Whitefish River all this on me

for @Riley, set just before Spica & Syrma leave the pack

Spica found herself walking on air, but at the same time a little nervous at the prospect of leaving. She couldn't help but visit every place she'd loved once more. Didn't say good-bye to Emrik or her baby half-siblings. They didn't need to know she was gone. They'd never fully reconciled, although Spica didn't feel as negatively towards them as she used to. She liked filling Mohe's head with shit that wasn't true. Anyway, after a trip past the parts of the river they used to chill at a lot Spica decided to go and find Syrma again. She took a quick drink from the river, making ready to march on towards Syrma and getting truly ready to leave.

Riley came to the river occasionally to grab a drink. Sometimes he found himself startled by the wolf that peered back at him from the water.

Older. Lines along his eyes that seemed hard.

He was still young yet, but that reflection unnerved him -- for he saw a lot in it he did not like.

Striking the water with a single paw, Riley looked up in time to see a grizzled grey wolf departing. She appeared his age, and by scent he knew she belonged to the same pack - but Riley had never seen her before. (That was more his fault than hers' -- he'd spent a lot of time outside of the pack as of late). He shook off the remnants of water from his paw and started after her, eyes curious and tail waving softly in inquisitive silence.

Focused on leaving with Syrma, Spica didn't even notice the dude until she was on her way and being tailed. She couldn't help but wonder if mom had sent him to follow her and Syrma. Did she ready not trust them?! Suspicious, Spica pretended not to notice him until she passed a cluster of branchy, unrevealing trees where she went round a corner and then waited for him; as soon as he'd round the corner like she had, she would be right there waiting for her and was ready to stare at him with a sassy, suspicious expression and ask him, Why are you following me? Did mom send you?

It was odd that the wolf didn't notice him following up behind her. Riley was about to question her observational prowess when she disappeared. He ducked under the same sheaf of low hanging branches she did and when he lifted his gaze she was suddenly there before him, stern and uncompromising.

Riley's response was delayed at best, showing a visible flinch well after his eyes tracked her form. He looked at her from his left eye, and then his right, turning back with a slow blink. "No. Who?"

This guy seemed a little slow in the head. He responded slowly and flinched, and then just kind of... stared at her for some time before admitting that he had no idea who it was. Was he just a very bad liar, or was he really soft in the head? Spica squinted her eyes suspiciously at him, clearly not trusting his motivations.

Are you soft in the head or just a very bad liar? she pointed out, wearing her heart on her sleeve as per usual, and hoping that his reaction to her crude remark would give her her answers.

It wasn't the first time Riley was subjected to the accusation of being stupid. It didn't make it any easier. The tell-tale hardness of her eyes sweeping into low realization, followed by a flash of something superior and smug was all too familiar to the boy -- Spica was just like any other wolf who came across him and instantly made him feel as if his station was beneath their feet. The only wolf who hadn't done that so far, come to think of it, was Orlaith -- Riley's eyes narrowed as he registered the accusation in Spica's voice.

Besides the fact that it was rude to call someone a liar and/or stupid, it hurt. Riley was tired of being lessened, reduced, drawn to some insignifcant power: he wasn't stupid, and he wasn't a liar.

It took several painstaking seconds for him to compose his reply. At first his voice was shaky, but by the end of his methodical speech his delivery was victorious and proud. "Are you having a bad day, or are you always a bitch?"

The dude at least wasn't sent by her mother, which was good. Maybe she had been a little rude on him then, but what sort of person just followed a person without saying something? Yeah, this couldn't all be pinned on her, for sure. At first the dude confirmed that he was soft in the head by taking a while to respond at all. Spica was really about to leave when he finally had a retort. Alright, it was pretty decent, she had to admit, if it hadn't taken so long. Spica scoffed at his words when he had said them, but soon after she realised that yeah, maybe he was kinda right.

Oh, I'm always a bitch, Spica said and she cracked a grin in his direction. What about you? Always soft in the head, or just having a bad day? Her words were more teasing than impatient and annoyed now as she made pretend-smalltalk with this dude. She really should head out to Syrma at the borders, but what could a few minutes of conversation with this soon-to-be ex-packmate she'd never met hurt?

Riley had managed something clever, but it was over the moment Spica replied. Her seamless transition from scoff to grin, to quick rebute, had Riley so totally bested that he remained tongue-tied for several agonizingly long seconds.

He felt his cheeks burn with resentment to hear the suggestion he was soft again. Through gritted teeth, Riley lifted his chin and took a step forward. "I can show you something that isn't soft, if you'd like." While it was all a bluff, Riley was so discomfitted by this wolf's cleverness all he could do was resort to violence.

Spica hadn't intended to offend the dude, but when he was offended, she couldn't help but continue to grin. She offended others all the time, but she'd never faced anyone who responded like this. Still, the words that came out of his mouth were a surprise to Spica and she wasn't quite she where she had him. Was he trying to genuinely threaten her, or was he just trying to be smart in an accidentally-threatening way?

