Redtail Rise not now mom, i'm busy being GAY on the INTERNET

Mature Content Warning

This thread has been marked as mature. By reading and/or participating in this thread, you acknowledge that you are of age or have permission from your parents to do so.

The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: just gals being pals

@Aviana

There is some weird tension relieved when Furi finds out Wildfire had puppies. Hopefully it’ll be enough to distract Blixen and, more importantly, Wildfire and she can maybe figure out what to do. Part of her expects Blixen to have said something already, but the mother too pregnant (now too busy dealing with puppies), to come after her.
 
Duty keeps her on the borders and now they have something to protect (not that their own territory isn’t enough, but this seems delicate). Furi is weirdly eager to see them but you won’t catch her near the den any time soon, as much as she’d desire.
 
After the howl is made, and Furi has made a round on the eastern border, she slips out of the territory again and though she normally heads for the tangle, this time she moves around and finds the rise on the other side. Much of this territory is unfamiliar to her but it’s enough of a distraction so she can pay attention to what she’s doing and keep quiet lest someone spot her.  
 
But melting snow stops for no one.
 
A rock comes loose beneath her feet in a particular slick spot of stone, causing her to lose balance and slip down a steep decline. Her heart drops into her butt the moment the ground is gone from beneath her and she lands with a loud oof. It takes several more seconds for her to move, more stunned than anything, but after a maneuver from each limb, she releases a weighted breath and makes an attempt to stand up on now-shaken legs.

Tags for visibility For timeline purposes, set after this thread

Aviana's blue eyes were dull as she left the secure borders of Morningside. She felt stupid, believing even for a moment that @Shale might be interested in her. It was plainly obvious by he and @Pema's scents mingled together. They may have faded a bit, but Aviana wasn't stupid. She knew what those smells meant. That Shale had mated with Pema. Was she so dense that she didn't see they were into each other? 

She clenched her jaws and narrowed her eyes. She would not cry. She was a mature adult wolf, and losing the first crush she could ever remember having was not something she would shed tears over. She felt like a pup who had just had her heart broken, instead of a five year old, weathered wolf. Then again, the experience Aviana had in her past of males hadn't exactly set her up for a great love life. She shook her head. She would not allow the past into her present. She had decided that before coming back to Seb's pack. The only thing she wished was that she would have gotten over it a long time ago. 

She might not have even really cared if Grayday hadn't just given her permission to breed. But, she didn't think Shale was her only option. Ulysses had been kind and polite when she met him, and even though they had only met once, she would take the possibility. So, she set out to find him.

With a sigh, she entered the forest, not really paying attention to where she was going. Not very smart for a female in heat. But, having been through this several times before, she mostly ignored the symptoms of it. A ruckus caused her to come out of her trance. Her ears perked as she watched a wolf fall to the ground. She gasped, and ran towards the female, thinking the worst. Thankfully, she started to move as Aviana halted next to her. Are you okay? she asked, the worry evident in her voice.

Very suddenly, another is upon her before she’s had enough time to really process what happened. Ears slick back and she flashes her teeth in warning, shuffling so she can put distance between herself and the woman that came up next to her. There’s no aggression or display of violence in the next several seconds so Furi forces herself to relax, realizing she’s been spoken to—“uhh…” she dumbly trails off—and starts to slowly stand and look over, realizing the next conflicting emotion isn’t one she can put a paw on right away.
 
Her nose wrinkles and she sneezes once, shaking out her fur and taking a few steps away so she can gather herself.
 
“Yeah, yeah,” she says, glancing up as she attempts to hide how shaken she is. Furi glances up the incline to see the trail over her fall, sloppy attempts to correct it the whole way down. She adjusts her posture a little with a single step but wince against the strain it puts on her muscles. “Surprised, I guess,” she mumbles, somewhat embarrassed as her nose continues to work and decipher the sweet scent of the female. It vaguely reminds her of Drageda lately, and a few months ago, but she stayed away then, but it creates a new tightness in her chest she isn’t ready to deal with something new.

