Jade Fern Grove [M] i wanna play the beautiful game while i'm in brazil

traveling thread... after the YULE but if something crazy happening during the yule than it's before. i have no idea idk what a timeline is. fuck a timeline!

terance and treason travelled back from the yule. it probably wasn't treason's scene but... terance had a nice time. he got to see his children -- and seabreeze -- and even a few wolves he hadn't seen in a while, like delight. he wished he would've told them about alarian and korei but... he kept their secret, for some unknown reason. they were probably doing fine without one another, and terance didn't want to be strangely in the middle of it all. 

his tail waves as they went, dark ears angled forwards and large paws crunch crunch crunching in the snow. by now, night had fallen, and though they were close to the hollow terance chuffed for them to break for the night. his shoulder was bothering him and he didn't want to agitate it more pushing through the night. this territory, it seemed, had been inhabited before. there were an abundance of already dug dens littering the forest, and terance eagerly dug his way through one that was only partially covered by snow. no one currently resided in it, so he turned to treason with a waving tail and said, "looks good to me." and then he ducked into the hole and laid himself on one edge, back leaned against the wall. he huffed.

rate M for secks

Yeah, it wasn't really her thing, but she got to do a bit of people-watching and intel-gathering so it was maybe worth it.  Whatever. It was a distraction and it didn't seem too horribly likely that they missed much while they were gone -- all the drama had pretty much happened already, hadn't it?

Honestly, Treason probably could have kept walking on into the night, but whatever, she wasn't gonna just ditch him.  That would be probably pretty counter-productive and likely wouldn't win her any points with anyone.  Instead, Terance was just gonna have to deal with her being a bit bored.  She also was still pretty much fine with staying reasonably out in the open at night, but then again her pelt also had far less holes than his -- maybe he just got cold easier.  Either way, she followed him into the old den.

It may have already become obvious from past trips (or maybe just the way over this time) that if Treason wasn't actually ready to settle down and sleep, she'd take up more than her fair share of space.  Probably due to some combination of boredom and being annoying.  Eventually she'd settle down and become a good deal more compact, but she was currently in the first stage.  With a yawn, she flopped down on her side near the opposite wall, stretching wildly for a moment, one large paw aimlessly reaching in his direction.  Do you think you'll want to hunt something in the morning, or just continue the rest of the way?  Her eyes were wandering, skimming a moment across the interior of the den (hers still wasn't done, though she had a plan to make Joss do most of the hard work when they got back) before returning to Terance.  She was still plenty wide awake -- not quite cat wanting to play at 3AM, but somewhere in that universe.

terance would've preferred to soldier on through the rest of the night but... there was no use pushing it, if he hurt himself more he would never forgive himself. it was bad enough that his shoulder hurt on journeys, never mind if it always hurt. besides, treason could stand a night alone with him. and as much as terance preferred to sleep out in the open himself, it was nice to wake up dry in the winter. 

"whatever you want," terance said, also not really tired. just hurting. he took a second to stretch out his limb, ignoring the ache. oof. "we're not too far from home, i know you want to get back." he figured they would just push through in the morning, but if she wanted a meal then... it was probably smart. and terance wasn't known for skipping meals. 

noting that treason looked pretty wide awake. despite her pretty chompy attitude he felt pretty comfortable around her, so he figured he'd try to push his luck -- gossip a bit. "any luck finding eligible bachelors?" asked terance with a quirk of his brow.

Since I saw Ibis made another thread I am assuming nothing nuts will happen. :P

She snorted, Only if that Easthollow guy has a younger brother.  She was assuming he meant at the Yule thing.  Probably will be a good idea to attempt a little bit of recruiting again anyway.  Considering her only contribution to the pack had been forcing Joss into servitude, yeah, she needed to do more.  Especially if that was how she was going to get other men in her competition.  To a certain point it was frustrating that so many had been disappointments.  The gold boy a cultist, Corvus just making bad choices, the guy with the accent hadn't stuck around to see if he was any good, Rueger hadn't caught her euphemisms... Where did that leave her?  Not where she'd been hoping to be, at least.

