Redhawk Caldera funk you up

@Finley !

Usually whenever someone gets dirty, it is a good moment to stop, evaluate yourself, and get your ass in the bath. But wolves don't have baths - they just have to deal with all the garbage that nature throws at them. Unless you're Dove - in which case, the lake becomes your best friend. She was still soiled from her tumble earlier in the day, after all, and a good washing was in order. It didn't take her long to reach the lake's edge once more (but she'd made a bee-line for it), and she sank in to the brisk water as soon as she arrived.

Swimming was not her strong suit, which was kind of ironic. Her creamy figure sank in to the deepening water, and then she shoved off with a slow-mo leap from the bottom; a few paddles later, Dove was returning to shore. This was only a matter of minutes, but it was enough to get her nice and soggy, as well as leave a trail of water along the stony ridge along the edge. Dove quickly found her basking rock and slumped down upon it.

She took some time to psyche herself up for the yoga she was about to perform, and after a bit of wiggling, set herself up so that she could reach her own rear end. By using her teeth she could comb through the wet and matted fur - but she had to do this in spurts, working away at the fur and then pulling back to relax, rinse and repeat, until the snow-white of her fur returned.

Still not frozen...

Finley stood frowning at the edge of the lake, her gaze - as usual - glued upon the island in the distance. Had she been a naturalist, she probably would've known better than to expect it to be. The temperatures had been steadily creeping lower, but it hadn't yet been nearly cold enough for a freeze the likes of which she needed in order to ensure her safe passage over to the island. When finally she'd had enough of the longing staring, she kicked a rock grumpily into the disappointingly not frozen lake, turned and began to wander along the shoreline.

It wasn't long afterwards that she ran into Fox's sister, although she had no idea of their relation at the time. Whether or not she should have, I don't really know. Whether or not she even know about the little drama that had gone down between Elwood and Dove, I'm not sure about either. Luckily, I don't have to know yet for Finley to have walked up to the wolf she had just deemed to be the cure to her boredom and say with a comical grin, "Aw, honey, did no one tell you we have food in caches all over the place so there's no need to eat your own butt?"

The gloss of her fur was steadily returning, but it would take a few more hours of proper attention to get all of the muck out. And that wasn't so bad. Cleaning was one way that Dove cleansed herself of excess emotions, and after all that had occurred between herself and the others of this caldera pack, she needed her alone time. Her "me" time. However, as fate would have it, Dove was not getting what she wanted today. She was just reaching back down towards her rear end when a voice burst from nearby, startling her. She sat up swiftly, and the momentum - accompanied by her awkward position and irregular balance - had her flailing and flopping against the bathing stone. The girl nearly went in to the lake.

Still sputtering - and withdrawing one hind leg as well as her tail from the water - Dove scrambled to her feet and shot the stranger an agitated look. At first she thought it was Elwood for some reason so she blanked for a moment, staring at the salt-and-pepper wolf while water dripped from her soggy bits. But she regained her composure pretty quickly. I wasn't eating my own butt, that's ridiculous. I was... Just having a bath. Dove clarified, her voice edged slightly by anger, although it petered out as her heart rate returned to normal. That was quite rude.

Fin watched, amused as the stranger overreacted to her sudden presence. She canted her head and wagged her tail as the woman jumped, nearly falling off of her perch into the lake. When she turned back to address her, she was just as salty as though she'd fallen into the ocean. Usually, Fin would have been irritated and would have snapped right back at her. Instead, she just smirked and plopped down onto her haunches. "I know, I'm totally the worst wolf here," she replied with a good-natured nod.

Having become accustomed to snide responses, Dove was a bit stunned when the stranger was... Nice. Granted she was still rude, and still being sarcastic, but it was a different flavor of conversation. It was pleasant. Dove took one last look at the stranger - a long look - and then adjusted herself once more; she sat sphinx-like and crossed her paws, deciding to finish her grooming later.

I suppose I can forgive you. And.. No, Dove's head slanted, and her ears briefly fanned out on either-side of her head. I've met worse. I'm Dove, She smiled sweetly, looking quite bright and cheerful despite her recurring bad attitude the past few days. -and you are?

Dove. Dove? Dove... Why did she know that name? Fin smiled all the same, even as she tried to remember where she'd heard that name before. "Finley," she replied with a smile as she continued to wonder. Did Peregrine mention her at some point? Maybe Somnia? Fox? Man, it was really hard to remember what else was going on in the pack when she paid so much attention to her budding new relationship with Elwood.

Speaking of which...

"So, you been here long?" Fin asked, deciding to move the conversation forward in the normal fashion. Maybe Dove said would trigger her memory the rest of the way at some point.

