Lost Creek Hollow cause everybody plays the beautiful game while out in brazil

with the liffnoch crew gone, terance found himself picking up extra slack just to ensure the pack stayed above water.

@Treason, presumably, had done the same. they had some interactions still, of course, which were a majority of the same ole same ole, but terance noted a lot more biting now than there was before. granted, he had ultimately decided they were affectionate... or to some degree friendly, at least, so he didn't write them off as a bad development. all and all, terance felt a little more comfortable in their arrangement, feeling he finally understood where he stood in regards to it. ex. ) he was mildly less lame, a little more outgoing around her.

finding himself with a free afternoon, meaning he'd woken up early to patrol, terance sought out his deputy. his ears were satellite-dished forwards as he hunted her down, head low and nose twitching.

It would have been one thing if they weren't coming back, in which case they could just cut down on extra duties, but since the family was going to be back any day now (weren't they?) they needed to make sure that stuff wasn't going to fall apart.  And, unsurprisingly, yeah, things had changed slightly between her and Terance.  She wasn't sure who was the one who did it -- if it was her fault, his, or they'd both come to the same decision at the same time independently.

Either way, she didn't mind the change.  She wasn't sure if she'd jinx it and say out loud she'd be fine just settling for Terance as her only option -- especially since the last week had also brought with it the departure of Rueger, who had been her other choice, even if he wasn't her top one -- but she was more comfortable with the idea at least.  He'd been at least acting a little more like how she'd wanted him to ages ago.  And of course, something could still come up -- someone better, something awful, who knew.  It wasn't like she knew when her body would make its grand decision to be fertile, and to a certain point expected Terance would know before she did.

Treason was wandering, kind of waffling a bit on whether she should dig something out of the cache or go hunt something or just wait a few hours until her stomach demanded she do one of the two and gave her a clearer decision.  It really wasn't particularly exciting.  Some of these days were outright dull, so when Terance popped into view, that promised things might get more interesting.  With a whuff and a wag of her tail, she changed course to intercept, idly wondering if there was any other tidbit that might make for interesting bribery, but nothing came to mind.  Oh well.

good internal dialogue, treason. glad you're thinking. terance was -- for once -- more neutral when it came to thinking. his biggest concern was with his own personal goal of not getting into a relationship again but also the inevitable emotion that was tied with the whole situation. because it was terance, for gods sake, the man thought with his heart. i don't know what you expected. 

but it was calm anxiety, at least. and certainly didn't show on the surface.

she spotted him before he did, unsurprisingly, calling out to him. terance's own tail flagged in response, face turning into a smile. "hey," he barked, reaching to her as she approached to offer a nudge to the cheek, "i was lookin' for you." and then he looked her over curiously, not finding anything noteworthy, and continued on. "are you doing something?"

Of course, as has been mentioned a bunch of times, Treason's real goal was to have fun -- in her typically odd way -- while going through this weird life of hers.  Whatever happened along the way was just part of the path, and as long as it aligned with whatever short and long term goals she had, she was pretty much cool with it.  She trusted Terance to be pretty much the same, even if it was wholly wrong, as she believed him at his word.

The nudge to her cheek of course earned a swift slightly toothier response to his, grazing through the fur but only surface-level.  But she was just being friendly, of course.  You were, were you? she said with a devilish smirk. She hoped that meant something good, but it very well could just be pretty mundane.  Keeping busy meant there hadn't been too much time for conversation.  Not really. Pondering getting something to eat, but that can wait.  Got something in mind?  Treason canted her head slightly.  She didn't need to feign the degree of curiosity she showed -- she was pretty bored, so that might end up with Terance getting chomped on a little more if she was not sufficiently distracted.

oh, well. no... terance was hoping she was doing something interesting so he could hope on her coattail or something. but she asked him -- he really didn't know why she always asked, he was always doing the same 4 things... beyond that, terance could do romanctic gestures but... he was also pretty sure treason wouldn't appreciate something like that. or maybe she would? terance would try his luck at it another day. 

"we could work up an appetite?" terance suggested anyway, an idea pulled somewhere from deep within the crevices of his brain. granted, this wasn't really that crazy of an idea... but it wasn't among terance's typical agenda. maybe it was on treasons, though? ah, who know. "you know, get some practice in." in an uncharacteristic spur of childlike playfulness, terance gave a gruff growl and hopped backwards, falling, onto into a bow, tail waving. he quirked a brow at her, green gaze flashing.

What he said forked off in two directions in her mind: first, the more likely taken at face value option, and then there was the also obvious double entendre.  And you know what?  She honestly wasn't sure whether she'd prefer one over the other.  But hey, there was no wink, so that did kind of narrow it down to what was most likely.  Still.  Before doing anything she had to pause, tilt her head the opposite way and give him a look that she totally hadn't missed the possible other meaning, whether he meant it or not.

