Wolf RPG

Cas had to go home, and he'd told Spring as much. and still he lingered, for there was one thing he wanted to do before he went, for however long it took to soothe his family, assure himself of their health. he departed the borders at a swift clip and moved into the mountain range he had explored before; greenery climbed the rocks, proof that the land was rebounding from the disgusting bug-attack.

and here he called for @Laika, dread and anticipating roiling with the grief in his belly until he was forced to dry heave over the side of a cliff. great. pain thundered in his soul and he fought the tell-tale tremble of his lips, waiting for the pale girl to appear from the forest below him.

It was then that Laika heard the howl. It was music to her ears. After witnessing his breakdown once Aria had told him about his father, Laika had been worried sick about Casmir. She knew what grief like this could do to a wolf, and she wanted to protect him from all of it. If she could take all of his pain away and put it upon her shoulders, she would.

The howl was very far away, and Laika was confused as to why he was so far. Her heart quickened as she feared the worst. Was he okay? Was he hurt? The worry drove her on and she sprinted the whole way, following his faint scent trail and the source of his howl. Finally, the pale girl made it to the scene, eyes wild and frantic. "Casmir," her voice was winded. "Are you alright?" 

Laika appeared, her pearlescent fur glowing in the downlight of the sun, and for a long moment Cas merely watched the girl approach, unsure of what he would say when she was near. too soon was the girl before him, her eyes watchful, sides heaving with the breathlessness of her worry. a long moment passed before the boy was able to speak.

"my family is on the other side of the mountains -- my dad is dead. i haven't seen my mother in months, or my sisters, or my brother. i've lost ... someone very close to me, and -- and i'm tired of losing people, Laika. i'm tired of being alone."

he stepped toward her then; if she allowed, Casmir dipped his muzzle beneath her own and stood close, breathing in the sweet fragrance of her breath and of her fur before he murmured, "i want to be your mate."

He looked very anxious and full of dread, and Laika stepped closer. Perhaps it was to comfort him, but perhaps it was also to take in his scent. He began to speak and his voice was strained and full of pain. At the end of his short speech, Laika feared that he was going to say that he'd had enough. That he was going to leave and never come back. But instead, he stepped closer and murmured words she'd never thought would be said to her. 

I want to be your mate.

Her breath caught in her throat and for a moment, the pale girl could not speak. Tears stung her eyes, clouding her vision, but this time, they were tears of joy. She buried her face in his thick neck fur. "You will never loose me, Casmir." She reassured him. She didn't say yes directly, but she hoped he could feel it. "You will never loose me." 

he was tense, waiting for her to speak -- they'd only know each other a short time. maybe he'd been too fast; maybe he had scared her off. instead, tears filled her eyes and she stepped forward to bury into his fur. Casmir, more than a little stunned and unsure of what to do, stood dumbly for a moment before he lowered his muzzle to gingerly smooth the fur along her eartips. 

it was odd, he found, odd and exhilarating at the same time, to touch her gently as he had before but to know she was his mate, that they were bonded now by his want and her acceptance. he also discovered he was scared, terrified even -- he didn't know what to do and yet he did, and he wanted to find out what it was he was supposed to be to Laika.

"awesome," he mumbled, pressing his lips against her hackles and closing his eyes as pure joy and relief swept him.

Casmir smoothed out her ruffled fur and murmured a single awesome and Laika couldn't help but giggle at the response. She pulled back ever so slightly so she could crane her neck and groom his neck fur, smoothing it out upon his handsome shoulders. 

She breathed in his scent and rested her head on his shoulders, never wanting this moment to end.

he was lame, what a lame response; he couldn't help the stupid grin that climbed to his face as he pulled away from her, though he wanted to linger in her embrace. a thought came to him; a few memories of his mother and father darting off into the brush, and his cheeks burned. the memory of Aria's kisses came to him too, the feelings they had engendered in him. he knew that there was a part of mateship he hadn't yet touched, but he felt himself shying away.

"so, um," he muttered, sauntering back to nuzzle into the smoothness of her fur. he couldn't get enough, it seemed, enough of knowing he could touch her as much as he wanted. "do we like ... find a den now or ... what."

maybe Laika would know how to decipher or what, because Cas certainly couldn't.

He he pulled away, much to Laika's disappointment, but she knew deep down that it had to end somehow. She pulled back as well to look at him as he spoke, sitting down upon her rump, tail tucked neatly around her paws. 

