Emberwood am i bleeding from the storm?

@Delight
forward dated to 4/12!
yes he's singing fun. bc I don't take my wolves seriously at all LMAO

 

He was far from his home now-- the search for Lennon had so far been fruitless. Some streak of stubbornness, surely, drove him on still, ever-further from the safety of his borders. Or, maybe he could just admit his desperation. He wouldn't, but it was nice to occasionally entertain the idea of dealing with his emotions in healthy ways, at least.
The Governor crept from his temporary shelter, a hollow, rotting fallen log, with an exaggerated stretch of his limbs. A sigh escaped him, gaze drifting skyward. It was a crisp morning, lively and beautiful with the onset of spring. One he might have liked to share with Lennon.
Ali spared no thought for that now; without realizing, the boy had taken to humming his greeting to the world. Gradually the quiet notes morphed, and soon he was singing softly to none but himself.
If you're lost and alone, or you're sinking like a stone,
Carry on
May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground
Carry on
The boy paused a beat, tilting his muzzle upwards as he continued more quietly.
Woah, my head is on fire, but my legs are fine. The words trailed off to a lilting half-whisper: After all, they are mine.

ooc: phone post for your phone post :p 

he shouldn't tread as far as he does but. he doesn't want to be back yet, still feeling raw and roughshod. ah, well, look at him: grown enough to recognize the pack won't crumble without him. maybe a little sad that's the case. (hey delight, how many of your problems are self created?)

he needs to think.

he can't think with all that singing. who's singing? the saturnine knight slows his pace, creeping forward curiously toward the stranger's voice. they're not hard to find: delight chuffs cautiously, hesitant to interrupt their (for he can't quite tell yet their gender) ... whatever it is theyre doing, even as he comes close enough to be seen.

o wow look @ me formatting this finally

 

The boy allowed his song to fade back to a gentle hum, oblivious to the approaching presence for the moment. A chuff startled Ali from his thoughts, then; a soft yelp slipped from him as he flinched away. Immediately his ears flattened with shame. He turned to the stranger, tail wagging despite his embarrassment.
Oh, hi there. Alarian tilted his head, ears perked. At first glance, the strange wolf was androgynous-- it reminded him of himself, and he relaxed slightly at the thought. After a couple beats it became obvious to him that the wolf was male. He noted his features with interest; elegant in a feminine way, he thought, and it rather suited the stranger.
He tried to ignore the striking clarity in the dark male's gaze, a sharpness to the twin moons sparking the slightest bit of discomfort. Alarian disliked feeling transparent, but perhaps it was only that-- a feeling.
Ali remembered then what the stranger had stumbled into. Another wave of shame assaulted him, and he found himself speaking again before he could stop it.
Was that, uh, bothering you? He flicked one ear back, slightly distressed. I'm sorry.

they - he? - yes, he -- funny, delight doesn't meet a lot of guys like him -- he looks rather sheepish and the morwinyon feels momentarily bad for disrupting his weird singing. he glances away, his own face turning embarrassed, a frown gathered in the corner of his mouth. 

"nah," delight answers, "i was just, uh, curious. you've got a nice voice." actually, he has no idea if the stranger does or not, he's not got an ear for that sort of thing -- but it seems like the right thing to say to smooth things over. worried that his awkward intrusion will chase the boy away (god he does not want to be alone right now) delight clears his throat, taking a seat. "i'm delight," he introduces, "sorry for, uminterrupting you."

Alarian was undeniably intrigued by the reaction he received; he could be oblivious, but right now he was not, and perhaps better off for it. The stranger's discomfort seemed obvious, but he was covering-- or trying to. Ali went with it; he didn't want to upset the already-frowning male.
Oh, thank you. He tried-- and failed-- to mask the shyness to his tone.
Though he had not thought it when first seeing him, Alarian suddenly decided, watching his expression sour, that the other boy was cute. It was a strange thought, even for him-- since when was a grump attractive? He shoved it away, not entirely successful in the endeavor.
Delight. It wasn't what Ali would have named him, admittedly, but--
That's a pretty name. It came out quiet, a thought unintentionally spoken aloud. He was making this worse. I mean-- um, it's nice to meet you. I'm Alarian.
Eager to leave the awkwardness of these initial moments behind, the boy was quick to move on. Do you live around here?
Delight smelled of pack, he realized, but not of Morningside; Alarian knew of no other packs in the area, but he knew there were more. Grumpy cuteness aside, perhaps Delight knew something useful.

mato had taken him in with his confidence, with his hand extended to pull delight from the horror of his recent history. this boy is not like that at all, and yet he cannot help but be charmed (and well, okay, the compliment helps, it's been a while since he was able to preen his ego and he's always liked it when his name is well met and not instantly mocked.)

