Firefly Glen come on chew on my heart

Charles was pretty pissed about his encounter with Osiris. What was the guy's deal, anyway? What did Leta even see in him? And why would he stay here, if he was so clearly not wanted? Did this have something to do with what Draper said; that coyotes weren't welcome in wolf packs? Was it because he looked partly like a coyote? And if Charles had no reason to stay beyond Leta, no reason to stick around this stuck up windbag, then why... Why did he feel like he wanted to be around Osiris more? Why was he hurt at the fact that Osiris hadn't looked him up at all? Why did he wish Osiris noticed him and was nice to him and mean to him and all of those things?

All of these feelings were very confusing for Charles. He didn't know what to do with himself. He had never really had a crush on anyone, had been raised with only a mother, and he didn't get the big deal about females and males hooking up. And now, he just... He didn't know what to do.

Hungry and not sure what to do with himself, Charles searched for a fresh cache on a windy fall afternoon. There wasn't much cached yet, but he wasn't very good at hunting and he needed something right now. Secretly he hoped to run into Osiris, even though he doubted that the encounter would go like he wanted. When had everything become so complicated? Charles partly longer back to a simpler life, when he knew what to expect from those around him.

Dhalia, on the other hand, had never been so delighted with life! For the first time since as long as she could remember, she didn't need an escort to explore their claim, and to be honest, it felt just as strange as it did absolutely invigorating. Being a part of something, belonging to somewhere, beyond her family, for as long as she wanted to be a part of them. This freedom, this breadth of opportunity - she had always wondered how life would feel as a pack wolf, and to think, that day was finally here!

Her high spirits etched a warm smile across her face, and sprung her step with a little skip whenever she saw a new packmate, or piece of territory to sniff around and explore. And indeed, her paws skipped so many miles in a day! "Hey there!" she called out, at her first sight of the brown wolf bopping his snout along the ground. "What'cha doin'?" Looking for herbs? Following a trail? The possibilities were, quite literally, endless for Dhalia, and she asked with a genuine want to know. She had met so many in her days, these initial introductions were all the fun of meeting strangers like pretty much everyone here.

A chipper voice distracted Charles from his search for food and he lifted his head. It was some girl, and she seemed in a really good mood for some reason. Charles glanced at her as she greeted him. He didn't let on to his conflicted mood (because the truth was too embarrassing, and besides, he'd been perfectly conditioned not to share his true feelings from a young age anyway) as he greeted her back with a big grin. Heyo! In a good mood, I see? As for her question, he answered, Just looking for some food. He decided to leave out the part where he was looking for buried food he could plunder rather than fresh food.

"Dang. Am I really that obvious?" she quipped with a knowing smile, and sunk into a playful bow when she drew closer to him, picking up his outer display of equally good nature. He was a homely looking fellow, nothing striking like Osiris, but she realized that was okay. He reminded her of the prairies, and maybe that was why. It was his ears, of all things. They were tall, and exotic, much like her mother's, and her own.

Her ears perked at his mention of food, less because she was hungry, and more because looking for anything always brought that potential for adventure. "Want some company? Hunting's much funner in pairs." Mischief danced in her eyes, even though there was nothing mischievous to any of her thoughts. Not any of the ones she had right now, at least.

She certainly seemed to be in a good mood. Charles glanced at her big ears; he didn't see others with his sort of appearance all that often. He didn't say anything though, thinking about what Draper said. They apparently weren't exactly good traits to most wolves, and Charles didn't want to start this meeting off on a bad footing.

Yeah, sure, Charles said, even though he was kinda disappointed. Now he'd actually have to hunt rather than dig up a fresh cache someplace. Heh. So does that pretty face come with a name? he asked -- surprised by his smoothness -- as he started to lead the way and sniffed the air in hopes to find something edible nearby.

Dhalia smiled with a quirk of her brow and a curious wave of her tail. "Charming, aren't you?" and she hopped out of her playful bow to trot alongside her companion, "th'name's Dhalia," she said, and while he put his nose to the air, she stuck hers to the ground, in case any critter had left some recent scat or something else that would clue them onto a trail to follow, "and what about yours, then?" she glanced at him through the corner of her eye. The edges crinkled with a smirk, "does that pretty face come with a name, too? Or do I get t'choose?"

Oh, Jasper would've reeled if he'd seen her now, and that in itself was enough to keep her going.

Very, Charles said with a grin when she suggested he was charming. Dhalia was her name. Finally someone with a normal fucking name around here, he thought to himself.

Charles didn't immediately find a trail as they set off, though honestly he was kinda glad about that. Finding a trail would've meant that they would have to chase it and that sounded like a) work and b) something he wasn't very good at. He wasn't too sure how other wolves did it. He had always figured that as he grew up he'd magically get the ability to hunt, but somehow he just hadn't, and it sucked balls. It wasn't like he could admit to anyone how useless he was and how he was mooching off the pack. Hunting with others was just a big ole' risk. He'd just have to keep up the charade and hope he never got caught. This was a secret even Leta didn't know (although she could have guessed if she had paid attention).