The flash of canines had Aviana switching into reverse and she scrambled back several feet. She hadn't meant to surprise the other wolf, but as her brain kicked in, she realized she probably would have reacted the same way as she did. Aviana sat back on her haunches, her gaze averted from other female in an effort to prove that she wasn't here to hurt her.

She flinched at the sneeze, as it surprised her, but she didn't move from her spot. I'm sorry I came up on you like that. I wasn't thinking, she apologized. It was obvious that the other female was uncomfortable with her presence, so Aviana stood. I'll leave you be, she said softly as she turned to leave.

The other sits back and Fur glances away, feeling the threat between them dissipate. The other offers to go and Furi has barely caught her breath and really assessed the situation but her mind feels frantic and dizzy still that she jerks when the other turns. 

”You-you don’t have to,” she offers and starts to stand but she winces when she puts pressure on her front right paw. Still, she can bear wait on it but she doesn’t try to stop the woman if she doesn’t want to stay.

The voice stops Aviana in her tracks, and she turns back towards the other female. She looked visibly shaken, and Aviana didn't think it would be a good idea to leave her here all alone like that. And, since she seemed okay with her presence, Aviana sat back down on her haunches. 

I'm Aviana, she offered.  I'm with the Morningside pack. We have a medic, if you might need one. She didn't think Pema would mind helping the other girl out.

The other stops in her tracks as if to consider and Furi looks over, watching as she slowly sits back down. She doesn’t know why the other wolf smells the way she does (it is coming from her, right?) but it’s not wholly unpleasant. It just seems... to shift things. The longer Aviana (what a pretty name) sits there, she’s able to focus. 

”I’m Furi,” she returns the introduction with a thump of her tail. ”From Drageda,” she adds with a point of her muzzle over the rise toward the coast. 

Before answering the option of a medic—something she’s compelled to say yes to only because her new friend suggested it—she tries a second time. Mostly she wants to get out of wet ground and muddy snow and take care of what has smeared over her backside. God, she must look terrible. Her cheeks burn with embarrassment and she glances away to hide it and inhaled a deep breath, taking a step forward. 

Ow. But it’s not broken. Furi licks her lips and shakes her head a beat later, deciding against it. ”Nothing’s broken, I don’t think,” she assures (more for herself) and offers a little smile and wave of her tail. She forces all four limbs to bear their appropriate weight despite the strain on the muscle and slight swelling of one ankle.

The other female offers her name and her pack. Drageda, she repeated. I don't think I've heard of them, she added thoughtfully. Well, seeing as how she was a homebody that didn't go very far beyond the packlands, it would make sense that she hadn't heard of them. 

She watched as Furi carefully tried her weight on her leg, and nodded to her assessment. If it was, you'd know it, she said confidently. It could just be a sprain that will clear up in a couple of days, she hoped anyways. But, she would need to rest for a bit, in Aviana's opinion. Maybe Furi would hang out with her a bit. 

So, what brings you this way? she asked, trying to make conversation. She didn't think about how her heat might have an affect on the other girl, or even if she noticed it.

Having never come this far, it doesn’t surprise her Aviana doesn’t know about Drageda. It’s a while new world over here, away from the heavy salt of the sea. Morningside doesn’t ring a bell (but she’s probably forgotten that part of the introduction) so she just smiles and brushes it off. As long as no one gets too close, especially with war on the horizon, Drageda won’t have a problem with anyone. 

Aviana assures her that she’d know if it was broken. She thinks of Portia and her healing leg but she can’t begin to imagine what that must feel like. If this strain feels like this, well, she doesn’t ever want to feel the other option. ”Okay,” she says quietly and feels a quiver start in her leg. She doesn’t allow it any ease—she has to prove she’s tough enough—and offers another strained smile. ”I will,” she decides, though in this moment she doesn’t concede. 

Once she’s back home on the coast, she’ll give it the proper rest and maybe talk to Portia. She has a lot of questions that she’s far too embarrassed to ask Aviana, especially considering the difference in air around them. Her heart feels a-flutter though a speck of guilt attempt to creep on her mind, reminding her of Blixen and Rose. Her brows knit together and she shrugs, trying to ignore them. ”I just... needed to get away is all. I haven’t been this way before,” she decides is the safest answer. 

