Sun Mote Copse always.

get over here, mate!

Finley nuzzled softly into @Elwood's fur, sighing contentedly. Though her bones ached from weariness and a lifetime of overuse, she still had been driven to wander out from the heart of the territory to a space just beyond the northern borders where she'd thought to spend a quiet moment for herself. But, of course, she had been caught in her attempt to escape. And as punishment, she'd had to kerflomple him into submission until his bones were just as weary as hers (lol boner joke).

They had dozed for a minute or twenty after, curled up in each others embrace, right where they belonged. When eventually, Finley had opened her eyes, she had spent another minute simply gazing down at him, smiling. She might've stayed that way for the rest of her life, just admiring the man she loved more than any on the planet were it not for the fact that she was Finley Blackthorn and she craved his attention more than just the mere sight of him. So, she leaned forward and nibbled softly on his chin to try and wake him up.

"Hey bear..." she said softly as nudged at his face, rolling slightly so she could knock her forehead against his jaw when he didn't immediately open his eyes, "Wake up and play with me. I'm being needy." Her tail wagged gently against his hip as she smiled and wriggled against him, enjoying how youthful she felt when she was feeling so well loved and affectionate.

He had felt youthful this day — from the spring in his step as he followed Finley’s receding silhouette to the enthusiasm with which they had kerflompled (Hey, we’ve still got it, he had exclaimed afterward). But Elwood’s age had caught up with him in the form of a surprise nap that had knocked him out cold until he felt Fin’s snout pressing at his cheek.

He yawned and stretched, coming to quickly. A glance around reminded him that they were alone; a rare feat these days, despite the fact that their remaining children were officially considered adult members of the pack. There was just always someone else present. Not now, though. He leaned into Fin’s embrace as she requested his attention.

Needy? You? Never, he replied with a laugh as he gave her the wished-for recognition in the form of a series of kisses all over her face.

It didn't take much to rouse Elwood from his slumber. She grinned as he gave a sleepy response, then laughed aloud as he attacked her with kisses. She kicked her legs against him as though attempting to escape, though she didn't try too hard. She didn't really want to escape him. The days when she tried to run from his love were long, long past them.

"I know, it's the craziest!" she proclaimed as she dodged his muzzle and snuggled on into his chest, tucking her snout in the small space between his neck and the ground. It felt as though no matter how near she got to him, it would never be near enough. She kept trying though, squirming as close as she could without burying herself literally inside of him (those roles didn't work in reverse, lol sex jokes). 

"You smell nice today," she commented idly as she relaxed against him, her face still stuffed beneath him and her tail wagging against his hip, "You smell like a tree."

He chuckled as she tried to merge her body with his, squirming closer and closer. He wrapped a foreleg around her shoulders and pulled her in, enjoying the warmth radiating from her fur despite the chilly February air.

She complimented his scent, which earned another laugh. I am a Grove, you know — so it’s just my naturally twiggy smell, he replied, arching his neck away from her to let her get another good whiff.

His response brought a laugh to her lips. When he exposed more of his neck, she reached to get a few more good whiffs in--partly because she loved him and wanted to soak up every inch of him, but mostly because she was trying to tickle his throat with her nose.

"How aptly named you are then! Someone brilliant must've come up with the idea of calling you Twig," she commented as she rested her head on the ground. She paused to frown then before asking, "Is that why I started calling you Twig? Cause you're a Grove?" It had been so long, she found it difficult to remember.

He twitched as she succeeded in tickling him, then sat back and frowned thoughtfully. You know, you’re right, but I just can’t remember who it was that gave me that name, he teased. There were some things that escaped his memory these days, but he would never forget any details related to Finley.

In the same vein, she asked more seriously about the origin of the nickname. Yep, he recalled readily, then paused for a moment of contemplation. Gosh, that was a long time ago, he said, shaking his head.

Elwood apparently didn't have any trouble remembering, a fact she noted a bit jealously. She'd found over the past couple of years that her memories had faded. Some more than others. Some were merely fuzzy around the edges while others were full of black holes. Some just weren't there anymore but for a niggling feeling that there ought to be something where there just wasn't. 