"Almost two weeks now." She answered, tone light but somewhat guarded. The answer was short and sweet. The girl's name stuck itself to the back of Dove's mind, along with a mental image of her - but this is what prompted another comment. "You look a lot like Elwood. Are you two related?" Maybe they were siblings? Both had silvery pelts and dark patches, and were relatively similar in age, so maybe..? Dove chose this moment to jump the gun, and without waiting for Finley's answer, went ahead with her train of thought. "He's a pretty one. I bet you have to beat the ladies off of him, hm?"

Ohhhhh... that's why she looked familiar...

Recognition dawned on Finley like a kick to her gut. This was the woman that had been in heat around Elwood. The one who had hit on him. And who was admitting to her now that she found the beta male attractive. Which he was, but no one else was supposed to mention it except in awe of Finley managing to be awesome to snag him for herself. Which was so not the tone Dove was using right now...

"Ha.. yeah, I really do," Fin agreed with that at least, though Dove seemed to be one of those that needed beat. She remained neutral in her regard of the pale female, feeling oddly calm about the whole your ass smelled good at my Elwood thing. After all, she hadn't known that Elwood was taken. And honestly, telling her now would probably prove to be rather fun.

"We're not related, though. He's my..." Fin had started with a smug smile that quickly faltered as she realized she had no idea what to refer to him as. They weren't mates or anything that official. And anything else she could call him either sounded too lame or too slutty. The seconds began to stretch awkwardly long as Fin sat frozen and awkward, unable to figure out how to explain the situation until finally... "....I called dibs!" she barked a little too loud to come off as entirely.. normal.

And that, my friends, is how you alienate your pack mates. Not only was Dove wrong about the assumption of their bloodline, but - ohhh, she clearly was in the wrong as Finley stated her claim to the boy. For a second Dove was stunned, but her expression merely flickered from uncertainty to a pleasant smile.

"Oops!" She peeped, followed by a laugh (which could have been forced and likely was, but Dove was an expert when it came to casual dismissal of certain subjects. Especially boys.) "He didn't say anything about having a misses. But I guess that's what I get for assuming - I swear I meant nothing by it." The comment, or her behavior towards the boy; but Dove didn't know if Finley knew or -- okay, everything was all jumbled now.

Awkwardness intensifies.

Immediately following her mini-outburst, Finley felt like a jack ass. She began to nibble upon her button lip - a telltale sign that she was either uncomfortable or hiding something, but you didn't hear it from me! She could see Dove's face morphing along with each thought that was going through her head, presumably. Meanwhile, Fin's mind was racing, trying to figure out how to clarify. And also a little bit panicking that she really didn't know what to call him... That was probably a bad thing.

When the alabaster female spoke again, it brought Finley's mind back to attention. Her mouth fell open slightly at the term misses. Was that what she was? "Well we're not mates or anything," she replied, wanting to downplay their relationship because the whole 'misses' and 'mates' thing was suddenly really freaking her out.

Okay, so things kept getting further confusing. They weren't a thing but they were? Elwood was off-limits but not? Whatever the truth was, Dove knew not to pursue the boy; heck, she hadn't really wanted to do anything anyway - it was a game. One that she would be playing with every boy that graced her company if given the chance. Finley's dismissal was half casual, half... Something else. Like she was nervous about the idea (except that made no sense either, since she had called dibs).

Dove just blinked at her for a few moments and then shrugged.

"Well whatever you guys are, I'll keep out of it." Unless her own desire to have some fun outweighed her desire for friendship with this girl (which was highly likely). She gave the gray girl a playful shoulder-to-shoulder bump. "He's your boy-thing, so I'll behave myself from now on." With that confirmed - whether Finley accepted it or not, or was still floored by the idea of having someone - Dove began to depart from her company.

She paused after only going a couple of steps, though, and appended: "I do kinda wish there were more pretty boys in this place though. But, sigh, I'll live."

The moment she'd insisted she and Elwood weren't mates was the very same moment she began to worry that she'd gone too far and had made this female feel like she could continue to pursue him.  The thought made her hackles prickle, but she didn't show it at all for in the next moment, Dove was insisting that she was going to stay out of their whatever-it-was.  Fin sighed out of relief and gratitude.  She had no idea how to proceed in her explanation of "Finwood" and so she was quite thankful she didn't have to.

Fin canted her head very slightly at Dove's comment.  She had never thought too much about it - a fact that made her realize even more just how long it had been that she'd been smitten with Elwood - but there really weren't a lot of single men in the Caldera.  "We had some," she replied thoughtfully, "One died though.. He was kinda old.  The other two were pretty good looking.. I don't know where they went, though."  She furrowed her brows thoughtfully.  What had happened to Theseus and Ashton?  She shrugged the curiosity away fairly quickly, though.

"Why?" Fin asked suddenly, innocently, "You looking for a life partner?  Or just a good romp?"  It was probably inappropriate of her to ask.  Too forward, too awkward, too personal.  But whatever.  Dove seemed to take it good-naturedly, and the pair continued to chat until Finley decided to head home and search out her... Dibsed boyfriend lover thing.