Neverwinter Forest And you don’t need a visa

The deer had moved closer to his own psuedo-densite n the last few days. It had allowed him to track their movements more closely, mostly out of convenience. And when he woke with a yawn after a nap, he could hear some distant shuffling of brush that suggested the herd had moved even closer. Was it time to hunt them? Ehh. Maybe, maybe not. But that didn't mean that he couldn't go and observe the herd. Make some notes for later even if now wasn't the right instant.

Stretch. He got to his feet and moved out of his thicket, prowling towards the distant noise. Each of his steps was careful, the closer he got, the quieter his steps -- or as quiet as they could be on the remaining patches of snow. He could see a few distant brown lumps moving slowly through the trees, picking what they could from low branches, bark from trees, whatever they could find that was edible. Did they know they were being watched? Probably not yet, and not from this distance. Mal stopped, stared, trying to pick out the ones that would be best for them to hunt. He needed to know how to see the subtle weaknesses in deer rather than just scatter them and see what looked best. How did he see it in a walk? The slow movement they made as they browsed? Hm.

Lenny was not a hunter. It wasn't that she didn't know how to hunt - it was more that it was Kyr's thing, not hers. All of Torbine's wolves were trained in every skill, at least the basics, but she didn't love it like her sister did. Still, the scent of deer on the wind drew her in, and she found her paws taking her toward it regardless.

Moonstone eyes caught sight of the alpha before she saw the deer themselves - spotted and bright against the greens and browns surrounding him. He was handsome, she thought, not for the first time - and not in a way that the Torbine wolves were handsome. It was more... unique. The girl approached him, quiet so as not to startle the prey, but not too quiet to startle him. 

"What're you doing?" she asked quietly, head lowering and eyes flicking over to him.

The deer didn't seem too keen to instantly surrender their secrets. How unfortunate there! But at least it wasn't an emergency. They'd give up and tell him eventually, whether they wanted to or not.

An ear rotated to catch the sound of someone quietly approaching. Mal didn't look back immediately -- no sudden moves -- but did look back after a moment. Vallkyrie or Lenny? A second more clarified: Lenny. He flashed her a smile, Speculating about a future hunt. Tip of his head towards the herd. Then he looked back to her, How've you been settling in? A wag of his tail at that. Hopefully well. He was curious what nonsense Vallkyrie probably stuffed into her head. It'd come up soon, wouldn't it? Probably gonna be trouble. Let's bet on trouble.

A future hunt? Lenny scanned over the deer. Most, if not all of them, looked to be relatively healthy, and it wasn't immediately evident which ones would be best to hunt.

"I'm settling in well," she told him, ink black tail waving back and forth - her silvery eyes never left the herd. "Thank you for letting me stay. It's been... six months since I last saw Kyr. I don't know what I would've done if you'd told me to go away." She huffed out a laugh then, sheepish, before finally glancing back to Mal. Her gaze became teasing then, eager to play. "I smell a lot of women around here, Mister Mal," the girl began, rounding on the boy and reaching out a paw to jab playfully at his shoulder. "You've got yourself a lot of ladies, huh?" It hadn't really been Kyr who told her, but more her nose picking up on the obvious. Estrogen emanated from these woods.

It was just gonna take some more observing. He liked having food close though, even if they were going to have to wait a while before there was another big hunt. It made things more secure for them to have their own herd. Well, I'm not exactly big on splitting up people's families if everyone wants to stay together or... Something like that. He'd sort of lost the train of thought, tipping his head. He was trying to say something like that at least.

As she continued, that drew his attention back, Mister? he scoffed -- nobody called him "mister," that was weird. Funny how that works, it used to be just guys. Afraid of a little competition or something? A devious grin at that. See, Mal hadn't tried to make things this way, it was just the way things currently were. Wasn't like anyone would catch him being embarrassed!

"Nah, I get it. It'd be a real asshole move to split up a family," she reasoned, large ears angling forward with a small smile. Mal was a nice guy, she decided. They were probably a lot more alike than she'd initally thought, having been dazzled by that spotty fur and those multicolored eyes. That kind of stuff didn't really matter, after all.

Not that Mal wasn't striking.

