Whitebark Stream Margaritas for all

@Sequoia 

The encounter with Njord and Valmua had got Merlin thinking. He had enjoyed the company of both, more so with the fellow, who was his age, than with the luscious lady. And if one person in a pack was guaranteed to have fun, weren't it worth finding out, if others were just as awesome? It had been few months now, since he had wandered on is own and, though he did not wish to admit it, he yearned for society. 

But he was in no rush to sell his freedom just yet. And such thoughts were pushed to the far-off corner of his mind, when he managed to catch and kill a hare that morning, and with his belly full - was enjoying no the sunlight of the short late autumn day. Merlin sunbathed, idly observing the surroundings.

I don't think they would remember each other, which is going to make this fun. >:)

Now that she had a mission, Sequoia dipped from Mahler's claim. She knew, deep down, that this behavior she was exhibiting was destructive, but honestly, she didn't care. What was that saying? The best way to get over somebody was to get under somebody else? Crow could go straight to hell, because Sequoia was bound and determined to have a good time without him. It wasn't that she planned to go to bone town with the first wolf she saw, but she did plan to go there with the first eligible bachelor she found even remotely attractive. In fact, the more attractive, the better. That would show Crow what he was missing out on.

It had been some time since she had flexed her flirting skills, but she made sure to groom herself extra well before she had left the boulder, making sure no tufts were out of line and no debris was stuck to her fur. Then she squared her shoulders and set out into the world.

When she spotted what looked like a fine young gentleman, after crossing the bubbling stream that gave this place its name, she woofed in his direction, completely unaware of who he was.

Game. On.

Merlin would not have been aware of who Sequoia was even if he had not bashed his head, got severe concussion, along with some brain damage and an ensuing memory loss of most of what had happened before his accident and during the time he had been recovering from it. Because he had been a wee-baby, when they had met each other first, and now he was an adult and she - well - was an older one. 

He heard the sound of approaching footsteps, splashing of water and rolled on his stomach to have a better look of, who it was. The boy was not fearful by nature, but he was a tad bit relieved, when he saw a girl approaching. So far the only creepy specimen of this gender had been the dark-pelt mute-lass down south. This - on the other hand - seemed quite harmless, unless she was a true psychopath that could fear faces and personalities like masks. 

"Oy, lass - looking for me?" he shouted out to her for the sheer fun of it.

He responded, and Sequoia felt something akin to a spark. The darkness in her heart attempted to snuff it out, but she refused to let that happen. She was going to be happy, dammit. She needed to feel something, and she had decided the best way to do that was to have some fun with whoever she came across.

How did you know? she said, glad that he at least was being pleasant. He was a bit of a looker, too. Reddish fur with light undersides. His eyes were a pleasant teal color. More importantly, he looked within her age range. That wasn't too difficult to accomplish. Even Mahler fit that bill, but he didn't seem interested, and that was the last sort of relationship Sequoia wanted to get herself into: casual or otherwise.

Casual had become her new default. Anything beyond that was going to take some serious work and determination from whoever was dating her. No more long term things until the right man came along. If children happened this year, whatever, but if not, she could wait. It felt like her plan changed every couple of hours, but hey, she was in a manic phase and still trying to get herself out of this slump.

I'm Sequoia, she said. She settled down prone beside him and smiled.

"You have that... quality," Merlin's reply was cryptic and rather than explaining further, what he had meant by it, he yawned, did a little stretch routine, shook his coat and then plopped down on is haunches again. At this point the girl, who had promptly introduced herself to him, had come to sit near him, giving the boy an opportunity to not only appraise her looks but get a good whiff of her too. She smelled nice - most girls did, but then you cannot say that a person is very picky after he has lived with a bunch of devil-may-care bachelor wolves, to whom personal hygiene had been way down on the priority list. 

"Name's Merlin," he replied and smiled at her.  "So, now that you've found me, whatcha wanna do?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Her flirting was reciprocated, and for that she was grateful. If it hadn't been, she always could have just made pleasant conversation, but this seemed easier somehow. And Merlin, what a cute name. If he'd been named Crow (or had any similarities to her ex), she probably would have bolted on the spot. Luckily for her (and him), that wasn't the case, so she let herself relax and go with the flow. He asked what she wanted to do, and her mind wandered to a few very specific things, but she knew she couldn't dive right into that. Merlin, sweet as he was, seemed like the type who needed a bit more talking before any of that. And, let's be honest, Sequoia did want some semblance of familiarity before she jumped his bones.

Besides, maybe she could make this a multi-faceted exploration trip. She did need to find some stuff to decorate her new den, and what better way to do it than have somebody help.

I've been trying to think of ways to spruce up my den. What sorts of things are good for that, do you think? she asked.