"alarian," delight repeats, tilting his head slightly. the embarrassment fades off his face into something sharper -- not mean, intrigued. "i do," he answers, briefly indicating the direction tindome lay with his nose, "a pack named tindómë. what about you?" he can smell the pack on the other (pity, he likes when he can bring strangers home) but it isn't sunspire or any of the others he vaguely scented on his journey to the vale. for a moment delight worries that he's from that group queenie and jomyo and the sunspire wolves got into a fight with, but he quickly shoves that aside -- alarian looks too small and shy to be from some aggressive interlopers group. 

and if he's wrong, well. he'll deal with that later.

He relaxed, the immediate tension leaving him fully as Delight explained where he was from. Tindómë-- he marveled at the foreign word, wondered about the meaning behind it. He didn't ask now, though; he was suddenly distracted by a curiosity he could not entirely define. The pack didn't interest him so much as the individual before him, though he would surely question the other boy on both if allowed.
I live far. Alarian admitted, tilting his own muzzle in the opposite direction. My home is The Bracken Sanctuary. I'm kind of... looking for someone right now.
He paused a beat, unwilling to bring up Lennon directly for reasons he could not explain. His gaze flitted back to the direction Delight had pointed. I heard there was a war a few months ago-- in the valley on the other side of these mountains. Nasty wolves, apparently.
Ali finished the sentence with a curious, almost questioning glance at Delight. Had his pack seen this war?

he tucks 'bracken sanctuary' away quietly, always pleased to learn the name of another pack and to have the chance to gather a little more history. delight's never traveled the direction alarian points (well, he's barely traveled aside from the line between king elk forest and the vale). 

all too familiar with looking for someone, he makes a sympathetic sound (a sort of cluck of the tongue) and asks, "what do they look like?" in his experience aksing around doesn't do much to help find anyone, but there's always a chance, and at least he'll be able to keep a look out. 

but alarian changes the subject, bringing up something more interesting (sorry) than a missing packmate delight's probably never seen. "a war?" he asks, a little incredulously. they really were secluded if they'd somehow missed a whole war -- but oh, it must've been on the other side of the mountains. "d'you know who was involved?" he thinks to add a beat later, wondering if he's at least aware of any of the players.

Ali folded slightly under Delight's gaze, at his noise of sympathy; the boy's eyes averted for a moment as he adjusted the mask he used clumsily to hide his pain. He didn't want to answer the question the followed. It was too painful, and pointless anyway-- he'd never find Lennon, he knew.
He's tall, Came the reluctantly murmured answer. His voice trembled only a little, and he was briefly proud of the fact. Dark and handsome. Lennon.
The moment of vulnerability, however slight, passed quickly. He would not wear his grief for the other boy to see, not for long. Suddenly self-conscious, he reminded himself it was also rather unbecoming. The thought frazzled him enough that he didn't question the desire to impress Delight.
Well, he was doing a poor job of it either way.
Some wolves down south in the valley instigated it, I think. I met a wolf from the Morningside pack; I believe the pack fled the valley because of the southern wolves and the war. He mentioned Caldera wolves too, and a place called Moonspear. I don't know which side either was on. The boy explained, undeniably pleased that Delight was interested in the information. My group left the valley for the same reason. We had our own issues on this side of the mountain, though. Wolves around here seem... hostile. To put it lightly. Well-- not all of them.
He paused. The only option for us was to go east. We found Morningside there, too, and safe.

oh, a war and some romance. delight listens to the details of both attentively, his gaze keen. moonspear he remembers vaguely, jomyo having mentioned something about their scouts once, and caldera -- caldera earns a rather unimpressed snort from the morwinyon. "i know about redhawk caldera," delight says, deciding he definitely sides with whoever was against them, "one of our founding members resided with them for a time. they suffered a food shortage and chose to deny him the chance to eat because he was not from their bloodline." (that burke's particular telling of the story is heavily biased, of course, does not factor into delight's perception -- he agrees with burke, rest in peace: fuck redhawk caldera). 

thinking about it, he wonders if cicero and his boys were involved in this war alarian speaks of. cicero's injuries had been severe and strange, and he'd not investigated deeply into the odd circumstances of their arrival -- but cicero had known burke and malice. maybe they were also from the caldera? if he has a chance, he should ask them about it. (ugh.)

"morningside helped one of ours when she was hurt," he agrees vaguely, "i like them -- it's good to know they moved safely. tindómë is neighbors with a pack as well -- sunspire, they live ... er, in the sunspire. they're great too." and he thinks again of the boys and feels guilty, but that's neither here nor there right now. 

clearing his throat, he adds, "i haven't seen anyone like your lennon, sorry." delight can guess at the nature of their relationship (or at least.. alarian's proclivities) based on how he's described him, and he feels another pang of sympathy, though he'd not share why. he does say vaguely, "it's rough," and leaves it at that, hoping alarian gets the memo.