She lowered her head onto the den floor, countering with her own brow raise, Mm. You're still the best choice unless visiting is going to make you have second thoughts and you're going to chase after Seabreeeze?  She hadn't seen Olive's behavior during that event, but at the very least the way Treason said it, she wasn't being particularly serious about the phrase.  If there'd been any second thoughts, certainly she'd be alone right now.

"greyback?" terance questioned, amusement smirking it's way onto his face, "he's a looker." that was for sure, terance would admit that in a heartbeat. and then... hah! terance rolled his eyes, chin tilting back. she didn't hit a soft spot, necessarily, but terance was certainly put off by it. 

he made a noise, something resembling a groan, but shorter. "she's gay," he said rather bluntly, then backtracked since that didn't seem very PC of him. he wondered if it mattered to treason if he was PC. "with olive, i think, it looked like she was trying to rub it in my nose... for some reason," terance said, brow furrowing. he couldn't really figure out why it mattered to her. seabreeze had already left and taken his children. he sort of got the fucking message. who cared. he tried to be a bit cheerier. "you're stuck with me, then."

He's old, she grumped. Regardless of whether or not she finds out about him and Valette.  She still wasn't to her second birthday and didn't think it was a good choice on her part to pick someone who was that close to qualifying as a geezer.  What if she actually liked him and he just keeled over dead from being an old fart?  That'd be super annoying.  A younger version would be better.

Eh?  She blinked a couple of times before she half-sat up, Are you kidding me?  She seemed genuinely surprised at that.  Was that the real reason they'd left the pack?  They ran off together to be together without seeming like a jerk for breaking up Terance's mateship for their own happiness or whatever?  Treason figured probably so.  She lay back down, stretching her legs out in front of her again as she spoke, On the bright side, probably less of a disaster then if they'd stayed in the pack and pulled that.  And I guess you're totally free to do whoever you want, then.  Snort.  If she came crawling back for Terance any time after now, Seabreeze had pretty clearly given up her chance.  Maybe those two women really did deserve each other -- they could go prance along and give up when things got tough together.

"nah..." said terance quietly, clearly thinking about a few things but not voicing any of this thoughts. i mean, what was the point? besides, they were thinking the same things, therefore they went unsaid. 

and then, to treason's second comment -- which was light hearted and probably a joke -- terance gave a gentle snort (maybe of amusement, maybe some sort of scoff) and shrugged. "i've been able to do that," he added with a quirk of his brow, a small smile but not one that really meant anything. he was more lost in his own thoughts for the time being than fully invested in the conversation. but, whatever, he tried to crawl back into reality. it half worked, except then terance asked a really stupid question that he wished he wouldn't've. "i wonder what okeanos and ibis call olive." well, less of a question and more of an outlaid question. immediately following, terance shook his head. "ah, i guess it doesn't matter." 

and then he shifted where he laid. "you think rannoch is gonna be healthy enough to come back to leadership soon?" he asked then, completely moving the conversation away from his brief moment of grief.

When he suggested that he totally could have been out there, she gave him a long, disbelieving look.  Really?  Sure didn't seem that way.  For a guy who said he had lots to bargain with, he'd been pretty lame so far.  Seriously, every time she tried to verbally leave the door open for something that in Treason's world might be considered flirting, he just toddled on by like an oblivious penguin.  It was supposed to be fun.  A game that didn't come with too many long term strings, as he'd requested.  And yet he was just so not playing at all.  Was he just that oblivious or was he still way too hung up on Seabreeze?

Maybe it was the latter, as he continued talking.  Treason quirked a brow. Yeah.  Right.  Totally able.

And then he walked metaphorically even further away by going back to Rannoch.  It was a little frustrating, but she wasn't even sure he'd notice,  Depends on him.  I was trained to cause damage, not assess it's repair.  Don't rush him.  Her mind was spiraling back to wondering if she needed to just be more aggressive with Terance somehow.  Maybe pushy would be the better word.  Something to nag him into showing whether or not he had actual interest or if he'd wuss out when the time came.

okay so, to be fair, terance didn't think it was his game. he was fully under the impression that treason had all the cards in her hand and he was just one of em -- he was open to anything at any time, but of course wasn't fully set on initiating things because he didn't think that's what he wanted. not like he'd asked. beyond that, dude was so fuckin tired of the whole dating game -- or whatever -- he didn't even think he'd have the energy to keep up with it that long.

