Silvertip Mountain Matchmaker

@Anita. He is going to try very hard

Chaska went out to find this Anita Steady had spoken of. He had not met her in person formally, so he had no mental image of how she looked. All he could do was walk around, and if he saw a female he didn't know, ask them if they were Anita. What else could he do?

So he did just that. Strolled around with no real destination in mind. Looking for anyone he thought might be Anita. Had he thought of calling her name in the first place, and things would have gone so much smoother for him.

Aww! He's trying his best I guess :>

     Anita had met many of her pack members, but she still couldn't match every name to a face. She intended to fix that, spying a somewhat unfamiliar wolf milling around. He seemed to be wandering, and Anita hoped she wasn't interrupting anything important.

    The crimson female walked quietly up to the older male, a friendly glint in her eyes. She opened with a: "I don't think we've formally met yet," followed by a smile. Appearing friendly was a top priority; she didn't think scaring Chaska was something she was in the position to do anyway. "My name is Anita, and you?"

Chaska whirled around, slightly tensed up by the sudden voice near him. Instantly he calmed to see a friendly face looking at him. He took in her features, looking her over with a quick glance. His tail swished faster when she said her name.

"Anita? I am Chaska." He paused to let his name sink in before going on. He didn't want to jump right in on the subject. "I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment." He looked around quickly. It would be an absolute shame if Ezekiel came out. That would ruin things for him.

Anita looked Chaska over as well with a breif glance. He introduced himself, and the she-wolf gave him a nod of acknowledgement. "Nice to meet you, Chaska," she said, glad she was getting to meet the male. She had gotten to know most of the pack members, and another familiar face didn't hurt.

     She was a bit taken aback when Chaska asked to speak with her. Hopefully she wasn't in trouble, but it didn't seem that way. "Go on ahead," she replied, wondering what the older male wanted to talk to her about. Anita had never met him, so maybe he was just trying to strike up a small conversation, or at least that was what she assumed.

Once he was sure the area was clear, he went to the subject with as much subtly as possible, putting on a friendly face. "So I've been meaning to meet everyone here, and I came across someone named Ezekiel. He mentioned you, so I thought why not look for you?" It wasn't true at all, as Ezekiel had not mentioned her by name once. But it was worth a shot, and what's one little lie if he was trying to help them. And by how Steady spoke of them, they knew each other well enough. So he assumed.

That's what Chaska wanted to speak to her about. Anita tried her best not to put off any signs of discomfort; it would put Chaska in an awkward state. She hid the disbelief in her eyes when Chaska told of the higher-ranked wolf speaking of her. Anita knew Ezekiel was trying to be nicer nowadays, but still felt a flicker of annoyance at his mention.

     "He spoke of me? I'm sure I can guess the context," Anita chuckled. She enjoyed chatting, so she didn't mind hanging around to talk to another wolf, although the subject was a wolf she didn't care for.

Chaska's expression changed to quizzical. He knew what Steady had told him. Did she think it was about her teasing Zeke? Or something else? Maybe she knew how Ezekiel saw her as a sister. That would complicate things. Or would it? It might not be the kind of relationship he had in mind, but if she saw him as a brother...

"And what would that context be, exactly?" he asked, trying to see how her mind worked when the subject was on Ezekiel. He had his original plan branch out a bit, now having two goals. Getting them to see each other as siblings, or something more.

Once Anita figured out that this conversation was going to take a while, she went ahead to sit down before the older male. Maybe Chaska came to her for a reason. Did he know more about this than she thought, including how she was demoted? Oh well, she was past that. 

"He probably said something like...." Anita paused, scrunching up her face with a grumpy demeanor. "Oh, Anita? Good luck talking to her," She knew that her answer didn't really make any sense, but Chaska would have to interpret it for himself. "But he's happy, I can tell." And it was true. Ezekiel had found Valette, and the two got along. "Him and Valette are like to peas in a pod," she smiled.

She wasn't really jealous of Valette, in fact, she felt no feelings of spite towards the friendly female. The she-wolf opened her mouth to speak. "They have this sort of bond, you know? They trust each other," Anita explained, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I haven't even been around them too much, but I guess those are just things I assume. I can smell her scent on him."

She cleared her throat, trying to think of what to say next. "I guess I've never had that before. I've had acquaintances and even good friends, but still..." It almost seemed like what she was describing was friendship, but the female didn't lack that. It was something a step up from that, but she didn't want to discuss it. From Anita's standpoint, she had just brought the conversation up another level, which was admittedly embarrassing.

Chaska was taken by surprise. Someone named Valette seemed to have caught Zeke's eye more than Anita. So that was his plan completely out the window. Ah well. Worth a shot. "Well, no it wasn't like that..But it doesn't matter now, I guess." He sat down as she went on, but not before stretching his forepaws out before him.

He nodded along. It sure sounded like they did. "I have yet to meet this Valette. I assume she is kind, like you." And everyone else on the mountain, for that matter. An itch came up on his chewed-out ear. He gave a quick scratch with a rear paw before pausing to talk some more. 

"Neither have I. Guess it isn't for everyone, huh?" he asked, although he wasn't sure if they thought the same thing. Chaska went right back to scratching behind his ear. "Nothing above friendship, I mean. We mean the same thing, right?"

Anita listened intently as Chaska spoke, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. It wasn't an angry sort of gesture, but rather a "did he actually talk to Ezekiel?" sort of indication. The older male had a look of shock about him, though it was only for a moment before he lowered to stretch his paws. "It doesn't matter now?" she repeated the males words. "Did it matter before?" Maybe Chaska had only wanted the best for her, so she decided not to press on. It wasn't like he was writing a report or anything. She eased up, settling on the ground with her legs kicked out to the side.

