Totoka River cherry soul

Driftwood's beetling forward progress was halted when Moorhen shot him a suspicious, narrow-eyed look. Drift swallowed back another whine—it wasn't fair, why should he get these withering looks and not this stranger. But Teleklos had just loosed an anxious whine of his own, and the last thing Driftwood wanted to do was copy this disagreeable guy. If Moorhen was going to be swayed by whinging then Teleklos had already beaten him to it, and while Drift was often not the wisest wolf when it came to social niceties he was fairly certain at least that no one was likely to be impressed by a pale imitator. Especially Moorhen, who seemed to him to be all too difficult to impress even at the best of times.

Much as it stuck in his craw though maybe he should try a different tack here, if he did indeed wish to win her approbations. Instinctively Driftwood's tawny lip twitched as Teleklos leaned in closer bit by bit, but the Seawolf suppressed it quickly. After a frozen moment he cautiously outstretched his own nose for a moment's intent sniffing of his own. Driftwood licked his lips nervously, and then shot Moorhen a look of astonishment as she invited the intruder to join their pack. What?! Oh, Driftwood supposed it was a typical thing for Undersea denizens to be pretty accepting and welcome virtually anyone with open arms and wagging tails, but...but...! Moorhen's words seemed pretty pointed, though, and Drift's yellow eyes widened a fraction further as the implication hit him: non-nice wolves just might find themselves uninvited. (Could she do that?! Oh gosh, of course she could, and would if he kept annoying her too much—) Driftwood tamped down hard on the protests bubbling up in his throat and instead looked back at Teleklos with a single forced wag of a tail himself. Play nice, he reminded himself, a small line of worry creasing his brow again at the effort. Play NICE.

Yes, Undersea is happy to let almost anyone in, said Driftwood, his tight little smile perhaps showing a few more teeth than necessary, but nonetheless it was a smile, at least. I'll even show you around the island if my Akhlut so desires, an offer Drift for once was not entirely happy to make—but thought it would at least get this Teleklos fellow away from Moorhen, a problem for which Drift was not able to think of many other solutions at the moment—though he couln't help but add, though I wish to make sure her safety is made certain of, first. Of course. Yeah. Sure. Her safety and well-being, that was all this was about...this superior of his who'd been literally standing protectively over him a few breaths before. But Driftwood hoped this thin excuse would satisfy Moorhen, at least, and maybe even make her reconsider, at least a little... There was a grain of truth to it, as well: Driftwood had not forgotten Aditya, nor his attack on Coelacanth in particular and, in Driftwood's mind, the idyllic peace of their island as a whole.