A smile crossed her maw, playful and eager, when Mal teased her, and she leaned forward. "Oh, I'm never afraid of a little competition," she assured, winding her body around to brush up against his flank. "Are you?" the girl pressed, tipping her head to the side, silver eyes flashing a lighthearted challenge.

She moved closer and in turn, Mal drew himself up taller. He was (probably?) shorter than both the sisters I wasn't then, I'm not now. If someone wants a man, I'm the prime pick of the pack. Can't deny that. He leaned towards her, his voice playful but close to a purr, Sure you're not trying to put yourself at the top of the group, hmm? Mal was always up for a game, and this certainly felt like one.

But what did he think of her? It was hard to tell what he thought of anyone. But then again, it didn't seem to matter to him -- someone wanted to play, he'd be all for it, as long as the game was a fun one. But he also didn't push. Keep it to a brush, keep it to words, fine. He'd tease. But hey, at least Lenny was less bent out of shape about the whole thing than Kyr seemed to be.

Height had never been much of an issue for Lenny, so it hadnt crossed her mind that he might've been shorter. But she was a tall girl - around thirty one inches, and thicker than Kyr to boot. Certainly not a small, dainty little girl. A laugh pulled from her lips and she butted her head against his shoulder. "Not that difficult when you're the only man in the pack. But I suppose you're not too bad."

A soft, mischievous gasp escaped her at his insinuation. "Good sir, such an accusation!" she announced in one of her accents - this one vaguely British, - bumping him with her flank before bouncing off a few feet, tail waving. An invitation to chase. "You'll have t'put me where you want me." A wink, then, and she lowered her upper half, tail still whipping back and forth. It was nice, having someone here that was just as willing to play as she was.

As mentioned, brain r ded

It wasn't allowed for her to get the last word in there. Obviously they all left 'cause they can't compete with perfection, cheeky grin still. He didn't have to honestly believe what he was saying, it was just fun to say it.

Ooh, now that's an interesting offer, he said, singsong, brows raised. But she was waiting for him to pounce after her, but he taunted her a little -- just a few swaying, slow steps. Then he dove right at her, going from 0 to 60 in maximum wolf acceleration. If she changed her mind and didn't move he might just run right into her because he was expecting her to run.

"Obviously they all left 'cause they can't compete with perfection." Lenny laughed then, tail wagging back and forth. "Oh, yes, I'm sure. You're the spottiest of them all, sir - how could anyone compete?" The accent was back, thick and whimsical. 

Ah, she got what she wanted. The chase wasn't meant to be a long one - Lenny was strong, not super fast like Kyr, so she was planning to be caught anyway. But she was ready when he began to sprint and took off only half a heartbeat later, eager to play this little game of theirs.

See, Mal was going full speed, so he gained ground on her quick, and he let her run just out of reach for a moment before he took a leap. Though Mal was definitely close enough to tackle her, whether or not he'd actually bowl her over was always questionable. It was just goofing off, so not like there was any major issue if he flubbed it. He'd probably play it off as a joke if he had to. Heck, his face was already split in a devious grin -- half way there already.

The game of chase was fun and all, but Lenny much preferred to tussle. The girl smirked before turning on her heel and rising up just a bit to prepare herself to be barreled into head-on by a decent-sized spotty blur. It would be alright, of course, as she'd handled harder hits before, but they would certainly be going for a tumble.

Apparently she wasn't gonna keep running, and in fact spun around to meet him. Uh oh, little late to change direction, Mal. There was certainly an oof from his as they collided. He was the smaller wolf, so probably more likely to end up going whichever way Lenny's mass decided. But she wasn't just gonna get away -- he reached out to chomp on to -- was it the front part of her shoulder or something? Oh hell if he knew, but he was gonna hold on, though not with any desire to do damage. He did growl though, playful, but chances were he was gonna hit the ground and get the wind properly knocked out of him.

Lenny let out a breathless laugh as the two toppled over one another, a rolling mess of black and spotted limbs onto the ground. She felt his jaws latch onto her shoulder and wrapped her paws around him, and her greater mass did indeed yank them to the side she decided. Her tail wagged as she moved to attempt to roll on top of him, a playful wrestling match. There was a fair bit of light growls on her end, too, even if she had absolutely no desire to actually dominate the young alpha. Lenny would likely never have any real ambition like that.