Alarian's ears perked at Delight's mention of knowing the wolves Aditya had spoken of-- Redhawk Caldera. Interesting. One ear cocked back at the other boy's story; he thought then that Bracken Sanctuary would never do something like that. He would never do that-- but perhaps that was obvious.
That's horrible. He murmured.
Then the conversation had shifted to Morningside, and Ali was not disappointed. Hearing of the pack's kindness, he felt justified in his immediate judgment of them-- they were to be trusted. The information about Tindome's neighbor pack was not unwelcome, either.
When Delight finally addressed what he had said about Lennon-- really, he had half-hoped he wouldn't-- Ali decided he was a strange creature. He liked him. The boy offered a smile; it was a little sad, a little sympathetic, and as genuine as any gesture from him. It was perhaps his downfall that he knew no other way.
I don't think I'll find him. He admitted, but he turned it quickly to something lighter. I'll have to start back tomorrow-- Lennon was our leader, but after he left, well... I kind of take care of things, now. Or, I try to.

delight's eyebrows nearly shoot off his face they raise so quickly. it's not something he'd admitted feeling out loud, but: "i can relate," he admits, glancing away. his expression turns darker. "our first morwi-- leader -- stepped down right after promoting me. i've kept things together because -- well, because i love him and i don't want to fail him. he's not gone physically, but..."

realising how much he's just said, the androgyne stops, blushing deep underneath his dark fur. "uhhh," he says inelegantly, so so so so embarrassed, ears flat against his skull, "anyway, uh, that is to say, i can relate." good save.

hell.

The change in Delight's expression both startled and fascinated him. For a moment he was caught in watching the boy's narrow features shift. Something stirred achingly in Ali's chest as the other spoke, and he suddenly wished to reach out physically.
But he didn't. Instead he watched Delight with soft eyes, waiting for the moment he fell silent. He thought of Lennon, of how relieved he was now that his former lover had left-- at least he was given closure. Delight's fate could easily have been his own, he knew.
I'm sorry, Delight. It was quiet, and for a few beats after that he remained silent. I-- thank you. For telling me. I know it's... not easy.
He sensed Delight's shame, then, and sought to ease it, though his methods weren't quite conventional. You know, we could always run away; go up north, join a gang, become thieving degenerates.

secretly delight hopes the earth will crack open right beneath his paws and swallow him whole. for a guy who's so prone to oversharing he is constantly, fiercely overwhelmed and embarrassed by it. slowly he looks back at alarian's face, horrified by what he might find there.

well. he doesn't look put off and though that expression skirts too close to pity for delight's taste, it could be worse. "um," he says dumbly, trying to think of a quick recovery -- and then the other throws him a lifeline. he barks a laugh. "not that i haven't thought about it, but i'm not built for degeneracy," the androgyne quips back, making a vague gesture toward his delicate form. "let's go south instead and retire to a beach side estate," he offers back mischeviously, the tension now fully broken.

Alarian was immediately pleased with the other boy's response, finding his own relief in the sound of Delight's laugh. His tail swished behind him now, gaze instinctively drifting in the direction of the coast.
I like the beach. He agreed, recalling the sea witch he had met. Suddenly, his nose wrinkled in mock distaste. But I'm making you deal with the crabs.
The Governor looked back to Delight, gaze darkening from sandy to deep gold as the lighting shifted. Though he thought little of it now, later the boy would wonder at these circumstances. Later, he would find renewed intrigue-- a desire to find the boy again, to marvel at his uniqueness and at the tragic story they shared. But he didn't think about that now.
Delight, Ali began, testing the name again on his tongue. Perhaps it was fitting after all. Do you want to, um, hunt with me?
Already he was kicking himself internally, one ear slicked against his skull in shame. How awkward could he get? His gaze flitted to the ground for a few beats before he dared glance up to see Delight's reaction. The boy wouldn't have been surprised if his offer was rejected, bumbling as he was; he just didn't want this to end. Not yet.

ooc: wanna fade this one?

--

delight's never been to the beach himself. it doesn't sound all that bad, though, "what's a crab?" he asks suspiciously, his eyes narrowing slightly. 

alarian's offer comes before he can get an answer. he thinks for a moment and then shrugs and smiles slightly. "yeah, sure," the morwinyon agrees, his tail flicking behind him. the last time he hunted with a near stranger he was nearly assaulted by a horrible cryptid -- but that was ages ago, it feels like. and truth be told, he wants to steal a little more of alarian's time. "there's plenty by the vale," he says to this affect, "you can come visit whenever, too."

archivinggg

The boy paused when Delight asked what a crab was, momentarily thrown off; had he never seen one, or did he simply not know the name? He was about to explain, but then— then he noticed the other boy's faint smile, and the words died at the tip of his tongue. For once, there was no sudden, desperate urge to ramble on, and Alarian was grateful for it. The small moment— even if it was only a moment to him, it counted!— passed quietly, and Ali only returned the smile.
Of course, the invitation made things worse. Something about this wolf struck him in ways— but those were ways he would never again allow to happen so quickly. It had been foolish the first time.
I will. He said it lightly, but to him it was a promise. Ali gestured for the other to follow him, and prepared to tell him all about the horrors of crabs as they hunted.