Sometimes, she managed to clear the dust from them and she could glimpse those bits that had darkened. "Back when we were young and grey instead of old and greyer," Fin replied with a smile, "Man, I wish we could go back to the Caldera. We could go bang in our old den. Remember that thing? The first one we had, I mean. The little one by the creek where we met." The one their son had visited only a couple of months ago unwittingly.

2300 4 u!

<3

Elwood sighed wistfully at the mention of the caldera. He had accepted their move to the plateau without much protest, but the original home of the Redhawks would always have a special place in his heart. There were so many memories there, and it was a shame that a journey there wasn’t practical now at their age.

Think we could bribe the kids to help us make the trip? he joked. Hey Avery, Penn — Mom and Dad wanna kerflomple at Redhawk Caldera, can you help us out? He snickered.

Fin had never wanted to leave the Caldera. Even now, long after they'd gone, she missed the place terribly. The Caldera was where her life had begun. It was where she'd become a wife and a mother. The friend others could rely on. A leader. All of the things she'd never expected she'd be, and all of the things she'd never known she wanted to be. All her life, she'd been called fearless *cough*reckless*cough* by those who'd had no idea just how afraid she'd always been of trying and failing to be exactly who she was right now. Little did they know antagonizing bears was nothing compared to that.

"I mean... it's worth a shot," Fin reasoned with a grin, knowing perfectly well that Penn at least probably wouldn't speak to them for a week if they even said the word kerflomple in front of him. "We could visit Peregrine's and Fox's graves," she said thoughtfully, then added with a hint of mischief, "We could leave flowers for Fox and a dead fish for Perry." Because that felt right. 

"I miss those two... I wonder what they would've thought of all this," she wondered aloud idly, not bothering to explain what all this was referring to seeing as she meant it rather literally. So much had happened after they'd passed. How many more kids would they have had? How would they have handled the Blackfeather war? They'd never even known any of their grandchildren... I'm pretty sure...

While it was unlikely they would be able to enlist Avery and Penn for the “kerflompling” reason, there were a few more valid excuses for the trip. Visiting their old friends’ graves would be wonderfully bittersweet, Elwood thought as Finley mused aloud as to what gifts she would leave for each of them.

Well, they probably would have liked the plateau and the copse because it would’ve been brand new places for them to bone, he joked, since that had certainly been one of Perry and Fox’s favorite pastimes. He stifled a yawn as he added, But I do wish they had stuck around a little longer. Imagine the four of us old fogeys together.

As much as Fin wanted to visit the Caldera again, she somehow just knew that it would never happen. Call it an old lady's intuition, but even as she daydreamed in that moment about seeing their old den, visiting the place where their children had been born, skating around in the ball room... She knew those things were destined to live only in her memory from now on. She simply wasn't strong enough to make the trip. That had bothered her once, and it still did just a little, but she had accepted it. To risk herself for something like that was a selfish thing, and if she wasn't even able to risk herself anymore for the selfless ones, she certainly wouldn't for this.

Besides, those were memories. Everything she really needed was right here.

Elwood's yawn was contagious (I even just yawned, actually lol), but she laughed through it at his comment. "They did like to bone," she replied with a fond shake of her head, then added with a grin at her mate, "I get it though." She sobered as he spoke of what life would be like if they'd survived. It was something she thought of often, lately more than ever as the gap between her and Elwood and the rest of the pack seemed to widen with their age.

"I think Fox would've put him out of his memory long before he reached the point we're at," she mused aloud, "Can you imagine an old, senile Peregrine? She'd have murdered him out of annoyance." She grinned. She'd never doubted the love her friends had had for each other, but she did doubt Fox's patience. She couldn't really imagine her being this age either. Hell, she could hardly imagine herself and Elwood being this age, but here they were. "Remember when she demoted him?" Fin asked as the memory slipped into her mind.

Good point, he agreed with a fond nod of his head. Fox had certainly worn the pants in that relationship in some ways — as exhibited by the memory that Finley dredged up seconds later. Elwood had forgotten about Peregrine’s demotion, and while there had been a serious reason behind it at the time, it was funny to look back on now.

