Heron Lake Plateau but girl, we could still ride together, oh

tegan rested. cause that was what he was instructed to do. stay outta direct sunlight, take whatever herbs he'd been given....... and fuckin sleep. he didn't mind. he kinda wanted to be out exploring and fuckin shit up with @Bat, who he'd promised he'd do all that stuff with. but whatever, sleep was also fun and easy and meant he avoided all responsibility. 

woo! 

so he rested beneath a patch of trees, cause tegan wasn't about that den life and no one could make him so long as he was actually technically doing what he was supposed to be doing. which was resting. and he was doing that. eyes closed, paws crossed, head rested on his lil peets, tegan rested in the shade.

While Bat had been innocently trying to capture a glimpse of the moonbow, some major drama had gone down at the plateau. She still wasn't quite sure what had happened or what it all meant; she supposed she'd find out if it directly affected her in any way. In the meantime, she kept busy with continued forays outside of the territory, trying to fill in that gaping hole left behind by Tegan.

But when she recrossed the borders today, she discovered she'd missed another big event. Tegan's scent was smeared all over the place. Heart leaping into her throat, Bat scurried in search of her wayward mentor, a breathy, "Ayyy! Tegan!" escaping her when she found him lying on the ground like a lump.

Oblivious to anything aside from his presence, Bat swooped and pounced, planting several sloppy kisses on his face. She had never been this demonstrative with him before but... "Fuck, I missed you!"

oh fuck shit bitch. his peaceful rest was interrupted by a loud sound and then the crashing down of someone upon his face. he'd ignored the original voice, half asleep, but as he was suddenly being KISSED!!!! ON THE FACE!!! tegan found himself rousing to make sure his mom wasn't doing anything embarrassing. not where people can see and wreck his cool points, mom. :/ 

but it wasn't finley, it was bat! and despite the pounding that her affection and words were causing in his head, he was relieved that she was still here. he returned one or two of the licks, which mostly got her cheeks and ears. and though the blackthorn yearling couldn't help a broad smile from crawling across his features, he stretched out his forelimbs to push her away, pulling his head back towards his shoulders. "hey, motherfucker," he greeted/warned simultaneously, "i got fucked up, you gotta go easy on me." which was true, she was kinda causing him some pain, but nothing he couldn't endure for a few moments. reunions, and what not. a sight of his own death made him a little soft for good ole bat, who seemed far more excited to see him than niamh. 

granted, his reunion with her had been different than that of his and bats. much more businessy or whatever. 

he elaborated by what 'fucked up' mean, since besides some scratches, tegan didn't appear outwardly hurt. "i just got a concussion, face-off with that dumbass titmouse." he'd be fine, is all he meant to say by that.

Bat's heart fluttered when Tegan returned her kisses, right before telling her to back off a bit. Grinning foolishly, eyes bright, she withdrew just a few inches. Her smile dimmed a bit when he explained that he had a concussion. She didn't know what that meant, though it didn't sound good. She also didn't know who Titmouse was but she instantly hated him for being a dumbass and picking fights with Tegan.

"What's that?" she wondered, referring to the concussion, flopping down beside him. "And what kind of name is that? Who is he? I'll kill him," Bat quipped. But before Tegan could possibly respond to any of that, she gasped. "Did you find Ceara? Is she back too? What happened with the Blackfeathers?" If his head wasn't already killing him before, it surely was now.

tegan chuckled, a little bit, but his expression soured as she wouldn't shut the fuck up. on one hand, it was endearing to have a fan, tegan had always wanted a fan club. but on the other hand, OW. "can you pipe down, a bit?" he teased her, but was very serious, "a concussion means i hit my head and now it hurts a lot. noises and bright lights and moving too much. i gotta get a lot of rest and it'll heal." easy textbook stuff. check. next question~ 

"ceara was gone when i got there-- but she was there, i could smell her," he started, (and i'm not sure what time frame the hydra x terance thread takes place on, so if it was before this tegan would mention she's safe, but if not he would say he doesn't know where she is...) "you want me to tell you about it or are you gonna keep asking questions?" he asked, giving her cheek a rough nudge since she'd settled beside him and that was the most convenient place he could reach.

A real thread of concern made its way through Bat when Tegan elaborated on the meaning of a concussion. That didn't sound good at all. She latched onto his last two words on the subject: "it'll heal." She then pressed her lips together and made a zipping motion in front of her mouth, nodding eagerly (but silently!) when Tegan teased her.