Furi doesn’t know what it is but she feels the need to say something else, to find out whatever she can about Aviana and find out what she likes most. The swelling in her chest only increases, causing more tension as it threatens to burst into nothing but her own teenage hormones. 

”You have pretty eyes,” she blurts before she has time to consider what she wants to say. Pale green eyes widen in surprise but tries to dial it back a bit. Maybe it isn’t a big deal.

It seemed Furi needed to get away, and Aviana wondered why, but she got the impression that if Furi wanted to say, she would have. So, she didn't press it. I hadn't either, before the pack moved here a few weeks back. Thankfully, the spot was growing on her. What's the coast like? she asked. She hadn't been out that way, and had never seen the ocean.

The compliment caught her off guard, and her own eyes widened in surprise. She looked a little sheepish, but gave a soft smile. Thank you, she replied. It was rare she got compliments from anyone, and it made it feel all the more special. Her tail wagged as she thought about giving Furi a compliment. I love the colors of your fur, she said honestly. Very unique. They seemed to fade in and out as they went along. Aviana hadn't seen anything like it before.

As Aviana elaborates, Furi learns she hasn’t been here too long. A few weeks at best. No wonder she doesn’t know anything about them. They’ve had a lot going on with their next door neighbors that she’s had little time to consider anyone else. ”How come the pack moved?” she asks. She hadn’t been on her birth pack long enough to understand their dynamic but Drageda holds steadfast to the cliffs and she can’t imagine a reason for them to leave. 

Besides, she’s grown to like the coast. 

”The coast is nice. The sounds are... relaxing? I guess,” she says, moving away from the spot but sticks close to the sitting wolf. ”Though it’s salty... makes my fur feel heavy sometimes and...” she trails off, not sure what she wants to say. Furi shakes out her fur then as she thinks about it, becoming aware of the extra weight as she mentions it. 

Her cheeks burn bright red (she’s never more thankful for dark fur) and glances away at the mention of her fur. Blixen has pointed it out once, when it changed in her absence, and she scarcely remembers it being anything else. The gradual change had swept by under the radar but she glances over her side to see. ”I had black fur when I was a puppy and it... changed,” she tells her with a sweep of her tail. Her eyes brighten a little and she steps forward. ”It still smells like the coast, if you... um. want to smell?” she offers sheepishly. That’s not a weird offer, right?

When asked about why they moved, Aviana was glad she had an answer. It wasn't often packs moved unless they were acted upon by an outside force, usually another pack. Grayday likes to move the pack with the seasons to give us the best chance at survival, she explained. Winter in one place, summer in another. I'm more used to forests, so the plains take some getting use to, but I like them. She was looking forward to watching the flowers bloom, for sure.

Her ears perked as Furi described the coastline. She wondered what kind of sounds there were, not realizing the ocean was one big sound all of its own. She was about to ask what salt tasted like when Furi stood and offered her coat up as something to smell. Sure, she replied easily, not thinking it weird. Tail wagging, she stood, closing the distance between them. She stopped so their shoulders were parallel to each other, and sniffed gingerly at Furi's coat. I haven't smelled anything like that before, she admitted, before stepping back.

At the mention of Grayday, her ears twitch and head tilts slightly to one side. It takes a few seconds to recollect but by then they’ve moved on. Aviana steps up and she sucks in a gust of air, forgetting everything they’d been talking about until that point. 

Furi swallows thickly as Aviana gets closer and reaches  over to smell her. She’s inclined to lean in but doesn’t allow herself, uncertain. The ticking time bomb in her chest causes everything to tighten and she’s sure she’ll explode at any moment. When she steps back, Furi releases the heavy breath she’s forgotten about. ”You smell nice,” shakily she confesses, skin hot beneath her coat and she looks away from her face. ”It’s... it’s different.”

Aviana was a pro at reading other wolves' body language, though she didn't usually feel the need to do it with females. It had always been with males, to gauge their sincerity and whether or not they were going to hurt her. But, glancing at Furi, Aviana could tell she seemed a little tense, but not angry. 