like, just hit him up one day for a quick fuck and then set him free. terance was not so great at... anything else, apparently. 

so, no, not hung up on seabreeze, but certainly being lame and completely oblivious. hm :/ 

"fair," he said gently, noting that treason didn't seem to keen on talking about what he'd said. silently terance wondered what she wanted to talk about, since apparently him wasn't a good enough topic -- though she'd been more than willing to pry in previous conversations. terance tried something else. "you know, i've never heard about where you're from," he asked with a quirk of his brow. not that she'd tell him.

Okay, so at least he realized that she thought it was a silly thing to fret about.  He didn't need to be heading back into the flailing after Rannoch loop.  Either he'd get better or he wouldn't -- he'd feel well enough to lead or he wouldn't.  Treason wasn't going to try and force it, partially because she felt like she had more power with Terance as her only superior than she did with Rannoch there.  She'd had a lot more contact with Terance to begin with anyway.

The main problem was that he'd sort of stepped into the no-go zone that she kept to herself.  Not for any particular real reason, mind you.  If anything bad was going to come out of her past, certainly it would have happened by now, wouldn't it?  Maybe not. She really had no clue.  She rolled slightly again as she pondered, Mm.  Not too exciting.  Some family.  Others like me.  She shrugged, I don't think there's too much worth mentioning, and it's not like I've been there in a year.  On the other hand, despite avoiding real answers, she was at least a little less frowny at him now.

terance did tend to be more... easy-going than rannoch, and that's only because i didn't feel like total doormat was entirely applicable. either way, treason was much better off with just terance as a superior, even if terance didn't mind the prospective of stepping down to be equals with treason so that they could both answer to rannoch. though, secretly, terance didn't think liffey would step back up, and he assumed rannoch would leave him in the higher-up position.

then, he quirked a brow, noting her rather tame excuse for a back-story. "i refuse to believe that a group of wolves who named their daughter treason weren't that exciting," he said with a raise of his dark chin, peering down at her with a pair of green eyes, "c'mon."

There were times where she wished people would happily take the sort of vague answers she gave at face value and other times she didn't.  With Terance she wasn't sure which was the proper route to go, partially because yeah.. Oblivious penguin.  If it dragged him out of his stupor, maybe it was worth playing that game, but normally she'd just tell the person to buzz off.

That's because they didn't.  That name is my choice, and it's served its purpose fairly well so far.  Again she shrugged.  Perhaps if she actually shared anything, it'd make sense why she was so casual about ditching one name for another, especially a weird one.  But well, here was this wolf who had ditched her given name for something with strong negative context and seemed perfectly fine with it.  Treason had already given Terance the name test ages ago, so it wasn't like she was revealing too much of a secret.

wait... what? 

terance paused, like he was going to say something before he realized exactly what she said. "treason... isn't your name," he commented kind of stupidly, brows furrowing, before correcting himself, "your given name." well, what the fuck. 

i mean, yeah, okay, sure, he got it. terance had his own name and he liked his own name well enough, he'd never changed it -- and maybe if he changed it he wouldn't bother telling anyone. but... treason. she wasn't given that name? she picked it? she might as well've got with something like murder. or something. well, that begged the obvious question. "well, then what was your name before treason?" 

Okay, yeah, it was definitely fun watching his gears turn.  See, this was why having the name Treason was fun.  It'd get all kinds of weird reactions depending on how she was introduced and whether or not they ever realized it wasn't bestowed on her by someone else.  It was just too bad it wasn't really a reoccurring thing -- people were only surprised once.

It did give her a bit of an idea, a new game, shuffle the deck a bit.  The devious grin spread a little more, and with a few catlike swishes of her tail, she replied, You said had a lot to bargain with, didn't you?  Make it worth my while to tell.  She was also really curious if given that as an option with no further direction of what that might be.  No matter what he did, it had to be less boring than sitting around until she got so bored she fell asleep.  And if he opted for nothing, she'd be well within her rights for some faux-pouting.

terance was almost shocked to hear her answer -- almost. if anything, it was just surprising that she was playing her cards now. terance fully expected them like... ya know, when the time came. not now, so early in the game. 

he also was about to sorely disappoint treason. which, no offense terance, but who was surprised. terance's bargaining wasn't even spicy, it was purely political. then again, it was certainly something he knew treason wanted... 

