Heron Lake Plateau the world grows older every day.

surprise thread attack!

Finley Blackthorn's hip had begun to thrum with a now very familiar ache, but she stubbornly ignored it - an also very familiar response. Her ears slid back as her eyes narrowed at her quarry. It was a rabbit, and probably way beyond her abilities these days, being the old cripple she was. She bared her teeth at that thought, chiding herself for having it, and then deciding to prove herself wrong. Negativity came in handy sometimes. Moreso did the determination to prove herself - even if it was just to herself.

She didn't to creep any nearer to where the rabbit was bouncing lazily about. She knew with her hip that she would only give herself away, and it was extremely important that she murder this sonofabitch. It had to be rabbit. Today of all days, it was absolutely necessary. At least, she was pretty sure it was rabbit... Maybe it had been some kind of bird. Ah fuckin' --oh shit, it moved!

Fin tensed her muscles in preparation as the sweet little bunny bounced a couple feet nearer to where she was hiding. She wanted it to come just a teensy bit closer, but her patience was wearing thin. I mean, she'd been waiting for like.. five whole minutes. That's enough of that shit. With a burst of adrenaline, Finley shot forth from the brush and opened her jaws wide, reaching to break the rabbit's neck.

About an hour later, the Blackthorn matriarch was trotting back to her den with a pheasant between her teeth. It probably hadn't been rabbit anyway. Besides, it's not like @Elwood was going to remember either. Probably. Hopefully. Whatever, the man was getting fed like a king tonight, so he was obligated to be happy regardless.

Fin's tail was wagging as she tossed the bird at her mate and let out a bright happy cheer of, "Happy anniversary!!" before bouncing forward and planting a dozen or so kisses on his face, kinda sorta also knocking him over.

<3333333333333

So far, Elwood was enjoying his retirement. He didn't have any aches or pains (yet), which he attributed to the fact that he had been the opposite of Finley in his youth; while she had been off chasing bears and causing trouble, he had always walked the straight and narrow. In general, he was slowing down, but he really didn't have anything to complain about. He could patrol the borders when he felt like it, and still had enough get-up-and-go to hunt and fill the caches. And, best of all, he could relax without feeling guilty.

He was doing just that when Finley arrived: resting at the rendezvous site, stretched out on his stomach and cleaning his forepaws fastidiously with teeth and tongue. He had seen her coming from a distance, but wasn't prepared for her assault as she flung a dead pheasant at him. It hit him in the neck and plopped unceremoniously to the ground, and before he could register what was really happening, she had started to attack him with kisses.

His balance was one thing that was slowly deteriorating, so it wasn't hard for her to knock him over, and he sprawled on his side laughing. He reached around with one foreleg to grab her around the neck and wrestled her to the ground alongside him (while being careful not to put too much pressure on her sore hip). With a playful growl and an affectionate nip at the fur on her cheek, he said, "Anniversary? I'm surprised you remembered, you old fart."

Finley giggled as her mate wrapped an arm around her and wrestled her down onto the ground beside him. She nipped half-heartedly at him as she fell, but since being near him was kind of her goal, she didn't fight all too hard. She squirmed to snuggle closer to him as she settled in, her mouth parting in mock-offense at his comment.

"What do you mean you're surprised I remembered?" she scoffed, "You think I'd forget that day four years ago when I was minding my own business and some weirdy showed up and started pretending to be a bear?" She grinned at the memory, her tail waving like a banner against their bums.

He snorted as she cozied up next to him and reminded him of exactly how their relationship had started all those years ago. What had just been a playful first interaction had blossomed into a wonderful marriage, including raising a buttload of children and leading the pack together for a time. "Rrrrr," he replied in his best impression of a bear, reprising the role that had initially won Finley's heart.

"It's also the day you nicknamed me Twig," he reminded her with a thoughtful twitch of his left ear. "You made fun of my name, but now we have an Elwood Junior of our own," he chuckled.

Fin peeled her lips back in a silent play snarl as Elwood went bear on her, but she broke into a small laugh quickly enough. He was definitely cuter than any bear she'd ever fought. It gave him quite the unfair advantage in an actual fight. Not that she hadn't like totally wiped the floor with him like a billion times.

"Well come on, Elwood Grove," she teased with a grin, "Your name sounded like a place, not a person. Like if there was ever a wolf named Redhawk, last name Caldera. Elwood Blackthorn is much better, and I'll betcha Eljay appreciates it too, as will Eljay Blackthorn Jr." She paused thoughtfully before adding, "Hey, we should totally go old school and arrange a marriage for him. You think he'd be down with that?"