At the complement of her smell, she got a little insight. Oh, yeah... I'm in heat, she admitted as she sat back on her haunches. She would have thought the other female would know what that was, but if she was young enough, she might not have experienced it herself yet. Does it make you uncomfortable? she asked. If it did, Aviana would excuse herself.

”Oh,” she says, mostly because she doesn’t know what else to say. The next question catches her off guard and she looks up, shifting a little and decides maybe she should sit too. ”Um, no,” she answers and starts to fidget with her feet before finally sitting down. It takes a little pressure off her ankle, forgetting she’d been trying to show she didn’t need the rest. ”I mean, I don’t know,” she blurts awkwardly. 

The fun think about growing up part of your childhood without parents, things get missed. She’d never considered Eske much of a mother, given how young she seemed too. Furi doesn’t have a clue on the things she’s missed without someone to help guide her until too late. 

”I don’t really know what that is,” she finally decides to say after consideration. She can’t explain the shame she feels for not knowing. Blixen said something about it once, long ago, but neither of them really understood then either. Furi wants to ask more questions but she doesn’t know where to start and she also doesn’t want to embarrass herself any further.

While Furi verbally said it was okay, Aviana watched her fidget and knew there must have been some part of her that was uncomfortable, though she didn't know why exactly. She thought it was a natural thing for females to do, and it didn't affect them like it did males.

She got her answer when Furi asked her what it was. So, she must have been young to not know. Well, I'm not sure how much detail you want, she began. But, basically it's changes to a female's body that happens once a year to tell males that you're ready to breed, she explained. It usually starts when you're about two years old. The scent is strong, as you can tell, she added.

Aviana starts to answers, though it doesn’t sound like all the information. How much more details are there she’s not being told? Maybe she doesn’t want to explain (maybe Furi doesn’t want to understand it). But regardless, she listens to what she’s told and her face scrunches up at the thought. Aviana’s scent is pleasant and she can’t stop the draw to her. Perhaps it impacts males differently, but she just knows she likes it in a way she can’t put to words. 

But did that mean... she’d go through it? For males? She thinks briefly on Heda and Wildfire, and the slight confusion that comes with that—that was normal, at least to her—but she’s far more perplexed than she’d been a few moments ago. Having never really thought about kids of her own (maybe she just assumed it would make sense when it happened), she’s not had a lot of time for this and she and Blixen has... had such a weird relationship. 

”What is it like?” she asks, cautiously, as the wind shifts and a waft overcomes her. Is that why she feels weird? Is it not supposed to? All these extra questions she tucks away for another day, despite wanting answers now, but something keeps them from coming to fruition.

Furi seemed to want more information, and Aviana was happy to oblige. She assumed the other female would eventually go into heat herself, and it was always better to be prepared. It can be an intense feeling, especially at first, she admitted. Mostly, you just feel this... urge to mate, and it can be hard to ignore. Because of her past, Aviana had become a pro at ignoring the needs of her body. 

You could choose not to ignore it, and to mate. It's just whatever you are comfortable with, she went on. She attempted to keep her voice even and calm, as she could tell this might be a bit awkward for Furi. Aviana was not ignorant, though. She knew some females who would go with what their body wanted, and mate with whoever might come along. Because she wanted pups this year, and didn't have a mate, it would be Aviana's only choice.

Her brows knit together in confusion as it is explained to her. It sounds like she has… options if it were to happen—and by the sound of it, she can’t avoid it—and so she is silent for a long moment after Aviana goes quiet. At first, she doesn’t know how to wrap her head around what she’s been told and all the questions building up behind her teeth are on pause, uncomfortable asking a stranger these things. She already has her own frustration with how the scent is impacting her, wanting to be closer to Aviana but not necessarily knowing… why.
 
“With a boy?” she asks, feeling childish a beat later. Her cheeks burn again, pale green eyes resting on the woman’s shoulder. “Does it have to be?” she tentatively asks a beat later. Finding out two women could be together had been an eye-opener, as if the world made sense, but somehow what Aviana is telling her seems to contradict all that. “Can’t… a girl…” she pauses, scrambling for words and finding herself empty and lost instead.