"you think i'm gonna lay out my cards for a little name?" he asked her with a quirk of his brow, "and so early in the game..." or was this just the only thing he had to bargain? haha -- ah, oh wait. is that what she meant? terance realized this dumbly only a few moments after he'd spoken, tucking aside his own chips to play with some of hers. or something. i'm failing on the gambling metaphors tonight. well damn, okay, he could offer that... i guess. fuck -- he was so long out of practice -- like literally almost a whole god damn year had gone by since the last time terance had got any action. and oh! his shoulder... woe is me... 

he was taking a moment to decipher something, and the gears in his head were clearly turning. he was probably shifting between wanting to be professional and respectable while also wanting to try out treason's suggestion at spontaneity (which he'd said millions of times he wanted to attempt, but could never bring himself to do it). apparently something outweighed the other, because no matter her response, terance was lifting himself from the den floor moments later to cross the space, head low, being so bold as to reach and press his nose below the base of her ear, moving down to gently pull at the fur along her cheek. 

we'll see if he actually would've made it that far though.

If it's just a little name, then it should be easy for you to find something, shouldn't it?  She wasn't asking for too much, now was she?  Just something.  But the fact he actually got up and started over definitely got her attention.  Instead of continuing to roll about on the floor, she shifted more towards her stomach, head raised as she watched him.  

He got closer and she let him, and the closer he got, the more curious she got in turn.  Honestly, it was a little exciting that he actually appeared to be doing something other than moping about feeling sorry for himself.  


And maybe he wasn't entirely a wuss, because he actually did got through with something, reaching out to touch the side of her face, which she did sort of lean into, eye on that side mostly closed, with what might have been a little hesitation on her part.  Or at least it might seem that way.  With Treason, showing her affection was probably a little bit like petting a shark -- there were teeth just right there beneath the surface.   She was trying to keep herself on a leash, that she didn't just react before she knew where Terance was going.  At least she didn't seem put-off by it at all, but at least for now her desire to not just ruin things probably made her seem a bit meeker than would be usual for her as she let him lead -- to see if it was just that taste or a little more.

well, hey, moping around and being sorry for himself is kind of terance's thing... i mean, no one does it better than him! and he tried not to, really, you can't blame him for this though -- finding out your ex-wife is gay and married to the woman she ran off with? sheesh, i'd need a drink after that. you'd think he'd stop moping about something though, like he really did always have something to mope about. 

anyway, besides the point.

expecting teeth, terance was quite surprised to get so far in his advance. he shouldn't've been, though, since he probably (definitely) just caught her way off guard. i mean, hey, if anything terance was at least respectful of advances? i guess? too bad treason was seriously wanting some guy who'd take the lead. terance was more 'i'll do whatever you want but you gotta tell me to do it' kinda guy. which had it's up and downs. lucky for treason, at least, she'd apparently given him the a-okay, the two thumbs up, so now he was feeling generally up to taking reigns. it would maybe prove to be a good distraction too... maybe. depends how far this gets. 

he'd focused only briefly at the bulb of her ear, gentle touches and sweeping movements of tongue and teeth through the fur along her cheek. down he went, testing waters, towards her neck -- her throat. something sensitive and vulnerable, if she would be such with him. he preen the spots that should bring from her a response, either physically or audibly. the place beneath her jaw, the hollow of her throat, her collarbone...

There were a few things fighting within her -- her own desire to control versus wanting to see what he'd do, her own bitey nature.  Probably other things too, so it was probably a good thing that she was clear-headed through this.  Sure, she'd expected something more impersonal, if that would be even the right word, but she wasn't gonna complain.  To a certain point, hadn't their little agreement removed quite a few of the boundaries? It did at least in Treason's eyes, as she wouldn't have suggested it if she'd found him particularly offensive in some way.  She wasn't that desperate.

