Redhawk Caldera Daguerreotype

The pack's Alpha sprawled in the center of the rendezvous site's main clearing, legs stretched out in front of him and chin flush with the ground between them. His nostrils flared and his eyes crossed as he watched a beetle make a mad dash for escape. It bounced off his legs like a renegade pinball for a few seconds before finally making a break for it and skittering away beyond the toes of his right forepaw and disappearing into the long summer grass.

He yawned, then rolled onto his side. The June air was thick, heavy and warm. He had spent the morning hunting, then had stopped by the Blackthorns' den to drop off his catch before retiring here. He should probably go patrol, yet he just wasn't in the mood at the moment. His mind drifted to his recent encounter with the spine's Alpha pair, then last night's romp with the kids. His lips twitched and he exhaled, sitting up again.

His jade eyes bounced around the clearing. He wondered where his mate and "boyfriend" were at this hour. Of course, nothing was official with Pan but things certainly did seem to be moving slowly in that direction. And the Alpha hadn't failed to notice that his sleepwalking spells had ceased right around the time he had started spending more time with the timorous Epsilon. The thought caused his smile to broaden.

Not sure what's going to happen in the Grimm thread, but now I don't have a recent thread with you, so TAKE THIS REPLY.

Fox and @Dove had been watching the kids (the latter less enthusiastically), teaching them this and that and whatever. Although she was no wonder woman, having Dove around was immensely helpful. Sure, she could be a bit catty at times, but she'd never done anything to cause serious harm. @Magpie had eventually shown up, and Fox took it as a sign that she needed a break. Back to the rendezvous site she went, expression brightening when she saw Peregrine resting in the middle.

With a sudden burst of enthusiasm and energy, Fox barreled toward her fellow Alpha with her tongue flapping out the side of her mouth. Even now, nearly a year into their formal relationship, Fox found that she was still as excited to see him as ever. "Hey, beau!" she greeted, giving him a lick on the cheek.

:D

Because he was already smiling like a dope, Peregrine did not have to put very much effort into returning Fox's grin when she appeared. He made a purring noise when her tongue swiped wetly across his cheek, then returned the favorite with a smack of his lips against her temple. Not an instant later, he buckled back onto the ground, clapping a broad black paw to indicate she should join him there in the grass.

They didn't get to steal many moments alone and when they did, they usually ended up bangin'. But for the moment, Peregrine made conversation by querying, "I told you about running into that pair from the spine yesterday, didn't I?" After posing this question, he leaned forward to affectionately nibble on the tip of Fox's nearer ear.

Fox flopped to the ground beside him, content with how comfortable they were with one another. He asked a question not three heartbeats later, and Fox replied, "I think I remem—ooooohhhh..." Peregrine had managed to get just the right spot on her ear, causing her to break-off mid-sentence. Her leg kicked involuntarily, doing that funny thing that dogs do when you find their "tickle spot." Peregrine let up a bit (either because he wanted a real answer or he wanted to tease her), and she pouted just a little bit.

"Didn’t you say you made some pact with them or something?" she asked. Of course, she'd misunderstood what Peregrine had told her earlier, been a little miffed about it, but hadn't had the energy to object. "You wanna to back to that ear?" she asked, tilting her head toward him.

He must have hit the sweet spot because she cut off mid-sentence, making a noise that made his insides squirm deliciously. "Feel good?" he murmured, letting go of her ear for a moment and giving her his most salacious smile. Before he could think of resuming, she finally strung a few words together to answer his question.

"What? No, no," he assured her quickly. "I'm not about pacts or alliances or any of that stuff anymore. We just agreed that if the trespassing keeps happening, we might mutually broaden our patrolling ranges, thereby cutting off the southwest from the rest of the wilds." Peregrine shrugged. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. But I won't get my hopes up, not with the recent trends..." He flexed his dominant (right) forepaw angrily against the ground.

Just as quickly, he relaxed again. "Sure," he replied when she pointed him back in the direction of her ear. He nipped at the velveteen tip again, then began nibbling down toward the lobe. He blew a soft breath in her ear, then playfully stuck his tongue into it before impishly asking, "What about a full body mashage?"

"Oh, hm," was Fox's only reply. She rarely cared what happened amongst other packs. The only things of importance to her were the things that directly involved Redhawk Caldera. The plateau only mattered if they came here to seek revenge, and the other nearby packs meant nothing unless they interfered with Fox and Perry's claim. She wasn't sure what good it would do to spread themselves thinner over a broader expanse of land, but she did not object. Unless it became a problem, Fox would not intervene.

