Coconut Grove know i run the streets, boy

hoping for a @Bat thread <3

tristan and bat had stayed relatively close to the coastline the previous days (weeks?)... but something still drew them back to this territory. he wasn't sure what it was about it, but it felt really comfortable... familiar, and like he could just lay around and soak in the sun all day. that was nice, ya know, after traveling for so long? tristan really appreciated a little bit of r&r. 

today, they meandered along it, occasionally tristan would swerve to ram her into the tide but she was much nimbler than him... it had ended twice now with him missing her entirely and tumbling into the lapping shore himself. rats. but he was unbothered, standing, shaking off onto her, and trotting back up to walk alongside her. it was here, now, that tristan froze, holding a paw up to her chest to stop her. look, he said in a hushed tone, motioning with his nose towards a big, thicc daddy c r a b off in the distance, scuttling around by a boulder.

In between casual dodges, Bat was attempting to inform Tristan of her findings after a day's solo wanderings. "There's definitely that pack forming at the plateau, then I'm pretty sure I smelled scent markers around the bay on the other side of the burnt woods... but it was a little hard to tell and I didn't linger long," she was saying as she sidestepped another lunge. "I didn't feel particularly compelled by anything I found, to be hon—"

"Look," Tristan said in a hushed tone and per their conversation, Bat expected to clap eyes on a wolf (or maybe a pack of them) straggling along the shore. Instead, she saw what looked a lot like a gigantic cockroach scuttling along the beach. The sight of it instinctively repulsed her, causing the damp fur along her spine to prickle. When it moved behind the boulder and out of sight, she felt immeasurable relief.

"The fuck was that?" Bat asked, equally sotto voce for reasons unknown.

oh whatever bat was saying they could go back to later -- tristan did feel a little bad cutting her off, but this was WAY MORE IMPORTANT.

a c r a b!!! whisper-yelled tristan, his tail beginning to wave furiously behind him, and i'm abouta show you what good eatin' is. and with that, tristan took off from her side, down the shoreline a few meters away around the boulder and slammed a paw onto the flat crustacean. they weren't challenging opponents in tristan's mind. minor god play? idc. crab.

it wriggled (kind of) beneath his paw, and he turned to look back at bat with a shit eating grin, all the while increasing pressure on the beast. slowly, it's shell began to crack and it became less wiggly, until eventually it's watery insides were spilling around and it's shell was shattered in the middle like a spideweb. only then did tristan let it go. he glanced over the rock at bat, tail still wagging.

you ready for this? it's a god damn TREAT, bat -- no mans ever spoiled you like this before i'll tell you what.

He identified the creature as one of the mystic crabs he'd been raving about and then mentioned the plan was to eat it. Bat's nose wrinkled immediately. "Oh hell n—" she began to say when he cut her off again by darting after the runaway crab.

She made no move to follow him. From her spot safely far away from Tristan's repulsive prey, Bat watched him pummel it to death. She heard the distinct crunch of its shell and pulled another face. How could he consider any of that appetizing?

Still motionless, Bat shook her head, sending her huge ears flapping. "No thanks, it's all yours." She paused and then asked, "Are you really gonna eat that? It looks like a giant crunchy spider!" She made a noise of disgust low in her throat.

fair! exclaimed tristan too bat's comment with a wag of his tail, highly amused by her expression and reaction, but you don't eat the shell, you fuckin whackass, it's got meat on the inside. he left the crab to prance around her, giving her shoulder and headbutt as he did, trailing back towards the c r a b as he teased, you're being a priss! you haven't even given it a chance.

and with that, the ex-blackthorn menace leaned down to use his teeth to tear away at the shell, revealing (as promised) pink and white fleshy bits. yum. he glanced back up bat, peering up as his muzzle still pointed down, waggling his eyebrows and smirking as he egged her on best he could. you really gonna let me down here, pup?

She laughed at her friend's antics, despite herself. Was there anything more uplifting than a happy Tristan, one who was so clearly enjoying himself? Still, it didn't make her want to sample the crab meat. Bat didn't know why it struck her as so repulsive, it just did.

"Yeah, thanks but no thanks," she said when he began tearing into the flesh hidden inside the broken shell. "More for you, right?"

