Redhawk Caldera Slow dancing society

This is preemptive but I figure we'll wrap the other one soon and I know Fox is probably dying to tell Perry what's on her mind. ;)

The pack's most recent hunt had ended in failure. Peregrine was tempted to take it in stride, considering their success in previous weeks, but he took the lack of prey as a serious sign. Winter was upon them; she would make a slow and creeping approach but she was right around the corner. The Gamekeeper could not rely solely on what they had stored thus far. Even though it would take more time and effort as the weeks wore on toward December, he would hunt until he brought something home each day, even if only a lucky rabbit's foot.

Today, he spent hours scouring the woodlands surrounding the caldera and managed to snatch a fat groundhog even as she scrambled into her hole. He carried the carcass back toward the mount, then dropped it once he reached the borders. Peregrine began to tear the head, limbs and tail from the torso, setting aside all but the tail, which he discarded. He placed these in a nearby cache. He then stretched out on the cold ground, the rest of the body cradled between his forelegs as he set about carefully gnawing the skin from the flesh.

Once separated, he set the swatch of fur aside, face-up so the blood vessels and gore could dry in the cold, dry air. He then plucked the hunk of bloody meat and began to carry it up the slope, intending to surprise @Fox with it.

I don't mind! Also, really looking forward to the week I'm taking off for Thanksgiving... and the other week for Christmas. :B

Ever since the temperature had plummeted, Fox had spent more time in the confines of the cozy, moss-covered den, especially during the day. Fox tended to come out during dawn and dusk, spending a majority of the day and the middle of the night curled up tightly in the humble abode that she and Peregrine shared. Whenever Perry came home to join her, she always scooted her little self over so he'd have enough room to wiggle on in.

Right now, though, Fox had squeezed her way out of the den and into the cold afternoon air, shaking her coat as she exited the den. She wasn't two steps out before she spotted Peregrine on his way to her, and Fox paused, wagging her little red tail behind her. Fox could see from here that Peregrine had a tasty treat in his jaws, and she licked her chops accordingly.

I wish I could take off an entire week! I felt guilty for taking off one day today, fml.

Fox popped out of the den to greet him and Peregrine wagged his tail and pranced the last few feet. Before dropping the gory slab of meat in his mouth, he nuzzled her, smearing bits of blood on both of them. He chuckled, then dropped the headless, legless, skinless groundhog at his mate's feet.

"I cached the extremities and I'm going to clean and soften the skin to make a blanket for you and the pups," Peregrine told her with a smile. "This hunk is all yours, though. Enjoy."

The rugged Alpha folded his haunches and sat, motioning for Fox to dig into her meal. While she ate, he said, "I'm ready to talk about our possibly differing views if you want to ask me now." He tilted his large black head, dusky jade eyes meeting hers as his tail gently thumped the cold ground at his rear.

If you have the vacation time, you should! I was reading about how European countries have mandatory 20 vacation days. The US amazes me with its lack of vacation, and I've always lived here, haha.
Also, I am drank.

“Oooohhhh,” Fox replied, taking the chunk of meat from him without hesitation. She was mid-gulp when Peregrine mentioned the potential butting of heads, and she swallowed the bit of groundhog hard. “Y—” she choked, “Yeah, about that…” Fox managed to take up another couple of bites of the groundhog, unwilling to just let it sit there while she waxed on about what she really wanted to talk about. She gobbled down the couple of bites, talking once she had scarfed down about half of Perry's gift.

“I was thinking about what you said to…” Fox couldn't even remember who he'd said it to. “somebody… about having kids and stuff. I know it’s selfish, but I don’t want anybody else to have kids this year. Next year, maybe… We can talk about that when we get there.” Fox simply wanted her first batch to have the best chance possible. If there were no other pups to compete with, they'd be better off for it. And should there be eager couples unwilling to wait until next year, they could go off and start their own thing, without the support of the caldera.

Yeah, there's no way I'm just letting the company have them. I just feel guilty and anxious when I miss work, even if it's for vacation. :(

"Dear god, woman," Peregrine remarked when Fox choked, "slow the fuck down before you kill yourself." Despite his harsh words, he looked at her with fond amusement on his face... mixed in with a slight look of mock horror at her terrible table manners.

She mentioned her preferences about breeding rights and Peregrine's lips twitched upward. "I agree," he said simply, leering at her playfully. "Weren't expecting that, were you?" Straightening his spine, the Alpha male added, "We don't have any other pairs anyway. Or even potential pairs. I think it's a non-issue. So worry not, mama-to-be. Our kids will be the only tiny paws frolicking upon the caldera this spring..."

I used to feel that way. And then I realized that vacation actually makes me work better when I come back. Definitely going to take more summer vacation next year!

