Fox's Glade Impulse

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The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: Ash is in heat, probably going to be kind of….trashy about it haha a

Merrick’s could shoulder dismayed her. Fuming, she prowled the pack lands, leaving her scent markings along the borders to make sure it was well known that she was in heat, and that she’d get her kicks one way or another. 

There was always that @Val fellow. Nothing too much to look at, but her other options were pretty slim. So she broadened her search, leading to the Fox’s Glade, before she began to call out, with deep, ullulating, crooning notes. A siren song she only used for such an occasion.

the effects of the plants she ingested as to force her body into oestrus had begun to vane, indelicately pulling her from blissful intoxication into uncaring reality. winter's dying breaths tugged at bernadette's fur as she retreated to the protective embrace of bear claw valley, unplannedly retracing her steps from the night she left its confines to sate her body's needs.

it seemed that as her time ended, another's began. a desirous call, which the dog could not copy, spread from the heart of the glade, scaring a flock of birds which rose in a blackened cloud.

with her stilted gait the bearwoman approached the lustful one's location, doing nothing to hide her coming, thinking their allegiance inconsequential to her.

she found them, a thing small for a wolf and smelling of ursus beneath the thick scent of heat. inconsequential.

the beardog emerged from the greenery, a slight curve to her lips and dark eyes shadowed by awnings of thick chow brows.

"you'll find no good men in ursus." the supplicant told the other in her gravely voice. "between a husband and a widower, the one that remains is a fool."

Æsilfír wanted very little to do with other females, presently, but given the fact that the one who approached was not in hear and was from Ursus, she didn’t immediately lunge to chase her off. 

They weren’t close; I’m fact, Ash hadn’t spent much time getting to know her packmates following the raid, as she’d been minding young Abel, and preferred to keep to herself anyway. But she’d seen the odd-looking wolf before. All she could do was trust in Merrick’s judgement. While Æsilfír thought the female’s lions were brutish and unfortunate, Merrick had approved of her so she’d abide by his decision. 

She secretly wondered if the female was really fat, or if she was all fur. What good protection she’d have from teeth, with a coat that thick. There was no way Ash could sink her teeth through fur that thick, she thought, not without a lot of effort. So there was some advantage to whatever genetic mutation it was Bernadette had that made her look that way. 

She seemed to see fit to warn Æsilfír from seeking what she needed from the men of the pack. True, one was taken, one was widowed, and the other she knew very little. It frustrated her that she also didn’t really care, she simply had needs to fulfill. Maybe her standards shouldn’t have been so low.

”Hard te find a good man anywhere anyway, nowadays,” She said ruefully. ”Woz hopin’ I could draw a few in. Pit ‘em against each h’odder, pick the fittest of ‘em. Get a bet of a show before I get my kicks meself, y’know.” She said with a light cackle.

it was a call specifically for him that drew val in that day. he knew its originator very little, and at first urgency hastened his steps. he could only assume she called because someone was hurt — but the more he ran, the more val became aware her tune was too… sensual to be one of emergency.

the lilting song, the rosy scent that announced her season — if such things warmed his blood, it was what he heard next that left him cold.

between a husband and a widower, the one that remains is a fool. surely that was not directed at him, right? val’s pace slowed, a frown coming to life on his dark features. hard to find a good man anywhere anyway nowadays.

val barely knew either of these women, but he knew this: he had bled for ursus. what personal sacrifice had either put on the line to be so critical of his person?

is that how little you think of me? val asked quietly, coming to face the two women. while he did not know the misshapen wolf’s name, it was she his gaze rested upon — and she that he challenged by the slight lift of his chin.

the beardog came no farther from the thick underbrush from which she emerged, seating herself upon her haunches for a conversation.

she joined in with the younger one's chuckle, albeit her own was a deeper rumble.

"such want for violence. as expected of your kind." it was praise, borne of sincere admiration for the lifestyle of wolvenkind - albeit her flat tone might not have conveyed so at all.

her maws parted again, to interview the other about their sexual preference, as she thought that'd make for a fascinating and casual topic of conversation, when a third voice interrupted them.

she knew this one by scent and howl, and from those times she'd emerge from the thick woods nestled between mosskeep and the mountains to partake in communal meals (always last, which she did not mind).

but she knew their age and demeanor, from their calls (all of which the dog paid close attention to, as part of her studies) and posturing - and she determined them a fool, imitating that which they are not, making them a poor devotee to a deity as absolute as the bear.

his challenge did not work to rile up the chow, who reacted to it by stretching her back, sliding her legs forward and lowering her head to the debris-softened ground, making herself resemble a dark, odd bush.

"you presume. i don't think of you at great lengths." she stretched her limbs again. "it's not my opinion that should concern you."

her great head gestured at the one that summoned them.