-Yes!- she signed, biting back a shit-eating grin as she anticipated his reaction to her use of ptero.

obvious surprise fell upon tegan's features. "you're doing it," he commented with a bright smile, signing as he did so. good for her! he was actually kinda stoked about it. after all, towhee was one of the most important wolves in the world to him-- it meant a lot that bat was learning. he added to poke some fun at her(still signing), "thank god." 

"so, screech-- titmouse-- whatever-- is towhee's brother. i guess related to you, by some extension. he's kinda got a rep for being a total douchebag-- and not in a good way. he killed some kid at moonspear, attacked raven, did something else here i can't remember--" hurt too much to think about it too, so tegan moved on, "-- and basically just... not good. and he fucking kidnapped ceara." god, screech was the absolute worst. 

"that all make sense, pup?" he asked. not calling her a pup cause she was young... it was just the first descriptor word he could think of so. he used it. he'd probably start calling everyone pup now. he was a fan.

He seemed rather pleased, which made Bat's heart dance again. He made some signs back at her, none of which she understood, though Tegan also spoke out loud as he did so. Hopefully if he (and their other pack mates) continued to expose her to the sign language, she would catch on naturally. She was already bilingual, technically, so picking up a third language—of any entirely different medium, granted—shouldn't be too hard, right?

As Tegan told his tale, Bat caught herself wondering, Is there a good way to be a douchebag...? But, of course, she didn't interrupt him. And she didn't bother asking when he was done either. It seemed a little tasteless, given the facts he'd just laid on her. Bat frowned. This Titmouse guy had murdered a child, among other things. That shit was dark.

She flashed a quick, fond smile at the pet name, then answered with a question of her own. "What happened to him? Did you kill his ass?" Bat asked hopefully.

"i tried," said tegan with a shrug, "but i kinda suck at fighting and we ended up just smacking heads. honestly he probably woulda killed me." which was fax. tegan had seen it with his own two, dilated eyeballs. 

"he got away, i guess. but moonspear is gonna take off after him. and maybe us too, especially since they took ceara... i dunno what's gonna happen," he admitted kinda sadly, cause this was some dark shit... 

but tegan didn't wanna talk about dark shit. "what about you? what have you been up to?" he asked with a smile, ears pricking.

Oh no. This Titmouse creep was still at large. Not for long... Surely someone would take care of Teekon Wilds's Most Wanted. Bat would place her faith in her pack mates and their allies(?).

"Just scouting a bunch, nothing really interesting," she replied with a shrug. "How soon before you can start going out again?" Bat couldn't help but ask. She couldn't wait, although she'd be happy to hang out with him in the meantime, while he rested. She was pretty sure she wasn't going to let him out of her sight anytime soon.

tegan shrugged. "i dunno, actually. whenever it stops hurting to look at the sun, i guess," he replied, a smirk spreading across his features. it was a joke, duh, don't look directly at the sun, kiddos. "hopefully soon," he added, huffing and laying his head on his paws. he eyed her from this position, tail flicking, "but between you and me, i don't really mind not having anything to do."

She bobbed her head at his response, grateful that it shouldn't be too long before the pair of them could hit the road together again. Traveling by herself had been fun, yet she preferred to tag along with Tegan as much as possible. And if she had to do so in the confines of the plateau for a little bit, well, that was all right.

"I'm gonna hang out with you," she announced, brooking no room for argument. If he really needed her to get lost, Bat supposed she would give him some space. But she found herself really hoping he'd just let her cling to him like a shadow until he was better... and probably still after that too.

tegan eyed her, giving her a quick once over before ultimately deciding he probably couldn't change her mind. he kinda liked that about bat. she was a stubborn ass bitch, and he was a stubborn ass bitch. he respected it. of course, he had the final say-- he'd make sure of it. but he wouldn't protest too much on issues like this.

"bet," he said, stretching out his hind legs to the side and pushing with his forelimbs to lay his chin across bat's back, "but you're gonna make yourself useful as my pillow." easy stuff.

Post #200 for lover boy! ;)

For a split second, she thought he'd just used her old name, though it quickly dawned on her that it was just one of his Teganisms™. Nonetheless, she couldn't resist the urge to make a joke.

"It's Bat, not Bet. Can't even pronounce a three-letter word correctly." The "smh" was implied when she actually shook her head. And frowned. And even made a tsk tsk sound.

A moment later, she was all smiles. "I'll allow it." And to show how game she was to be Tegan's pillow pal, she flopped down and rolled onto her side, presenting her soft hide for his comfort.