Fox grinned when he called her out on her gobbling habits, letting blood dribble down her chin and to her chest. She'd never been a dainty, prissy girl, and she wasn't about to start now. When her lovely lover agreed that they should be the only one to have pups, her tail beat the air and made a soft swishing sound to display her glee that he was in line with her thinking. Fox could only hope he wouldn't change his mind for one reason or another.

She gulped down the last bit of meat, cleaning her "plate" in a matter of minutes. "Saena and Pura's mother..." Fox trailed off, trying to remember the specifics, but failing to come up with anything. "What happened to her, again? I think you told me, but... I don't remember." Fox often forgot that they were not Peregrine's children, even though they both had much lighter coats than Hawkeye's kids. It didn't seem like a mother would leave her children so early, but Fox had heard of such things. Junior and Tytonidae couldn't have been more than a few months when Hawkeye had left them.

Fox took the conversation around an unexpected turn, giving Peregrine a tiny bit of whiplash in the process. For two seconds, his brow furrowed in confusion. She knew what had happened with Hawkeye, didn't she...? Then he remembered. Yes, sometimes even he forgot that they hadn't produced Pura and Saena. They did share blood with him, because of his relation to Pied, but he was not a biological parent.

"She died giving birth," he said a bit flatly, feeling a flicker of anxiety in the pity of his belly. "But I think it was partly because she had been badly injured earlier..." Even as he tried to reassure himself, Peregrine felt his stomach sink. Fox had been injured internally just a month ago. Would pregnancy complicate it or vice versa? He felt dread creeping into his bones.

"We should ask Will—Ashton if he has any advice about this. Fox, it would kill me if anything went wrong with the pregnancy or birth... especially knowing I had done it to you." He really hadn't thought about it before but Peregrine now worried that he would be able to think of nothing else between now and the pups' safe delivery.

Perhaps if she'd been a more empathetic wolf, Fox would have apologized for bringing it up in the first place. Instead, she merely frowned, then wondered how common an occurrence it was for mothers to die in childbirth. Her own mother had not, and neither had Hawkeye. Tuwawi had not, although Fox only suspected as much from Sveinn's latest visit. Fox wondered how they were doing, and whether or not Tuwawi and Njal had scorned her for her actions. She had not seen either of them since she had left the creek, and she assumed that Bazi had turned them against her.

Fox blinked as Peregrine spoke of Ashton, which reminded Fox of something else. “I don’t trust him,” Fox said sharply. “He’s brought home two wolves who weren’t exactly the picture of fitness.” She paused, giving Perry a look of worry. “It’s not just that. He did this weird… thanking me and kissing my feet thing after I told him to take away the second one. It reminded me way too much of Ferdie. That's the wolf who caused me so many problems in Swiftcurrent Creek.” Fox bit her lip, wondering what Peregrine thought of what was possibly one of their most helpful members. There was just something about Ashton that put Fox on edge.

Sharp words cut through the tension building in Peregrine's body and his cool eyes pinned inquisitively on his mate as she went on a small rant about Ashton. Their hippie Healer was something else, that was for sure. The Alpha male found him harmlessn and tended to give him the benefit of the doubt about the wolves he'd brought here. He was clearly a bleeding heart and the Alphas still maintained the right to turn away outsiders. Yes, he kissed ass, but what was so horrible about that?

"At least he doesn't whine and pout when we turn down his prospective girlfriends," Peregrine quipped. "I like him," he added with a shrug. "I think he has honest intentions. He just wants to help them. I'm sure he's gotten the hint that we don't want charity cases by now, so he'll stop bringing around one-eyed, bleeding... oh, hey, that reminds me of something! I totally forgot to ask you about this. Well, since we're going over possibly controversial topics today... what is your take on alliances?"

Peregrine dismissed her concerns, but Fox still wasn't convinced. If he made one wrong move, Fox would boot him out. With or without Peregrine's knowledge. The last thing they needed was a rotten apple to spread to others. Fox had experienced it first-hand once before, and she wouldn't allow herself to get caught in that situation again. If he was a threat, somewhere under all that strange behavior, she did not want him anywhere near her children. And if Ashton continued to bring injured wolves to their borders, she would make it clear that he was not allowed to bring anybody home.

"But didn't Dante tell you off?" Fox asked, confused as to why Peregrine was bringing it up again. She was fairly certain that wasn't going to happen, based on what Dante had said when he had come to visit Peregrine. Fox admittedly didn't know Dante well enough to know if he had changed his mind.

Her response made him wince, though he didn't blame her for the assumption. He shook his head, then realized what he was doing and nodded. Peregrine then stilled, realizing he was probably confusing her further.

"This isn't about the plateau. It's about Stavanger Bay. I have a great respect for their leaders, partly because they saved Junior's life. But mostly because they're good people. They're far away so any alliance would be mostly for show. I just felt like honoring the friendship Ragnar and I have managed to uphold for so long, despite both of us not being prone to mingling with outsiders. He's the only exception to the rule, now that you're with me," he said with a faint twitch of his lips. And now that the plateau shat on us.