"this one's matters more."

She drew back. This wasn’t a wolf, then. She wasn’t a bear or a coyote, and surely there could be no mix between ursine and canine, could there? ”My kind?” She charged softly, lightly insulted even though Bernadette’s tone had been more praising than anything. Æsilfír was a short fuse at the best of times.

Finally, then, a guy showed up. Nothing really remarkable to look at, a dark fellow with a slightly ornery gaze, who looked suspicious about what he’d overheard. 

There was something arrogant about the large, fluffy creature’s mannerisms that didn’t sit well with Ash. She gestured to Valravn with a jerk of her muzzle. ”Yeah, I need ye fer somethin.” And to the dark figure laying on the ground, she extended no invitation, and simply have her a nod and said ”Ta-ta.” She glanced to Valravn with an expectant gaze and began to meander off. Whatever she wanted to do with Val, if she decided she wanted to do anything with him, she didn’t want to have the odd, bear-wolf there too.

but val didn’t presume. this wolfthing, whatever she was, had been specific when she’d gone through the exhaustively short list of men in ursus’ roster. this riposte hung on the tip of his tongue, silenced by his goodwill towards those in ursus.

val’s brow furrowed. by sinking to her stomach, bernadette signaled her place in the order of ursus as below his: still, it did nothing to quiet the flicker of annoyance he felt to hear his person castigated.

he was not mollified in the slightest by bernadette’s artifice.

ash was able to direct val easily, given his bewildered state and his general reluctance to remain in bernadette’s company. with a snort towards the bush-wolf, val wordlessly followed after ash under the good-faith assumption she needed his assistance. never in a million years would he have assumed it was for the thing that manifested between his legs.

she knew what came now, albeit the offended young wolf might not. bernadette rolled onto her back.

"might i watch?" 

it would be the most fascinating thing to witness how two purebred wolves mated. her own choice of partner had been notably dogblooded, as the powers had sent him to her in this wolven land (perhaps formed him too?) to be a point of familiarity, and so she was no more educated than before.

despite asking politely, it didn't actually occur to bernadette that she might be rejected. why would she be? mating was something incredibly natural and communal, and her personal experiences with it certainly weren't unique.

and so when she is inevitably rejected (or even ignored) she'll be surprised enough for her heavy brows to lift to the point of revealing her eyes, dark even in light. she will roll back onto her belly and look at the pair, and when they either leave or show insistence upon her departure, she will get up, shake the woodland trash out her fur, and prance away in her breed's stilted gait - albeit with a bent head, in which thoughts such as "was it something i said?" repeated.

skip skip skip (but ill keep my eyes on this thread ?) 

Cal came toward her- at least he was obedient.  It when the bear-wolf spoke again, Æsilfír’s hackles lifted and she snarled a sudden, vicious warning in disgust. ”Sick mutant,” She hissed under her breath, before she brushed her shoulder up against Valravn’s and picked up a lope. 

She glanced over one shoulder after several paces- checking to make sure that Valravn was following and that Bernadette was not.

val stopped midstep as ash whirled around with an explosive snarl directed towards the bearwolf; in this, he felt his skin prickle. he did not understand the urgency, the tension, the buzzing in his own blood. ash’s behavior unsettled him more than being called a fool had.

he wanted to ask watch what — but before he knew it ash was already peeling off. he cast one look behind him before he followed, albeit reluctantly now. what the.. val murmured to himself, ears kept askance. so…. why did you need me? #clueless

She heard his question, but waited until she figured they were at least out of earshot. She didn’t want the bear-wolf snooping on them. She gave the lean, dark man a sidelong glance when he expressed his confusion, but chose to brush it off. Maybe he just never thought anyone would choose him, so the thought had never occurred to him.

”Listen. I got an itch, an’ I need it scratched. Don’t need nothin’ else from you after- so don’t worry about havin’ te step up an’ be fadder-of-the year  er nothin’.” She said. ”I want kids this year, an’ I’m gonna have ‘em if I want ‘em. You gonna cooperate or do I find someone else?”

an itch. val almost stupidly opened his mouth to ask where, but thought better of it when it became clear what ash wanted. not a scratch, but a donation -- of a kind he was ill-equipped for.

heat rose to his face instantly, a scarlet blush along his cheeks. "you -- what?" disbelief poured from his mouth, which still hung slackjawed as he mentally bent to collect his scattering thoughts.

he would be lying to himself if he did not admit he had sometimes wondered what was wrong with him; aventus was his age, and with a mate -- he had seen others younger or slightly older too with child. and here he was, having never had any sort of intimacy with anyone, much less a potential paramour. he had assumed maybe he was a slow bloomer, or maybe he just.. wasn't the material others needed.