In typical Peregrine fashion, he suggested something more lewd. Fox wasn't usually one to protest, and today was not an unordinary day. Flapping her head about (that tongue-in-ear had tickled!), she rolled right over so that she lay on top of her mate, friend, lover, and all-around partner. "You know," she said, taking a turn with his ear, "We make a damn good team." No matter what Saena, Lasher, Blue Willow, and the rest of their enemies tried to do, they would never be able to come between Peregrine and Fox. They could try (and on several occasions, had tried) to pull them apart, but it was of no use. The Redleaf-DiSarinno power couple was inseparable.

I know Perry's kind of full of himself but this post is just... *narcissism abounds*

Rather than take him up on his offer, Fox draped herself over him. He did not complain, though he squirmed slightly when her tongue touched his ear. Once the tickling sensation ebbed, he lay still, listening as she sang their praises. He smirked, then tipped his muzzle to bump against the nearest part of her body before relaxing again.

"We are the shit," he agreed. "But it's not just the two of us anymore. Check out how awesome our kids are turning out." Of course, the pups weren't here but they could easily picture them in their heads, alongside a long list of each of their skills, like the Firebird version of Pokémon cards. "I mean, seriously, they're exceeding all my expectations; what about yours?

You know what I think?" he continued without leaving her time to answer his first question. He suddenly began to gyrate suggestively. "I think we should make a bunch more. Let's fill the world with the superior Redleaf-DiSarinno race."

It's probably one of the reasons they get along so well! Coupla narcissists, these two. ;)

Fox beamed when he spoke so highly of their children. (Really, what else was he going to do?) All three of them were awesome in their own way, she could not deny that. "I always knew they'd be awesome," she replied smugly, talking right over his second question. There was a hint of jest in her voice, but she was mostly serious. Fox had always known that her children would be overachievers. She would not accept anything less. If they had failed to meet her expectations, she would have pushed them harder until they had met them.

Peregrine thrust his hips under her (as he was wont to do), and Fox giggled girlishly. As rough and tumble as she was, she never ceased to fall right back into her more feminine side when ushered to do so. Sliding off of him and onto her four feet, she unabashedly licked his cheek. "Practice makes perfect... isn't that how the saying goes?" Fox asked, sashaying her hips and twitching her tail from side to side. Perhaps all the practice they'd done was the cause of their perfect children, hah!

It seemed they were on the same page and that, within minutes, the two of them would be dancin' dirty. But something Peregrine had just said made him remember something else that had been on his mind lately. He wasn't entirely certain how he felt about it yet, which was all the more reason to float it past Fox. Perhaps she would feel more decisive. If she loved or hated it, it would make everything a lot easier.

"Before we get down to business," he said even as he pushed himself upright into a seated position, "I wanted to mention an idea to you. Finley was talking about how Elwood took her last name: Blackthorn. And lately I've been thinking about having a pack surname: Redhawk. We could take it as ours, then let other members of the pack assume it too, once they prove they're a worthy member of our family. I know it's my idea but I'm not even sure how I feel about it... how about you?" His jade eyes sought and captured his wife's silvered gaze.

"Phooey," thought Fox when Peregrine derailed into another conversation entirely. Well, not entirely, but it sure wasn't part of the good stuff. The idea Peregrine proposed made her pause for a moment, and her tail now hung limply between her hocks as she pondered. "Where I was born, no girls were given the family name. They were expected to go out into the world and take on the name of their mate, as I did with you." The Crestwoods were a proud bunch, but they cared only to pass their names on down the male line, and anything else was seen as blasphemy. "Do you not like where you came from?" she wondered aloud.

Truth be told, Fox didn't know much about Peregrine's life before she met him. She vaguely remembered his previous home, something about a nasty, mean brother, and she'd met both Atticus and Osprey. He'd joined the plateau, shacked up with the Alpha (always a good decision, right?), but they'd eventually grown apart. Beyond that, she was pretty clueless.

She pondered his proposal and Peregrine was glad to give her a moment to mull it over. She mentioned the traditions in her family and he bobbed his head. He remembered. He was actually a little surprised Fox had never batted an eyelash at giving their two girls the Redleaf-DiSarinno surname. Maybe she secretly didn't consider it theirs, the way she (not so) secretly thought of Wildfire as Dhole. Peregrine snorted under his breath.

