Heron Lake Plateau guiding light

I am cold as I write this post, actually, lulz... all the more to get into character for all of yours' sakes, alone, of course.  :P  ...Probably going to be slow and playing catch-up for some time yet though, if not ending up PPCing outright, jfyi if any of y'all didn't already know, urf. >.<

Owen's paw drooped as he sat there bewilderedly listening to Kite's words. He made another inarticulate noise in his throat, of inchoate sympathy this time as he sat shivering there indecisively for a moment before scooting one large step closer to Kite. He couldn't think of any good words right now, here, but he could at least offer her a spot of less-articulate physical sympathy.

Owen was stopped in his muddy tracks however by the more decisive swooping in of Phoebe, who brushed aside his and Eljay's fumbling words like a regal duchess sweeping down a narrow hall and hardly noticing the inept peasants she tumbled out of her way in the process. "You shouldn't say that," she told Kite more authoritatively, and Owen nodded fervently along like a mindlessly bobbing bird on a branch. He was a little annoyed that Phoebe had stolen the show here, in truth, but at the same time more relieved than irked, since she at least seemed to have a really good idea of something more certain to say to Kite. Owen glanced back over his shoulder to check on the positioning of Vasa as she too scooted in closer (actually paying attention for a moment—for a change!), then quickly snapped his eyes back toward Phoebe. Even as he hunched there shaking and looking to her for direction, however, she looked over at Eljay and passed along the baton of speech.

Owen's brow furrowed as he scooted another half a step closer to Kite while listening to the puppysitter. All this pack togetherness talk sounded fine and fancy, but really Owen wasn't sure how that could quite manage to work. He'd thought he'd managed to get pretty good at helping his sister Kite along...when he felt like it, and saw she needed help anyway...but she'd managed to slip away from all of them today pretty good and almost jump into the lake—which Owen could imagine would only have been as bad or worse a chilly shock than he was experiencing, for spindly already-shaky Kite. And did this pack strengths thing mean that given Eljay's admission of weaknesses they all had to now become experts in not just ptero but also fighting, or perhaps split up those tasks among themselves, as the dutiful next generation? I-i-it's okay, Kite; o-of course w'— he began, but then his philosophical maunderings were rudely interrupted by a sly pink Kite-tongue that jittered itself closer and swept across his face.

Yipes, s-s-sisterkisses! yelped Owen as he jerked in surprise and some dismay—gosh, Kite, didn't she know those things carried cooties?! Owen couldn't have been too put out though because a minute later he thought to use his big muddy paws to retaliate—but Kite was too quick for him, and had already eeled out of the way and bobbled over to Phoebe to offer her the same treatement. Owen gave his paw a mighty flick anyway, to launch a big glob of the world's coldest mud at Kite, but his aim was pretty terrible and it angled much closer to Phoebe instead. Whoops! Er—maybe she somehow magically wouldn't notice? Owen himself jitterbugged with alacrity over toward Eljay's furry side instead, where more heat radiated anyhow and maybe he'd be safe, or at least safer from any impending sisterwrath (a phenomenon proven just as dangerous, if not quite as gross and girly, as sistercooties). He hadn't quite gotten there when another thought occurred to him and had him snap his neck back to stare at Eljay with an air of unjust accusation even as Owen hitched his butt a little closer to the elder wolf. H-h-hey wait, i-if we're a-a-all good at all d-diff'ren' things, t-t-then don't w'need s-s-separate teachers'n's-s-stuff too? He thought there was probably a better way to be asking about this, but he felt like brainfreeze was becoming a near-literal thing right at the moment, and his impetuous question's urgency was quickly overtaken by other, more immediate physical needs of his body. I'm s-s-s-so cold, he said, with his so-often-heard wheedling whine creeping back into his voice. And if Eljay wasn't going to warm him up enough maybe Owen would snag himself a Kite-shaped blanket, in a moment...which, well, might also act as something of a puppy-shaped shield, he thought as he glanced back with a bit of wildness in his eyes to see how offended Phoebe had been by that whole globby mudlobbing escapade. Had he slipped away quick and quiet enough; would she know it was him? (It was a little dumb to even think she might not figure out who had sent that little "gift" her way, really, given that only one of them had fallen into the lake after all and Owen was not nearly as stealthy as he hoped, but once again it also wasn't like he was really thinking all that straight right at the moment.) He really hoped that Kite had stuck close enough that a speedily and desperately outstretched paw of his might snag her readily and whoosh her in closer well before any Phoebe retaliations hit him, or before Vasa jumped in to support her sisters for that matter, but—well, it remained to be seen.