Firestone Hot Springs too hot to handle

After being accepted into his new pack, Dorian hung around for a few days before setting off. He wasn't leaving, goodness no! He wanted to just explore the area around Kaistleoki. What a mouthful still. Roaming until his paws hurt, it was pure luck he came across the hot springs. He hooted in happiness, rushing to the warm waters and dipped his toes in.

Humidity made his eyes slightly water, and the hot liquid warmed his still weary body from travel. He sighed, lounging by a particular pool further into the location. Near the center. So he could see if others would come in all direction. Eventually he got tired of craning his neck this way and that. Dorian slumped, resting his head upon the ground. Allowing his legs to dangle into the water.

Aware someone was approaching, or passing by, the young man made no move. He was too content. Too lazy. He didn't even care if he got pushed into the water.

Lane trotted through the hot springs, eyes alight with curiosity. Normally, this was not the sort of place she would find herself. The ground was too hot to support much plant life, which meant the area was also barren of most other living creatures. Lane typically got bored pretty quickly of any place without plants or animals, but this place was full of curiosities. Lane had never seen anything like it, and her medic's brain was in overdrive wondering what sort of use this place might have in treating injury or illness. 

Could she brew some sort of drink in one of these smaller pools, perhaps? She had some herbs that soothed the insides just from being breathed-- perhaps they would also soothe the throat and chest if brewed into a drinkable liquid? Lane sniffed at one of the pools for a long moment, and then stuck her tongue out to test it. 

Ahhh! Lane backed away from the pool quickly, coughing. That taste was awful. In her hurry to scramble backwards, she hadn't checked for any trip hazards on the ground-- particularly not any of the large, furry variety. Her back foot mashed down awkwardly onto flesh and bone, causing her to stumble. She yelped when her hip hit the ground, hard-- and the sound quickly became a gurgle as she tipped backwards into the pool.

"Whoa!" his eyes snapped open as a tangled mess of fur threw itself on him. He barely had any time to react before he was dragged backward along with the woman. "holy shit!" he managed to say before water entered his sight and senses. The flash of hot was immediate. His face went under and he churned his legs to kick to the surface. 

He gasped loudly upon breaking, glancing wildly around. Cold air also hit immediately. He felt a weird sense of yin-yang; comfort. Yeah, he saw the lady but did she surface too? "H-Hey... uh... Stumbles?" Dorian already had a nickname for her. "Stumbles, ya okay?" he saw her fall in with him, so she had to be here.

Plunging into the steaming pool was a shock to her system. Luckily it was shallow enough for Lane to stand on the bottom. 

Lane's ears twitched when she heard the stranger calling out, and then they immediately flattened in shame. Stumbles, huh? She deserved it. Lane sank down in the water, wishing she could slip beneath the surface and disappear. Could you actually die from embarrassment? Lane was about to find out. 

"I, uh, meant to do that," Lane piped up finally. "What'd you get in the way for? That was gonna be the perfect dive. A real 10/10." Lane drifted over to the edge of the pool, but she didn't pull herself out of the water quite yet. The heat was soothing on the hip that had hit the ground so hard, which was... interesting.

Maybe these pools would have a medicinal use after all. Lane was aware that cold could be used as a temporal remedy for pain (often applied by packing snow around a wound), but perhaps heat would have its uses as well. Lane would have to explore this possibiliy more closely. A scientist at heart, the prospect excited her.

"I thought you could score more points in a synchronized duo" Dorian's bullshit was put to good use when the other started to joke. He flashes the woman a wide grin, trying to be as confident as possible after their little fall. She does not go out of the pool though - perhaps she felt relaxed in the waters? He did too. With a sigh, he lowered himself so the edge of his chin brushed along the surface.

"Stumbles and Fumbles" the man proclaims "a real class act" his tongue brushes against the water as he talks, and he gives a slight wince from the gross liquid. It tasted like licking a rock. N-...Not that he has ever licked a rock before. Okay maybe he was curious one or two times, but not since then. He glances at the woman, shooting her a grin. "so aside from scoring Olympic goal - what're you doing out here?"

Without skipping a beat, the other wolf rolled with her explanation. Lane laughed, out of surprise as much as anything else. She hadn't been expecting the quick comeback. Clearly he was working with a sharp wit behind those-- admittedly dreamy-- citrine eyes. 

Her laugh faded into a sheepish smile. "I'm just glad it's not Grumbles I stepped on. Really though, ah.. my bad." Lane watched the stranger's tongue flick out to taste the water, and she winced inwardly, feeling his pain. She definitely did not recommend that. 

The stranger lingered in the pool alongside Lane. He really didn't seem annoyed in the least, which was kind of amazing given that his wake-up call included being kicked, stepped on, and dumped into a pool of water. He even asked her what brought her out here... as if their meeting was compeletely normal and natural, and not a mini-disaster. Okay, Lane would play along. 

"I dunno," she admitted, wishing that she had something cool or clever to say in response. Obviously this was the sort of guy that appreciated cool and clever, and for some reason Lane felt the need to make up for her flop of a first impression. "Exploring, I guess." Lane swallowed hard, feeling the heat of embarrassment burning behind her ears. Was this pool hot, or what? 

