Coconut Grove Off & into the sun

For @Roscoe. Forward dated to March 18th.

She could practically smell it in the air. Spring. It was here at last, although it certainly didn't feel like it. The thought of warmer, more comfortable weather alone made Chai pleased. Made her want to get up and about. To stretch her legs a little and do some exploring.

Contently, she did just that. @Atticus wasn't tagging along with her this time around, which was fine by her. They had done plenty of travelling in one another’s company already. Despite how social of a wolf Chai was, even she at times, had moments when she wished to be alone. She meant no offense to anyone of course, polite as always. Nor was her desire out of irritability or sadness. Just...peace.

Heading north, more or less, towards the coast, she was rather surprised by what she found when she got there. The grove which opened up before her invitingly was dotted with the strangest trees she had ever seen! Their trunks were strangely textured and the great, wispy fronds of their leaves, even more bizarre. From feet on the ground below, Chai gazed up at them with innocent, wide glacial eyes. She cocked her head, transfixed. Then, from the neighboring tree beside her, one bowl shaped green fruit dropped randomly with a thud. Momentarily startled, she backed away, then lowered her muzzle down to peer at this oddity inquisitively.

Despite his findings in the valley to the far east, Roscoe was never one to stay in one place for too long. It was like there were wheels underneath his paws that just forced him to move forward and away from what once was. Surprisingly for him, the second that he reached the Gilded Bay he realized just how wonderful of an idea this was. Heloise was entirely right - the coast was beautiful! It made it hard to think about leaving this place at all now that he had found his way here and this must be the place she had talked about. All the dots seemed to connect to what she had described and so he ventured even further along the coast. His lanky legs stretching out one after the other as he followed the sandy beach. 

Eventually his eyes landed upon a single figure nearby. Browns and tans thrown into their fur, too, and his first instinct was to run to her and introduce himself. To uproot all sense of peace between them in lieu of finding friendship but after annoying Heloise on their first encounter (and apparently upsetting a stranger, to which Heloise had to rescue him), he knew better. It didn't make him any less sad and did not cover the faint whine that escaped his lips. A frown accompanied that same whine and his ears pushed themselves back against his skull... hopefully he could get some sign that she was friendly and wanted company. Otherwise, he figured it best not to push buttons. Heloise was likely quite far away now and couldn't save his skin over here.

What little breeze there was today, out so close to the ocean, shifted. With that shift it brought something new, sweeping towards Chai's dark nose. Not the scent of sand, salt water or of more peculiar fruit, but of another wolf. She had been about to place an investigative paw over her newly discovered coconut, but stopped. Whoever was here on this stretch of beach with here might be more interesting.

Raising her head, she saw the figure in the distance immediately. His earthy coat nor his gold eyes weren't what caught her interest first. It was the position of his ears, flat against his head. The almost...unsure...or longing look on his face. Chai was anything but a hostile female. She had a ways to go before coming out of her shell fully, but that didn't stop her from exuding friendly vibes. Standing up a little taller, as if to show off, her tail stirred up grains of sand in an enthusiastic beat. Shooting her visitor a quick, if not somewhat shy smile, she began trotting down the stretch of sand towards him.

It might have been his insanely good looks or less likely, his sad demeanor had created sympathy, the other wolf ignited the sand beneath her feet with her tail and began a steady trot towards him. His ears immediately raised and his lips turned into a fine smile, exponentially excited that she was coming to him! Roscoe's front feet started a steady little dance and he began a small skip towards them, eager as ever to actually have someone want to come to him rather than him to them. Hi! he shouted as the distance was still quite a large bit between them but his eagerness to greet them openly and without concern was quite evident. I'm Roscoe, who're you? He finally said once he was within close enough range. Eventually slowing down and continuing his rather broad smile in the hopes of earning himself a friend.

The closer she came to him, eating up the distance between them, the more she felt of her old self start to emerge. And she was delighted by his little display. His smile and the twinkle in his eyes spoke volumes. He was indeed friendly! Spurred on, the honey and earthen toned female sped forwards, circling around him once, excitedly. "Hello there!" She chirped in a voice she hadn't used in a very long time.

Swinging back around at a much slower pace, she left a distinct set of paw shaped tracks in the sand behind her. Tail raised and wagging, her glacial eyes gleamed, seeking to meet his. "Pleasure, Roscoe. I'm Chai!" She smiled in her very own soft way. "I was just out for a stroll...doin some nosing around and all..." Her gaze shifted back to the grove around them. "I sure as heck haven't seen a place like this before! Have you?"