Redhawk Caldera damaged

He sensed his lover's discomfort, though Pan insisted he understood. Peregrine brushed his nose against the sloping musculature of the Delta's neck, then began to move forward to more fully face his companion. That's when Pan's teeth clipped the bottom of his ear, arresting his forward movement. He froze, happy to be subjected to this affectionate gesture. He did not expect the hushed words that slipped from Pan's lips, though he was happy to hear them.

"I love you too, Pan," he replied in a firm, quiet voice, moving to stand in front of the white male after all, then moving his face toward the other's so their foreheads were pressed together. "I'm glad you're a part of my life." Since Pan's muzzle was angled downward, Peregrine lifted his and ran his tongue up and over the bridge of the Delta's snout in a long, lingering kiss.

He couldn't speak for Pantaleimon but it left him a little breathless, not to mention hot and bothered. He wanted more, especially now that they had admitted their feelings out loud. Molten fire licked in the pit of the Alpha male's belly. But Peregrine knew now was not the time for that, like he'd said. He waited a moment for his breathing to become steady and murmured, "I guess we should get back to patrolling. Or maybe you could help me take stock of the damages. That's what I was doing before I headed out here."

The butterflies in Pantaleimon's stomach fluttered when Perry said that he loved Pan too. The sentiment was ever returned -- Pantaleimon didn't know what his life would be like if Peregrine was not in it. He never wanted to let go of this moment, despite all of the heavy feelings that had been involved moments prior (or perhaps because of that very reason).

Pan closed his eyes at the kiss, tongue flicking out of his mouth absent-mindedly. He wanted to stay like this forever and ever.

Sadly, this couldn't be. Pantaleimon nodded at Perry's suggestion. "Y-yeah, let's do that - I mean, we can go take stock of damage," Pan agreed with a soppy smile, his legs still feeling all wobbly. Pantaleimon rubbed his muzzle affectionately past Perry's neck and waited for him to lead the way to wherever they'd go to check up on the damage. He'd follow Perry anywhere, and though he was nervous about Perry's to-be talk with Fox, Pan decided it was just another reason to savour this moment of love declarations even more and live in the now.

Pan agreed to accompany him while he surveyed the storm's aftereffects, so Peregrine paused for a moment, then decided aloud, "Let's climb up to the rim and check out the new scar." The high winds had dislodged some loose boulders near an existing cleft in the caldera's ridge, hence the draining of the lake. There had even been a temporary water spout which had since ebbed. The ground up there might still be wet and treacherous but the Alpha would be sure to be very careful.

It took the better part of an hour to climb to that point. When they arrived, Peregrine wanted to take a closer look, so he cautiously slunk closer. With each step, he placed his weight carefully, not trusting the ground to remain firm underfoot. Yet it seemed fairly solid and he was able to get right up close to the edge of the large fissure. He craned his neck over the jagged interstice, ears pricking as he tuned in on the sound of dripping water. The cleft was about six feet wide and perhaps twice as deep, a nick in the already misshapen mountain.

"Dare me to jump across?" he teasingly asked his partner. "We could all it Lovers' Leap," he suggested, the tip of his tail twitching as he peered back at Pan.

Pantaleimon nodded as Perry mentioned checking out the cleft, and he followed quietly. While they walked, Pan didn't speak much, just fondly enjoying the silence and time spent with his lover, and gave Peregrine the occasional nuzzle or lick while they made their way to the location of the scar that marred the lands.

Nature was a magnificent thing that Pan knew little about, he realised as he saw the damaged lands. To think that wind and rain could do such a thing as this, and drain the beautiful lake...

Before Pan knew it, while he was musing, Perry had moved on, carefully getting closer to the edge. Fear gripped at Pan's heart, afraid that Perry would fall, but Peregrine seemed set on making the leap across, for some reason. When he suggested calling it lover's leap, Pan wondered if that meant he had to jump, too...

"It's -- I -- Isn't it dangerous?" Pantaleimon called after Perry, hoping that he didn't sound too frightened and nervous. He was, but didn't want Perry to know. "If - if you think you can make it, you... uhm - could." Pan ever so carefully made his way towards him, with less finesse than Peregrine, and hoped dearly that he wasn't going to ask -- or 'dare' -- Pan to do the same.

Pan reacted as Peregrine had expected he would: anxiously. "Don't worry," he said softly, turning away from the ledge and moving to stand beside the paler wolf again, rubbing his muzzle along Pan's. "I'm not actually going to jump. I have way too many good things in my life to take a stupid risk like that," he said, tail twitching back and forth. "We can still call it Lovers' Leap, though, and tell everyone in the pack we totally jumped it."

He nudged Pan with a shoulder, then suddenly flopped onto his belly facing the lake down below. "It doesn't look that different," he mused, arching his head to look up at Pan. "C'mon, sit with me. Let's just enjoy the view for a bit, maybe take a nap or something."

A flood of relief flushed over Pantaleimon when Peregrine said he wasn't actually going to jump. Pan's face returned to a more relaxed state, and he chuckled when Perry suggested they could tell the rest of the pack that they jumped it, and therefore called it Lover's Leap. "Yeah." Pantaleimon wasn't  very good at lying, but this would just be a joke.

When Perry mentioned the lake, Pan grimaced. It didn't look that different from up here -- well, it actually did look pretty different, but it was still a lake, Pan supposed -- but Pan knew that it was different nonetheless. Pan was just considering that different wasn't always worse when Peregrine spoke again. Pan walked over to Perry and lay down by his side, snuggling his neck. A lot of things were uncertain right now, but Pan knew that his love for Perry was real.