The past few days had been spent scouting his new home. As much as he had liked being a free spirit with nothing to tie him down, there was something comforting about having such a sense of belonging. Not only that, but the more he thought about the prospect of being assigned a mate, the more he felt comfortable with the idea. No longer would he have to face rejection; no longer would he have to worry about the terrible things he was capable of. Goober had good faith that Aaron and his mate would choose wisely for him (and whoever the lucky lady ended up being).
Presently, Goober was perched upon a large boulder that jutted out from the earth. It was mid afternoon, and he felt no need to rush around or do anything. Perhaps in a day or two, he would set off for the plateau again in search of the wolves who had once lived there. For now, he was content to perch.
She was moving through the woods, not yet aware that she was quickly upcoming upon the male who was sitting on the rock. She stopped when she saw him through the weeds.
She chuffed lowly in greeting from behind him as she approached. She stopped a few feet away from him. Near the base of the rock where she wouldn't enroach upon his privacy.
The telltale sound of footsteps alerted Goober to the newcomer almost immediately. Feminine, by her scent, and a pretty little thing. She had stopped a little ways away, either wary of approaching a stranger or just shy in general. In any case, Goober hopped down off the boulder to be at her level. "Hey there!" he greeted, "I'm Goober."
She smiled politely,"Hi. I'm Liri." She moved forward, stretching her muzzle out to sniff at him delicately. After familiarizing herself with his scent she moved away. Goober, what an odd name. She had found all of the members' names odd in some way though. This Goober rivaled even Faramir in the name department.
She sat across from the agouti male, getting ready to acquaint herself with him. It would be awkward were he chosen for her mate and she didn't know him very well. She had five days left until her one month of getting to know members was up. Although she wasn't sure she would be mated exactly then as some of the other members still hadn't been here a month either.
Liri seemed, at the very least, a little bit shy. That wasn't a terrible thing, of course, though he tended to find himself more agreeable with outgoing types like himself. The way that she stretched her neck out toward him was endearing, though, and Goober sniffed right back.
"Pleasure to meet you," he replied, once the short (but sweet) sniffing ritual was complete. "Have you been with Rosings long?"
She nodded politely,"The same to you." She found that she liked him, as she liked most members of her pack. It wasn't quite the entertaining banter that she and Faramir had upon meeting nor the attraction she felt for Sam but he was pleasant.
"I have been here for about a month," she admitted, knowing that it meant soon she would mate. She doubted it would be Goober, he had only must joined. Unless they planned to make her wait another month or for him to mate right away, it didn't seem plausible. Anything was possible though.
"How did you find yourself in Ridings?" Her head cocked inquisitively, curious as to how he ended up here.
"Ridings?" he asked back, cocking his head to one side. "This is Rosings, sweetheart." Had she really been here a whole month and still misheard the name? Perhaps the others had been too polite to correct her. "As for how I got here... well, I guess the same way anybody does. I was a loner, needed a place to call home, talked to the leader, and he let me join. Simple as that."
Liri seemed pleasant enough, but certainly not the outgoing type he tended to really enjoy spending time with.
lol just noticed that, I hate autocorrect
Her brow furrowed, not liking the way he spoke to her. Her tail lashed angrily and her ears flattened at his almost condescending tone. "Yes, I'm aware of the name. It must have been a slip of the tongue,
sweetheart." Her tone had become cold and hard, having passed her judgement on this Goober character.
She had yet to find anyone in the pack she didn't like. Sure, Gotham could be a bit...well Gotham, but he was polite enough. But this one, she didn't like. She nodded woodenly at his explanation. "Yes, well, I believe I must go. Nice to meet you," she quickly departed, embarrassment overcoming the shy female as she left, hoping she wouldn't be mating Goober fervently.
Liri stormed off, apparently taking his comment the wrong way. He had meant "sweetheart" as a term of endearment, not as a veiled insult, but apparently she hadn't seen it the same way he had. He made no move to correct himself, nor did she give him any time to do so. Instead, he was left a little bit bewildered that somebody could a) pass judgement on somebody so quickly and b) fail to own up to their mistake.
With a shrug, Goober turned and headed in the opposite direction, less than keen to run into Liri anytime soon.