If I'm not making sense LMK

Oof -- he lost his grip, and for that brief moment Mal mentally flailed a bit. There was the fact that Mal was just not used to being in anything resembling a weaker position -- it hit that fight or flight button a little more than it probably should. As a topic that had come up a few times previous, he really didn't ever have chances to play. He reached across to grip her other shoulder, trying to throw his weight to keep her rolling and wriggle free if he could. Something like that. He wasn't exactly sure it would work, but then again he pretty much winged everything, so that was no different than usual.

The boy was a fair bit lighter than she was - which made sense, seeing as Lenny was actually quite a large wolf. Still, Mal wasn't tiny, either, and she grunted as the spotted wolf twisted her over to grab her other shoulder. The girl wasn't really aware of Mal's internal struggle at the moment, instead rolling onto her back to attempt to land some lighter jabs against his underbelly with her hind paws. For her, at least, it was all play.

And she rolled and suddenly he was on top, which brought a bit of weight off him mentally. Heck, a momentary flash of a grin as he let go for a moment. Maybe he was about to say something but she started kicking him and he wasn't exactly too keen on that either but for a far more practical reason -- namely that he didn't want her to flail around too much and accidentally kick something that might hurt him a bit more than she meant. So instead he tried to just pin her down better  with all his lesser weight, laying right on top of her -- crouched down low but not right on her. Another playgrowl and associated bite close to her neck. See, he was totally gonna win -- even if maybe he hadn't realized she might be kinda letting him win.

Another few moments of tussling and Lenny was ready to be dramatic. The girl was only partially letting Mal win, but it would be more fun, she thought. With friends, she had no desire to win, especially since Mal seemed so much happier like this. In her mind, it wasn't fun unless everyone was having fun. 

Feigning exhaustion and giving into defeat, the girl flopped bonelessly onto the ground beneath Mal, letting her head fall to the side. "You've bested me, sir," she announced, stretching her forelimbs out to press against his chest, the picture of dramatic defeat.

He held fast, but she was slowly starting to surrender. Well, he wasn't exactly gonna go and give up first, nope. He waited for Lenny to actually say so. But he didn't back off immediately -- he tipped his head down and fake-gnawed on one of her forelegs that reached up towards him, just lightly touching his teeth around her leg, his eyes glinting with mischief for a moment, Mmhmm. Bow to the king and all that. Yeah he wasn't being serious at all. But then after only a moment longer he moved off of her to let her up, tail wagging behind him, sort of curious if she had anything else up her sleeve or if it was just that game for now.

Laughter pealed from her maw at his comment and she got to her feet, shaking off the debris that had stuck to her fluffy black fur. She leaned into an overdramatic play bow, tail swishing behind her before she got back up. "You're not a bad fighter," she commented, even if she had maybe been a little bit easy on him. "Not just a pretty face." The girl stepped forward and brushed against his side, tail curling under his chin before she flounced away a few steps. "We should do that again sometime."

At least she'd seemed to enjoy the whole thing. Sure, Mal had too (mostly) just still felt like kind of like he still was sort of a noob at everything. Well, maybe not everything but he'd continue on the fake it until you make it thing. Told you, there's totally a reason I'm here and the rest of them aren't. 

She brushed by and he looked after, teeth clicking together at the end of her tail. Mal quirked a brow at her, but that was more at her actions, his words were only in response to her words, Well it's not like I'm going anywhere. Can always find me. It was sort of a smirky reply if such a thing was possible. The thing about Mal was that half the things he said could maybe be have a second meaning if you read too much into it. Did it this time? Maybe? Maybe not? To be determined.

Lenny pulled her tail away and snorted, shaking her head. "At least you're not boring. I'd hate for my new leader to be boring," she acquiesced, flicking her ear and turning to leave. 

The girl paused for a moment, considering his words for a few moments. "Me, neither," she responded, cutting silvery eyes back at him with a smile. "See you later, Mal." And with that, she continued on her way, perhaps this time to find Kyr or do a lap around the territory to patrol. 

// lenny's exit unless stopped c:

Okay, no more trouble for now. Maybe that was kind of disappointing? That didn't show. He grinned, watching her go, Later, then.  She headed off, then Mal too shook out his fur and headed in a near-opposite direction. Was there something he was supposed to be doing? Ah, probably. He'd figure it out by the time he ended up somewhere.