but to be so baldly and openly propositioned -- with no love, no passion or ardour?

val's face crumpled. even now, his most valuable asset wasn't in who he was or what he had to offer someone -- it was in the singular directive of what stewed beneath his hips. even with all his parts working, he still didn't fit into others lives in a way that was meaningful, and ash's proposition only further hammered that home.

i have to go. val felt that crestfallen feeling pierce through him like a black root. it wasn't surface blight, it was soul blight -- he was darkening bow to stern and soon he would be nothing but a rotted ouroboros of unhappy, unplaceable mass. he could feel confusion, shame, and defeat each sink their claw into the mantle of his confidence -- and unwilling to allow ash to see it, val turned stiffly away.

”C’mon,” She said, egging him on with a swish of her tail and a light sway of her body toward his in hopes he might be charmed by touch. His surprise concerned her slightly and made her wonder why he didn’t simply assume what she wanted given how blatantly obvious it was that she was in heat and was trying to get him somewhere alone.

There was something wounded about his expression and the way he wilted visibly upon receiving her invitation and for a second she considered huffing and throwing a hissy fit. He should have felt honoured to have been chosen- instead, it felt like she’d let him down and that was unacceptable.

He turned to move away but the sly little vixen was quick on her feet and swiped in toward him again, and leaned in toward him hoping to rub her entire side along his body unless he stepped out of the way. ”Ahh, sure- yer young, handsome, an’ ye look like ye come from good genes…Lemme have a piece of ye, hmm?” She enticed.

aesilfir pursued, catlike. around val her artful figure wreathed; black and blues and the heady scent of her season.

it would be easy to give in.

but it would be wrong.

val's sides strummed with her electric touch. pandora had touched him that way, once. the memory awoke a vivid recoil in val, who owllishly blinked as he stepped away. merrick would kill me. he mumbled, and it was a half-truth -- he had no business siring children in ursus without the great bearking's blessing.

he wondered, again, what was wrong with him that so many women attempted manipulation on his person.

For a moment, she thought she caught him revelling in the touch they shared, and the fleeting thought that she might actually be desired filled her with more devilish pleasure than she could remember ever having felt before. He pulled away, and she bristled slightly- but the reason for his apprehension became clear soon enough.

And it was fair. He would have reason to fear Merrick, if Merrick found out. She probably should have considered what it might mean for her own safety to be caught pregnant, which- if she succeeded with Val- could call for her own execution. 

But those weren’t Æsilfír’s thoughts. Her mind did not dwell on the “what if,” and immediately set about trying to concoct a “why not” story. 

”Ye don’t hafta worry about Merrick,” She scoffed. ”’E knows I’m in heat, an’ that I want kids. Didn’t seem too interested in who I picked fer a fadder, so eh.” she said, with a roll of her shoulder. She tilted her head back, and gazed at him levelly, a mild, seductive smirk to her lips. She wanted him. She wanted to wear the perfume of his scent like a halo. It might make Merrick jealous; and the thought of seeing hurt in that gleaming orange eye caused her stomach to clench with want.  ”Let me ‘ave you, Val,” She said, stepping toward him. She’d slink alongside him like a cat if he’d let her. ”Even if just fer fun. You’ll love it.”

val was surprised to learn merrick had not been interested.

or perhaps surprised was not the right word - for he knew the bearking's devotion was to a ghost that had long since hounded his every step.

a chill ran down his spine, not just from ash's touch.

but there was no reciprocating urge in val. even if he had wanted ash (and there was nothing visually repulsive about her - she was, by his estimation, a perfectly appealing creature) he would have struggled to perform.

it's not right. val insisted, utterly thrown by the insistence in which ash desired his body. it made him more cagey, more flighty -- and he was already walking away despite the screaming in his mind.

He moved away, tempted by nothing she had to flaunt. She lowered her head and growled.

”There’s something….Wrong…With Æsilfír.” 

A familiar voice, speaking in perceived confidence and privacy, very much overheard by the impressionable young creature. She fumed, and snarled.

She spat in his direction, and recoiled. There wasn’t something wrong with her, there was something wrong with him he didn’t want her so therefore, he didn’t want women. With a hiss of her breath, she shouted a word at him, aimed directly at what she perceived was his sexuality. She intended the insinuation to be hurtful. 

She shouted it, and then turned to walk off, away from him.

omfg LMAO <3

val expected ash to hound his steps. one ear turned back as ash's voiced clapped like a crack of stone overhead -- a word he knew but had never heard uttered with such vitriol.

for a moment he stopped, ears cupped back against a head which wore a confused expression. in the moment, her insult stung -- but it planted in val little seedlings of doubt.

he pressed on, stalking with newfound annoyance away from ash.