Iktome Plains sugar, spice, and everything nice

as it turns out, the paradise in the east is real —

it's just also cold as fuck. he sniffles sullenly as he walks, nose twitching as it leaks and the irritating wet tickle starts up again. he stops suddenly, eyes half-closed, and sneezes violently. he sucks in a breath, eyes watering fiercely, and then sneezes again. aghshit he chokes out between his second and third sneeze, wiping at his face frantically with one shaking foreleg. he hates being sick. so much. it's his nomadic lifestyle, he knows, paired with the unforgiving autumn temperatures and his tendency to — well, to be a dipshit. he probably shouldn't have kissed that boy with the stuffy nose. but it was kind of worth it, even if his nose is stuffy now, and surely the next cute boy he comes across will have more sense than himself. no kisses for him. but that's okay; no one really needs kisses to be happy in paradise anyway. that's why it's paradise.

The pair came across the coywolf, and before Cry could stop her she'd already charged ahead with alarming speed to greet the stranger. She still hadn't learned to not be so forward with her greetings -- yet. She barked to caution the feminine stranger before rearing up before them, her tail wagging with excitement. "Hey there stranger!" She called, voice light and flitting.

Phex then dropped into a play-bow, regardless of the others reaction, and sneezed -- showing this was just for play -- before hitting the ground with a paw that had puppyish proportions. Her large ears rotated towards Cry before racing off a few meters and bounded back with enthusiasm.

he's almost managed to clean his face off when suddenly a stranger is bolting straight toward him, barking and rearing up as she draws nearer. he flinches from the brown and white girl, hackles lifting even as she greets him. her play-bow is not met well; he snarls, fear flashing behind his eyes, and takes a step back. it takes him a moment to calm the terror arcing through him like lightning, to control his instinctive response to her approach, but he tries. then she darts away — which makes it a lot easier, actually. he takes another step back and finds himself falling back on his haunches unceremoniously, plopping himself into a very defeated sitting position. his heart is still pounding, and all he can do is watch and try to catch his breath as the girl comes barreling back his way.

On certain days, the tricolored youth was a wise woman. On other days, the fae has rebounded to her playful antics. Though he was older and more settled into simply existing and protecting, he romped around and behind the youth every now and then, relishing the energy she roused in him. He refused to grow too old, lest he be unable to enjoy the wonders of children. He surely would do poor with them now, but he had his girls to show him the proper method of pup-rearing, as well as the woman who would help him make them.

Until then, the assassin would simply live life appreciatively while he could. As Phex darted forward, he allowed her the reins on this trek; she was heading the right way, after all. As long as she stayed within his sights, it hadn’t mattered much to the Phantom how far she went, nor what she did. Until it did.
Which apparently was today.

The Guardian watched with smiling glacials as she was running forward with her usual careless bounds, and his gait remained even and calm until the fae threw herself into a play bow before another lupine, or something like it. Frigid irises immediately narrowed as his mind went to work deciphering the situation at hand. Whoever this was was either distressed or ill, as a sneeze had shot forth from a slender snout moments before she had gotten there. Last thing he wanted was his ward getting sick, as he would only blame himself, and probably end up killing the wolf responsible. Kai had enough on her hands both with Arrowbella and herself needing to get better. He and Phex had no right to heavy that burden.

Switching smoothly from a slow walk to a gentle lope, athletic limbs caught up just as she dashed back to him - she must have heard him coming. Or atleast felt his worry. Bringing himself between his packmate and the sick youth before him, Cry determined the fate of this circumstance. The-
a sniff in the direction of the company and swift peek between sat privacy confirmed Male, had done nothing malicious other than the response the invitation was met with. Not everyone wanted to play; Phex would learn one day. He wouldn’t shield his girls from worldly lessons should they arise; he could only comfort them when they got hurt, and secretly murder who brought that hurt upon them. 

“I’m sorry,” Cry began with the rather curvaceous spindle of coy before him. “She’s a bit energetic, of this minute.” A gently swished banner offered the apology through both reassurance and body language as the Phantom tried to figure out who this pitiful canid was. “Are you okay?” Obviously not, but more often than not such a prompt would entice the boy some sort of conversation betwixt the pair. Or atleast he hoped.

The youth ran towards Cry and zoomed past him into a particularly large tangle of grasses, causing an uproar of bird squawks that earned a yelp of surprise from Phex. 

She quickly removed herself from the nest and trotted back to Cry, panting for her efforts, and plopped herself down for a break. 

She then took note of the feminine figure before her, but the scent didn’t match up. She turned a questioning look to Cry before laying herself out, but keeping her head upright. 

 

“Say, who are you?” She questioned after a few moments, her tail wagging softly to encourage the coywolf before her to share.

another wolf approaches not long after the first, much calmer. a dark male with striking eyes — cute, he thinks. his nerves are still fried, and it takes him a moment to register the other's words. it's been awhile since anyone has asked him if he's okay. i-i — is all he manages to get out before he's interrupted by the girl. well that's easy enough to answer. i'm blossom. he mumbles, feeling that familiar prickle of shame settling over his skin. who're you? his next words are a bit louder, addressing both of them, but his gaze mainly lingers on the male.

The coy couldn’t verify his okay-ness, and this caused Cry to chalk it up to either the youth being too aback by this meet so sudden, or it had mental deficit. But again, he had to try.

“I’m Cry,” he gave up his alias. He left the floor open for Phex to chime in her own name. Turning back to to the multicolored fae, he addressed her visually, looking over the front of her and where he could, hoping to ensure she had no snotty specks from this child on her. 

His gaze came back across Blossom, wondering what parent gave this male his name. “That’s a unique name,” he spoke with intent of kindness. The Shadow truly didn’t mean to sound like an ass about it.

She looked over the male again, trying to find the source of Cry's worry that was subtly radiating from him -- and failed to notice the illness from the blossom-wolf altogether. She pulled up a toothy grin and posed her own name: "I'm Phex."
She blinked softly and her tail fluttered, there was a soft chill on the air; it would get much colder yet. 

She pulled herself up again, tail now softly brushing the grass, and looked pointedly at the other with curiosity and expectations. 

Quick phone post