Firefly Glen 4 "Oh"s, sweet love of mine

@Howl - Firefly Glen

Today Wraen's exploring mission had taken her back to the place, where she had first met Charon. She had learned afterwards that this was not a mere coincidence, because, if a place is called Firefly (almost like fairies) Glen, then miracles happening is a must. Sure - she had not come here in search for such - Wraen's life if a little mundane was perfectly alright, yet a small part of her hoped that perhaps coming here would make an adventure happen.

The place had changed - the greens and yellows of the early summer had been exchanged for a more colorful autumn coat, yet hints of gray and fading yellow here and there told that this glory was not going to last long. Good thing that we don't age that fast... Wraen thought, stopping by a little creek and taking few laps of water. She had walked far and therefore felt thirsty.

Warping his timeline a bit.

---

Howl was still wondering around, moving this way and that and even back tracking where he had once been. But as he entered into the firefly glen everything was new to him. He had never had the chance to visit the glen until now and he was unaware of the places sure beauty once the sun went down. For now it was late afternoon and the sun had not yet begun to set. 

He was still realing over the recent loss of his former mate, but now was simply struggling to live life without her rather then accept her absence. She would be gone forever and there was no changing that. Howl would need to learn how to live his own life again, and recently that meant going back to his old ways. 

He hadn't been a bad guy in the past, but he deffinatly wasn't commitmental when it came to realationships and he was always on the move. He wanted to find a place to settle down, but for now everything was up in the air and anything could happen. 

As he began walking into the glen he could see off in the distance the figure of another wolf. As he approached characteristics became easier to see. A female. With a gray pelt. With brown and whites weaving their way through selects parts of her form. She was rather small and appeared to be young. Pretty. He strode forward hoping that he still had his way with charming the females. Every encounter didn't have to become a fling, but being a gentleman was rare at times and was very appealing at times. He wouldn't deny a girl what she wanted if it came to that.

Afternoon ma'ma." he said greeting her. 

Wraen's keen eyes caught sight of a little toad (or the front part of it, more precisely), burrying himself in the mud. The amphibian was slow and appeared to be rather sleepy, probably due to the low temperatures and the fact that he had decided to go in the hibernation later than the rest of his clan. 

"Hey, little man," she said and moved carefully to eye the creature better. "How are you?" However, if the toad had something to say in the matter, he did not have a chance, because someone else's voice cut through the air and caught Wraen's attention. There was a dark wolf coming in her direction, greeting her rather politely, but that did not make her feel any easier about him. 

"Good evening, mister...?" Wraen returned, eyeing him carefully.

She had been watching something on the ground. Upon further investigation he realized that it was a toad, now slowly hopping away by Howl's arrival. It was only when the toad began to move away did her attention turn to Howl and she greeted him adressing him as mister with a watchful eye.

He though he might have bothered her by disturbing the things that had caught her interest. "Sorry to have scared your friend away." he said light heartedly. He nodded his head slightly and said "Ny name is Howl." he said introducing himself and giving the girl something to call him by other then mister.

"He was not my..." Wraen began, then paused and smiled. "Well... he did not look of the kissable kind, if you know, what I mean," she chuckled, casting her glance at the disappearing figure of the little toad, wondering, if she had missed her chance to save a prince Charming from the terrible curse, or if he was off to find a better candidate for that role. 

"Howl like the wizard," Wraen repeated his name - it suited the wolf somehow. "My name is Wraen, like the bird."

ooc: checked your profile and rewatched "Howl's moving castle". Loved that movie years ago, still like it now. :)

He chuckled lightly as her comment and reference to a childrens story. The kiss from the daughter of an alpha causing the frog to turn back into an alpha of a strong and vastly populated pack. Something pups seemed to wish for before growing up and finding that running a pack wasn't always the most rewarding of tasks. 

She then commented on his name being one similar to a wizards. He was confused. He had never heard his name used in a children's story about a wizard before. "I wouldn't know. I've never heard of such a story." he said with a smile. She then gave the meaning to her name, or the origin of it. Wraen like the wren bird? "The little wren bird? Light gray with the lightly striped and freckled feather patterns." he asked clarifying that it was the bird she was referencing. 

"That's the one," Wraen agreed. As a kid she had sometimes wished that she had been named after birds of prey. For instance, her mom had been Osprey, her uncle - Peregrine, grandmother - March Owl. Grand birds and grand people for that matter. Who had heard about a wren that had achieved anything?

"It is a good story, though not one of my own," she replied, having heard it from a nomadic wolf she had met during the time, when her own family had traveled greatly. "What is your story, Howl?"

His assumption had been correct, though it seemed the tales of the wren weren't ones that matched Wraen's 'story'. She seemed very interested in storys and he wondered if she was a bard or an aspiring one. 

