@Dante
The madness had begun to wane from Osprey's bloodstream, receding step by step until one day her head was clear and she was herself again, as if someone had lifted a spell that had been cast on her. It had been nice to steal Dante away and have him all to herself, exploring the mateship on a whole new level together and realizing that she loved him in a way that she had never felt about another person.
Even now that they had returned she had let Dante return to his duties as beta and guardian of the territories reluctantly, feeling a little jealous about the job that prevented him from spending time with her. Though she made herself busy by hunting and searching for food, her mind was was elsewhere, thinking, where he was and what he was doing right now, the separation seeming almost painful. Eventually she decided that waiting was enough and with a dead rat between her jaws, she set out to look for him.
When Dante went about his duties, he too felt a lessening of the effects of the previous days. He barely remembered his negative encounters and what details remained were quickly fading. Yet he walked with a new confidence, for one happening would not be so easily forgotten. It had finally cemented the mateship he shared with Osprey and he felt a new level of assuredness in their relationship. At last they had claimed one another completely and, while he did not allow himself to hope just yet, perhaps soon even more would tie them.
Suddenly everything seemed trivial; his fights with Lasher and the hard feelings that had followed were all but swept aside. Only a contented sort of glow remained.
He had been loathe to depart that morning, but responsibility did call and he was ever dilligent to answer. Once his mind had cleared he once more was able to leave Osprey without possessive anxiety taking root, though it was rather unhappily all the same. Now he was searching idly for game, but not having much luck, perhaps because his mind was on a decidedly different route. Still caught up in the last couple of days and the love he also felt intensified.
When he caught her familiar approach, he was all too happy to abandon a futile search, and he turned happily to greet her. He could try again later, though luck would need to be on his side. It would be another day or two before distraction left completely.
"There you are!" Osprey put her gift on the ground and called out to her mate, once she came within the sight, tail wagging happily, because she had found him so quickly. It seemed that they had been on the same wavelength, when it came to thoughts and actions. It reminded of those last days spent together only, when it felt like they were able to understand each other by looks and moves alone. Words had not been neccessary.
She sat down, waiting for him to come closer, all the while smiling sincerely at him. "I brought lunch," she leaned down to nose the rat, "a meagre and smallish one... but still lunch."
He looked at her appreciatively, then nosed the rat. "It's better than I've managed," he admitted with a slight humor in his tone, obviously not too bothered by his poor luck. Worry could wait another day or two. For now he was content to still ride that high he'd been on. "I'm still a little distracted it seems." All your fault, he thought with a grin, though he didn't say. Likely she'd know what he meant.
"So, what'll it be? Picnic by the shore?" Since he wasn't doing much here, a walk and lunch by the sea sounded like a wonderful idea. Though eating here sounded just as great so long as she was around.
"You do realize that you are cursed for life now," Osprey said, nipping playfully at her mate's nose, enjoying the idea that he was still willing to leave his duties behind in order to be with her. Madness aside, it still felt great to be desired and liked. "And I ain't letting you go," she added in a tone that implied that the magic was real and working, that he should believe in it.
"Sounds nice," it had been a while since she had gone to the beach herself, not even realizing that her mind had carefully stored the memories of that one particular encounter there in a not too distant past. "Though we can save the burden of carrying it and eat it here and now," she offered, having had her share of carrying the creature and wanting to be able to talk to her mate, while they got to the sea-shore.
"You take a half and I take a half?"
She seemed pleased by his admitting continued distraction, and Dante felt similarly, despite knowing in a day or two he'd need to attempt to step it up. "If I said I was sorry, I'd be lying," he responded to her relevation she'd cast a spell. If this was some magic she'd put on him he'd gladly keep it as long as she'd give it.
"Good plan." The meal would be a quick one anyway, and a walk by the beach was just as good as a picnic. He poked it with a paw, wondering at the best way to divide. Pick half and chomp? "Heads or tails?"
There was this saying that went like this - the prison we choose ourselves isn't a prison anymore. Maybe the same applied to curses. On some level at least.
"Butt or Brains - that's a hard choice to make," Osprey said with a grin, looking down at the scrawny corpse, measuring it with her gaze and trying to decide, which would be the fairest way to divide. In the end she decided to let Dante do the job, by stepping aside and beckoning to the rat. "I trust you and will be fine, whichever end I get."
She left it for him, and he appraised it. Tempted to make a joke about her being the brains (and him, of course, being the amazing butt) in this relationship, but since the butt tended to have the choicest bit, he decided to go the opposite route. Crunchy skull for him.
He began gnawing on the rodent, trying to divide it somewhat equivalently, and soon made his way through. gripping his half, he gave a little bow. "On A-a-hite" he mumbled though the mouthfull, probably incoherently. It was short work, but he ate slowly, enjoying grinding the small bones.
While Dante decided to savour the meagre meal, Osprey was quick to pick up her half, toss it in the air, catch it between her jaws, do two chewing motions and then swallowed it almost whole. The feeling of fur and bones scraping against her esophagus, while the food made it's way towards it's destination - the stomach - could hardly be described as pleasant. She winced and lifted her muzzle higher up to make the process faster.