But Treason didn't give him much time to really think about it.  She accepted with her own bow, and after a couple of flicks of her tail, she lunged forward suddenly at him.  However, she'd be nice: it was a feint to start, just to make sure that if he had just now been enlightened to the other interpretation to what he said that she wouldn't just bowl him over or something while his brain caught up.  That wouldn't be fair.  Treason liked things to be actually challenging, after all.  And if he wasn't off his game, then it'd be a good way to analyze his actions anyway.  Win/win.


And in the back of her mind she thought it wasn't like the options excluded each other in the end...

the look of suggestion and confusion (though more the first) confused terance himself -- but a good number of things did, so no one should be surprised. he ran it over in his head a few times in the time she allotted him before he realized that, oh, there was... a double meaning... to that... right. well, that's not what he meant but if that's what this turned into then, i mean, let's face it, he wouldn't be upset. 

she'd given him enough time to process (just barely enough) -- thank god, she knew him all too well -- and then came at him. 

terance intercepted her attack with  bit of a rush, since he was just on the cusp of fully grasping her silent question -- but all the same. his head fell swiftly as he anticipated the blow from her that he knew he wasn't fast enough to dodge. treason was a fun match because, despite terance's size, treason was also quite the hunk. both were, as the saying goes, big bodies. as treason collided with him, terance held most of his ground, taking a few expected footsteps back and also what i can only assume were a few well-aimed chomps from treason. ouch. 

when the space between them closed, terance took the opportunity to get a few of his own snaps in, aiming mostly for shoulders and scruff.

She'd shelved the thoughts for now.  More important things!

Yeah, he'd managed to put his brain back together in time to react, so Treason threw her weight forward so that her hits would actually connect.  She slammed a shoulder in to him to try to test how sturdy he was on his feet, and he gave, but not enough.  The bites she gave him were along his side, and far less gentle than previous ones.  These certainly hurt, controlled enough to not do damage most of the time, but yeah, ow.  Hie struck similarly and she kept a tally of his wounds versus hers, and some points against her were acceptable.  And a little pain was probably good for the soul or some nonsense like that.  Treason didn't linger too long, taking a step back before diving forward again at him more directly, lashing her head at him at the last minute to try to strike at the side of his neck, close to his skull.  It was risky but it was good to practice on someone that wasn't going to outright slay you for taking a chance.  Theoretically if she got a good grip, it could stop him from being able to turn around and bite her in return, but it'd have to be precise.  If not.. Well, she'd have a chance to switch back to something she was more comfortable with.

She felt so out of practice, honestly -- at least on the attacking part -- she was typically a pretty reactive fighter, letting the other make the moves but that hadn't been the case here.  It was still something she had to work on.  Let alone her player.  But hey, Treason did enjoy spars, if you looked past the teeth at least.

terance probably should've expected more than normal pressure bites from treason, probably, but they still caught him a little off guard. either way, he didn't back down -- for quite a few reasons, one of them including fragile masculinity or something. treason would also absolutely call him a name. plus, it really wasn't like terance to back down from a spar when there wasn't actually a clear winner. i don't know why i bothered writing all this out. 

she stepped away from him, giving terance another chance -- a better chance -- to ground himself and prepare for her next attack. terance was, after all, built for defense. while treason and all of her sharkiness was good for offense, terance was more comfortable in his own ring. all that aside, if she was out of practice, he couldn't tell. 

this time, she came at him more directly, taking an insanely unexpected shot at the side of his head -- near his neck. terance was slow to move as a whole body, but not pieces of him, and so he moved his head quick enough to clash his muzzle against hers. this earned a heavy growl from terance, who hadn't expected such a bold move in a casual spar, but he trusted treason enough not to stop the fight. miraculously. he stepped forwards roughly, teeth now snapping at her muzzle while it was in range, looking to shove her back again.

It failed, as was expected.  More practice needed.  But apparently Terance wasn't too particularly fond of her choice of attack, not only shoving her off her mark, but growling and giving her an assumedly sharper bite to her muzzle before she was able to pull herself out of reach.  On the other hand, though, she had her devious smile again, growling back for the thrill of it, eyes flickering.  She apparently rather liked it when the other combatant got more aggressively into the spar.  Given her other behavior, perhaps that was unsurprising.  So of course, she had to push it again.

She backed up, head dipped slightly as she would to protect her throat in a real fight.  Her last step-to-be wasn't a true one -- she prepared to spring forward instead, slamming her raised paw down and pushing off to clear the short distance that was between them.  Treason lunged forward, low, maw open to try to hit where his shoulder met his neck to force a short-range brawl.

god damn treason was such a character. terance noted this with a surge of fondness (below the surface). i mean, let's face it, treason was quite opposite from any wolf terance had traditionally been attracted to. search: doe eyed, soft spoken, healers. treason was quite the opposite, and terance was quite drawn to it. also, could've been whatever hormones plagued the hollow. 

and forced it was. terance's previous attack was avoided only by doing the exact opposite of avoiding. treason lunged forwards instead, snapping at the space between his shoulder and neck. it drew a similar response from terance, who twisted in an attempt to avoid the bites, snapping back at her own shoulder. of course, treason's attacks still hit -- he didn't really propel himself out of the way.

