Wolf RPG

Taking a break from hunting, Niita patrolled the border. At first it had been done with vigilance, her eyes scanning the surrounding area in the case of intruders. After awhile it began to be monotonous. The same barren trees, the same mostly dirt ground with the odd returning plant life, and the same blue sky. 

Finding herself lost in her own thoughts, Niita nearly didn't notice as she neared the tree, almost wacking her head into it painfully. Snapping out of her mindless reverie, the Anreis shook her head and continued on with the task.

Ezekiel was taking his own patrol of the borders, something he always seemed to be doing. He was very used to patrols, and in his old home, intruders were common. In Zeke's eyes you couldn't be too careful. As he trotted along, marking where he saw fit, he noticed a white figure up ahead. At first he thought it to be an intruder. He was about to start snarling at her, when he realized it was just Niita. He hadn't seen her since they first met at the border, but he'd heard much from his pack mates. He'd originally been weary of the female, he hadn't been sure if he'd liked her much. But then again he didn't like a lot of people.

He thought about walking on by and continuing his rounds, but he thought he ought to meet Niita. Steady seemed quite smitten with her, time to find out what made her so special. The large grey male gave a friendly bark in her direction, walking towards her with a calm and open posture. He stopped a bit away from her, not wanting to invade her space. Bad as ever at starting conversations, he turned to look around for an idea. Dead trees. Ok. So this famine is... Bad. He sounded like a fool, and felt embarrassed. He'd felt embarrassed a lot lately. Probably because he was having to act friendly a lot more than usual.

Niita hadn't known what to think of Ezekiel. He had seemed aggressive at the borders but judging by his stiff social interactions he was that way all the time. Of course Niita had hopes of being friends with everyone in her pack, even stoic faced males like Zeke.

Niita returned his bark with a friendly wave of her tail, stopping her rounds to talk to him. "Yeah, I hope the plants come back soon. I've been seeing a few random blades of grass. That's a good sign, yeah?" Niita asked rhetorically, hoping not to make him feel weird.

Hmm, she seemed alright. She was friendly at least. Though of course that meant that the two were a clashing pair. However Zeke knew it was better to have friends than enemies. A logic he'd learned that his old pack didn't quite understand. He nodded stoically, looking about for signs of life. As Niita had said, there were indeed small patches of green. He remembered back to the day he'd been accepted into Silvertip Mountain. He'd found a path of flowers there. It seemed like long ago but in fact it's only been about a week and a half, maybe two. Time passed quicker in Teekon it seemed.

Yeah it's a good sign. But I must say I'd hoped there would be more green when I first came. I know it supposedly looks beautiful when locusts haven't ravaged the place, but I'd expected Teekon to be a bit, livelier. Wow! A decent statement! He was getting better at socializing already. He always found it harder to be normal and friendly around females. Males were easy, he'd talked to males before. But the few females he'd known for his life back at the bluff were his blood thirsty mom and his renegade sister, neither of which were your average female. Niita on the other hand was nice and... Normal. Normal made Zeke uncomfortable sometimes, but so far he liked her.

Niita smiled a bit in triumph. See, you can make small talk effectively. Zeke still had that emotionless tone and expression but at the very least he wasn't outright disliking her and/or being rude. It was a start at least, especially since she had expected Ezekiel to just outright keep walking. 

"I don't know quite what I expected when I arrived in Teekon, certainly not a famine, but eh. Stuff happens. I'm sure it's beautiful when it's in full bloom." Niita found herself rambling, glancing around as she tried to picture the mountain top with growing trees, grass, the whole works.

Ezekiel found himself following her gaze as she looked at the mountains. He tried to paint pictures of color where the famine had taken its toll. But the dull barren landscape continued to prevail. He nodded, as if he agreed, even though he couldn't see what she saw. He'd like to though, she seemed to have a nice vision for the future of Teekon Wilds. With a shift in posture from, awkward and grumpy to, a bit less awkward and grumpy, Ezekiel responded with a new question.

How do you like the pack so far? I'm kind of new also but I've found I like it. Our new alpha seems to like you. Ezekiel knew of Steady's little crush on Niita. The new alpha tried to make it subtle, but when they'd talked of Niita Steady had seemed rather fond. Maybe one day, like Steady said, he'd find someone for him too.

Niita turned back to him as he spoke, realizing he meant Steady. She had almost forgot that he had been promoted, she was still used to Zaria being the Alpha. Hopefully his being Alpha wouldn't change anything between them, was she supposed to submit or something every time she saw him now?

"It's pretty great. I thought Zaria might eat me when I first met her. Other than that it's been pretty good. As for Steady, well I like him too." The pale girl glanced away, smiling shyly. "What about you? Surely some lady has caught your eye?" 

