It had been the trail of a marmot she'd been following, half out of a slight desire to escape the borders for a while, and partly out of a lasting grudge against her escaped marmot. Thus far, it was her first and only grudge, and she returned to the meadow where she'd first found the creature from time to time, wondering if she might chance upon it again.

This time, however, the marmot trail had led right out of the meadow. Halfway to the Marsh, she may or may not have lost the trail and picked up that of a different marmot, but she wasn't entirely sure. She was certain, however, that even her interest in the creature was not enough to track it through the marsh that lay ahead.

Luckily, however, she was soon distracted by the familiar sight of a red figure. She paused a moment as her tail began to wag, and then she was leaping toward him, in great soaring bounds with her wagging tail streaming behind her. "Engel!" She pulled up alongside him a moment after, pushing her muzzle into his shoulder to draw in his scent before doing a tiny little dance as she regarded him.

She stilled, though her banner of a tail still wagged behind her, gaze bright. "I'm good!" She told him, sincere and upbeat. She wasn't sure if she'd see the male again, especially since he brought up the last time they'd met. A little subdued, now, she asked, "are you looking for him? to do the sex?"  She immediately regretted asking, since they'd agreed to pretend it hadn't happened. But Engel had brought it up, hadn't he? Still, she certainly hoped the answer was no - she didn't really like the idea of him doing the sex with others, even though it seemed silly of her.

Relief showed in her small sigh, and she grinned, suddenly at ease again. "I'm exploring, too," She offered, which was partly true. It certainly would take a bit of exploring to find her way back to the Stone Circle, though she was hardly terrible at navigating. After a moment, she spoke again, this time a little thoughtfully. "another group? what're they called?"  Perhaps he'd joined Moonspear, or Morningside; or perhaps he had tales of a whole new pack to share.

She glanced back as he mentioned that she was rather far - weren't those the stones in the distance? No, those were simply more trees, she realized, and she had come out rather far. She smiled sheepishly, plopping onto her rear as she looked back to him. "I was tracking a marmot - I think I went a bit too far." She offered, though her ears perked at his next words. 

 "I've never seen the coast before," The words came out a little dreamily, and she was rather keen on the idea of Murdock and herself traveling there, one day. Speaking of that,  "oh! Murdock and I are mates, now." A grin curved her muzzle as she announced this to Engel, who ranked very high on her list of favorite wolves and thus should be informed of her happy development. She had a great many questions about Ironsea, though suddenly felt it important to tell Engel what had her so happy (well, happier than normal).

She beamed as Engel spoke, giving a little shake. She couldn't quite find her words, wagging her tail behind her like a flag in a hurricane. She certainly hadn't imagined things to turn out as they had, somehow they had unfolded; that Engel had guessed at it cheered her. For certainly if he'd noticed something between them, then their mateship felt even more right. She'd completely missed the hesitation and fed happily off his words. After a moment, she glanced at him, curious about what he'd told her. "what's Ironsea like?" It sounded like a daunting sort of name, not much at all like  Engel like angel. 

Again, he mentioned the coast, and Poppy's ears flicked forward, only to slump a little disappointedly when he said nothing much of it. She was interested by the way these Ironsea folk spoke, however, and carefully murmured the word before committing them to memory. "do all coastal wolves talk like that?" She wondered aloud, numerous other questions already gathering in the forefront of her mind as she regarded him.

His answer wasn't exactly satisfactory, though she couldn't expect him to know all about the coast - from the tales she'd heard from city dogs on their trail, the lucky sort that traveled with their masters, the coast was huge and beautiful. That it was so near her she had not known, and the thought was thrilling. Still, his next announcement had her confuse an instant, and her brow furrowed. "someone? what -" The confusion cleared away after a beat, and her maw opened in an "oh!"  Surely he meant an important someone, not just another wolf, though she didn't quite put voice to her tentative realization. Instead, her wagging tail bade him continue.

Engel went on to describe the someone, and while Poppy wasn't sure exactly whether he meant it platonically or romantically, she decided to keep quiet on the fact a little longer. "what's her name?" She chirped, imagining already the beautiful woman Engel described. Surely she'd find out eventually how he viewed her, but for now, her thoughts were momentarily stolen away by Engel's next comment.  "I never thought things would turn out like this - I'm lucky, too." 

He offered her name, and though he seemed to say it fairly dreamily, she was still irritatingly unsure if Engel had met a friend or a lover. Still, he seemed interested in continuing the conversation about Murdock. While she'd have very much like to figure out who, exactly, Tine was, and even more so what the coast was like, perhaps she could bring it up later. "he's always been good," She offered, words genuine as a small smile curved her lips.