When she asked for his name he opened his mouth to reply, but before he could she smirked and repeated his own words. Honestly, Charles was just gonna go and say his name, but now he got curious. You can call me whatever you want, he said with a big grin. Do your worst. It couldn't be much worse than what he had already been called throughout his life. Charles thought of Draper's words as he glanced at her and noticed the ears again. Was one of her parents a coyote, too? Did others dislike her for it? However, he didn't speak of it -- he did not want to ruin the good vibe they were having.

His compliance to her little game delighted her and her ever-wide grin broadened even further. Oh certainly, this one wouldn't be a bore to hang with!

"Alrighty," Dhalia hopped forward until she was well enough in front of her companion that she could spin around and face him head-on. She needed a good look at him to name him properly, after all, and she probed his appearance with a playful eye. Slender, and brown as the ground underfoot, and littered with scars here and there -- things she hadn't noticed, when she'd only looked at him on a rudimentary plane. She found she liked the way the colour of his eyes seemed to pop from the darkness of his face, and the way his belly was splashed with white, like the snow-melt in the spring.

She clicked her tongue, as if in thought, though she'd already settled on his name well before the theatrics of looking. But this was a game, and who would she be, if she didn't play a little bit?

After a moment she tipped her head with a satisfied smile. "Charming," she said, "for personality, and for looks," and as she wove her way back to the place at his side, she added a playful, "unless, of course, you don't like that."

She hopped forward and then spun around to face him. She looked over him, which wasn't a very comfortable feeling for Charles. He knew he was no looker; he was small, scrawny, his hair stood in odd angles at places and he had big ears. Then again, Dhalia had big ears and even he could see that she wasn't ugly in any way. She was probably considered beautiful by others, with that big smile and her smooth fur. Not that he thought of her that way, well, objectively, yes, but like, for himself? Nah.

Eventually she decided on a name after clicking her tongue. Charming? he said with a laugh. What kind of name is that? He had never heard of anyone called 'charming'. Is it like... Prince Charming? Am I supposed to propose to you in some sort of grand gesture now? Charles grinned at her, having heard a story once about the existence of prince charmings and knowing what sort of smooth tricks they would do. She even complimented his looks, which honestly, he knew was a blatant lie because he'd been told so often that he was nothing but ugly trash, but he decided to let it pass. Maybe acting as if he wasn't ugly trash right now made him seem less like it. Maybe he could cultivate this trick and use it to become more than ugly trash.

He seemed to think the name was silly, which -- well, she couldn't be too offended, because it kind of was. But in a game like this, had he expected her to give him anything normal? "What? It's a perfectly princely name!" she laughed, her mouth drawn with a warm grin, even as he grinned with her.

His question, though! Wow this boy was winning left, right, and center! She laughed and shot him a coy glance - playful, and intended as nothing more than this shared routine they joked their way down. "Only if you think I'm the Snow White to your fairytale," she said with a grin, though she wholly expected she was not. She'd been here far too short a time, and had only just met the boy - as much as she enjoyed his company already, "and only if you don't have your eye already set on someone else... "

And she left the question hanging on a smile, and a mischievous glance. An open invitation.

Charles was enjoying this conversation a lot. In Easthollow he had been withdrawn because life had taught him that if you opened your mouth you got punched in the teeth, but here in Firefly Glen it was going much better. Leta had been Charles' only friend his whole life, so it was strange that he was actually making a friend now. And not just a friend, but like... A really good one? At least, he could only assume that she thought he was pretty cool considering he was totally flirting with her and she was responding pretty positively.

The coywolf smirked when Dhalia said that he should do it only if she was the Snow White (that must be some sort of princess) to his princely fairytale. His life was as far from a fairytale as could be, but Dhalia didn't need to figure out that he was just some ugly loser from Easthollow. He enjoyed being in this position a lot.

When she suggested he might already have his eye set on someone else, Charles couldn't help but chortle out a laugh. The thought was kind of funny to him, even though it made total sense that someone might think he hit on everyone he met since he was hitting on this girl that he had literally just met. Well then, Pretty Miss Dhalia, Charles said, his eyes all serious as he looked back at her, though the mischievous grin on his face suggested that he was still totally joking. Will you honour me of... He wasn't sure what the exact lines were, and stumbled over them a bit in the process; not because he was nervous, but because he was unsure if the text was correct. It could make him feel either as if he was shy or unsure, or show her that he just wasn't very well-taught in language. One of his ears perked as he heard some far-off honking and his grin widened as he continued: .. Joining me on a wild geese hunt?? And he dashed off in the direction of the geese honks; there were maybe four by the sound of it. Maybe something was wrong with them such as wounded wings, that they hadn't flown south yet; all the better if there was, because that meant they would be easier to hunt, even if his main operative here was to have fun.

feel free to pp however many geese there are and what state they are in and whatnot :-) i am enjoying this thread and these sassy goobers a lot!