If Merlin had had any idea, how the complicated and subtle mating game worked, he would have felt flattered that in a matter of week two women had attempted to lure him in their warm embrace. Since he was clueless and innocent and got kicks out of flirting, he thought he was in for a conversation with a pleasant person. And for someone, who yearned for company, this was a win-win situation. 

"Why would you want to spruce up your den?" he furrowed his brow, not really understanding, why was that even necessary. A den was for sleeping only. All the fun stuff happened, while you were outside. "My advice - don't have a den and you won't have a problem. Sleep whereve and you have no need to tidy up anything afterwards," he shrugged.

Instead of leaning into the idea, Merlin leaned away from it. Sequoia would be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed. It reminded her of Crow, and she felt the part sadness, part fury, festering in her heart. Why couldn't he just be pleasant and go along with what she'd said? Sequoia frowned at the suggestion of sleeping outdoors. Her judgement went from thinking Merlin was pretty alright to now thinking all he wanted to do was contradict her. It seemed that was what all men wanted to do to her lately. Tell her she wasn't good enough and that her ideas were stupid.

Sequoia stood up, obviously agitated.

Just... never mind. I don't need your help anyway.

Any good feelings she had came crashing down, and she felt stupid for even trying to have a conversation with him. What did she think, that the first guy she walked up to would be a winner? At this point, she was beginning to think that they were all trash.

Over the course of his life Merlin would learn that women were like bees - you never knew, what to expect from them. And that he could be wrong on so many accounts that it would be way simpler to go along than try to argue that assumptions were totally wrong. So this sudden change of attitude came as a complete surprise to him. WTF?! was written clearly across his features. He had not deliberately tried to insult her. It was not as if he had told her plainly - oy, you look like a scarecrow. He had told nothing but truth (a thing he would learn later on too - being honest rarely paid off). 

"No need to go up in flames and such. Geez, chill!" he told her. "I know nothing about dens - plain and simple. Your use of me would be just as good as poking a rotting corpse and hoping that it will start to run," he said.

Congrats on hitting 400! Sorry Seq is a raging bitch right now.

Maybe if he had stayed quiet, or even tried to apologize, Sequoia would have given him a second chance. Instead, he did the one thing that she could not stand right now. She was sick to death of being "chill." Downright exhausted at the thought of it. The girl felt her blood boil at the word, and the thrumming sound in her ears drowned out his second sentiment about how he was of no use blah blah blah!

DON'T TELL ME TO CHILL, she warned. Her hackles were raised now, and her tail stood erect and pointed upward. She hadn't curled her lip (yet), but she would show him her teeth up close and personal if he so much as suggested that she "calm down." Sequoia remained like that, waiting (and secretly hoping) that he would say something stupid so she could release some of this pent-up energy.

She was crazy! Yup. No doubt about it!

Merlin stared at her wide-eyed, thoughts racing, while he tried to figure, how the hell had he come from sunbathing lazily and enjoying life to have this madwoman scream at him and about to tear him to pieces. This had never happened to him before. Then it dawned upon him why. But, of course, he had hung out with men for the better part of the year. Made jokes about girls and heard all the juicy and crude stuff, but had not much experience with them in person at all. Now he understood, why his previous pack had preferred to band together as bachelors than disperse and make traditional connections. Women weren't sane. They were scary and downright dangerous. 

"Then don't chill - do, whatever the fuck you want!" he shrugged, yawned and averted his gaze - all calming signals to tell that he had no interest to suffer through a direct confrontation. Physical even less. If he got out of this alive, he would never ever willingly hang out with girls again. Well, maybe with that Coon Assbite, but then - she had tried to assault him before saying "hello" and "my name is".

She wasn't satisfied with his return, but at least he hadn't told her to calm down. She knew now, at least, what kind of wolf he was. And it wasn't the kind of wolf she was compatible with. Far, far from it.

In some scenario, he might have been able to save face. Perhaps if he had countered with his own display of aggression. But she also didn't want somebody who would just shrug her off when she got angry. Wow, she really was picky, wasn't she? Sequoia was beginning to realize that even her "acceptable" list of qualities was going to be hard to meet.

Enjoy your stupid rotten life, she said, still seething.

She had no use for him, and she stormed off without another word. He had lost any chance of ever being anything to her, friend, lover, or otherwise. He could go die in a fire for all she cared.

"Yeah - you too. Can't imagine that you have many friends. If any. With that attitude!" Merlin yelled after her and in the stunned silence that followed, he felt an immense relief that the woman had not stayed any longer. Still he could not figure out, what the hell had happened and, why had he of all people (a complete stranger!!!) deserved such a treatment. That bitch had got some very serious issues.

And just as she did not want to have anything to do with him, so did he wished never to see her face again. One thing was clear - from now on he would stick to familiar waters only. Period!