While he savored his favorite snack, Bat looked up and down the strand, then loosed a happy sigh. Creepy crabs aside, this place was quickly becoming one of her favorites. She knew their travels would resume at some point, though part of her would've been happy to stay here indefinitely.

his tail flicked as he studied her features, lingering on her silver gaze for a hair too long before shrugging with a wide-grin. more for me, he agreed, ears radio-satelliting forwards before he dipped again and began to tear into the beast and actually CHOMP down. hell yeah. this was good living, never mind that bat wasn't willing to try one of his favorite things ever and it totally hurt his heart just a little bit, this was a good thing for certain.

granted, c r a b was more of a snack food than a whole meal, so tristan was done pretty quickly. 

he looked up, noting her face and how she still probably looked really grossed out, and then gave her a rather terrifying expression. he began to move towards her. come smell my fish breathe, he said just before pouncing on top of her.

When her attention drifted back to Tristan (likely to comment on the grotesque noises he was making while he ate), he was suddenly right there. Bat startled, unable to escape the pounce that followed. She went down with a scream that quickly turned to laughter.

"You're fucking gross as fucking fuck," Bat said gleefully, pressing a foreleg into Tristan's cheek in a playful attempt to get him off her.

ha HA fucker! element of surprise. suck his DICK he got her right where he wanted her. and even as she pressed her paw to his cheek to keep him at bay, tristan was more than satisfied, giving a big ole HHHHUUUHHHH of air right down at her.

but you LOVE it! he returned, using his head to bob past her feet and cover her face in delicious, fishy licks.

"It's true," Bat waxed mournfully even as she scrunched her nose and did her best to hold her breath, "I don't know why but it's true." With her cheeks puffing out, she shoved at Tristan and then did some crazy alligator roll out from underneath him.

As soon as she found her feet again, she braced defensively. "I'm gonna get you for that. Not now. Maybe not even soon. But when you least expect it," she promised darkly. "And just you remember, Tristan: payback's a bitch." This was, of course, followed up with a smug smirk.

she rolled out from beneath him, leaving tristan to stand in the sand a little ways off and look at her with wild arrogance, tongue swiping over his chops a few times. she spoke of something about payback, but he was mildly distracted, flicking his ears and eyeing her with a few waves of his tail -- clearly high on his victory. 

sure, sure, he purled, tail still waving as she returned his smug look. what was she gonna do? poison his food? poop in the ocean? tristan was confident she didn't have a leg up on him. but he was also a dumb fuck. his tongue lolled, and he gave a half growl as he began to pad towards her again, this time less menacing and more casual friendliness, reaching to headbutt her but mostly strolling by. i'm goin swimmin, he announced as he went by.

He didn't seem all that perturbed, which suited her just fine. He clearly didn't take her threat seriously, so Bat would enjoy her eventual revenge all the more when she took him totally by surprise.

When Tristan casually announced his plan to go swimming, she responded by bounding toward him and shoving him playfully toward the water. In the next instant, she sprang past him and into the surf while screaming, "Last one in's a soggy ballsa—" Her voice cut off when a wave broke over her head, though she emerged a beat later with a breathless laugh.

hey! barked tristan as he was shoved to the side, but it was all in good nature as she was soon submerged. the action caused a stutter-step in tristan, who froze as he was hit with the flashback of bat crashing through the ice at the river and disappearing for what he thought was forever. he stood ankle deep as the water lapped towards him. he watched as she reemerged, the tightening of his chest releasing his grip. 

he suddenly didn't feel like swimming anymore... though he really didn't wanna seem lame. so despite the clouds that appeared over him now, he began again to bound into the water, pushing aside emotions to splash around with his friend -- diving under to nip at her ankles.

Oblivious to her unexpected baptism's effect on her friend, Bat continued frolicking in the shallows, laughing and slapping at Tristan in turn when he joined her. When she eventually grew weary of the surf beating at her back (and the ankle-biting), she trundled to the shore and slumped on the sand. She assumed he would want to keep swimming, seeing as it had been his idea in the first place. Bat contented herself to lie there and watch him, smiling placidly as she plotted her revenge.