Peregrine paused, then shrugged lightly and finished by saying, "It's just an idea, though."

Fox listened, though the more she did so, the more she couldn't agree to anything he was saying. "Sorry, Perry," she said with a frown, "I don't even know them. Doesn't seem like a very good idea." Considering how the sister pack thing had gone down with the plateau, which was supposedly filled with Peregrine's friends, Fox did not think that honoring other friendships was such a good idea, either. Now that winter was closing in on them (and quickly!), she was not keen on the idea of forming any sort of agreements with anybody outside of the caldera.

Even when she'd been at the creek, she had considered Peregrine a (friendly) rival. Outside of Redhawk Caldera, Fox didn't want any friends. Nor would she likely make them. Perry had been an exception to that, sure, but he'd been the only exception. And look where they were now. In the same pack, together, and leading beside one another. If things had not progressed the way they had, they would likely not be friends right now.

"Why does that make it a bad idea?" he wondered patiently, quelling the slight flare of frustration with her immediate dismissal, particularly of his own judgment. "You should meet them. Ragnar, at least. You know I don't make exceptions often and when I do, it's for only truly worthy wolves," he added with a slight smirk. "It's not a pressing matter, though. I probably won't even see either of them for a while. But the next time Ragnar comes by, I'll call you. You need to see his gnarly missing eye."

"I think that's enough controversial topics for one day," Peregrine opined a moment later, stretching. "Let's talk about our little love nest. Aside from rabbit-skin blankets, would you like me to try to get anything else for the den? Even if I have to get creative, I'll try to acquire anything you ask for."

Why didn't that make it a good idea? Fox was puzzled by his question, because it honestly made no sense. She was half of the leading pair, and she couldn't go around making alliances without knowing who they were, no matter how well Peregrine happened to know them. It was obvious by now that they had varying opinions on plenty of things, so why wouldn't they on this Ragnar that he spoke of? Little did Fox know that she actually had met him, thought him bizarre, and had been his son's leader for a time. Perhaps her mind would change once she met him. "I'll meet him, if you'd like me to. But I'm still wary about any kind of alliance." It didn't feel natural, and it seemed like a recipe for headaches and heartbreaks.

But she let it drop for now, ears perking up when he mentioned their love nest. Fox thought on it for a moment, then shrugged. "Do we need anything else?" she asked. Honestly, as long as it was warm, clean, safe, and cozy, she was satisfied. "Did you see the pelt that Amon gifted us? I got to see him prepare it. Pretty cool stuff." Not only had it been interesting to learn, but bonding with her pack-mates was always a welcome thing.

"I d'no," Peregrine replied, rolling his shoulders. "It's not like you can overdo it though, right? We could pad the walls, the floor and the ceiling with furs... make it soft and insulated." He smiled, the tip of his tail twitching like a cat's. "No, I don't think I have. Show me."

He turned to face the den, assuming it was in there. He was surprised he hadn't felt it, if nothing else. Then again, it was usually dark by the time he came home each day and he just attributed all the softness and warmness in the den to his cuddly mate.

“The ceiling?” she echoed, wondering how they would even accomplish such a feat. How would they get them to stick up there? Or maybe he meant the outside of the den, the roof, which would not really benefit them at all. Aside from maybe some aesthetic value, but Fox wasn't terribly interested in that side of things. When Peregrine mentioned that he hadn't seen the pelt that Amon had gifted them, Fox dove into the den and pulled it out, laying it on the ground just outside their love shack.

“I don’t even remember what kind of animal it was, but it was a nice gesture, don’t you think?” she asked, looking up from the pelt and to Peregrine's handsome face.

She dragged it out and spread it on the ground. Peregrine looked at it, bobbing his head in agreement. He then lowered himself and rolled on it, to make sure it felt as soft as it looked. It did. Satisfied, he rose again, then plucked up the skin by the corner and carried it back inside the den, where he laid it out on the floor and promptly slung himself down on top of it.

He patted the spot beside him with a paw. "Come nap with me. I've had a long day hunting and just want to snooze for a bit." Peregrine smiled sleepily at Fox, then let his chin sink down to his crossed forepaws.

I wanted to change my headlights today, but it's raining and I don't have the right tools. *pouts*

“Gladly,” Fox replied, following Peregrine into their cozy little home. Even after his breathing became slow and steady, Fox lay awake, dreaming of their children to be. She was absolutely certain that they would be awesome in every imaginable way... even if they didn't stick around forever and ever. At least their home would not be broken, as it was for Osprey and Tytonidae, along with Pura and Saena. Fox would make sure of that. Eventually, her eyelids became heavy and she rested her head atop Peregrine's back, falling into a comfortable, warm sleep.