"What about you, do you..." Do you come here often? Was she really about to ask that? "--have a pack nearby?" Good save, Lane.

"Exploring" Dorian repeated, tilting his head as he rose somewhat out of the water "pretty much the same thing I'm doing" he laughs easily. Her question does not seem to phase him. He smiles politely, giving a nod in the direction of where he knew the river to be now. "oh yeah! I just recently joined Kaistleoki - I know, what a mouthful! - and they're pretty great." Which was saying he can't complain.

Really, he couldn't. They took him in without knowing much about him, eager to find out. Hiero in particular was friendly. Dorian wanted to be a good friend to him. "But I guess I'm bias" he smirks, wagging his tail excitably under the water. "but don't worry 'bout it! I don't mind some pretty lady stumbling over me." he grins, flashing her an award winning smile.

But he also doesn't miss a beat. "I'm Dorian, by the by."

He claimed that "exploring" was "pretty much the same thing he was doing," and Lane struggled to keep a small smirk hidden. Exploring? Is that what that was called? Because to Lane, it looked more like "lying on the ground like a log." But the man was being kind to her, which was more than she deserved given the circumstances, so Lane kept her sass to herself. 

Kaistleoki? It was the third pack name she had heard since arriving in these lands. The stranger claimed it was pretty great, and Lane wanted to know exactly why he thought that. She would have asked, but he was talking again. Lane didn't mind. She kinda liked listening to him talk in that friendly, easygoing way he had about him. 

He called her a pretty lady, pairing the compliment with a winning smile, and Lane's eyebrows flew up in surprise. No way-- her, a pretty lady? He was just messing with her now. "You have no idea what I look like!" she protested lightly, shaking her head. She was almost completely submerged, and he wouldn't be able to see any part of her but her eyes and the top of her head-- neither of which were particularly remarkable. Certainly not pretty. 

And yet.. Lane smiled despite herself. She had hated it when Hannibal had called her "lady," like she was some old person... but strangely, she didn't mind hearing it from Dorian. "I'm Lane," she returned simply.

"Doesn't matter" he huffs, closing his pale eyes with defiance "ladies are pretty. Men are handsome. That's how the world works" Dorian says with such certanity it was hard to know if he was joking or just being a little shit. He opens one eye a sliver and smirks. "but I wouldn't mind a look - if you're offering..." he says with mischief in his tone.

Lane though.

She gives her name easily enough. "Ah, I think I prefer Stumbles" Dorian adds with a chuckle "but Lane is nice. I like it." It certainly seemed to suit her, all kidding aside. A simple yet pretty name. A good tomboy-like name. He wondered if that was her entire name or just a nickname. But he didn't want to overload her with questions either.

Ladies are pretty and men are handsome? That's how the world works? Lane had met a wolf named Zephyr that would blow this guy's mind. 

If she was offering..?

"..I wasn't," she assured him, raising her eyebrows. He was a bold one, wasn't he? Did that sort of approach typically work for him? Or maybe he could tell that Lane was floundering here, and he was messing with her just for the sadistic thrill of it? That was probably it. 

"Thanks, I guess," she responded to his comment on her name.  "Dorian sounds like the name of a gentleman. Or a knight, maybe. Are you a gentleman, Sir Dorian of Cayst-lee-Ocki?"

Oof, she had butchered that pack name, she was sure of it.

"You gotta get out eventually" he laughs, unperturbed by her hesitation. Dorian wasn't messing with her for a cheap thrill. He was being logical in his own way. The man shuffles under the water before lifting himself back onto all fours. He is shorter than most men but at least she can clearly see what he looked like now. "see? I'm sharing."

He flashes a grin her way again, further unperturbed by her butchering his pack's name. "A gentleman always shares first" he points out "always leads first. Except when the lady wants to go. Then he'll gladly step aside" his eyes roll away from her form to glance around them "it's a mouthful, though, isn't it?" he chuckles, amused by the pronounciation.

Lowering himself back into the water, he sighs blissfully. "I guess I'm a gentleman if someone thinks that."

Maybe she would have to get out eventually, but it would be long after Dorian had to go. A pack wolf always had some kind of duty to perform.

"Nope," Lane insisted, "I can stay here forever. You're the one who's gotta run back home. You've probably got something you're s'posed to be doing right now, right?" Life as a lone wolf could get boring sometimes, and a little lonely, but at least Lane's time was her own. 

Lane did her best to look like she wasn't interested in the least in his "sharing," but her eyes did flick over his form briefly. It was tough to tell much of anything about his looks when he was soaked through, pelt clinging and hanging heavily on his frame. 

"Not sure I'm convinced," Lane teased, referring to Dorian's statement about someone thinking he was a gentleman.

"You wound me, madame" he sighs dramatically. A woman who was hard fought for was always a surprising and welcomed challenge. "there's nothing in the world that can pull me away from you" Dorian went on with a cheeky grin, his sigh quickly changing "everything is better with two people."

Besides, he was a big boy. He could stay out without Hiero or Ira being worried about him. He had a life outside of the pack. Kaistleoki was new to him. The people in it new. He would explore them later if the gods willed it. Dorian groans, flinching in further dramatics as she says she's not convinced he's a gentleman. 