And there were definitely some things that were clear or becoming clear.  She liked attention.  And she could only keep herself quiet and passive for so long.  As he moved to her throat, a quiet growl burbled up in her chest, but she still allowed him access.  Nothing about her other body language said it was much of a warning.  Conflicting instincts told her it was both okay and dangerous -- she'd chosen to let it continue but was at the positional disadvantage laying where she was.  Treason shifted slightly as he continued so that she could reach out with a forepaw to try to hook him closer, so that she could rake her teeth through the thick fur of his neck, accompanied by another growl.  Well, assuming Terance didn't freak out and back up the moment she started moving in possibly unpredictable ways.

she drew him closer -- despite the low growls that terance regarded only mildly cautiously. treason was pretty bitey and he wasn't looking to be bitten -- but the rest of her body language said things other than 'chomp'. so terance proceeded, keeping in mind who he was dealing with as well as what. this was a different territory. if treason was open to it, period, she'd have to be a bit more vulnerable. and so far she had been. 

terance stepped over her as she hooked him in, a forelimb on either side of her. she raked her teeth through the fur along his neck, growling all the while. he mirrored her, a low growl rumbling in his own throat as he paused a moment to let her groom. and then again terance took to her ear, nipping gently at the bulb of it, and then down again, combing through the fur along her own neck and then along her shoulders -- along her spine. a gruff noise fell from his maw as his gaze flickered towards her features, curious what kind of emotion treason -- of all wolves -- would display now, as well as to gauge how into it she was. or try to gauge, anyway.

It pleased her that he didn't run.  Maybe this could work out fairly well.   Hm.  The thought got buried.  She was a little aggressive about some of her chomps, a couple of her "grooming" nibbles either searching for the deepest layers of underfur or alternately capturing a wider chunk of his neck than necessary in her jaws for a second or two, but none aimed for damage.  Each of these little attacks seemed to coincide with a louder growl, of course.

When he started again at her ear, it was with some muffled not-quite whine on her part, as he'd taken away her ability to gnaw on him, but she was quickly satiated.  Again, attention.  She leaned into Terance's nibbles again, and then started to rise to meet him as he moved down her body, eventually slipping from between his paws and doubling back alongside him, flicking her tail in his face because of course she would.  Why wouldn't anyone do that?

Treason drew her muzzle through his scruff, over his shoulder then gave him a sharp nip to his ribcage with another growl that quieted and lingered, then without moving too far from where she'd struck, looked back to him as she paused for just a moment, debating her next move if he didn't make one in this handful of seconds she was allotting him.  Treason was a hard wolf to read on the best of days, but she definitely had an intensity to her right now -- at the very least, Terance had done a good job at winding her up for... Something.  He had her undivided attention, the question was what he was going to do with it.

treason made sounds -- a whine, maybe, of sorts. they weren't as soft as seabreezes... fuck, what the fuck? was he seriously comparing -- his mind reeled back as quickly as it could. god damn. this was why he wasn't spontaneous, think if he might've done this a month or two ago? with some stranger? he might've cried. at least with treason he was comfortable enough to relax back into her... well, relax wasn't the right word. but, he felt a certain degree of familiarity with treason, no reason to get all worked up and emotional.

his slight freeze-frame came at a good time, at least. as he paused at her back, she slipped away, turning back to smack him in the face with a fluffy tail and then jab at him with teeth. like a fuckin shark. he was brought back to reality, at least. treason had his full attention again -- something they had in common, it seemed. she paused for a second, staring at him with... anticipation, maybe. terance wasn't good at reading others -- especially treason -- but he himself was anticipating something. he figured she was too. 

terance wasn't sure he'd call it weird, they were wolves, after all, but treason's foreplay interests were certainly rougher than he was used to. not that he didn't expect a deal of aggressiveness from her, but still. some part of him had wondered if treason was secretly a shy and bashful creature in her most vulnerable states. but, nope, still bitey. no-matter. 

in the opportunity she afforded him, terance tried his hand at it. maybe it was a one-way street, he didn't know, but he figured he'd try. with a low growl, guttural, terance rounded on her, towards her rear to nip at her hocks, tail flicking as he anticipated a good or bad reaction from her. even his lip quirked up in a smirk, somehow amused with himself. another growl.