Remember when you tried to kick me out of the pack? he recalled; yet another situation that had been anything but humorous at the time but could be looked back on with a smile now.

Even as Fin spoke of the memory, she suddenly found herself unable to recall exactly why it had happened. What had Peregrine done? She remembered not being fully convinced that he'd deserved it, but of course she would never have gone against Fox, nor would she have gotten in the middle of a lover's quarrel (which is what she went ahead and assumed it had been). She of course remembered the incident with Junior and Wildfire, but that was somehow separate in her mind. Which might be because it actually was and I just can't remember right. But whose to say.

"Yeah, 'cause you was bein' a hoe," Fin replied with a laughing smile. That had nearly been the end of them, before they'd even begun. It had been to dramatic at the time, but now Fin couldn't even remember the girl's name. "You're just too damn good-looking," she commented with a shake of her head, "Remember what's her face? She totally had a thing for you too. Man, I hated her." She frowned, trying to actually remember the name. Not the chick he'd banged, but the other girl. The super nice one that was totally trying to steal him.

"Oh man! Remember Ashton?" Fin said suddenly, interrupting her own thoughts, "I wonder what ever happened to him. I hope he found himself a nice gibberish-speaking lady that he could talk nonsense to and raise a bunch of crazy talkin' babies with."

Elwood shrugged. What can I say? Don’t trust a hoe, never trust a hoe, he replied, deadpan. He then squinched up his face, trying to remember the particular What’s-Her-Face Fin was referencing; I can’t think of her name right now but I know who she’s talking about, and Elwood would have known too, had she given more details.

She recalled Ashton next, which brought a fond smile to Elwood’s face (even though he was already smiling, I’m sure). I bet he did, he said; Ashton was too good of a guy to have anything but a happy ending. But I bet they don’t have as many babies as we do, he amended. They had certainly raised an army of Blackthorns over the years.

Fin did her best to keep her face as straight as Elwood's, but she couldn't help but crack a smile in the end. They'd come a long way from the days when she'd been too insecure to keep her jealousy in check. The idea that someone could take Elwood from her now was simply laughable, as was the idea that someone could take her from him. They were a set now, solid and eternal. One without the other simply didn't make any sense.

She chuckled appreciatively at his comment about their ability to procreate like bunnies. "Who'dve thought I'd be the one to inherit my mother's talent for baby production," Fin mused, "I was definitely voted least likely to succeed of the clan. Colt was a close second, but even he managed to pull off the whole husband and father thing in the end."

She shook her head, letting that familiar pain in her heart settle in. It was difficult still to talk about her brother, but not like it was before. He had joined the ranks of Wildfire, Peregrine and Fox now. Their losses would always be with her, sometimes as a dull ache, other times as a crippling torrent. The torrents were fewer, but the dull ache was there in near perpetuity. It was just something she'd learned to live with.

Elwood smirked. Well, clearly you were only able to make so many babies because you were with the right guy, he teased. And while he paired the statement with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle, he liked to think there was some actual truth behind it. It had taken Fin a long time to trust him and let go of what had happened in her past, but maybe it had worked out so well in the end because they were simply meant to be.

And now we’re grandparents, he said, shaking his head in disbelief. It still didn’t seem possible, even though it was one of his favorite roles he had fulfilled in life.

"Obviously," Fin answered promptly, smiling at her mate and chuckling softly as he gave her that face, "Ain't nobody could help me make babies like you." She gave him that face back, though he was far better at the eyebrow thing than she was. She just sort of flexed her brows at him, but he probably got the point anyway.

"I've actually been wondering--Do you think we're great grandparents yet? Liffey's first litter should be old enough now. Maybe Lagan has kids, and his kids just had kids," she mused aloud, considering for a moment before sighing wisftully, "I miss that kid..." She missed all of her kids who were gone, of course, but Lagan had always been an especially sweet boy. She hoped he'd find himself a nice guy and they'd found themselves a nice baby bucket to borrow.

