Moonspear Happy call

The instant she heard approaching footfalls crunching in the snow, Wildfire turned, grinning as she prepared to receive Floki. He looked rather dashing when he appeared, his pale fur gilded by the failing sunlight, and she had to remember not to move to greet him. Fortunately, he quickly came to her, kissing her on the cheek. Her own tongue swiped up and over one Caribbean blue eye just before he tipped his snout into the air and puffed out his chest with mock pompousness.

Her eyes sparkled when he reported that he was an Eta now. "I started off as an Eta as well," she said with a smile. "It looks good on you," she added, unable to resist reaching out again, this time skimming her nose along his jawline before planting a smooch right on the tip of his muzzle. "Congratulations, boo. Welcome to adulthood."

She glanced down- and backward now, to check whether she had unwittingly exposed her gifts during her displays of affection. Only a little, she mused, rearranging her black tail over them and then glancing up to her taller beau again to say, "I got you a little something." Wildfire wanted to draw out this moment and his expectant anticipation but she couldn't wait herself and suddenly reached down to grab a chunky (@Finley) dead gopher from beneath her tail.

After plopping it at her friend's feet, she was quick to say, "And that's not all." She bent over again. From Floki's view, it probably looked as if she was pulling the gift out of her ass—literally. When Wildfire righted herself, there was a strange object dangling from her maw: a long white snake spine complete with hundreds of spindly but almost perfectly intact rib bones. She held the skull itself gingerly between her teeth as she showed it to him, then gently set it beside the gopher.

"Found this in a cave." She paused emphatically. "I braved a cave for you." She grinned again. "Anyway, I'm not sure what species it was or anything but I thought it was pretty cool. Maybe you can wear it as a necklace," she teased. In reality, Wildfire was hoping he would keep it and put it on display in their future den, although she kept that thought to herself, for now.