Stavanger Bay oo baby

"Look, there it is!" Nikai said excitedly to @Alya as they breached the forest and wound up on the beach of the Bay. He smiled broadly as he watched the ocean stretch out before him, enjoying time spent here. Something about it was alluring and drew him in. The way the water lapped at the shoreline, always moving in perfect sync, the way the salt tickled his senses... It was good to be here.

He looked at Alya's face so that he could see what she thought of this place, just as the sun started to set, which caused the sky and the ocean to be set ablaze in beautiful oranges and pinks.

Although the dark girl certainly found the scene pretty and somewhat awe-inspiring, she was not the type to stand and gape at the scenery. Instead, she moved out further onto the pebbly shore, intent on investigating the giant body of water they stood before. It was bigger than any lake, but Alya had been prepared for that. Daddy had told her a little about the ocean - that the water was salty, and no good for drinking, for one thing.

Still, she couldn't helphelp but lap up a bit of the water, just to see for herself. The taste was not wholly unpleasant, but it burned going down, and it did not quench her thirst.

"How strange, to have all this water and nothing to do with it," she commented, wondering what her sisters would make of this place. It seemed like a waste to Alya, but she knew that not all creatures found it without use. There were seal lions and white gulls and fish that breathed saltwater - all things that wolves could eat. She supposed she could see why her father might have liked growing up here, but the land was too bare and open for Alya's tastes. 

Still - "It is very pretty," she allowed, turning to face Nikai with a wagging tail. Here, she found herself pausing, admiring the way the sunlight softened the sharp green of his gaze, turning it to a color as warm and sweet as he was.

"I'm glad I'm here with you," said Alya, turning back to practiced words for a time. Their conversations on the way to the beach had progressed pleasantly and without artifice, but he was so handsome in the sunlight, and Alya found herself too flustered for the easy companionship they'd had before.

"Don't, it's —" Nikai started when Alya took a sip, but he was too late and she had already lapped up some of the salt water. Nikai had tried this on his very first visit to the ocean and he had swiftly come to realise that it wasn't a very good idea at all. Still, he could see that Alya wanted to try it out, for when she looked up she did not look surprised or disgusted; she had clearly already expected this result, she just wanted ot experience it herself. Nikai couldn't help but smile, as it was one of the things he liked about Alya. She wasn't very cautious, just wanted to dive right into everything.

Nikai let out a laugh when Alya said it was strange to have all this water and that they could do nothing with it. It was true in a way, though Nikai was a creative spirit and he had already figured out plenty of things to do with the water even if they couldn't drink it. "It's good to swim in, but you have to be careful for the currents the waves create." He opened his mouth again to say that it was beautiful to look at, too, but Alya interrupted him by mentioning the very same thing in different words. His tail started to wag in turn as she turned to him, unable to wipe a happy smile off his face.

There was something in the air that made things different somehow. Nikai felt himself grow shy as Alya looked at him and he looked at his paws, at the ocean, then back to Alya's face because he just couldn't resist looking at her even if something made him want to look away shyly. "Me too," he eventually brought out, the words sounding very easy and effortless even though he felt nervous and bashful saying them.

Alya's gaze fell warm and - hesitantly - sincere on her companion. There was something very easy to like about Nikai. She found herself falling into a certain sense of comfort with him, and hardly even thought about it as she leaned her head on his shoulder. The sunset blazed into her eyes, so she closed them, and the world turned all warm and rosy-gold. There was nothing but the crash of the waves and the beating of their hearts, and Alya decided that Nikai was definitely hers.

"I'm going to come and live with you," she said to him. "Will your parents like me? We're going to have babies together, so they'll have to."

She wondered if Nikai would also be interested in impregnating her sisters. It seemed odd to be thinking about doing something without consulting them first. She should probably bring this up before making any decisions.

"One day, I mean," she amended. And then, a bit more like her usual, haughty self, "Don't get complacent."

post count soulm8s!!

Nikai felt all jumbled up inside when Alya leaned her head against him and he stared at the ocean, feeling the urge to jump up and down and run around and scream at the top of his lungs, which was weird because at the same time he wanted nothing more than to sit by her side, just be with her, do nothing but sit here forever, enjoy this perfect moment.

