Broken Antler Fen i'm treading water; i need to sleep awhile

Dusk fell over the fen in long, draping shadows. The cool evening air smelled of water, moss, algae, and distantly, fish. Livia had awakened from a deep sleep, feeling mildly disturbed by dreams she could not remember. She felt refreshed, too. It had been many weeks since she had experienced such a luxurious sleep, beckoned by the inherent safety of the pack. 

With this new wealth of energy she intended to honor the sanctuary given to her by Teya, and so she sought the water. Livia had an affinity for water, for the plants and creatures who dwelled in it. Her father had noticed this interest in his daughter and together they had spent countless hours at the river, fishing. From these experiences the smoke-furred wolf had garnered a decent level of skill.

 It so happened that Brecheliant needed fishers, or so the blue-eyed leader had told her. 

Before long Livia had reached the water's edge. The conifers and their evening shadow would call the fish forth; at this hour they felt safe enough to come out of hiding in search of food.  She walked along the shore, her paws soon growing damp and muddied. Olive eyes were fixed upon the depths, seeking faint flashes of silver.

The moist and mud were the least favourite parts of the Fen for Eljay. It reminded him of when he had moved to the Plateau, where it seemed that getting used to life outside of the Caldera was impossible. It had been a wet place, too, and although the Fen was different in many ways, the large amounts of water reminded him of Heron Lake Plateau nonetheless. Or perhaps he simply wasn't a water type of guy.

The caretaker closed in on one of the Fen's many bodies of water to have a drink before he'd go off to try and hunt something — either for Ibis or Maia — and the mud squished beneath his paws as he leaned down to take a drink. When he lifted his head he heard the soft squish-squish of another's paws in the soggy shoreline and he offered a smile while he licked the remnants of water off his lips. Hiya, he said with a friendly wag of his tail in greeting.

A voice with a friendly cadence called out to her. Livia turned her head quickly and found herself facing a male, gray like herself, but with bright green eyes and scattering of small spots across his cheeks. She did not recall ever seeing speckles on a wolf and could not help raising a brow in wonder.

"hello," she replied, turning her body so that she didn't have to continue craning her neck. Her voice was soft, almost uncertain. It was not her favorite thing to be interrupted in the midst of a hunt, but she knew irritation wouldn't serve her at all. She could not avoid meeting her pack mates forever. And she had no control over what she was doing when such encounters occurred.

"I'm Livia." At this point, she wore a small grin. It was forced, but hopefully the friendly man would not notice. "I was just thinking I'd try to fish a little, now that the sunset has begun."

There was something introverted and withheld about her, Eljay realised. It was clear that she hadn't noticed him and maybe she wasn't looking for company; but, well, she'd gotten it nonetheless. Nothing to do about it, now. Eljay smiled softly, and perhaps if she looked deep enough she would realise he was trying to be reassuring in some way.

Despite her guardedness she introduced herself. Eljay responded, It's nice to meet you, Livia. I'm Eljay, the pack's caretaker. His eyes trailed towards the water as Livia then said that she thought to try fishing for a little while. He wasn't that good at fishing himself, but intrigued nonetheless. Are you good at it? he asked. The question was hesitant, as he didn't mean to ask her precisely if she was good at it, but perhaps more if she would give him a demonstration or if she minded that he was watching. He just couldn't find the words to ask those things, though.

If his smile was intended to put her more at ease, it had worked. Her own smile softened and her tail began to sway between her heels. She almost could have laughed at his question, but she shrugged instead.  "I'm not the best fisher. Not the worst, either." Livia gave her most honest answer, trying neither to boast nor to put on airs of humility. She had never taken the time to hone her skill, but it fishing was something she could claim to be able to do with a fair amount of success.

Do you fish? she asked, not seeing his veiled request, having taken the hesitance to be shyness.

Eljay seemed pleased that his pack mate loosened up a little bit. His own body language mirrored the comfort that she shared with him, and his tail waved a few beats as well. Livia shared that she wasn't the best nor the worst fisher. The caretaker was about to share the same sentiment when Livia asked him if he was a fisher, himself. Honestly, it'd been a while since he had fished, and when he did Eljay usually just did it for fun. If he needed a catch, he wouldn't ever choose fishing.

I dabble in fishing at times, Eljay said with a small smirk. I'm not very good at it, though. Fish are so fast and slippery, and so are riverbanks. He wasn't steady enough on his paws in the mud to be good at fishing, and he wasn't fast enough to manage to grab the fish. Not usually, anyway. It made the feeling of victory all the greater when he did manage, though.

she felt a hint of regret at her previous feelings of irritation, as eljay smirked and humbly confessed his low-level skill. he was charming, with his friendly mannerisms, and of course, his freckles. 

"all true," she agreed with an airy snicker. "It takes practice, like most things." without those riverside days with her father, she would not have become half as successful as she was. it helped that she was nimble on the slick riverbanks, thanks to her petite build. with practice, though fishing was something wolves of all sizes could learn.

"would you like to try? I could show you a few things that have made it easier for me."

It seemed that Livia was opening up to him now, and it made Eljay feel even more relaxed; the pressure of needing to make her feel reassured and welcomed fell away now. He smiled as she explained that fishing takes practice. In his experience, things took a lot more practice when he needed to do them, especially when it came to these physical sorts of things. That simply wasn't his forte.

When Livia suggested that he try, Eljay felt apprehensive. It showed in his posture that he was uncertain whether he should try. Oh, uhm... he murmured, but eventually decided: Yeah, sure. His demeanour was a little more bashful now, though, clearly out of his depth.