Aviana hadn't really expected the next question, and was caught a little off guard by it. She was quiet as Furi tried to ask the question she wanted the answer to. Well, no, she began. If you aren't attracted to males, then a female could make you happy, she said. But, if you want puppies, then it would have to be with a male, she explained.

She wondered then, if Furi might be attracted to females instead of males. Why else would she ask that question? And did that mean Aviana's heat was affecting her more than she thought it was? Maybe that was why Furi seemed uncomfortable. Not so much with the subject, but with how she was feeling. How are you feeling? she asked softly.

The explanation, in a way, makes her feel a bit better. She’s never need validation from a stranger before but somehow this seems different. Sensitive. Wolves in Drageda don’t seem to care one way or the other who is with who, their very own commander has a woman for a mate too, and children. Things begin to piece together, falling into place, and she opens her mouth to say something about it, to clarify what she’s just been told but the information about her leader seems private and so she doesn’t bring it up.
 
Wildfire carried the children this year, and by the looks of Blixen, so she did last year, but while pieces had fallen together, she’s still filled with questions she doesn’t know how to put words to.
 
How are you feeling?
 
“I don’t know,” she says, almost mumbling the words. She wants to be able to say what she feels but there isn’t a language for it. “I… should I not… like how you smell?” she carefully asks, eyes averting to the ground.

She watched silently as Furi's mouth opened, as if she was going to say something, but she shut it before any words were voiced. Aviana didn't want to push her into asking something she wasn't comfortable with asking. She did admit that she didn't know how she was feeling, and Aviana remained quiet, figuring she needed the time to sort through her thoughts.

She considered Furi's next question. She didn't want to steer the female into feeling any which way, since there was nothing wrong with how she was feeling. If it's how you feel, it's how you feel, she replied softly. No one can tell you how you feel. Aviana was confident of that. 

Her own body was responding to the knowledge of being wanted by another. Be it male or female, it didn't seem to really make a difference. While Furi could not give her the children she wanted, her body began to want her. Aviana wasn't afraid, as she might have been with a male. Female's had never been dangerous to her. Slowly, so Furi could retreat if she wanted, Aviana stood and closed the short distance between them, her intent to come to a stop just beside her. Her tail wagged softly as she sat down again. If Furi had remained where she was, Aviana would be very much invading her personal space, her head and neck just to the side of Furi's. 

Reference, sitting instead of standing

Gentle words of reassurance is all she needs to relieve some of the tension. All of it? She’s not sure. And she doesn’t have time to think about it, either. She’s moving, standing to all fours and taking a step in her direction. Pale eyes bolt between Aviana’s own. She seems to move in slow motion and Furi fidgets in her seat. 

Before she realizes it, the older woman sits close and at first she leans back with uncertainty. Furi is unable to take her eyes away from the baby blues that suit her so well. She swallows the lump formed in her throat and eases in, letting her nose get lost on the fur of her neck. Blixen dances across her mind, briefly, and she closes her ears. She remains still, but still close, letting her to lead.

She pauses in her movement as Furi leans back, her gaze connecting with the other girl's to gauge her reaction. She wasn't retreating, but it was obvious she was nervous. She allowed Furi to touch her, but she could tell she didn't feel confident to do much more than nuzzle her. 

Aviana understood the hesitation, but she couldn't give Furi what she wanted. She couldn't lead this exploration. The ball is in your court, she said softly. You lead the way. The older female was sure that Furi was able to bring to life what was in her head, or make the decision not to, she'd be happier than having someone else do it for her.

Aviana gives her freedom to... what? To do what she want? To mate? There is only so much her instinct will lead her and though she’s encouraged onward, she doesn’t know what to do. She barely understands what’s happening to the other woman’s body and why it makes her feel the onslaught of anticipation. One paw lifts and she scoots forward an inch, unable to fight the urge to fidget. ”I don’t know what to do,” she whines, lifting a little off the ground and sitting back down a beat later. 

Anxiety starts to slither into her chest that she tries to fight off. What does she know about the stranger, sitting so close? A hunger grows in her belly that shies away from all comprehension, a language too foreign for her to translate anything but want.