When Alya spoke again, Nikai blinked, feeling caught off guard and like the moment was shattered momentarily. He was surprised she decided she'd come live with him right away, but not necessarily negatively so. Nikai thought it would be cool to have Alya live in Easthollow, at least for a while, and they could see where they'd go after that. She went on to comment about how they'd have babies together and Nikai felt like she was moving rather fast. He really liked Alya, but having babies together was a whole another step.

Before he could comment on any of it however, she went on to say she meant 'one day', and he laughed at the haughty comment that followed. "Don't worry, we've got time," said Nikai with a soft smile. "I'm sure my mother will like you. She's all I have, so that's already one less wolf you'll have to impress. Oh -- and my sister Keoni, of course. But that's all, promise." His life really just consisted of Keoni and Valette, so that made things a bit easier. Well, and Alya, of course. "What will your family think if you leave?" He wondered this out loud, knowing she at least had a bunch of sisters and, considering she'd said 'parents', he assumed that she had more than one of those too. Would they hate him for making her leave to join his pack?

"Well, I'll have to go back to Moonspear at some point," Alya replied, narrowly stopping herself from rolling her eyes. Obviously. She realized, though, that Nikai was sort of getting at something. "My sisters and I have talked about what we're going to do with ourselves. We haven't exactly hammered out all the details, though. We want to stay at Moonspear forever and take over after our parents die in battle, but we also kind of want to claim our own mountain," she explained, a bit of her uneasiness at having to choose showing through her put-together veneer. "Somewhere in there, though, I'll come back and visit you as well."

She gave his cheek a shy nuzzle, and then looped the conversation back to something Nikai had mentioned - something that hadn't seemed quite right to her.

"What happened to the rest of you?" she asked softly, hesitating a bit. It seemed wrong to demand this information, though she'd never gave demanding anything a second thought in the past. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she quickly ammended.

Nikai listened as Alya laid down her plans for the future that she and her sisters had smithed together. He wondered what her sisters thought of him in any of those plans and what they thought of Alya leaving them for a while. When he'd first met them, they had seemed like an unstoppable triskelion of sorts, like they belonged together. He'd truthfully had a bit of a crush on all three of them in their unbreakable similarity, but Alya'd been the one to instantly mirror his interest and that was the biggest reason he was sat here with her and not her sisters.

"I'd like to travel when my siblings are a bit older," Nikai admitted to Alya. "Maybe settle in some other pack somewhere, see more of that side of the world..." He wasn't sure how far 'the world' stretched, really. "Maybe that could be your mountain when the time comes." He smiled softly, though looked away with a frown when Alya asked him about his family.

It was a subject that always brought a weird feeling to his gut, one that he wasn't sure what to do with. He'd feel bad about losing his mother, but he didn't even remember what she looked like. Why did he feel bad about something so distant..? "My real mother died when me and Keoni were little. She was killed, but I don't know much about her. I don't even remember what she looked like..." He grimaced, then continued; "Valette and Steady adopted us then, so they feel a lot like they're my real parents. Steady passed away. They wanted to have pups, but it hadn't happened yet. The father of Valette's pups isn't a father to me, though... Nor Valette's mate." Nikai offered a thin smile, though he didn't really care that they were with so few. He still loved each of them; and he hoped that when the time came, Keoni might come with him, his siblings would be old enough, and Valette wouldn't feel too terrible about letting them go.

Nikai sounded just like her, in a lot of ways. They were both looking for a journey, but had things keeping them at home. It was so hard to break free and start living life for yourself when you had so much to love about your comfortable little life. But Nikai had a good plan - when the time was right.

"I like the sound of that," said Alya, feeling unusually bashful once more. Just the thought of actually living with Nikai and seeing him every day gave her heart palpatations; she didn't know how she'd get through actually doing it. Maybe it was a good thing she couldn't go with him right then.

Nikai went on to tell about his broken home - something Alya had no experience with an struggled to relate to. Her Dashie had died when she was young, but that was hardly the same thing. She'd had a large, solid family to support her, and like Nikai had been when his mother died, Alya had been very young.

"I don't know what I'd do if Daddy died," said Alya, feeling her throat constrict at the very thought. He meant so much to her - aside from her mirror-sisters, she'd never loved anything as much as she loved her father. "I'm so sorry, Nikai. Was it long ago?"

