Stavanger Bay beats made of bongos and shakers

@Dalia!

Saucy was out for a midday patrol, the sun was high above the titan trees and splotched the ground she walked on. Snowy white paws slipped into the pools of light whenever she could find them, the warmth they provided wasn’t much but it was some sort of comfort from the winter winds. Her eyes were on the ground before her, her nose trained on chinks in the armor, places that needed remarking. She paused to piss at the base of a particularly tall sequoia, if not to remark a fading border than because she had been eating a lot of snow along the way and it melted in her stomach.

DTOP NO

dalia padded along the edge of the border, occasionally gazing up at all the y'all sequoia's her tail swinging. beyond these, all the rest of the trees were burnt a crisp. but the tree line here, at least, provided a bit of a barrier from snowfall-- it made the blanket beneath her feet a bit thinner than that of the open. still, her toes were cold.

as she went, she spotted saucy coming head on at her, paused beneath a y'all sequoia to relieve herself-- or marking, who knew! dalia let out a chirp of a bark, her tail wagging, and made to pad happily towards her friend. "hey!" she barked, ears perked upwards, "can i join you?"

Saucy finished peeing just as she heard Dalia’s voice in all its friendly cheer. She enjoyed patrolling on her own, but everything was better with pal. Especially when the pal is your best girl friend, who makes every activity ten times as fun! She shook her pelt and then quickly moved to meet her friend, a joyful smile on her face. Course! You wanna pee on this tree too? It’s a pretty great pee tree, she goofed around, and bumped her shoulder into Dalia’s rambunctiously.

"not particularly!" chirped dalia as politely as she could manage, "i'll find another pee tree-- but i bet yours is great." her tail waved, even after saucy bumped into her rather aggressively. she stayed upright, at least, and then she began off with her friend, intent on some fun, friendly chit chat! 

"can i hear about your pack before stormrift?" she asked curiously, her ears angling forwards. she understood it might be a sensitive topic, so she would certainly shut it down if she needed to but... she wanted to know. where did saucy come from?

Saucy giggled when Dalia replied seriously, and declined as politely as possible. It had been a joke really, but Dalia’s response was so very Dalia. Your loss babe, she replied, as they continued to walk their patrol.

Saucy frowned slightly at Dalia’s question, not because she didn’t want to talk about anything, but because she didn’t come from a pack. Just a little family. Were they a pack? Maybe, but nothing like the ones here. She thought for a second, then replied, I don’t have a pack before Stormrift. Just a mom and a dad and sibs. Saucy’s childhood had been that of a nomad, her family went where the food was good.

dalia began to worry when saucy made a face, but she was quickly relieved when it seemed that it wasn't that saucy was sad-- it was just that dalia was mistaken. her own ears perked at the realization, her head tilting as they continued the patrol. "you did mention you travelled a lot," dalia said with a thoughtful wave of her tail, "that's really cool... i've always been in one place. and then i left, walked down the coast and... now i'm here." she gave a shy grin at that, a little disappointed in her own wanderlust. she'd left her family and settled with a new one almost immediately... ah, oh well, dalia rather liked it here. 

"i'm glad you wandered here!" she added, a little more upbeat.

Saucy smiled at Dalia’s comment, Oh yeah, I’m like mama travel. I’ve seen pretty much everything, which was not really true, but it seemed like it was to her. Dalia gave a quick rundown of her own background, Saucy nodded remembering a conversation they’d had about this a while back. You’re from Drageda right? she asked, hoping Dalia would share some more without being prompted. She definitely wanted to know about Drageda, she often thought about it when Dalia slipped into her native tongue. 

Same, remember when I met you and Velen? she said when Dalia said she was glad that Saucy had come, dredging up those awesome times from her memory bucket.

"mama travel," giggled dalia, who thought the name was hilarious-- but kinda fitting. secretly, dalia thought saucy would be a really good mom-- a really fun mom! but she wasn't sure her friend was keen on settling down, not after their last conversation about boys. maybe in a few years. dalia wasn't sure where she stood, either. she was really into the idea of having a family but... after the incident she wasn't sure she could handle going near a man like that. not for a while. but-- maybe she could? maybe she just... well, she didn't know. that was a thought crisis for another day.

"drageda," she repeated with a wave of her tail, and then she grinned. "you'd seen pretty much everything-- but you still couldn't open a coconut," she quipped, giving her friend a light bump, "that was a good day." it was a good day. dalia wished it was that day again.

Saucy as a mom... would be interesting. A story for sometime around February? Yeah that sounds about right! Anyway, for now Saucy was done with dudes in the romantic kind of way, they were all dickheads, she decided, and she wanted nothing to do with them. Family shmamily! 

Dalia confirmed the name Drageda, but said nothing more. Oh well, Saucy could learn more later for sure. Now she would rather talk other things. She laughed out loud when Dalia pointed out a fault in her storytelling. She gave her friend a sideways glance with a tilt of her head, I could’ve opened the coconut on my own if you guys hadn’t shown up and distracted me ok, she defended herself with a mixture of giggles.

For a moment her mind went back to the task at hand, she noticed a weaker area of the borders and quickly bounded over towards it to rub her side along a tree. Ugh, it’s like... an organic massage, she said as she took a moment to enjoy the way her shoulder felt against the jagged bark.

"you also would've cracked all your teeth!" dalia reminded her, using her own teeth to clip at the air around saucy's muzzle. what a goof! moments later saucy was rubbing all over a big ass tree. her ears pricked, brows rising in curiosity. not that she was rubbing against a tree, just that she was calling in an organic massage. she doubted it but... well, she didn't wanna be rude. "oh yeah?" she quipped, padding over to the wide-based tree to rub herself along it. it was... actually really nice. heh. "oh yeah..." dalia murmured a little lower, feigning her eyes rolling towards the back of her head, tongue lolling out.

Ch’yeah right, these bad boys used to bite rocks when I was little ain’t not coconut gonna break em, she replied, shaking her head with that familiar cavalier grin. She jerked her face out of the way lazily when Dalia’s teeth clipped towards her muzzle, a giggle escaping her mouth. Dalia was definitely the best girl friend Saucy could’ve asked for.

Saucy rubbed her back on the tree, and Dalia was at first skeptical of the wonders it could do. The warrior girl watched out of her peripheral as Dalia joined her and melted into the tree as Saucy had. The girls both took a moment to get their massage envy treatment, and then Saucy broke away from the bark and nipped playfully the air by Dalia’s shoulder. Come on we’re patrolling remember? she said, pretending that it was really urgent all of a sudden. Dang they shouldn’t patrol together, it was really distracting.

dalia stuck her tongue out. "so dutiful, ms. sars soleil," she said teasingly, before shaking out her own coat and giving a quick half-jog to catch up with her friend. they kept moving, even as dalia looked up towards the partly-clouded sky, and all the blue that poked through the dark clouds. they were always so dark in the winter, but the sky was so pretty. dalia loved it. she loved saucy. she loved stormrift. 

she looked forwards again, her tail swinging, feeling a little floaty about the whole situation. she wished she always felt so at ease. it felt like an old memory, to feel at ease. oh bother.

Saucy smiled when Dalia used her full name, it really was a nice name. Sometimes she thought about using it but... nah. She was Saucy. Dalia joined her again, trotting at her side, and the two continued their patrol, making sure the borders of Stormrift were safe. Two girls against the world.

i’ll archive!