Dragoncrest Cliffs How is it not ice.

Pepper's thick coat was not doing him any favors right now. The time he'd briefly spent out of cover dampened his fur just enough to be annoying. He figured a short walk would be enough to loosen up his stiff body when he woke up, but the idea backfired when the sky decided he seemed too dry. 

The walk back started off rushed, but he gave up attempting to preserve his moisture level half way through. Beaches were not great for finding cover. 

So when he finally did return to Sapphique's common area, it was dripping wet. He huffed an aggravated sigh and did his best to shake his fur free before resigning to a corner, where a thin puddle formed around him. This would be his day now. Trying not to shiver, visible breaths, and occasionally moving away from the puddle he sat in.

she lived for this weather with its cold and grim nature.

she had watched the skies bring in the storm. cherished it when the contents of the sea dumped over the land. it seemed someone else had not enjoyed it nearly as much as the marble had, though.

with a sharp eye she watched his soggy form.

you gonna croak already?

maybe she had spent too much time with sobeille and her dry, sharp comments.

The constant drone of soft rain was broken by a female voice. The wolf’s eyes rose from the patch of ground they’d been fixed to, meeting hers. Dogfish, a member he’d only ever offered a passing greeting. 

Her remark might’ve been considered rude by most, but only made the old wolf chuff a laugh. 

He’d be lying if his interest in joining Sapphique initially didn’t have something to do with having a peaceful place to die. Living this long hadn’t been part of the plan. 

”Workin’ on it,” he finally responded. ”Hard to concentrate on it when young’ns keep interruptin’.”

her tail lashed behind her for a moment.

he took her comment in stride and it did, at least for the moment, endear her. he hadn't made a grand fuss or taken grave offense to it.

oh, i can wait silently. it'll be like i ain't even here. then she decided to crouch down real low, practically laid upon the ground now. as if she was hidden in tall grasses hunting. it would be fun to see which one of them cracked first.

He’d never been good at differentiating straight up mean banter from friendly. It was something he’d been working on, however, and generally kept a rule that the response concocted first was best left unsaid. It might be the main reason Phobos was still in love with his sorry ass. 

”If only,” is what he settled with. He placed his head upon his forelegs, which stretched out in front of him. His body recoiled as he stifled a cough from deep within his chest. That was..new. 

”Ain’t got nothin’ better to do?”