It was so long ago that he didn't even remember. Yet whenever he thought of it he still felt sad somehow; felt the urge to find and hug Keoni, like he had when it happened, even if he did not remember it himself. Considering the context Nikai assumed Alya meant the death of Steady in this case, considering she referred to a 'daddy' that was probably her own father. "Around this spring," he said, though truthfully didn't even remember exactly how long ago — a long time, considering his age, but not long enough ago, considering how sad he still felt to think of Steady's death.

"It was around the time I was starting to think I might like to explore when I got a bit older — and then he just... died. It's why I decided to stay with Valette for now. She needs us." Eventually he wanted to leave but for now, Keoni and he were still needed around Easthollow. Maybe when the pups were older, some day, he could. It was nice though that Alya wanted to join Easthollow, at least for a bit — it'd be lovely to have her around all the time.

Alya frowned at the boy, not liking the strange, phantom pain she felt in her own chest at his admission. Was this... empathy? Disgusting! Alya didn't need to know how anyone felt except for her two counterparts, and even that could be exhausting sometimes.

But...

"My Dashie died, when I was really little," she shared, possibly causing a bit of confusion with her word choice. "I still remember it, though. I was playing where I wasn't supposed to, and then a cougar came and tried to eat me - and he fought it, and it ate him instead."

He hadn't been her father, though.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, hoping an apology would get this horrible sad feeling off her chest. "That's one of the most terrible things I can think of. I wish I could make it... go away. Or something."

Nikai frowned as he listened to the story Alya told. At first he felt rather confused as she mentioned 'her Dashie', but then he figured it was a wolf of sorts considering how the story continued. He frowned sadly as he heard the story, unable to imagine such a terrible thing. He didn't remember anything about his mother's death, really. He did remember Steady's death, of course, but it hadn't been like this — it hadn't been watching him get torn apart right in front of him.

He inhaled sharply and then said, "That's terrible..." Not sure what else he could say. As Alya apologised he tilted his head in question, and he couldn't help but let out a short burst of laughter as she said it was the most horrible thing she could think of and that she wished she could make it go away. "Oh, Alya, it's not a contest, silly." Nikai said with a dreary smile and he bumped his nose against her neck softly. "The crap we go through isn't who we are, it's just... crap. But it still shapes us in some way and who knows where we would be without it..? It's a part of you and me, and that means I wouldn't want any of it to go away, however shitty it is." Nikai wasn't too sure he was still making sense at that point, but he looked at Alya, hoping that she understood what he meant.

Alya could see the reasoning behind this belief, but she still thought it was ridiculous. Better to be dumb and happy than sad and wise, right? Why couldn't they learn lessons and build character in a less unpleasant way? Like, who even thought of these things?

"You're right," said Alya, not wanting to get into an argument about it and make Nikai feel bad when he realized he was wrong. Besides - it would cheapen what was clearly a traumatic experience for the young male. Why kick him when he was down. That, and, "I do really like who you are," she shared, giving his cheek a shy nuzzle.

He smiled at her comments, feeling all fuzzy inside as she said that she liked who he was. He kinda liked himself too and though he wished sometimes that he knew his real mom, he also didn't want to miss knowing Valette. She had saved him and was as much his real mom as his biological one was, if not more. To have missed such a love would've been really sad, too. Life could be unfair, but a lot of it could be countered by putting on a smile, he had learned.

There was a bashfully happy look on his face as she nuzzled his cheek, and he leaned in to press his nose against her neck briefly. "Thanks. I like who you are too," he murmured before withdrawing his head again and smiling shyly at Alya.

Pleased by this, Alya perked up a tiny bit and looked off toward the horizon, not quite able to look directly at her handsome friend, in the moment. There was something more to be explored here, she knew. His nuzzles and touches left her feeling as though they were dancing on the edge of some precipice when the aim was to jump in and fall. But she had no idea how to take that final leap, and thus contented herself with the simplicity of his nearness.

Yes, she would definitely need to visit him at Easthollow sometime soon.

Should we close this up?

yes, i'll fade :D

Nikai leaned against Alya with a soft smile on his face as he stared at the horizon. The scenery was beautiful and it complimented the moment. He felt all tingly inside just being near, never having experienced such a feeling before. Nikai sighed happily as he stared at the scenery, just happy for the time spent in Alya's presence.