He spoke, and he could tell he was feeling awkward. She was too. It was like saying those few words before changed the way they looked at each other. They could touch each other whenever they wanted, share their worries and excitements whenever that wanted, because they were mates now. But what difference did that really make? 

The or what at the end of his sentence confused the girl, but she tried her best to make the moment seem as perfectly normal as it could be. She tried to speak but nothing came out. Nope, this conversation was never going to be normal. "I mean I guess? I-I've never done this before." She admitted with a laugh, although the it was true. "We could go find a den!" It could be fun!

yes, something had definitely changed. Cas felt like he was walking on eggshells now; if he shared with her as openly as he had before, would she leave? relief was upon him, but it was mixed with a little apprehension at the thoughts in her pretty head as she arranged herself so gracefully upon the ground, like a cat or something. the boy stared openly at Laika -- partly because he was foolish, and partly because he could -- and then shook himself out of it. 

"uhum, yeah. a den! let's go," he added, happy to be doing something other than staring at Laika and wondering how he could ask her to do that one thing with him that he really didn't quite understand.

Laika watched him intently, her blue eyes seeming to swim with thoughts once again. He stared back at her for a while before finally opening his mouth to reply. A den! Okay. "Great." She said, getting to her feet and leading the way down the hillside. She immediately turned towards Silver Creek territory, assuming that's were the den would be.

She looked back at Casmir, inviting him to walk beside her, or even lead the way, she didn't mind. Thoughts kept finding their way into the front of her mind. Thoughts of things she hadn't even thought of exploring before, and her cheeks grew hot. No. She thought. Let's focus on finding a den. 

Casmir, lost in his own thoughts, nevertheless hurried up to walk beside Laika. she seemed different somehow, nervous, her blue eyes holding a strain that they hadn't before. the boy strode alongside her quietly for a time before clearing his throat and turning to look at the young beta. "what's up?" he asked, reaching out to nose along her neck. "you can tell me." 

i'm your mate, he added in his head; it flushed him with pride and he grinned at Laika, confidence in himself restored. whatever she had to say, she could say it to him; they'd get past this stupid sudden awkwardness and be okay.

They padded along in silence, and soon, they were half way to Silver Creek borders. Then, he asked her a question. Nothing was on her mind really, just fleeting thoughts of random things. Some of them had nothing to do with what they were doing now. She honestly didn't know what to say, but his voice and his gentle touch soothed her worries.

"Just... thinking about us, I guess," she said, glancing at him quickly to gauge his reaction. She honestly didn't know how he would react to this. They'd only met each other a month or two ago, but everything seemed to be zooming by so fast..

he could see the familiar borders of the Creek up ahead, but he slowed, moving in front of Laika to halt her as well. "do you feel ... different? y'know, now that we are ... together?" he stammered, wanting to understand that she felt the same as he, or if he was an anomaly, alone in his stupid head. his eyes searched her own; he wondered if they had been too hasty after all. he'd wanted to ask her when the herds came home, but now was as good a time as any, he figured. 

quietly he waited for her response, while a breeze lifted into the thin air and cooled them with little murmurings of its breath; he watched the way it played across Laika's pale fur, and was unable to hide a slow smile.

Laika nodded slowly to his question. How would she put this? "Yes, I do feel different... but it's not a bad different. It's a new different. I just think we need to get used to it, and it's something we need to explore," she said, spilling her feelings out for him to see. But she guessed that was part of being mates. 

His is eyes searched hers and a slow smile spread across his handsome features as the wind played with her fur. A smirk formed on her own maw and she watched him carefully.

explore. it was like Laika knew what he had been thinking before, which made Cas' cheeks burn. he glanced away, embarassed, but soon turned his eyes back to Laika with a nod and a small mutter of "yeah." there were lots of things to explore, namely this odd feeling of separation and ... Cas swallowed, suddenly feeling enough courage to approach his snowy mate.

"we s-should find a den," he stammered, gathering her close and laying his head over her own. "and then, uh ... did ... you know. um, do you want to--" his voice trailed off; to anyone present or listening it was very clear that the Mayfair boy had no idea what to say.

Laika was glad he understood. He pulled her close and she let him, laying her head against him. Her tail wagged and she smiled at him as he continued to speak. His final sentence confused her... a lot. But she pushed it away, not really understanding it. "Yeah, let's find a den first," she said with yet another smile. 

