She had weathered the first 24 hours, and already Behati was close to breaking. Whatever free time she was allowed was spent staring out over the ocean, willing it to reach out and steal her away.
But not without
@Casmir.
The search was urgent - she had to go,
flee this damned place before what little was left of her pride was gobbled up by that stupid hag.
"I need to get out of here!" were her first words to Casmir when she found him, lounging next to the remnants of an early breakfast. It was barely day; the sun was preparing to crest the horizon, grey and cold through a filter of clouds.
he had heard through the grapevine about his girlfriend's punishment, and it made him wince, to be honest. but on top of that, now she had to room with the very same girl that had been on his mind. so ... awkward. sooner or later, he had to tell Behati about what had happened, but Cas was happy to postpone that indefinitely.
gnawing idly on the bones of a squirrel he'd caught that morning, the boy was caught off-guard by the shout of his girlfriend, who stomped up to him, her eyes bright with the fear of a captured creature. "you wanna go to the beach?" he offered immediately, standing to his paws and pressing his lips briefly against her cheek. he was a good escort -- right?
"You wanna go to the beach?" Behati stared. "What? No!" Stupid, naive, small-minded pack-born moron. "I want to leave-leave," the girl clarified irritably, raining hella shade on her poor, unsuspecting boyfriend. It oozed out of her every Aria-hating pore. "You know - leave? Not come back?"
his ears flew back against his head at her outburst, and then his face fell into hurt, and then set into lines of anger. "fine. leave." if she couldn't even handle his dad's stupid mild fucking punishment, if she wanted to leave after two whole damn days, then she didn't care about him.
"Fine. Leave," he huffed, failing to put two and two together. Behati stared at him, confused by the reaction. After several moments of strained silence, it dawned on her that she had shoved her claws into raw wounds. Behati winced at her folly, giving her slender head a rough shake. ".. with you," she clarified, stretching forward to peck at his shoulder with her nose. "You and me, together."
he let Behati tug on him, as her next words fairly stunned his sulking little mind. "l-leave?" but where? he didn't even consider the possibility that she wanted to begin her own pack -- his mind immediately flew to the family he had in Donnelaith -- and Aria.
he shifted uncomfortably. "why would i leave? why would you leave?" he wondered out loud. "every one i know is here -- my mom, my baby sisters. why do you want me to leave?" his gilded eyes scrutinized his girlfriend.
Behati's demands were unreasonable - she knew that, but there was rarely any brain/mouth interaction going on in the heat of the moment. Casmir was circling the right idea in response, but should not have ended by listing out all the nearest and dearest that were keeping him there - his loving father, doting mother, and plethora of siblings. Behati, by contrast, had nothing - and she felt that fiercely now "Aria, I guess," she murmured, averting her eyes. "I can't stand her, and your dad seems to think the sun shines out of her ass."
so Aria was the problem. hypocritically, Cas found himself sick of hearing about her, especially since Behati was obviously jealous and he had done little to assuage that, even to the point of dishonesty. unaware that he had blundered -- par for the course in his world -- the boy flopped down on the ground. "no, he doesn't," he sighed, defending his father as he thought he should. "and you can't stand her because you're cooped up with her." he looked at Behati, thumped his tail. "come on. let's get out for a little bit."
Well, Lasher did think something about Aria's ass - terrible, inappropriate stuff. Had she known, Behati would have considered trading a leg in exchange for showing Aria up as the pasty ho that she so clearly was.
But she didn't know. As far as anyone knew, Aria was Donnelaith's hardworking little angel. Ugh.
"She said I smell," Behati mumbled, following Casmir for several steps until she registered the word 'out'. ".. Not out-out, right? I don't.. if I leave the forest, she'll tell! Even if it's you. " Especially you. Shady-ass skank.
"well that was fuckin' rude," Cas muttered, wondering what had gotten into the pale girl. maybe her position as Behati's guardian had gotten to her pretty head. standing to his paws, the Mayfair boy wandered over and stuck his muzzle under his girlfriend's chin, taking an exaggerated whiff of her fur. "nope! you don't."
she paused. "i can escort you," Cas explained, throwing out his chest. "i'm your boyfriend but i am also a member of this pack. yeah, Aria can know, but Dante said you could leave with an escort, right? that's me." he flashed her a devilish grin.
It was rude. Behati wagged her tail, pleased to be supported. Casmir's admirable efforts to cheer his girlfriend up were starting to take, and she found herself smiling with genuine warmth when he pressed his cold nose to the underside of her chin. Their physical contact had not gone much further - it was still so new that even the slightest touch was exciting. "I'm playing dumb if anyone disagrees with you," she grinned back, stood, and nudged his puffed-out chest with her nose. "Find me something pretty on the beach!"
his tongue lolled; he touched noses with her, still deliciously goosebumped all over by her little kisses. he turned to go, and then her words paused him. "you aren't coming?" he asked, frowning a little. he could find her something pretty, sure, but what fun was the beach without someone to accompany you? "come onnnnnn," he crooned.
And so it was that Casmir and Behati ended up having An Unusually Nice Time For Two Hormonal Teenagers. They laughed and played on the beach as wolves their age ought to do, alternating between wrestling matches and scouring the sand for presents to bring back to the wolves of Donnelaith. Behati found a mostly intact shell for Pearl, broad as a Chinese fan and white as polished bone, and Casmir did his utmost to find something worthy of his girlfriend's own beauty. It was the perfect afternoon, and both children would do well to recall it in darker times ahead.
Conclude? ;)