Swiftcurrent Creek Riverbend

(I'm gonna make Njal hear a howl and go investigate, if you wanna have Fox go with him and end the thread?)

When his inspection made clear that the girl was intact, he huffed a small sigh of relief. Njal did not want to damage the girl when all they were doing was playing. He still felt guilty for his reaction, but as Fox began to return the prodding with her own nose, he became distracted from his feelings. Her cold nose was a bit of a shock to his sensitive hip - not to say he was old and that it hurt, but more that the chilling wetness upon her snout was making him realize how ticklish he was. Wolves didn't often get tickled. He squirmed away from her touch after the second round of her poking, making a small murmuring noise that was almost laughter; something that he held back.

Njal was about to return the favor, to turn this back in to a game, but then the sound of a howl in the distance caught his attention. It wasn't an urgent sound, but he was alert. The man's head raised in a prompt manner, eager to lift and join in the howl just because it was instinct, but he did not; instead, Njal watched the land in the direction the sound came from, and then began to stride away from Fox - his limbs taking short strides, slow strides, and he gave the red girl a side glance as if to say, duty calls. His tail batted once before he turned upon the empty land, then picked up speed to abruptly leave his new playmate behind.

[exit!]