She nudged his shoulder gently and continued to walk forwards, still trying to discern what exactly he had said. Soon, they reached the borders and she looked left, then right. Where would they go?

he followed as she led, and when she paused to glance between the directions, he gestured that they should go left. in silence they moved, Cas unable to stop from grinning at Laika from time to time. the slope gently curved and the two found themselves almost directly upon the creek-bank. while it was a pretty sight, the clear water running over its bed of pretty stones, the boy was intelligent enough to know that this would not be a good place for a den, as the water might rise during thaws and summer floods.

he pressed on, moving up the slope into a thicker trees. "see anything?" the boy murmured, his eyes searching the dimness for any signs of a shelter.

The two walked along in silence, but Laika liked the silence. She could feel Casmir grinning beside her, and she couldn't help but smile a bit herself. For once in a long, long time, she felt that her whole word was perfect. Granted, Casmir was pretty much her whole world at the moment. She stole a glance a him before the reached the creek.

They both know about the dangers of living in a den here, and without a word, they continued on. Finally, they stopped. See anything? His voice rang in her head as she searched the area. There, out of the corner of her eye, she saw an opening tucked in between some large chunks of rocks. She stared at it for a quick moment. "What about that?" She asked. She had no idea if it was actually a den, but they might as well look.

Cas followed her gaze to the denmouth and hesitated only a moment before slipping forward to inspect it. the entrance was low; he had to duck his head before entering, but the inside of the cave was spacious, cool with the scent of new mosses growing along the stone walls. emerging, Cas shook out his ruff and grinned at the pale girl. "great find, babe," he crooned, then his eyes widened. "uh, Laika," came his quick amending, and then he stopped. 

he could call her babe. boo. bae. whatever. "babe," he added again, this time chuckling at himself as he moved toward Laika and nuzzled into the pearly fur of her hackles.

Casmir stalked forward to inspect it. He ducked his head and went inside, and soon reapeared. His words caught her by surprise as he called her babe. Babe. It was odd, especially because it came from his mouth, but it also felt right. He stammered and corrected himself, then went back to babe. She smiled and kissed his cheek. She was perfectly fine with whatever he wanted to call her.

"Great! Is it spacious? I need to go see it," She said and then stalked forward, slipping into the den. Being smaller in size, she could slip in easier. In was spacious indeed and she summoned for Cas to follow her in if he wanted. "This is so cool!"

he watched as she slipped in and out, sitting to watch her. Laika seemed pretty enthused with their find, and when she summoned him, Cas rose and padded in after her. it was dark, but a few blinks was all it took for his eyes to adjust, and he immediately set about exploring the corners of the den, finding a few rodent bones from a predator's meal, or maybe it had starved to death during the famine.

"pretty neat-o," he drawled, flopping down in the entrance to soak up the sun there. "all we gotta do now is make it ours." while he meant it innocently, it occurred to the boy that there could be a second meaning to what he said, and again he flushed beneath the sable fur of his cheeks.

Laika watched as he stalked in, checking out the corners of the mossy cave. He then flopped down at the entrance to sun himself. She smiled as he mentioned making it theirs, also sensing the other meaning to the statement. Her cheeks heated up again, but she slipped out of the den to be close to him all the same.

She headed around to the back, sitting down just behind him. Her tail thumped against the ground as she bent down to groom his fur. She flattened the ruffled parts with her salmon tongue as she watched him lounge in the sunlight.

Cas' eyes closed, and he leaned back against Laika as she groomed the tension from muscles. was this part of being married? what a sweet-ass gig, he decided, before craning his own neck around to return the favour, nipping into a particularly tight tangle along her throat. again he hesitated, unsure of what the nearness meant in the new context of their relationship, but then decided it didn't matter. he was along for the wonderful freaking ride.

Laika finally lay down beside him, curling her small body around him as best she could as if to protect him. He turned to groom out some tangles in her neck fur and the pale princess smiled, continuing to smooth out the fur on his neck. Her brilliant blue eyes shone with something she couldn't quite pin-point, but she liked this new feeling. Her tail thumped lazily against the ground as she finally rested her head across his shoulders.

"this is nice," Cas murmured, lowering his chin to his paws. his eyelids drooped; exhaustion began to steal in, and a wide yawn split his jaws. curling more closely to laika, Cas smiled. he was content. and as slumber began to take him, the boy thought slipping off to sleep had never been a sweeter thing.