Heron Lake Plateau imma lick that, stick that,

AW again! maybe @Fire ? :o

he'd heard about the new girl on the block, but he hadn't seen her just yet. taking his uncle's advice, tegan was gonna scope her out and see just what the fuck was up. tegan was objectively handsome, maybe? depending on who you asked. he wasn't ugly, that's for sure, it was probably his personality that gave him the upper hand. whatever, form your own opinions, i'm not telling you what to think. but anyway, he at least wasn't worried about not being able to get anyone's attention, his demeanor pretty much invited it... and what was so different about girls?

of course, tegan knew nothing about this girl. so he didn't really know where to find her or really what she smelled like or anything, actually, so this was pretty difficult. he spent most of his morning just wandering around one patch of territory and hoping that maybe he'd just come across her. wishful thinking, but actually tegan had some pretty good luck-- so he assumed the odds were in his favor. 

he'd also snatched a deer hind from the cache, and he wasn't like... lugging it around, but he stayed within a certain distance from a pretty cozy area so if she happened to come by, he could settle and look like 'yeah i was just grabbin lunch u wanna share?' cause that was hella smooth and calm and collected. good planning, tegan.

I love Tegan, lol! Stray, feel free to still join if you want! :D

After spending the morning patrolling with @Lucca, Elwood had worked up quite an appetite. They scaled the slope of the plateau together before parting ways, Lucca intending to take a nap and Elwood planning to find something to eat. He was debating between hunting and simply taking food from a cache when the smell of meat reached his nostrils. He sniffed hungrily and moved in the direction from which the odor came; soon enough, he found the source, and it belonged to a deer leg possessed by Tegan.

The youth wasn't eating it, but he didn't seem to be burying it in a cache, either. Elwood couldn't figure out what exactly his son was doing. "What are you up to?" he asked, licking his lips as he approached.

god damn it dad, you're cock blocking!! get outta here!!! 

but... whatever, tegan wasn't truthfully expecting to find fire just by wandering around aimlessly. another day, maybe? hopefully she didn't show up when he was with his dad, cause then he'd have absolutely no chance. "hey, dad," he said, dropping the meat to the ground and looking to his dad with a tilt of his head, "was gonna take this somewhere cool to eat it, ya know, have a nice relaxin self-care kinda lunch or something-- but honestly it's sorta a long walk and i prolly didn't think it through that well." yeah good cover, tegan. 

he eyes elwood curiously, ears pricked. "what about you, are you busy? you wanna share or somethin?" 

Oblivious to his unintentional cock-blocking, Elwood was happy to be on the receiving end of Tegan's invitation. Sharing a meal with his son sounded like the perfect way to spend the day, and he would have the opportunity to hear about Tegan's escapades as of late. The young Blackthorn had been quite busy since the pack moved to Heron Lake Plateau, and was quickly establishing himself as a scout and a vital member of the group.

"That sounds great," he replied, tail waving. "Where were you wanting to eat it? I can help you move it, if you want," he offered. He would be happy to settle down right there, if that's what Tegan wanted, but he was also willing to travel to whatever location Tegan had initially had in mind.

tegan shook his head. he'd easily forgotten about his journey to become the world's biggest womanizer and instead was actually kinda happy to spend some time with dad. with mom it was easy. tegan was 100% her favorite child and there was just nothing that could be said to change that. seriously, ask finley, i bet you she'd say tegan. and if she didn't say tegan then she's fuckin lying to spare some feelings. but like, we know the truth. with dad, tegan always assumed he was still the favorite cause like-- how could he not be?-- but nothing had ever truly been confirmed. not that tegan cared so much about being a useless sack of bricks, but he always had the idea that his father cared a little bit more about how much he contributed to the pack.

but actually, who knows? maybe he didn't give a single flying fuck. anyway--

"here's perfect, daddio," the young blackthorn said, sliding down onto his stomach and nosing the food towards his dad, cause he had like, some aspect of manners. "whatcha been up to?" tegan asked, starting to small talk for once.

When Tegan decided that they would stay put, Elwood was happy to park himself. He shifted into a sitting position and reached out with a forepaw as his son pushed the deer leg towards him. He didn't need a second invitation; his stomach gave a hungry twist as he bent and sank his teeth into the meat, tearing off a sizable chunk that momentarily impeded his ability to reply to Tegan's question.