"What?" he blurted at the unexpected question. "No, I loved Flightless Falcons. And I love my mom and dad. It's not about wanting to shit on any of that history," he assured, "though that is why I'm on the fence: it is sentimental. But this pack is the family I chose, so that's why I was thinking it might be cool to take the Redhawk name as part of that legacy." He shrugged, still torn. "It's a hell of a lot easier to say than Redleaf-DiSarinno," he added as an afterthought.

Fox smiled as he spoke. "If you shed your surname, what will you have left of your birth family?" she asked. Osprey had surely disowned him. Atticus had gone off ages ago—presumably to die. The last brother was long gone, even before Fox had arrived in the plateau. Hell, she couldn't even recall his name. If Peregrine wanted to remember the Flightless Falcons, the best way to do so would be to retain his name. She was a Redleaf-DiSarinno in name only, and she would take on whatever name he decided to choose.

"I suppose you could always keep it as a middle name," she offered as a suggestion. Was "Peregrine Redleaf-DiSarinno Redhawk" too wordy? Would anybody ever use his full name like that? Fox tried to imagine screaming it in the throes of passion, but the thought only brought a wicked smile to her lips that she couldn't rid herself of. Instead, she attempted to conceal it by licking her front paw.

Fox posed a fair question and Peregrine took his time to consider (or reconsider, really, having gone over this with himself before) before replying, "My memories, my respect, my blood. Taking a new name won't change any of that, just like your taking my name didn't suddenly eliminate your birth family's significance."

Out of everyone, his mind went to Osprey as well. He had no idea what his sister thought of him now, though he would continue to love her unconditionally. Whether or not they shared a last name had no bearing on any of that, just as their relationship wouldn't be affected if she ever took a mate (and his surname).

Speaking of mates, Fox pitched the idea of switching Redleaf-DiSarinno to his middle name. Peregrine snorted. "Speaking of mouthfuls..." he quipped, shaking his head. "It's also redundant. No, I just like the sound of Peregrine Redhawk. Maybe Peregrine Taz Redhawk," he amended with a sly smile, recalling their conversation about aliases a while back.

He took a breath, then decided to test the rest of the family's names. "Fox Redhawk, Nightjar Redhawk, Wildfire Redhawk, Raven Redhawk. Ooh, I like the alliteration there," he said in reference to their youngest's name. "We sound like a bunch of badasses. Then, like I said, we could invite the others too. Although I think we should reserve it for those who earn it with their loyalty."

He realized, as he was speaking, that he'd more or less decided he was leaning toward changing it. But he still wasn't entirely convinced, so Peregrine shook his head lightly and said, "You make the final decision for the family. I'm fine either way."

Fox listened, though it seemed Peregrine had already made up his mind. Considering she had come from no last name, and she had no connection to the Redleaf-DiSarinno, she was perfectly fine agreeing with him. His first statement had been a little funny, though. For all intents and purposes, Fox didn't think much about her family that wasn't here. Dove and Magpie were her only non-child blood relative, and while they did an excellent job of keeping the kids in line when their parents weren't around, Fox didn't feel any more connected to them than she did Sebastian or Pan.

"Only if I can call you Taz," Fox replied with a sly smile. Even if he refused, she might do it anyway, now that he'd brought it up (again? Remedy Fox has a poor memory, sorry). "Maybe once they prove their skills as a warrior or warden," she suggested, "then they can take the name as an option." It seemed like decent enough criteria and not completely unattainable. It also meant that Finley and Elwood could take the name immediately if they wished.

"You can call me anything you want, baby," Peregrine assured Fox, sidling alongside her and pressing his shoulder, then his hip, against hers. Of course, he was much taller, so it was more like his elbows rested against her. "I like that idea," he added in response to her suggested criteria. "You know what else I like? You." He snickered, bending down slightly to nuzzle her cheek.

He spent a few moments just making out with licking and nudging her, then proposed, "Well, if we're the Redhawks now, that makes you Mrs. Redhawk." Never mind that there would be several of those. That was sort of the whole idea! "Let's consummate this bitch, then go tell the kids and the rest of the family the good news."

I like IC development. ^__^

"Mrs. Redhawk," she repeated with a grin, "is itching to consummate." Fox then nibbled at his jawboner, then swooped around to his front again, shaking her tail feathers (like she do). "Show me what you've got, Taz," she said, the new moniker adding a little spice. This time, they would make love as Redhawks, and they would return to their children with the good news. Even though it wasn't really a new chapter in their life, it did feel like another natural step in the right direction.