Big Salmon Lake undercover martyn

AW! someone come bully him or something

the water was bitter and cold around his hocks, but he didn't seem to mind. it rushed past his limbs in the shallows, his head tilted, eyes squinted. expression twisted with determination as tried (and failed) to fish. whatever swam past his lanky legs.

"stop moving!" he grumbled under his breath. the fish were too fast, too slippery. his withers, windswept and cowlicked, bristled in irritation. "stars, how do people do this..." words spoken quietly to himself on bated breaths. 

he shuffled, trying to stir up the silt beneath him. something brushes against his paw and he draw in a quick, deep breath,  before his head plunges beneath the water. open jaws snapping, gathering a mouthful of...

his head whips upward, his eyes wide with horror as a string of slimy, gross algae dangles between his teeth. he blabbers and spits, his fur pricked and ruffled. "eugh!" he cried.

a short, sharp huff of amusement cut through the cool air. from where he stood on the riverbank, cozamalotl watched the display with barely concealed mirth, dark brown eyes glinting with something dangerously close to laughter.  

he took his time stepping closer, the snow crunching softly beneath his paws. ¿eso era lo que intentabas atrapar? he drawled, voice laced with dry amusement. was that what you were trying to catch?

his gaze flicked to the limp string of algae still hanging from the other’s mouth, and he tilted his head slightly, unimpressed. parece que el río te ha pescado a ti en su lugar. it looks like the river caught you instead. 

cozamalotl waded into the shallows with practiced ease, the cold biting at his limbs but failing to deter him. he moved carefully, deliberate in the way he placed his paws, disturbing the water as little as possible.

just as he was spitting the algae from his mouth, what sounded like muffled laughter caught him by surprise. he whirled around in the shallows, his ankles nearly tangling themselves into a knot. he wobbles—and almost eats shit. 

he looks...worse for wear. soaked, fur clinging to his meager bones, eyes all wide. a sheepish grin crawls across his expression, and he laughs too, purely out of nerves. and he...doesn't understand a single word the man said. 

the tips of his ears burn hot, as does the skin of his cheeks. "i-i um, i don't understand what you said." it probably wasn't good, he thinks. he's probably making fun of me.

there's an awkward silence. lorroakan finds himself just staring, his tongue tied. the wolf joins him in the shallows. "do you know how to fish? maybe you could um, give me some pointers. or something." he grinned meekly.

cozamalotl tilted his head slightly, watching the soaked mess of a creature before him with something between mild amusement and secondhand embarrassment. his dark brown eyes flicked over the tangled limbs, the wide-eyed stare, the nervous laughter.  

he exhaled through his nose—quiet, measured—before finally speaking, his voice slower now, deliberate in the way he shaped the foreign words. i say… river catch you instead. his accent was thick, rolling the words awkwardly, but his meaning was clear.  

He studied Lorroakan for a moment longer, his expression unreadable, before stepping further into the shallows. The cold water barely fazed him as he moved with careful precision, his posture relaxed but purposeful.  

you move too much, he said after a pause, eyes flicking to the ripples the stranger had created. he lifted a paw and placed it down gently, barely disturbing the water. fish… feel this. know this. you make hard.

cozamalotl crouched slightly, his gaze locked on the shifting water. his ears twitched, listening to the river’s flow, before he struck—quick as a viper, his jaws snapping beneath the surface. when he lifted his head again, a fish wriggled between his teeth, silver scales glistening as water dripped from his muzzle.  

without ceremony, he tossed it onto the bank, where it flopped weakly in the snow. he turned back, fixing on the other with a neutral but expectant gaze.  

again, he said simply, nodding toward the water. slower this time.

the man moved with a fluidity that made lorroakan feel inferior. jealous, really. he was like a clumsy fawn, always trampling over himself and making a mess of things. his foreign companion had an air of regality. he barely moved the water around them as he waded deeper. 

the fish feel? of course they do! why hadn't he thought of that, before he'd rush into the water like a rogue bull? it makes him feel even more sheepish, but more so, he's grateful the man is actually willing to waste his time teaching him how to catch something. 

his soggy tail swishes above the water. the smile he wears now is less nervous, and more friendly. "oh, right! i guess i don't have your patience." he chuckled. he stood still, watching with fascination at the man effortlessly dunked his head. 

and returned to the surface with a fish! he felt like a child again, watching his older brothers hunt. he's eager now to try again. less dejected. 

"you make it look so easy!" he rasped with awe. the fish flopped on the bank for a while, before eventually it suffocates. 

he nods, perhaps a bit too eagerly. slowly and gentle he widens his stance, eyes training on the surface of the water. watching the fish below glide between the two wolves legs. and after a deep breath in, he's plunging his head back down into the water. 

his jaws snap closed, and when he resurfaces, this time he doesn't have a mouthful of algae. this time it's just...nothing?

he sighs and droops. "they're too fast," he grumbled. "i'm no good at this."