He took a moment to think over what his 'story' might be. "My story? Well. I'd say it's one filled with battle." his early years "A tough decision" his parents tell him to leave them behind. "Intrigue" company of females and... Heartha. "And loss." he said with a faint smile, trying to make things seem ok. 

But he turned the conversation onto her. "So if the story of the wren isn't yours then what is your story?" he asked wondering how creative it would be. 

"Sounds like a good one," Wraen was curious to find out the details behind the carefully chosen definitions of each important part of Howl's life. From the sketch alone it looked like one of the "tough hero in shining armour" story with romance (of course), broken heart (inevitable) and at this point there were only three outcomes possible - he met the next love of his life or have a life changing experience or his story went down-hill and ended tragically. 

"Well, I did not hatch from an egg, I never learned to fly or sing. Hopping from branch to branch is still quite difficult for me - gravity sucks, you know," Wraen named all the reasons why she did not qualify for a "wren". "I am not very fond of bugs and grubs and worms, but I am small, pretty and silly."

As she compared herself to a literal wren Howl laughed as she went along. He pictured a little wolf within a birds nest attempting to do everything a bird would and failing misurably. "You are quite pretty." he agreed as she finished her final statement, looking her over again as he did.

"But you have never learned to sing? Have you tried? I'm sure you have a wonderful voice." he added. It seemed almost natural that someone to intreged by stories would be able to sing and give them a sort of tune. 

Wraen blushed and smiled in a giddy manner at the man, who had given the compliment. It was one thing, when your father thought that you were the most beautiful thing in the world (that did not count, because parents never said a bad word about you - not hers anyway), but it was totally different, when a stranger said so, and she had not even knowingly attempted to fish for the compliments. 

"Sing... if you hold your ears and hearing dear, you definitely do not want to hear me sing," she laughed merrily. She had no ear for music, no knack for singing. Not even the slightest. Even humming was horrible at best. "I do not exaggerate. They will litteraly shrivel up and fall off."

He laughed a kind hearted laugh when she spoke about he not so good singing skills and what her voice might do to her ears. "I'm sure it's not that bad." he said in a tone that wasn't meant to argue against her point, but simply say it must be an exaggeration. Singing wasn't for everyone, but everyone could sing alittle bit. What was a howl if not someone being able to hold a steady note for a long period of time.

"So. If you don't sing, what do you do?" he asked. Wanting to see what kind of story she really had. 

"What do birds usually do..." Wraen said and fell silent for a bit, realizing two things. First - she had no idea, what wrens did for the living. Second - that the question was pretty broad and could cover many topics. And since she had a tendency to get carried away with talking and not noticing, how the other party got bored, uneasy and wanted to sneak quietly way, she had to come up with a very simple solution. 

"Well, I live," she replied and before Howl had got a chance to toss the ball back to her, she asked, "what about you?"

When she asked what is was he did he thought about how boring his life was. Or at least how boring it sounded when described as he was about to. "I fight when I need to. Spar here and there. Hunt. Guard. I'm a bit of a soldier as it were." he said, trying to not sound cocky but ultimatly when talking about strength and fighting it was hard to sound as though one wasn't boasting. 

"Or at least I will be... again. Once I find another pack." he said as a disclaimer. While wondering as a loner there wasn't much to fight over or protect other then himself.

"But asside from being a soldier I spend a fare amount of time meeting others as I scout. None quite as enjoyable as you though." he flirted slightly. 

"Well, brave warrior/hunter/guardian and scout, it is your lucky day," Wraen said with a smile and twinkling eyes. "I have a thing for men in uniforms," and after she said this, it seemed as if her earlier confidence and cheekiness slipped away a little, momentarily revealing a rather young, confused wolf, who was asking herself a very obvious question - what the hell are you doing? Or did this voice of reason belonged to her sister Sarah? Wraen shuddered at this thought and shook her head. Her sister was nowhere around, neither was Terance or anyone - she could act and embarrass herself as much as she wanted.

"So... tell me about the best adventure you have had as of yet," Wraen asked, laying down, crossing her forepaws in front of her and preparing to listen. And with a head tilted slightly to one side, her expression told him - impress me!

Sorry for late reply. I will try and get the ball rolling.

When she said that she had a thing for guys in uniform, Howl took this as a hint that she liked him. Something that often had to be said in an indirect way. And Howl liked her too. She was nice to talk to and as he had already said, she was very pretty. But when she laid down and asked him another question about his adventures he thought that talking was a bit anticlimactic.
 
“Ok” he began, as though he was going to start telling a tale. But he had other plans in mind as he laid down beside her, grazing his fur against hers. And instead of continuing with a story he leaned over to kiss her on the cheek.