"Oh yes, Valette is very kind. She is a pleasure to talk to, we even went hunting. Zeke, Valette and I. Unfortunately, I didn't catch anything, but..." Anita rambled on, a habit that sometimes surfaced. "I'm sure you will make a friend of her," It was true, she was nice company. Anita also wanted to prove she had no grudge against Valette for whatever reason, and did so inconspicuously.

Her deameanor became a bit more serious when Chaska spoke again. "I suppose it isn't for everyone, I don't need all that mushy romance stuff anyway," Anita gave a half-hearted grin, though she was lying through her teeth. "And yes, we do mean the same thing."

"I..." He found himself caught, or so he thought. Should he tell her? Well, maybe not the whole truth. Just what she needed to hear. "I may have made a bet. Of sorts" he murmured quietly. Or a plan. Whichever way he put it, Chaska felt the same weight in both words. "Me and one other may have thought that you and Ezekiel kinda..." He gave a look that answered it for him, with the added touch of raised brows. "Yeah..."

Friends were a good thing to have. And as it seemed, Valette and Anita were friends. "I'm sure I will make a good friend for her, and out of her. In fact, someone I talked to said that I might enjoy talking to you. Seems they were right." The conversation hadn't taken any sour turns as of yet. So Steady must have been correct in that matter.

He shrugged at the last thing she said. The conversation seemed to getting to a more serious tone. He went on to liven it up a little. "Things change. Maybe you would change your mind, one day."

uh oh rip Chaska 7/18/16

"Oh?" Anita raised a brow when Chaska spoke. "You and who? Would you like to tell me, since I seem to be very involved in this already," she muttered in a dangerously low tone, sitting up. "Ezekiel and I? Really? I knew it was about this." Anita tried to laugh it off, but she could not hide the heat the inevitably rose to her face. It was amusing albeit bewildering. She assumed he was just curious, but had no idea there was another wolf in on Chaska's so called "bet".

Her response was certainly something Chaska must of been trying to avoid. Anita decided it was best not to press on, but she was still dumbfounded. "You and that one other should go talk to Valette; go see how she and Ezekiel are doing. I bet you'll get a cheery response from them," there she was, going on the defense again. Anita shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm being very rude." Chaska didn't deserve her tidal wave of wit.

Once again during the conversation, she reverted to a somewhat forced serious air. "Yeah, things do change," was all she said in response.

"If I said that, he might not be too happy with me." Saying he narrowed it down, but he withheld any name. Also, he might only end up digging two graves. For him and Steady, so he assumed from her tone. It gave him a little shiver, and a forced smile. 

He wasn't sure whether she was serious or not. If she was, it was not in a tone he felt comfortable with. He could only blame himself for bringing it up, though. Now he was regretting speaking about the 'bet'. His tail flicked as another chill came over him. He should have known better to not mess in another's relationship. His ears wilted a little. "No. It's my fault for even thinking this idea up in the first place."

Anita felt sympathetic as Chaska apologized. She had not meant to make him feel bad, and decided to try and fix things. After having a somewhat intense conversation with Steady, she hadn't talked to him much. She didn't want it to be like that with Chaska too. Both of them had simply said what she needed to hear.

"Don't feel bad about it." Anita said softly. "I guess it would have been better if you had just asked me directly instead of being all mysterious," she smiled in attempts to reassure him. "Of course, you probably still would have gotten my initial "shocked reaction" but I wouldn't leap at your throat like I just did there," Anita laughed, trying to clear the tension. Anita decided to apologize for herself, seeing she was just as much at fault here, if not more.

"It's my fault, and I apologize for my reaction. I guess I was just surprised, though I sort of took it to the extreme." Anita still was curious to know Chaska's sidekick in this endeavor. She didn't mean to yell at him too, but a talk with this unknown male would be a good idea.

Chaska shared a mischievous grin. "But I like being mysterious. The best story tellers use mystery." Something he had brought around in how he acted sometimes. A habit that he never saw as a problem, except now. 

He found himself feeling awkward, since they both had now apologised. After a long pause after she said her apology, he found himself talking again. "So..." That was all he could find himself saying, averting his eyes to the ground. Awkward.

Anita gave him a grin back. "I suppose you make a point there. Mystery does add something to storytelling, I can't blame you for that." Anita didn't want Chaska to feel as if his personality caused the issue. That had nothing to do with the small outburst at all.

There was a long pause, then Chaska spoke again, disrupting the silence. "So...how are things?" Wow, still pretty awkward. Anita glanced at the ground as well, kicking a rock around between her paws in attempt to look preoccupied.

Chaska shrugged his shoulders. "Things are okay, I guess...I should probably get going." He turned slowly after standing up. "It was nice meeting you, Anita...Steady was right. You aren't so bad, after all." He started to leave after saying that, not realising he had spilled the beans unintentionally.

archive or fade after yours?

"Alright, see you later Chaska," she replied, watching the male slowly rise to take his leave. "It was nice meeting you too, though I sort of made a mess of things." Anita grinned sheepishly. Hopefully all her conversations wouldn't be so chaotic, even though things were resolved in the end. 

A mention of another wolf got her attention. "Steady said that?" she muttered to herself, glad that he had mentioned her. However, she knew that he was most likely Chaska's "mysterious comrade", and intended on speaking with him.