And retorts with splashing her.

More of the over-the-top flirting. It was having on strange effect on Lane. On one paw, she sort of enjoyed the attention and the silliness of it, but on the other paw she was halfway concerned with where this near-stranger might be trying to take things with her. Dorian was handsome, for sure, but Lane wasn't that kind of girl. In response, her behavior ended up coming off as somewhere between coy and cool.  

"Everything is better with two people."

That little addition did catch Lane's attention. Was Dorian lonely? The phrase was like the tiniest chink in his armor of bravado. He was not the only pack wolf Lane had met lately that seemed lonely. What would he and @Toad Amelia think of one another? Maybe Lane's calling in life was to be a matchmaker. 

Dorian-- who'd had enough of pretending to be a gentleman, it seemed-- sent a spray of water in Lane's direction. Lane turned away with a giggle. "I knew it!" she piped, sending a retaliatory spray of water in Dorian's direction. "Some gentleman you are." She stuck out her tongue playfully.

He also sticks out his tongue. Water sprays his head, soaking the last part of him that was dry. Licking ruefully at the metallic hot water a few times, he chomps his jaw a bit dramatically. "Gentlemen can play, Lane!" he protested with a great huff "and I don't see a door needin' opening right now so... RAAAH!"

He bunches his muscles and tries to charge her. A paw was lifted to try and bring down on her shoulder, pushing his body close enough to wrestle if she wanted. Yeah, a roll in the hay with a pretty girl was good - if wanted. He wasn't going to force his company or his body on her. Dorian just wanted to play. He was a playful dude. It was boring being chipper if nobody was chipper with him.

He tried to barrel into her, sending waves of water onto the shore of the springs.

A door that needed opening? What on earth did he mean by that? How would you go about opening a door? Why would one be closed? How would it be closed? And what did that have to do with gentlemanly behavior? Lane opened her mouth to ask. 

"H--"

Her eyes widened, seeing the man barrel towards her. She ducked beneath the surface of the water. She felt his paws mash into the flesh along her spine, but it was painless as the water displaced most of his weight. Lane pressed her own paws against the floor of the pool and pushed herself upwards, hoping to topple the man sideways into the water.

"Whoa!"

Dorian yelped, having been previously triumphant. He felt his paws on her back but she shoved herself up after ducking. Man, she was quick! The force behind it was enough to throw him a bit away, back into the water with a splash! effect. 

But the coywolf was not so easily deterred! No, sir! He got up, spitting yucky water from his mouth. He shook his head, sending droplets every which way. Then he lunged again, laughing. It felt so damn good to play around in the water with a few friend!

The two of them surfaced at the same time. Dorian shook the water from his pelt, and Lane turned her face to protect it from the spray. The man lunged again, this time making contact with Lane above the surface. 

Lane lost her footing, but she grabbed for the man's scruff as she stumbled. If she was falling, he was coming with her!

The young woman, as she was hardly more than a pup, enjoyed this sort of play far more than the flirtatious banter, if only because she felt far more capable of holding her own.

"Ahh!" 

He was a goof at the core of everything about him. Playful and flirty went paw and paw for Dorian. Lane seemed sorta suggestive herself a few times, but it was clear she liked this sort of tussle over exchanging words. He didn't realize how young she was at first glance; because he was a smaller sized male.

Most females were larger than him, if not all. "Oof!" he managed to squeak out before his body hit the water again. She dragged him down into the depths, with the coywolf kicking at her stomach with his hing legs to dislodge her.

I'm going to edit a conclusion onto this one and close it out, since Dorian is inactive and I would like to use it as a trade thread.

Lane clung to Dorian's ruff as they sank, making sure that he received a good, thorough soaking. She released her grip once she felt his hind legs kicking against her. Still, just for good measure, she pushed down on his head with her forepaw as she surfaced, hoping to get in one last little "dunk." 

As she broke the surface, the young woman accidentally breathed in some of the acrid water. She began coughing. Scrabbling against the ledge of the pool, she pulled half of her body out of the water, continuing to cough. If Dorian didn't stop her, she would pull her whole body out of the pool to settle on the ledge.

Once she had control of her breath, Lane turned to Dorian with a weak smile. She was exhausted, both from the wrestling session with Dorian and from the fight to reclaim her lungs from the poolwater. She stood and shook off. 

"I'll be seeing you, Dorian. I'll have to drop into Castle-Leoki sometime. You know.. next time I need a gentleman for something."

...

After she bid Dorian farewell, Lane trotted back in the direction which she came, hoping to make it to some neutral territory with treecover by sunset. As she walked, she contemplated. Sinking to the bottom of that hot pool had reminded her of something from one of mama and papa's lessons: infection sinks toward the center of the body, toward a natural heat source. What if the hot spring could be used as an alternate heat source-- one that was hotter than the body's internal temperature? Would that reverse the progress of the infection? If so, that would be a game changer. 

Imagining the possibilities occupied Lane's mind long after she left the hot springs behind. She would be back, and next time would be in the name of science.