Ankyra Sound Comfort, the enemy of progress.

Hi Ingram, ily.

For over a week, Nyx and Lycaon had rarely allowed one another out of their sights as they sought to find themselves intwined in a lovers' embrace whenever the opportunity presented itself. She'd gone to him and beckoned him to her willingly, giving herself to him freely despite her life-long reluctance to be courted by any male.

So what made this one so different?

Now, with her heat cycle over and her mind less hazy, the golden Ostrega sought more time by herself than beneath the pallid Beta. Instinct drove her to the shelter of Grimnismal's sequoias or further afield, where she intended to avoid Wylla at all costs, for she was not foolish enough to believe that her Alpha had been nose-blind to the scent that accompanied her heightened hormones.

Curiously, Nyx hadn't happened across any fresh markings or trails belonging to the mottled leader, so she found herself significantly more relaxed as she moved between the trees to mark their land's borders and reintegrate herself to pack life by making herself useful. She squatted to urinate here and there, though when she paused to consider peeing on the exposed roots of a tall tree, something unusual happened: she heaved, and from her jaws spilled the contents of her stomach.

ingram hadn't exactly been oblivious to the perfume that nyx sported -- many times he had been driven to seek her company, and many times he had held himself back -- he still longed for chusi, and it hadn't been right. guiltily he had chased any thoughts of pursuing her well from his mind, and was blissfully unaware of the clandestine union she and lycaon shared.

had he known they had shacked up, perhaps he would not have spent so much time avoiding her -- he would have made pains to pass her by even now, except he had heard a sudden noise that was not good. it sounded strained, and was followed by the splatter of liquid -- even ingram knew exactly what that sound was.

he stepped carefully towards her, his expression concerned and ears airplaned to the side of his head. "you ok?" even though she didn't look okay, he still had to ask.

The agouti Ostrega knew the worst of it was over when her stomach lurched again, and she produced nothing but a horrendous gagging sound. Nyx shook her head, momentarily squeezing her eyes shut as she loomed dizzily over the frothy puddle of fresh vomit beween her paws.

"Eugh," she moaned to herself as her tongue poked between her teeth, scraping what felt like a layer of sludge from its surface with her incisors before she spat the undesirable taste down at the ground. She blinked her eyes open as Ingram appeared between the trees and loped in her direction, concern clear in the backward cant of his ears.

She smiled a little sheepishly. "Yeah," she said, "that was nasty. Dunno where that came from." Nyx looked down at the offensive pool before her and scrunched her nose in distaste, then proceeded to shove dirt over it before the scent encouraged her to contribute to it again.

there were many things about grimnismal's resident ostrega that ingram would have conceded were attractive: the golden tufts of her fur - the intelligent yellow of her eyes - that shit-eating grin that could always get him to play, even in the pissiest of moods -- but somehow, upchucking dinner was not featured on that list.

nyx seemed visibly embarrassed by the deposit she had contributed to grimnismal's soil -- never one to miss an opportunity ingram dove in to troll. he pulled back a paw in a mock gesture of horror, a look of overplayed disgust painting his muzzle: "yeesh - whatever you ate, i don't want any." he joked, falsely fanning the air with an exaggerated flip of his paw.

When Ingram scrunched his nose in distaste and pulled back, seemingly apalled by her nasty deposit on the sand, Nyx pointed him with a firm glower. She narrowed her yellow eyes, though the sbtle upward twitch of her mouth's corner betrayed her mock irritation. That was what she valued most about their friendship: either party could lift the other's spirits with humour, and she felt her initial awkwardness dissipate as she eyed the exaggerated fanning of his forepaw.

"You'd rather eat shit though, am I right?" Nyx chirped, lifting her brow suggestively.

he looked to the pile, and then to nyx -- and then back to the frothy mess again. he had caught that subtle upstitch, the carefully concealed smirk -- and he knew he could run with it then.

nyx might not have known it, but ingram wasn't exactly known for his solemn deportment. okay, maybe it was obvious he was a clown -- but he was grimnismal's clown, and was always happy to amuse.

in deadpan expression he pulled his gaze from the unsavory spot in the sand and said: "only yours, though."

ingram didnt leave enough room for an answer -- he had decided nyx needed some good old fashioned manly care -- and with a cheeky kiss to her nose, set off to the forest to secure her a fresh kill -- she would feel better after eating again, right?