Great-grandparents? That thought didn’t freak Elwood out — how different could it be than being a grandparent? — but not knowing made him briefly quake from an involuntary shiver. He had accepted long ago that his children would lead their own lives, often away from home, but it saddened him to realize that he didn’t even know how things were going for them — if they had kids, for instance. And, with so many of their children gone, it was truthfully likely that they were great-grandparents a few times over.

I hope so, he replied simply, his tremor turning into a shrug. As for Lagan, he missed the boy, too; he thought frequently of those who were away, but he had been an especially good one. He nudged Fin’s cheek wordlessly, just as a gesture of love and gratitude.

All this reminiscing is making me tired, he admitted a moment later, having realized just how deeply this sleepiness had sank into his bones. Being emotionally tired was often more impactful than physically, he found.

Fin nodded gently, her own hopes mirroring those of her mate. She liked to think that all of the children that had left for one reason or another were happy somewhere in the world. She would never truly know for certain, not in most cases. But she could hope and have faith. She had learned to let that be good enough.

A smirk tugged at her lips at Elwood's comment. "Awh c'mon, grandpa," she teased, tipping her muzzle down so she could smash her crown affectionately into his cheek, "You trying to tell me you don't have a round two in you?" Not that Fin really believed that she did, but she did want to see how he'd react to the idea of doing a little more kerflompling before turning in.

He was tired, but Fin's offer made his ears perk up both literally and figuratively. He straightened, blinking the temptation of sleep away as he smirked at her. Well, if you're offering, he quipped as he nibbled at the fur on her cheek with an affectionate growl.

Then he closed his eyes. Or maybe we can do it in our sleep. I think we've done it enough times to have mastered that, don't you? he said with a snort of laughter.

Fin laughed aloud at his response. She'd been 50/50 on whether or not he'd be receptive to her offer, so she appreciated the positivity he showed. It was nice to know that even in her advanced age, she was still able to attract a stupidly handsome man. He was her mate and thus somewhat obligated to want to stick his thang in her thang, but his hotness made it super count.

"Mmmmm, are you proposing some dream bonin'?" Fin asked, grinning, "I don't know. I should probably do some dream stretchin' first..." She stretched her forelegs out in front of her and yawned before rolling onto her side and squirming around on the ground until her spine was jabbing into Elwood's ribs.

He imitated her stretching as she wiggled, moving even closer to him than she had been before -- if that was possible. "Dream stretching is probably a good idea, wouldn't want you to pull any muscles," he agreed with a sage nod of his head.

When he felt her spine against his side, he drew a foreleg over her -- then worked his toes against her ribcage in an attempt to tickle her.

Fin wriggled her eyebrows suggestively at Elwood and stifled a laugh. She allowed herself to be scooped closer and used the tickling as an opportunity to squirm even nearer to him. She laughed aloud then and rolled onto her back, kicking her paws out. She reached towards his face and pawed at his muzzle in an attempt to get him to stop, but she did so gently. She didn't want to actually mar his super handsome face.

It was amazing how he could be transported back in time; their gentle tickle-fight reminded him of a thousand others they had had, and he felt infinitely younger for those few seconds. If he closed his eyes, he could have imagined they were back in the icy cavern beneath the caldera, rather than somewhere on the outskirts of the corpse.

He did stop when her paws found their way to his face, but only to start doing something equally as adorably annoying — he nibbled at the toes on her left foot, with a “serves you right” expression on his face.

Her attack seemed to backfire, but Finley couldn't find it in herself to mind. There was something super endearing about her mate's counterattack, so she merely laughed and rolled onto her stomach with a "Hey!" She reached to nip at his cheek, simultaneously pulling her paw free with a cheerful giggle. She turned her own attack into a nuzzle and then dropped her head into her paws (though not before planting a kiss on Elwood's cheek).

"Alright, alright, that's enough stretchin'," Fin conceded with a happy sigh, "You've earned a nice nap. And I think I'll take one too, just to keep you company." She wagged her tail gently as she shuffled into a more comfortable position.

wanna wrap up? I'll post once more after you ;___;