she studied the landscape from afar. The flatlands offered her nothing by way of what his territory offered, and so her attention fell back to him once again.

With a pretty little smile of her own (she elected to wait a while until she brought out the big guns), the Ostrega responded, no, never—not until now. I am from the mountains, she explained. What is your favorite part of living on the coast? She asked, interested—she saw the appeal in a vacation, but... well, living here? She wondered how her father had done it. Hydra wondered if she ever could.

if ingram had been aware she had used the word handsome mentally to describe him -- well, he probably would have dropped his drawers in absolute glee. instead he remained oblivious, which was probably for the better -- he was much less obnoxious and cocksure if he wasn't completely confident in a lady's presence.

her smile practically warmed him to the bones, and he sat upright, alert and feeling a familiar sensation grip him: anxiousness. nervousness that he would say something stupid, or offend her, or otherwise bungle what promised to be a cheery interaction -- he swallowed, his tail sweeping from side to side in a friendly gesture.

she asked after his favorite thing about his lifestyle and he considered it only a moment -- beach-bods -- nope, definitely the babes -- nope, actually there weren't any babes in grimnismal besides nyx and she was taken (not that ingram knew). "oh, definitely the food." ingram smiled in return, liking how hydra's grin seemed to drastically warm the coldness of her lapis lazuli gaze. "what's your favorite thing about the mountains?"

Food. Food, she could go for. She was still fine, all things considered—she hadn't been traveling for too terribly long—but she wondered what sort of food the ocean itself offered. She hadn't caught many signs of deer around these parts, though here and there she noted their scat. A man after my own heart, she quipped, her smile warming further as her tail swayed. The food, she echoed, but continued, and the views. Combining the two? Five stars, she drawled. Out of five, of course. Can't be beaten, her expression seemed to say. 

Hydra took a single step near him, behaving demurely. She was a leading woman and was ever after her leading man. I have seen some strange creatures near the coast. They look... like giant worms. Or slugs. A combo of the two. And they bark, she explained, are they on your menu? She hadn't known then whether or not they were edible or not. She was okay with taking risks when she had numbers on her side, but alone? She was many things, but not an idiot.

ooooh -- ingram could feel the flush of her smile irradiate him, and his tail beat at a faster pace than before as she first answered with a quip and then stepped closer. he didn't mind the proximity (and maybe he should have, for he knew there was a lethality about her) -- he was practically starved for female attention -- all the women in his life were either relatives, or gay.. not that he had a problem with two women loving each other -- he thought, if anything, that was quite sensual.

hydra's question caused the churn of his tail to falter for a moment, and he squinted, trying to calibrate "massive slug" with "food" and "bark". finally, it clicked into place and he looked at her, grinning. "you mean seals? are they kinda wolf-like? like if i gained a lot of weight and went bald?" he was certain he had figured out what she meant, but to be sure he continued: "they're like... super fat? and sunning on the beach? yeah, those are seals. totally edible. totally bitey, too. and they'll kill you if you're in the water." ingram had his own suspicions on the intelligence of seals -- after many interactions, he thought they weren't so different from wolves -- only, fatter and greasier. he wasn't about to air his observations however, considering he might be met with ridicule and that, coming from a woman as commandingly pretty as hydra, would positively crush him like a seal sitting on a bug.

Hydra could not withhold the laugh that came from her as she pictured him bald, fat, and legless!! she added, and when he continued she quieted some, but his rude descriptors fit the bill of her 'mean girl' way of life perfectly, and she warmed to him further. He seemed to be sweet, but she imagined perhaps there might be something not so sweet to him, too, and she was interested in that. 

Edible, but bitey. Well, at the end of the day, even their predators were edible, weren't they? But she imagined his definition of 'bitey' to mean their method of self defense. Picturing them being hunters of wolf... she just couldn't see it. They were too... flabby. But maybe in the water they were better equipped, she determined as he finished speaking. Seals, she echoed, now having a name for the critter. Have you hunted them? She inquired, interested.

ingram's ears swept forward of their own accord in surprise as hydra laughed: he glanced carefully at her to detect whether that laughter came from mirth or derision. after brief inspection of those inimitable lapis-lazuli eyes, he decided on mirth -- or at the very least, hoped it was amusement and not at the cost of his own pride. a trickle of a smile appeared in response; he couldn't imagine himself legless, especially with such voluptuous hips.

hydra's question was met with an earnest nod. "oh yeah! a couple of times. it's a team effort. they are faster than you'd think, and they bite as hard as you or me." he seemed to pause, as if examining what he said in second-thought: "well, maybe as hard as i do, anyway." he trailed off, finding he didn't have his usual charm at his disposal because hydra seemed so quietly intimidating.

Hydra was fascinated as he explained to her that it took a group to take one down, and not only this but they might retaliate during the hunt with a bite. The concept of retaliation was not at all foreign to her, as the prey Hydra and her own family hunted lashed out with their legs when they could, or anything else at their disposal... but none had attempted to bite her in their bid to get away with their life. Seals did not have legs though, she recalled. If speed did not work for them, it made sense that they might try to escape however else they could. That they could bite so hard was also a surprise—best to avoid them on her lonesome altogether, she decided. She had no desire to potentially break her leg. 

It was disappointing, though. Well, I guess that means I may never know for myself what a seal tastes like, she said with a sigh. All their talk of them had her curious about it, and no amount of hearing what it was they tasted like from another would sate her inexplicable craving for something she did not know herself. Ingram had said his favorite part of the coast was the food, and Hydra could not help but wonder just how good the food might be. Hydra had assumed seawolves to only enjoy fish, though there was no way that the dark stranger before her survived solely off of that. Not with hips like those, she thought. He had a strong looking frame, sound and healthy, which she appreciated openly for a moment before she looked idly beyond him as the wind stirred.

NOT WITH HIPS LIKE THOSE! sorry for the wait on this @Hydra i closed this out but... u know... future threads plz

ingram had missed hydra's careful visual assessment of him, for at that moment he heard a howl come from grimnismal -- perhaps his brother or sister, though he truly could not say. the tone was distorted by the distance, and with an apologetic look he quipped: "that's for me -- i'll take you up on that seal date later okay? come by the sound someday."

and then with much smoother grace than he felt, ingram bowed and wriggled his way backwards, sashaying his happy hips as he made for home.