Ezekiel snorted, a small smile danced at his lips when she mentioned Zaria. He remembered when he first met Zaria, it had been brief, and oddly intimidating. She seemed like a good alpha, but something about her reminded him of his mom. Except Zaria wasn't insane or bloodthirsty. Yeah this pack was way better than his last. He watched the way Niita looked away when she spoke of Steady. Yep, they definitely had a thing, her and the alpha. Then she said something he hadn't expected. Surely some lady has caught your eye.

Well, had one? He'd always heard others talking about their mates and how they loved each other and such. But attraction had never been obvious to him. He'd spent so much of his life fighting and worrying about himself that he'd forgotten to worry about others. He hadn't really put much thought into what he found attractive. Like Steady said, he'd just been waiting until he found someone. Should he be looking? No not really. I've met nice females before but I don't really um. You know. Known how to talk to them. I don't think about affection that um, often. In fact really never. He'd always thought he only needed himself, but maybe that would change. But before anything changed, he'd need lessons on how to warm up to people.

Niita felt slightly guilty as he stammered, trying to explain himself in short sentences. Then the thought that she could aid him somehow popped into her mind like a light bulb going off. "Well maybe I can help you. Learn to talk to them, I mean. Give you lessons or something." 

Niita couldn't help a small twinge of doubt. She was severely inexperienced with males, had no idea how romance worked except for her encounters with Steady. But the Anreis would be damned if she wouldn't try and try hard she would.

Niita was alright, he decided. Especially when she said she could help him learn how to talk to girls. That would be really nice. He really needed the socialization, it was definitely a factor of life that his parents had so lovingly forgotten to teach. Evil bastards the both of them. His new family was far more helpful, and kind too. He nodded with a sigh of almost relief, large pale eyes flashed as he gave her one of his rare smiles. That would be great! If you could, do that.

Paws prancing across the ground, the grump began to get a little excited. He stopped, composing himself and feeling a bit embarrassed. He was honestly just a big puppy when he felt comfortable around another. Niita seemed to have that effect on others. Clearing his throat and puffing out his chest to regain a little pride, Zeke responded in his low gruff voice. So where do we start?

Niita smiled back, happy to see Zeke grinning. She had worried that Ezekiel wouldn't like her, but he seemed to be friendly enough once you got past his rough edges. 

"The most important thing is to be yourself. Don't lie to impress any girl, if she can't accept you as you are, then she doesn't desrve you Zeke." Niita stressed the point, glancing at him to make sure he understood her. "Even if you think you're too awkward or quiet, some girl is going to appreciate those things in you." 

Ezekiel was a bit frustrated with her first bit of advice. That's what people kept telling him. Find someone to accept him for him and all that. And of course he would wait for that someone, but what he wanted was to know how to talk to her. What if he met her and then warded her off with his grumpy personality? How should he avoid a situation like that. He nodded to show that he understood, Yes, I know that bit. But thank you. What I want to to know is what I should say and what not to say? What do girls like in guys. I guess. He said, hoping his fumbled words got his point across.

Niita cocked her head slightly, taking on a mock mentoring look. "Patience, padawan." She couldn't keep it together and ended up giggling a bit to herself. Shaking her head, Niita refocused. "Right, right, we're talking about girls." 

"Try smiling more. I thought you were this big aggressive dude when I met you, I also figured you would hate me because you just look..angry." Niita summed up lamely, trying to explain that he was intimidating. "You should ask questions. It doesn't matter what about, just don't sit there and stare at her. Be an active participant in the conversation." Niita nodded, figuring that point was wrapped up pretty well.

Ezekiel furrowed his brow at her next words. He could tell that she was teasing him with her mocking look, and he was fine with that, but he would have at least liked her to use English. She giggled a little, and he chuckled in confusion, pretending like he knew what the hell she was talking about. Then she composed herself and refocused on the topic at hand. Good, they were hopefully about to start getting somewhere. With a smile he sat, waiting for her evaluation of him.

When it came, it hit him hard. She pretty much had summed up everything about his personality. Angry intimidating guy who doesn't talk a lot. Ok, well there might be something they could do to fix that. Ok, so smile more and talk more? He asked, stoic faces as ever. When it came to social situations, Zeke was very slow. He picked up on flirting and hints about certain things in a conversation way after it had been stated. Nope, being a soldier had been much easier than this. But he was getting there.

Niita nodded, noting with exasperation he looked as grumpy as ever. Reaching up with a paw, she gave his cheek a gentle nudge in an attempt to make him smile. "You're doing it wrong. That's not a smile, you look like someone just ate your food." Her teasing was gentle, Niita wasn't out to hurt his feelings. 

"See, like this." Niita put on her usual friendly smile, showing Zeke how it was done. "Now you try." Niita gestured to Zeke, indicating he should try it now.

Ezekiel pulled back from her paw, he didn't like touching. Any kind of touching or physical affection was no good to Zeke. But after a moment of looking like a frightened puppy, he leaned back and allowed her to position his face to a smile. When she pulled away giggling, he held the awkward position. He definitely did not look like he was smiling, it was more of an evil grimace. Lip quivering in agitation, he responded, Like this? Niita showed her own smile and it was not at all like his, much more genuine. She looked so happy.

