Ocean's Breath Plateau hear the clock tick, the wolf who loiters at the door

She appeared like a vision, prettier than he'd ever seen her before. Even if the feathers were a somewhat comical addition, Tullik glowed with vitality, and the rounding curve of her belly sent an odd, sweeping sensation through his body, like a warm ocean wave knocking him off his paws and hauling him by the ankles as it rushed back to sea.

Dutch came forward to meet her, tail whipping in delighted greeting. A grizzling whine escaped his muzzle before he dropped his parcel at her paws.

"You shine like sunlight on the horizon," he said, still marveling at her. Perhaps he realized how silly he must sound to her, because his next words were an amendment: "Or perhaps like water on a duck's back."

He plucked a feather from her cheek and spat it out with a soft puff of breath. It spun and then drifted, swaying back and forth for a moment before landing on the bridge of his nose.

"How are you?" he asked her, his now serious tone undermined by his new adornment.