Her teeth found their purchase, and she eventually held on at the base of his neck, still quietly growling.  She didn't release her bite immediately, instead wrapping her front legs around his neck as well as canine ones could, trying to give her just a few seconds of extra control so she could reposition her attack in a moment.  He could chomp her shoulder all he wanted in the meantime, she was a creature that operated in trades -- she'd make moves towards what would be fatal fight-enders if it was a real battle, so she'd take what wouldn't be life-threatening injuries in return.

Treason finally let go for just that brief second so she could try to bite higher up his neck.  It was a brief window where Terance could do something else to try to shake her off or whatever.  If he didn't, she could very well end it there -- or it would in her book.  Perhaps it wasn't very fun that she frequently tried to end fights as soon as possible, but hey... If you wanted to stay alive, generally that was the best option.

*puts off fighting thread for literal months*

oh but damn, he didn't take it. it wasn't that he wasn't able to recognize that there was a window of opportunity, it was more that he thought he had a better shot trying something else. so instead he held off, giving only one buck to treason's hold on his neck and trying instead to twist to grab at her hind legs, which turned out to be a bit further back than he anticipated, almost causing a game of 'catch your tail'. except his tail was treason, and treason had her teeth buried in his scruff. whoops.

At least the fitey bits are probably about over? XD

She didn't get quite the position she wanted as he slipped past her slightly. Treason was quick to latch back on to his scruff to prevent him from entirely throwing off her plan. His continued movement, though, wasn't entirely what she was expecting, as he stretched and reached for... Her leg or something?  She didn't think too much about it other than he was stretched out enough that she had a different chance than the one she'd been thinking of initially.

As he reached, she suddenly shoved all of her weight at Terance's shoulder, still keeping her jaws clamped on the fur of his neck.  She hoped his balance would be enough that she could topple him, but even if it worked, she wasn't going to let go, even if that ended up bringing her down with him.  It was the principle of the thing.

terance had solid balance -- if for any reason but that he was just wideset and generally pretty sturdy all around. she was still entirely latched to him, though for a second terance thought he might've loosened her grip. it was only when she shoved him that terance gave a lofty sidestep followed by his collapse. it wasn't really toppling over but he was certainly slowly lowered to the ground as he lost his balance -- half of him fought to stand upright while the other half was like 'shit bitch, timber'. 

terance wondered, in this moment, why he always got into fights and spars. he always seemed to lose. hm. seemed he was built more for the intimidation factor for anything -- at least he knew he had treason by his side. 

he rumbled a heavy growl as he was officially down, but it was pair with a lighthearted whack of his tail against the earth. wherever treason was (i'm pretty sure on the ground with him), terance gave a silly squirm and groan beneath her grasp. fine, fine, you win, he said, and assuming she let go of him, terance reached to give her face a few licks. maybe to show submission, maybe to show affection, maybe both.

You know, given how little she'd been able to spar recently, maybe that was why she was so into it and probably took the spar a bit more seriously.  Terance had humored her.  Or something like that, and she'd appreciated it, even if that wasn't entirely what he'd reasoned when he suggested it in the first place.  Good job maybe accidentally putting her in a good mood.

Treason's tail also wagged as she dragged her teeth through his fur up to the corner of his jaw where she murmured deviously, Too bad we weren't playing for keeps.  At this point in the timeline she was probably (?) sort of joking, but clearly enjoying the momentary bit of power she had over him.  She did let go of his neck at last, smirking as she kept him pinned beneath her for a few moments longer than needed or necessary.  Anyway, she had to let him up eventually so she got up, shook out her fur, and took a few steps before looking back to wait for him.

She liked winning.  It gave her a slightly different twist on her normal self-sure attitude, adding a confident buzz that made it seem like she probably could have kept sparring for days.  Instead of prowling along she moved with a bit more regality, tail slightly arched because Treason was totally the boss for the short term.  But let's be real, if Terance had won instead she probably would have been all over him  because strength and skill were things she found particularly attractive.  Instead, well...  So, pick up some food... Then back to your place?  Apparently she'd decided she liked the idea anyway.

maybe we should next time, terance teased as she pressed down on him, give me a little more incentive to win. let's be honest, though, compared to treason, terance would likely never stand a chance. she was just better than him, though he wouldn't ever tell her that. maybe something about upbringings... who knows, terance always lost fights, though. 

as she let him up, terance hoisted himself up with a deep oof. his grin deepened at her comment, and he reached to nip at the fur along her cheeks. whatever the champion wants, he purled, and began trotting alongside her back to his den.

She hummed thoughtfully at his suggestion, giving him a devilish smirk.  Yeah, raising the stakes did sound like fun, and she always enjoyed a good game -- a good gamble.  It was probably more in her favor to start with anyway, but unless Terance put some particularly negative penalties on a loss, she didn't think there was much risk on her part.  Her response to his touch was quick -- a playful growl, a tilt of her head so she could rake her teeth harmlessly through his fur again.  But she probably didn't need to say any more, given the way he grinned.  Nah, they were on the same page.  It'd be a good day.