Elwood shrugged. "We really missed an opportunity when we were Alphas; we could've just renamed the caldera Elwood Grove. I think it's a great name for a place," he teased back. His expression sobered slightly as the conversation naturally shifted to Eljay, though. This was something he had talked with his son about just recently (and that thread is still ongoing so I might be a little vague!).

"Honestly, I think he would be down with that," he agreed. "He wants to be a dad, but there just aren't any single girls around here." And the ones that were available were related to Eljay one way or another, either by blood or through their parents' friendship.

Finley grinned at his comment, but inwardly she rejected the idea. Redhawk Caldera would always be just what it had been in her mind. She knew that resettling there was likely not in the cards for her, yet her heart often ached for it fiercely. She thought about her own mortality far more often as of late than she ever had back when she was testing it daily, so she considered often the prospect of dying here at the Plateau. Some days she went about it with her typical who-the-fuck-cares attitude, but other times, the idea gave her a big ol' sad. She wanted to rest besides Peregrine and Fox and Elwood for whatever eternity she might be given after this life. She wanted her body to go to the health of the place that had most felt like home to her during her lifetime.

But that's besides the point. We're onto Eljay now.

Her brows lifted in eager surprise at Elwood's comments regarding her eldest's desire to have children. She shook her head with a grin, her tail wagging. "There are plenty of single women! What about Towhee? They aren't actually related, so it wouldn't be weird," she insisted, then began to falter, "Well. It wouldn't be weird... eventually." Another pause. "Nope, nevermind, I don't like it. But that would be cool - our family and Peregrine's and Fox's, officially combined? Those would be the most unstoppable babies ever."

Finley's musings on Eljay's prospects brought Elwood pause. She did have a good point; the Redhawk girls were technically not related to Eljay by blood, although the two families were so intertwined that Elwood had a hard time distinguishing them from each other. So, really, Towhee was fair game, although Finley nixed the idea quickly for other reasons (likely the stark differences between their personalities; Elwood wondered if Towhee might eat Eljay alive).

"Why haven't we thought about this before?" he said, shaking his head bemusedly. "We should have done this a long time ago. I think we should make it happen," he continued, only half-joking.

Fin ran through all the young ladies she knew of, lining them up next to her son to see how it looked. Towhee really didn't work, the more she considered it. With a pang, she thought of Orca, who would've been perfect. Wildfire... Wildfire maybe. They had been close when they were kids... But Wiffle was living in the North on the Cliffs with her kids and her lady mate. No way she would leave that to come shack up with Eljay and it wasn't because of Eljay. That one girl popped into her head then... What had her name been? Lasher's daughter... Monica? What ever happened to her? That was a picture she liked. Maybe she'd send Tegan out to hunt down Monica. But hopefully by then, she'd remember the girl's name was Mona.

"Because we're a buncha dummies these days, Twig," Fin answered, "I'm onboard with giving this a shot though. Like seriously, I am 100% in." She looked pointedly at Elwood to make sure he knew that she wasn't kidding. Then paused before asking, "Do you think Jay would be okay with this? Or do you think this way crosses the line between overbearing parents and psychotic life-givers?"

Elwood couldn't help but roll his eyes and chuckle, despite the serious tone the conversation had taken. "Dear, I think we crossed that line as soon as Eljay was born," he said. He was only joking, but there was a bit of unacknowledged truth to it; wasn't that the reason Eljay was so sensitive and family-oriented, while each litter of children after that had been progressively more independent?

"So what's the plan?" he asked after a beat. Then, with the teasing timbre creeping back into his voice, he said, "Who's your top choice for him?" He really did want to try to help Eljay find a loving, long-lasting relationship, but they could have a little fun while doing it, right? And, if he was being honest, this would be Finley's show to run and he would happily be her backup.

Fin snorted with laughter at her mate's response. "Yeah, we so did," she acknowledged with a laugh. She probably should've felt a little sting at that truth, but it was all water under the bridge. Eljay had turned out fine. A little anxious, a little... well, he still called her mommy, but fine!

"I don't know..." she replied, scrunching her face up thoughtfully, "I feel like anyone I would've said is taken already. We might need to look outside the ranks. That or split Quixote and Raven up."

If only it was actually feasible to break up Quixote and Raven! Elwood rather liked the idea; Eljay and Raven had similar interests and dispositions, and he knew that they got along well. He liked Quixote, though -- the Alpha had grown on him over time -- and while he wanted to be a matchmaker, he also wasn't a homewrecker. Finley had been joking, anyway -- right? -- so he let that one go.