With that done, she locked her gaze at Dante's moving jowls and tried to do two things at once - pretend to be deadly serious and force back the laughter, that was cracking her otherwise very good acting.
While he savored, she snarfed hers up almost alarmingly quickly, then proceeded to be awkward af and watch him intently enjoying his own food. Well, trying to enjoy. It became a little harder when your dinner partner had eyes burning into your face in the process.
Tickled by a sudden idea, he opened his mouth wider as he chewed, regaling her with a lovely view. "Mmm-", he began to attempt with his mouth full, only to unfortunately inhale a bit of rodent in the process. What followed was a (semi-graceful?) hack as what meat he hadn't swallowed landed in a wet plop in front of him. To his credit, he kept what he had swallowed down as he coughed.
"Holy.." he wheezed as he caught his breath. Guess that rat wasn't quite done kicking back after all.
"Oh, my," Osprey recoiled from the mush of meat, bone, fur and saliva before her and eventually got to her feet to take a seat further away from it. This was, what happened, when you challenged your mate and he thought of doing something funny. However, there was not much left to laugh about now, since he was not done with coughing, making her worry of, how much of that mush had got in his windpipe. The last thing she needed was to become a widow just because her mate had choked on food.
Luckily for Dante, the bit was a small one, and with some coaxing it slid down. He winced, but with the adrenaline, didn't have too much time to feel embarrassed about it.
"Never had one fight back," he said finally, clearing his throat before eyeing the grossness in front of him. "I think it took offense."
"That's what happens, when you eat a head," Osprey said in a "I told you so" tone, even if she had been the one to let him choose. "You don't savour it - you crush it and swallow it, before it gets any silly ideas in it's dead brains," she explained, as if the instructions of, how to eat half a rat that has been dead for a very long time, were something everyone knew. "Butts for instance - never fight. Because - quite simply - they ain't capable of a logical and rational thought," she shrugged, got to her feet and stretched.
"Ok - enough with that. Ready to go?"
She had a good point. Not a lot of personality to the butt without a head to guide it. No longer hungry, he nodded readily. "Good advice for future reference. Let's."
He got up as well, yawning and checking the sky. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day, perfect for a walk. "You know, before coming to these parts, I'd never seen an ocean before. Didn't even know that much water was possible." He started as they began walking. "Kind of makes you wonder what, if anything, is on the other side.". He mused conversationally, knowing it was an answer that would probably never come but one that was fun to think on anyway.
Osprey listened to Dante's story and had to agree: "Yeah... it is pretty amazing, isn't it?" Though she had not been born having ocean right next door, it had never been far off. A days-worth walking distance and even after having seen the beach a dozen of times, it never got old. Each time, when she was nearing the sandy shores and was about to see the vast area of water, there was the same childish joy and excitement about it.
"What do you think there is on the other side, hm?" she wanted to hear more and have him telling the story for a change.
She was open to the discussion and he was happy to follow it, knowing she wouldn't judge him for any far-fetched answer he might give. That was the fun of it, after all!
But he did have a real wondering. "I've thought maybe the land of the gods. Since no normal wolf would be able to cross such a thing. Besides, it seems like their style." The ultimate in waterfront property.
"Or maybe our upside down friends live over there. And the ocean is their sky." Now that was a thought to make your head hurt.
"Upside down friends," Osprey repeated inbetween chuckles, finding the fact that her mate had employed his imagination even more amusing. He was not bad at all, might make a decent story once.
"That brings me back the time I was convinced that the ground I was walking on was someone's sky. And, if I dug a deep hole enough, I would be able to peek through the clouds and bark at the people on that earth," she shared a childhood memory of hers.
"My friend Pete, who had traveled a lot in his life, told that the ocean continues until it hits another land," this was a little hard to grasp in the beginning, but the point was - as funny and unbelievable as it could be - that the Earth was round like big boulder.
ooc: the story about digging a hole and the sky is actually something I believed as a kid. I thought that I could then wave my hand at my grandma, who would be sitting in front of her house and looking up. :)
He enjoyed her childhood theory immensely, and the look it gave him at how creative she'd been even then. He too had dug in the earth as a child, but merely to see how far he could go. He'd never imagined anything beneath but more earth.
"Pete, huh? Where'd you meet him?" The idea of an old friend, and one who was so well traveled, interested him. Had he belonged to her pack before, or was he a fellow traveler with whom she'd crossed paths?
"It must be a sight to see, then, that other land. Wonder how different it would be." He inhaled a breath, enjoying the taste of the salt on his tongue. "Any wolf who went there would have to be quite the swimmer. Maybe the ones over there even dwell in the sea." There were tales of sirens - maybe that's how a siren was born.
"He was a packmate - one of the few that was not related to DiSarinnos or Redleafs at all," Osprey reminisced. She had fond memories of the old wolf and now, when being older, she could admit that he might have been her first real crush. "He rarely spoke of his origins, but he had seen a lot from the world. And - lucky for us kids - he was very willing to share his experiences."
"Funny you mention the sea-wolves," she chuckled, "because if you had seen Three-legged Pete in real life, you would believe that he himself has come from the very depths of the ocean."
They spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach - Osprey telling about her old friend's fantastic yarns that had captivated her when she had been a child.