Totoka River i'm on my tip toes

wintersbane offers her a solemn nod to her reply to his observation, mirroring what he's thought several times about the whole idea of living on an island ...even if his thoughts are unapologetically and thoroughly colored by his own bias. sounds like there might be a few of those. he ruminates on the subject before he lets it drop, reminding himself firmly: to each their own. if she was willing to make the sacrifices that living on an island sometimes required than that was her business; but she has a choice not to if she decides it's too much.

she repeats the word back to him and it's a strange moment to him. typically, repeating a name of something is usually only when it's a person's name. but 'tundrian' is his ancestry running so deeply in his veins and genetics that is all but cancels arturo's own coywolf heritage out; and while wintersbane thinks there is nothing of the fearghal monarch in him he's wrong. there is plenty of arturo intricately laced within his personality, combined as it was with the personalities of those whose guardianship he'd flitted between as a runaway.

ah gee, y'know i'm running pretty late... he teases before he barks out a low laugh. i'm kidding. i'm kidding, he adds quickly in case she misinterprets his ( sometimes sardonic ) sense of humor for sincerity. i'll never say no to a spar. he tells her with a flash of a grin and a stretch to loosen his muscles, despite that the tension that he usually feels distinctly between the junction of his shoulders during a first meeting of any kind has already been eased.