"We could send Tegan scouting for a girl," he offered, stifling his own laughter as he added, "What would Tegan call that? Prowling for bitches?" Of course, there were a thousand ways that could go awry, and if this wasn't already embarrassing enough for Eljay, he would surely be mortified if his parents sent his little brother out to find him a girlfriend.

Yeah. Kidding. Sure. 

Fin laughed at the idea of sending Tegan. She honestly wasn't sure what he'd call it. Prowling for bitches was comical and a little out there, just like her young son, but it wasn't quite out there enough. It had to be something that not even she would think to say in order for it to come out of Tegan's mouth.

"That is an awesome idea, though I'm not sure how happy Jay would be about it," Fin said, smiling, "Plus I think there's too good a chance Tegan would keep the bitches for himself. He's about that age." And also charming as hell. She had no doubt Tegan would find himself a girl in due time, but she did suspect he might have a problem choosing just one.

Oh dear, Finley had a good point. While they were worrying about Eljay's slim pickings, they likely would have an entirely different problem on their hands as Tegan matured. And what would that be like? Elwood realized that they were sorely unprepared for navigating their children's futures; their only child with a successful romantic relationship was Liffey, and they had had nothing to do with that. He was starting to get a headache just from thinking about all of this.

"Yeah, on second thought, Tegan might not be the man for the job," he admitted. He reached up with a forepaw and pressed his toes against his forehead, combating the dull ache that was actually beginning to grow. "This place is going to be pretty hormonal before long, isn't it? Tegan, Clover, Towhee, Phox..." They were all around "that" age.

He sighed dramatically. "Why can't our kids just have a storybook romance like we did?" You know -- fall in love, refuse to admit it, get in a big fight, and then finally live happily ever after.

Fin's head began to spin a little when Elwood started listing off all the kids that would be entering potency this year (as she liked to call it). That was indeed a lot of hormones. Now that her head was in this particular space, she started pairing them up without really thinking about it. Tegan and Towhee, Clover and Phox. She couldn't really picture Tegan and Towhee together, but Clover and Phox weren't bad.

She giggled at his last comment for a second before firing back a retort. "You clearly need to work with the boys on their seduction tactics," she reprimanded with a teasing grin, "How about you teach them some bear moves and I'll teach the girls how to be emotionally unavailable?"

"Clearly," he quipped in reply. For a moment, he fell silent, simply enjoying a quiet moment alone with his mate. He absently preened her fur where her shoulder met her neck, and then leaned back to fix her with his gaze. "I have an idea," he said.

It had nothing to do with their previous conversation, but he made his suggestion even as he got to his feet. "Want to go ice skating? I know it's not the same as the cavern, but -- maybe we can slide around on the lake. I'll make sure you don't fall and hurt your hip, granny," he said, laughing and nuzzling said flank gently.

Fin smiled and relaxed against her mate, enjoying his ministrations and letting her mind wander. Truthfully, she had no idea how to teach her girls how to get themselves a man as amazing as their daddy. She had no idea how she'd gotten so lucky. Though she was pretty sure being emotionally stunted had helped endear her to him, in a way. I mean, it had to. There was no way they'd be where they were today if he'd been repulsed by it.

She looked a little wistful for a moment after his suggestion, thinking about the Ballroom at the Caldera and how perfect it would be at this time of year. She brushed it aside though and clambered to her feet, giving her mate a smirk. "Yeah sure you will," she quipped, her tail wagging to slap Elwood gently on his muzzle, "No moths this time though, okay?"

Fin took a few steps towards the lake before she paused and turned to face Elwood again. Her ears slipped back as she ducked her head and reached to tap the tip of her nose against his, her smile lighting her eyes. "I love you," she said quietly, her tail wagging gently behind her.

I was going to fade but they're just so cute I want to keep going <3

He snickered as Finley teased him and tickled his face with her tail. "No moths, cross my heart," he replied and then began to follow her in the direction of the lake. After only a few steps, she turned back to him and touched her nose to his. "I love you too," Elwood answered in the next breath, kissing the tip of her snout before she would withdraw it.

He brushed against the length of her as he moved to walk past her. Once upon a time, he might have invited her to chase him to their destination, but he didn't want to aggravate her injured hip. Instead, he was content to stroll slowly with her at his side as the clouds opened up above them and a soft, gentle snow began to fall.

Fin felt a little flutter in her chest as he kissed her snout. It amazed her that after so long, Elwood still had the power to make her weak in the knees every so often. She'd been so certain when she was younger that the romance never lasted. Eventually, the relationship just turned into a job where the only projects were the annual creation and raising of babies upon babies upon babies. That's what she'd seen in her parents, at least. But now she had Elwood, and she was very pleased he'd taught her that wasn't always the case.