Unsure which it was, she lifted a single eyebrow and said casually, I'm sorry, do I look like I like it rough, boy? Or was that supposed to be a threat? Even despite being unsure if he was actually threatening her or not, Spica couldn't help but be clever. Her heart hammered in her chest though, even though she didn't show it in any way other than slightly raised hackles; other than those subtle signs, her body was held neutral and the expression on her face remained sassy and aloof.

She was grinning. Even through his threat, Spica grinned. Riley didn't like that. It made him feel foolish, it made him feel as if she were making a mockery of him -- it made him feel small.

He scowled, making sense of her most recent comeback. Something about rough, and being a threat -- did she like it rough, what did that even mean?

Oh.

Riley's ears fell to his skull and his hackles were similar to Spica's; slightly flared, could mean excited or could mean antagonized. Who knew. "It can be whatever you want it to be." Riley felt proud for that vague comeback - in truth, he really had no idea what he was doing, but he knew he didn't want Spica to win... whatever this little weird pissing contest was.

Initially the boy seemed insulted once more. Spica, not having a lot of bad experience with aggression, just grinned as he scowled at her. She was happy she was winning this, but on the other hand she was also getting bored with his lack of response. Watching a sulking boy was only fun for so long.

Finally he seemed to get with the program, though it was hard for Spica to gauge what he even wanted even now that he was getting a little sharper. Was he trying to clumsily flirt with her? It was hard to tell. Whatever it was, Spica was caught a little off guard by his comment and she wasn't sure what to respond right away.

Instead of responding directly to his comment, she eventually got the lopsided grin back on her face. With a playful sparkle in her eyes she said, Wait, are you... Flirting with me?

The longer this went on the more Riley realized he was flirting dangerously close to the edge. One, he was nowhere near as sharp in mental acuity as Spica -- and two, he had no idea what he was doing. His only saving grace was he was being weird enough to be offputting.

The game or whatever it was came to a halt as Spica's smile began to glitter in her eyes. Well fuck, he'd been had already. Riley cut her a long gaze, studying her face openly. What was it like to wear ones' emotions so openly on their face? To smile easily? To be so smart? Again came that ruthless feeling of being immeasurably small - he knew he wasn't like Spica. Not in a way that mattered. It made him feel alienated to feel so different, and to be so handily bested.

The seconds spanned into half a minute. Riley could go with you're not pretty enough to flirt with (which wasn't really true - Riley was beginning to think she was cute) or he could go with yeah, what are you going to do about it? The only problem was he couldn't decide on which, and every time he thought he picked an answer his brain began to misfire to the point that rather than deliver coherent sentences, Riley began to stutter. "Y-you're  not... Not.." After the fifth humilating stutter, Riley fell silent with a rueful flash of his eyes.

"Y-yes."

Her question seemed to thoroughly panic this poor dude, which made Spica feel all the more amused. She didn't really know what it was like to be in his shoes in any way, having lived a privileged life and always having had a natural abundance of self-confidence. Her smile remained as he seemed to be lost in thought while he kept staring at her; this alone was an admission of guilt in regards to her question.

Eventually he managed to bring forth a few words, stammered as they were. Spica did not manage to suppress a chuckle and then finally, he stopped the stammering and admitted almost guiltily: yes.

Man, it was almost a shame that she was leaving, because Spica was having a lot of fun pushing this guy around. They could've become friends for sure, she felt, given a bit more time. It's your unlucky day then, because I'm leaving the pack like, today, to become an adventurer, Spica said as she flashed another pleased smile. Thinking about her and Syrma's impending adventure always brought a smile to her face. She didn't really think that this dude would miss her very much (he seemed kind of miserable right now, even though he was flirting with her), but she definitely wouldn't have minded to have kept him in her life.

It IS too bad they are leaving - they had a fun dynamic :p

Riley squinted in response to Spica's chuckle, once more feeling he was the butt of some ugly joke he didn't get. He fumed as he looked at the ground, unable to meet the bald confidence of Spica's gaze any longer.

His ears cupped forward as he learned she was leaving. There was a purse of his lips, followed by a tight line of something undistinguishable: maybe a silent hmmph gesture, if a wolf was able to do so. As always, it took a painful amount of seconds for the cogs and wheels to respond to their new load. "Oh." He answered, his tone neither disappointed nor happy -- somewhere in the middle, sprinkled maybe with some bewilderedness. "Where?"

Did she detect some disappointment on him too as he found out that she was leaving? Maybe she was just imagining it, but Spica was definitely a glass-half-full sort of wolf, so she gladly imagined that he had seemed disappointed. All he said was 'oh', but it was enough for her to feel utterly flattered despite the lack of emotion in his voice.

He even asked her where she went! Spica's grin widened and she said, Everywhere, nowhere, wherever we please! But my sis knows this faerie pack up north, so we're probably gonna chill out there for a little while after exploring and enjoying being free for a lil' bit.