And her happiness somehow rubbed off on him, and he managed a real smile. He didn't realize he was doing it, but he chuckled a little. He thought he was doing it wrong, but he wasn't. Oh Zeke. Poor not street smart Zeke.

Niita stilled, wondering if touching bothered him. She would understand if it did, Niita didn't like people touching the scar on her neck or her scruff. The pale waif began to drop her paw only for Zeke to allow her to touch him. His grimace made her laugh aloud, the sound ringing through the air around them loudly. "Er, no." She managed to get out between chortles.

Suddenly he chuckled too, a real smile coming onto his face. Niita jumped up with a happy yip, her whole lower body wriggling like a little worm. "That's it! Now you're getting it."

Ezekiel's chuckling stopped when Niita got excited and started jumping. This was it? This was a real smile? Ezekiel knew how to do this. This was good. He smiled some more at Niita, white tipped tail wagging high behind him. Really! Is that it? Huh. This was pretty fun, Niita seemed to bring out a different side in Zeke. A young and happy side that he didn't know still existed. She was pretty cool. But surely this couldn't be the only step on how to seem friendly. Zeke was eager to learn more.

The Manchester stopped in his joyful giddy and sat back down. Ok. So what's next?

Niita's smile grew as he joined her in the excitement. Perhaps she would make a friend of Ezekiel yet. She nodded at his question though it appeared rhetorical, composing herself as he did though Niita couldn't completely lose her smile.

"That kinda depends on the girl. But if you're talking to someone new you should try asking her questions about herself. That way you can get to know her and talking will come easier." Well, unless whoever he was talking to didn't like talking about their past. Zeke could cross that bridge when he came to it, Niita couldn't give him all the answers. 

"You should expect questions in return though, most wolves don't like talking about just themselves." She warned him, unsure if he was one of those who didn't like speaking about their pasts.

So they got back to the topic at hand. Talk to her, get to know her. Girls like that. But then again as Niita said, it depends on the girl. Just like not every female was like Johan, not every female was like Niita either. He nodded in understanding? Talk more seemed to be a theme around here. Then she said he had to answer questions about himself. Now that would be hard. Ezekiel had a rather... different past. One he didn't like to talk about. If he found himself in the situation where he'd had to talk about himself, he'd probably come up with some lies. Unless of course he was close with the wolf.

Ok. Not a fan of talking about me, but that's ok. Thanks Niita. Is that it? They'd been talking for a while, and he wondered how much more there was to charming women.

Niita knew that there was a whole lot more to charming women than just getting to know them but teaching it wasn't easy. As said, not all girls were the same. Zeke would just have to figure that out on his own, there wasn't any instruction manual Niita could just give him to learn all this stuff.

"I think that about wraps it up. Any questions?" Niita waited, wondering if he had any and if he did, would she be able to answer them?

Any questions. Ezekiel had one, but it was kind of embarrassing. He'd like to think that he was confident in his appearance, but everybody needed a little boost sometimes. Ok so don't laugh, but. He pause, looking away with a shy smile. Do I umm. Look good? Well that sounded weird, but she'd asked for questions. The big goof straightened his posture and positioned himself to show off his muscles and soft grey fur. He hoped she would say yes. Then he would feel ready to go. But hey! What if it turned out he was hideous to girls and no one would ever like him. He had to know what she thought of him.

Niita was floored briefly by the question, blinking in surprise before her ears heated up with what might have been a blush. Shaking her head, Niita took a moment to really look him over. 

Zeke was large and muscular though his frame was thin from the famine, coated in a grey coat that was lighter along his face and underbody. His tail had a whitish tip and his eyes were a pale blue. He usually appeared expressionless but at the moment he wore a shy look. In all he was attractive, especially when he smiled. 

"I think you're attractive. I like your smile." Niita told him bluntly but sweetly though it was only meant in a platonic way. Niita had feelings for a different male of Silvertip.

Ezekiel waited while she thought, and finally there was the moment of truth. Yes! She liked his smile too! He gave her a big smile and a sigh of relief. Oh good! Thank you, you've been really helpful. Talk more, smile more. Got it. He dipped his head respectfully and stood. He shook out his pelt and turned back towards her. Well, I best be going. Good luck with Steady by the way. He gave her a teasing smirk and bit his lip. Yes he knew about her and the alpha. Steady had a big crush on her, and hopefully they could get somewhere. They seemed like a pretty good match.

And with that Zeke was on his way, heading towards his den back by Silvertip hollow.

Niita nodded back at him, sensing their little meeting was coming to a close. Shuffling her paws a bit bashfully as Zeke brought up Steady, Niita only nodded and coughed awkwardly. 

"Uh right. Thanks, take care Zeke." Niita smiled once more in departure before turning and hurrying away. Was she really that transparent about her affections?