A few seconds later, once he had managed to chew and swallow his mouthful, he answered. "Not a whole lot. Spending a lot of time with your little brothers. How about you -- I haven't heard the details of your trip to the coast yet," he prompted, nudging the food back towards Tegan to indicate that he should feel free to eat, too.

brothers. oof, right. tegan had spent a total of 0 time with his baby sibs, but like... they kinda sucked right now. he'd met them (probably, i've never played it but i don't see why he wouldn't've), but beyond that they were useless and boring. but he said anyway, "i gotta visit 'em." good sentiment, tegan. and now, on to the good stuff.

"oh right! to drageda? it was really cool-- niamh is really cool too, she was just taggin along, supposed to be protecting me but you know i don't need any of that," he started quickly, in typical rambly fashion, "but ya know, as a precaution." ya sure, tegan, call it that. he shifted, ducking to take a bite of the meat, and chewing thoughtfully. tegan decided to go with the most important detail of his entire trip-- and also to stretch it out a bit. "you know what a crab is?" he said through a mouthful of food, swallowing it only after he'd finished talking.

"They would like that," Elwood replied in reference to Tywyll and Cinder. And he and Finley would love it, too -- seeing their older children interacting with their youngest was special in a way he couldn't quite describe. Although they dearly missed Liffey, Lagan, and Lucy -- all gone for different reasons -- he was thankful to have Eljay, the wildlings, and the two little boys living with them at the plateau.

As Tegan began talking about his adventure, Elwood listened attentively. He nodded at the mention of Niamh; he thought she was "cool" too, and was glad that Tegan had found a friend and traveling companion in her. He gave another bob of his head, indulging his son's statement that he hadn't needed Niamh there to protect him, and then reached down to take another bite of meat after Tegan did. He came up with a full mouth and a shrug of his shoulders, and once he had swallowed, he said, "Kind of, but I've never seen one in person. What are they like?"

"snippy," was tegan's all-encompassing response, and then he continued, "we actually brought back five of em on a leash of some sea vine stuff, put em in the lake! we wanted to breed em and eat em and stuff." it was possible this news could've ended with 'so you can go see what they look like!' but instead, paired with a deep frown, tegan said, "but they all died." he had no way of knowing it was because their freshwater lake just wanted suited for the saltwater crustaceans, so instead this seemed like a mere accident and unfortunate circumstance.

anyway. 

"you won't believe the encounter we had though, typically, they're like this big--" tegan motioned with his paws to show how big "--and they weren't scary at all, you could step on em. but niamh and i ran into one..." pause for dramatic effect, a slight widening of his eyes and lean back of his head... and then a quick lean forward(as if he was sharing some sort of secret) and a squint before he continued, "... the size of a wolf." he shook his head, returning to his position. "and boy howdy i'll tell ya what, he was not lookin to make friends, daddio."

Tegan's description of the crabs wasn't all that detailed at first, although he elaborated on how he and Niamh had brought them back to the plateau in the first place. Niamh had mentioned them to Elwood too, but he already found Tegan's account to be more entertaining. Even though the crustaceans hadn't adapted to live away from the ocean, Elwood still complimented his son on their attempt: "It was a good idea!"

He quieted again as Tegan continued, now talking about one particular crab they encountered. Elwood's brows raised as he listened, anticipating the story that was about to unfold. Whatever he expected, it hadn't been a tale about a giant crab, and while some part of him thought that maybe Tegan was making it up (although maybe he wasn't; after all, Elwood had never been to the coast!), there was no way he was going to interrupt. "Well, don't leave me hanging! What happened?" he asked.

elwood was the perfect victim for this story-- cause he couldn't ever really call tegan out on his bullshit. unless he asked niamh, then maybe he could. but anyway, we're just gonna pretend that's not a thing. 

"so he takes his fuckin claw thing, big ole snipper, and fuckin swipes at us. niamh and i? too fast-- too cool-- too swift, we duck, it misses us, duh, and niamh dives for it's legs. meanwhile, i launch myself up at it's claw, it misses me by a hair, cut off half my whiskers," he began with a shake of his head, "of course they grew back now, but sheesh it was a close call." tegan waited patiently for his dad to ask what happened next. cause like, this was a bomb ass story, but elwood needed to bee invested for him to continue. gotta make em want it.

Elwood could have continued to eat while Tegan talked, but he directed his full attention to his son's narration. Not because he believed it, necessarily -- although I'm not saying he didn't believe it, either! -- but because Tegan was a damn good story-teller, and the outrageous details just added to the excitement of the tale.

"Oh, shit," he replied; he wasn't usually one to curse, but somehow it seemed appropriate to match Tegan's own style of speaking. "Thank god it only got your whiskers!" His bright eyes and pricked ears implored the boy to continue.