Wraen in all her innocence had believed that, when Howl agreed to tell her the tales of his adventures, that it would go in a chivalrous way. Like in those stories, where brave knights courted their ladies for a very long time, before they even dared to touch them. Either the big, dark and suddenly scary male had not read the bible of knight-hood or the stories had left some important bits out. 

She froze the moment he crossed the line of her personal space and her lip curled up and she let out a brief rumbling growl, when he touched her. Whatever the rule-book said about an approriate response to other's advances, Wraen believed that she had every right to tell the other that she was not comfortable. "I don't think I like this kind of story," she told him coldly, getting up and taking several steps away from him, keeping her gaze locked on the man all the time to see, what he was about to do next.

Even though he had been straight forward with his intention to kiss her cheek, he pulled back afterwards hearing her growls towards him. It couldn't have been shock or anger at that moment, but in either case she stood up and took many steps back and away from him. He wouldn't persist any further, that's not who he was. Even though the subject was often on his mind now adays, he wasn't one to force it and making her feel uncomforable was the furthest things from what he wanted.

So he didn't follow her as she stepped back he simply stood up faceing her with his head down. "Sorry for my boldness." he apologized. With his head down and the a pit of shame in his gut for having made her feel uncomforable he began to think of why he was doing this in the first place. Why he had been so eager to kiss her in the first place. It was true that he enjoyed what little company they had had together and he thought that she was pretty, but there was something more to it then that. Something having to do with Heartha. 

It made him sick to think of her in this moment. The act that he was thinking of with her on his mind. Wraen then spoke, saying that she didn't like this story, causing him to remember her question in the first place before he had caused her to back away. "I'm not sure I like it much either... Again I'm sorry." he was truly apologetic, but he wasn't pleading for her forgiveness. Another day he might have been able to cool the situation with a cool line, but it didn't seem right.

"I could say 'I couldn't help myself, because you're so beautiful, or some other "smooth" line. But it would be more then indecent." he admitted. 

Howl had got her stern message and kept his distance. He also looked genuinely sorry for what he had done and Wraen felt a sudden pang of guilt for over-reacting, because he had not done anything bad, but just... well, crossed a boundary that she had not allowed yet to pass. Or did he need permission? She was all confused, how these things worked, and what was worse - there was no one else really, who she could ask the right questions. Wraen was noticing the opposite sex now more than before, some made her feel more giddy and silly than others and, since she could not keep all these emotions bottled in forever, she would be more than happy to act, if someone was there to explain the rules, how these things worked. 

In other words - where was mom, when you needed her, huh?

"Indecent - yes - but that does sound nice and flattering," Wraen replied, now a bit more warmly than before. "Though that is not necessarily true about me. Did you have your heart broken?" she asked next, remembering that at least in one other occasion she had met a person, who had been very inclined about sharing her love-life stories with her. And if this guy wanted a release, then she would offer a polite and non-judgemental ear to listen to. Whether she would offer a shoulder to cry on, that would be decided later. "I can listen and not ask questions."

He was happy to know that his apology had soothed her down, at least enough that she no longer seemed agressive towards him. But he still felt bad for his actions, and the reasons as to why he had done them. Reasons that he still couldn't quite understand. All he really knew for now was that they weren't good excuses for his behavior. 

He thought it was strange that she suspected his heart had been broken. Did those with broken hearts often seek out the company of others. He wasn't even sure if he could consider it heart break. He had loved her and lost her, but through no action of either of them. "No, not heart broken. I just lost someone recently." he clarified not quite willing to reveal anymore details. 

Wraen missed the hint that Howl was not very willing on explaining any more about the ordeal than he already had. Her eyes lit up, when her keen "nose" for good stories picked up a good scent in that one sentence, therefore just the same way as a bloodhound on, who has just found a track, she was very keen on finding out more. 

"You were close, weren't you?" she suggested. "Or she did not feel the same way about you? Happened to me once - I know, how bad that hurts."

He didn't want to go and explain the details, but a part of him felt as though he owed her. Maybe not an explaination, but at least answers to her general questions. Ones that could be answered with a yes or no. "We were close, yes. But we felt the same. Like I said, no heart break." at least not in the traditional sence. 

Wraen felt a little disappointment - the kind a child feels, when he has expected candy (though no one promissed) and had not got any. In this case she had not heard the story - rather a very vague explanation. The good thing - though apparently a tender subject for Howl - he did not seem too sad about it either. Not like she had been, when her peer had turned her down. 

"I think that there is very little else left for us to talk here," she concluded, stretching first and then preparing to leave for home. "I wish you the very best and hope that you find, what you are looking for," part of her sincerely meant, what she had said. The other part, however, did not really care. It was not very likely that she would meet this fellow again.