It certainly was not an one-way street, as though she kicked out that leg a bit from the unexpected nip, she looked back at him with approval.  Her tail wagged certainly now, happy that he was willing to join in on the way she liked it at last.  Honestly, she hadn't even contemplated that other wolves might be different because she was kind of self-centered and entirely inexperienced.  It just seemed to be what would make sense in her world -- lots of teeth, and careful control of them was the attractive thing.  Being able to walk on that knife edge of knowing you really were an apex predator but were nice enough to not act on it.  A rabbit could just be nice for the sake of it. She'd always encourage rougher play.

Goaded on a bit, she had to double back on him once more, chasing after Terance's tail to give him a nice playful chomp on the hips and rear, with oh-so dramatic sound-effects.  Her enthusiasm might make it sting a bit, but whatever.  She didn't pause, finishing her loop by crashing up against his side, dragging her muzzle through his fur again before snapping at the longer fur of his cheek as she passed by.

Unless he of course stopped her mid-way which might make things interesting, but in case he doesn't, there ya go.

things are getting rowdy -- like really rowdy. treason was apparently amused by something, for her actions got a lot snippier and much more playful. terance to keep up, but it seemed like she was on any side of him at any given second given him a good chomp. he tried to embrace the more... affectionate of all the chomps, but they were more teeth than anything else. surprise. 

it really was like seducing a shark. sheesh.

each bite brought a low growl from the stone, who's head was turned at any given angle to watch her. his eyes glinted, on edge (but the good kinda edge), until she brushed close against him -- his nose now raised but his gaze still rested on her. she'd had her fun, terance thought, and so he took his own turn. terance was not nearly as bitey as she was, falling under the category of tender, but he'd play along best he could. if this was what she liked then... well hell, who was he to tell her no? this was, afterall, a game of impress treason.

"you're teasing..." terance muttered lowly, before ducking from her teeth as they aimed for his cheeks. he stepped away now, beginning to circle her with a few great waves of his own tail. his green gaze rested upon her, studying her features carefully. few times had he looked at anyone like this -- especially not treason, but it was about time he did. if she'd let him take the lead, he again tried her tactic. 

he rounded on her now, giving her hocks a nip, careful but firm. again at her hind leg, and then he pressed his nose beneath the arch of her leg and the curve of her stomach, giving a low whine.

Was that an, Mhm, or a bit of a laugh from her?  Somewhere in-between?  It probably sounded almost coy.  Either way, it seemed like she'd pushed her limits for now, and it wasn't exactly the right time for them to have a conversation about what each of them liked.  Especially in Treason's case since she was still sorting that out in her conscious mind.

This time his bites didn't send her on a loop, but did elicit a few melodic growls.  But his touch sent a wiggle through her, and she replied with her own whine, slightly sharper and more insistent.  She looked at him with a somewhat mixed gaze -- sure, she seemed as inviting as she'd ever been, but there was still that predatory intensity burning away.  Right now Treason didn't have excessive hormones or experience to guide, but she was malleable to any pokes and prodding for whatever he needed, and flicked her tail at him once again.  Terance had his opportunity (again), but she'd give him a bit longer to do something about it.  Honestly he should be happy they were in an enclosed space so running circles around him couldn't be a thing.

his touch earned him a new sound from treason -- closer to something he'd originally expected but still claiming it's treason edge. she looked at him, something that terance took -- despite the intenseness that treason never failed to lack -- as a positive. green light. or something of the sort. he nosed again at the same spot before stepping back around her. he was locked and loaded, ready to fire. but a question pressed itself to the front of his mind. it was, afterall, the reason they were here. 

he reared, (finally) feeling it was the most fitting thing to do at this point -- there was no use in trailing after one another in such a closed space for so long. he pressed himself against her, grabbing her waist with his forelegs and reaching to grab her scruff in his jaws. unless she retaliated, of course, and in that case terance would just let her go. he was surprised to find that he didn't feel like he'd break treason. while he didn't try to crush her, he didn't think he would. she wasn't as petite as his last go-round... probably a good thing.

his teeth let go, briefly, reaching now for the fur along her cheek (should her head be turned the right way, anyway). "what's your name?" he asked her, voice gruff.