She began to follow him, glad for the easy pace. Her hip wasn't acting up yet today, but she was pretty sure it would be after about ten minutes of ice skating. That was in the future, though. She'd let Future Fin worry about that. "Remember when we couldn't say that without me punching you in the face?" Fin commented as they walked, smiling over the memory.

Fin's comment elicited a burst of loud laughter from Elwood as he recalled the instance she was referring to. "Thank goodness that didn't last too long. You probably would have rearranged my face by now," he said, shaking his head good-naturedly. If nothing else, their relationship had certainly kept him on his toes -- and still did, to this day. They might have been a little whiter around the muzzles, but day-to-day life with Finley still caused Elwood's heart to flutter with excitement.

Soon enough, they reached the lake. (I really don't know if the whole thing would have frozen over, so we're just gonna go with it!) While it didn't compare to the splendor of the underground skating rink back at the caldera, it did look lovely as it sparkled in the soft winter light. Elwood stepped out experimentally, his steps tentative, and when it appeared that it would hold his weight, he beckoned Finley to follow him. "We don't have to go far from the edge," he said, "but c'mere." He smiled and kicked off gently with his back feet so that he glided just a few feet away from Fin.

Finley would never cease to marvel at her mate's immense patience and understanding. If anyone had done to her what she had done to him during their courtship, she'd have been out of there in a cloud of smoke and explatives. Really, though, that was why they were just perfect for each other. She needed someone like Elwood to deal with all of her nonsense and love her because of it. And he needed someone... to fill his life with nonsense, apparently.

She peered over at her mate as they approached the shore, her trepidation catching up with her now that they had actually arrived. She didn't know all that much about medicine and healing and crap, but she did suspect that having an injured hip made ice skating kind of a bad idea. But Elwood gave her that look and she knew everything was going to be just fine. She'd follow that look right into a fire. Only he probably wouldn't be actually making that look if there was a fire - she'd just think he was and off she'd go like a moron.

"Are you sure about this?" Fin asked, watching as he glided away from her. After a beat, she realized what an absurd twist of fate this really was. Elwood skating about while she stood on the sidelines anxiously, worried about what? Getting hurt? How the mighty had fallen. "HA! Kidding!" she burst out suddenly, hopping forward onto the ice and skidding (a bit too quickly) right towards Elwood.

"I'm sure --" Elwood started to reply, but Finley's loud laughter cut him off and he joined her with a chuckle of his own. She propelled herself quickly towards him, with perhaps a bit more recklessness than he would have preferred, but he was caught up in the moment. It wasn't until he realized just how fast her paws were slipping on the ice that he thought they were maybe in a bit of trouble.

She bumped into him, but luckily not hard enough to knock him over. He was able to keep his center of balance and tried to maneuver and provide a steady surface for her to lean against, so that she hopefully wouldn't fall and hurt her hip even further. "Careful," he said, though he was still laughing as he slid in a very slow circle.

Fin realized almost immediately that she had definitely gone at this too quickly. She skidded on the ice towards her mate at too rapid a pace, but seeing as there was no way to stop it, she just braced herself for impact. Elwood, fortunately, seemed just as solid and steady on ice as he was on the ground. She knocked into him and stumbled, but neither of them fell.

She laughed as she steadied herself and looked around to watch Elwood slide in circles around her. "Psh, careful," she retorted, "Have you never met me? I'm as careful as they come. I'm pretty sure I'm actually too careful most of the time." Hesitantly, she began propel herself forward, her eyes on her paws all the while.

"Oh, right, I forgot that 'Careful' is your middle name. Finley 'Careful Frog' Blackthorn," Elwood replied in a serious tone as he slid a few feet away from Finley. He shifted his paws gently in order to keep his balance and stay in motion while he watched her begin to inch forward like a puppy learning how to walk.

He closed his eyes briefly and imagined that they were back in the cavern at the caldera. He was successful in drawing the picture in his mind's eye; the cold air and the feel of the ice under his feet was enough to simulate the experience. When he opened his eyes again, he was smiling, and he skated close enough to plant a large, affectionate kiss on Finley's cheek.

Much as she hated the nickname Frog, she had to laugh at the name Careful Frog. She tensed a bit as she did so, trying not to stumble and fall once again. She was okay with getting banged up, but she really didn't want to wind up in a state where Elwood had to carry her home. Though it did sound kind of romantic... Except for the part where she was crippled and helpless. That thought snapped her back out of it.

"You know what, Twig?" Fin said confrontationally as she steadily, turned herself around to face him, "Ima start calling you Elwood 'Frog-lover' Blackthorn. How d'you like that?" She twitched her head back and forth, though had to stop after a couple of seconds as it threw off her balance.