Little Goat Mountain and now it's only you that matters

Let me know if you need anything changed! <3

Sometime overnight the clouds had rolled in. Great, big, billowy ones, stained with yellow and heavy with snow. They were too far out of Easthollow to skirt on back, and too unsheltered in the forest to just wait this freak storm out. They needed somewhere to bunker down. Kaito had determined they could make it to the mountain just as the heavier blizzard hit and, well... at least he'd only been a little bit off in his guess.

That's it, just ahead! he shouted through the whip of wind that struck the two travellers as they pushed on through the smacking snow. Frigid flakes caked his entire right side of his body, while he kept @Arlette close to his left, to best shelter her from the blizzard that attacked the side of him he'd left exposed.

The weather might've been against them, but praise the One, that the opening to the cave was out of the line of the wind! Oh, he could feel the relief already. His breath huffed out in scraggly clouds, and the moisture came back around to cling to his fur in a goatee of little frozen shards.

Arlette had tried her best to keep up, she was determined to not have Kaito be slowed down because of her. She had grown to like the comfortable silence between them as they climbed the mountain. Arlette had noticed the clouds but hoped that they would spare them their contents. At first, she thought that it was going to be rain, however, she was wrong it was snow. The girl looked behind her, watching the valley that was her home. It was too far to get back but she was no so certain if it was wise to travel further into the mountains with the incoming snow. She realized she had been standing still and quickly rushed to catch up with Kaito.

Then the snow started to become heavier, Arlette was determined to stay on Kaito's right side. But soon, her weariness made her falter in her steps and stumble through the deeper snow. Reluctantly, she allowed Kaito to shelter her from the wind and incoming snow. She didn't want him to think she was weak. Though, she was not going to be ungrateful and make sure to give Kaito's left side all the warmth she got by staying close to him. Clearly, her motives were to keep him warm on his left side and it was not her selfish side that just wanted to be close to him. She had been mostly in thought, focusing on keeping her weary legs moving. It wasn't helping that she was feeling jolts through her stomach and just overall jittery. She blamed being so close to Kaito.

She was relieved when Kaito said that they were there. A shelter! The girl let out a sigh in relief. The girl stayed close to Kaito though. She was wary of the underground here and didn't want to make any misstep. Her legs feeling heavy of the ice caked there. Arlette let out a whine in relief when they stepped inside. The girl gave herself a good shake. She was panting, while her paws felt cold her body as heating up. Arlette then noticed Kaito's iced side. "Are you alright?," she asked and stepped closer to lick and bit the ice out of his fur. "I will warm you up," she offered, since she was feeling hot and bothered anyhow. Probably a mix from the climb and... Kaito.

He felt her sigh more than he heard her. Honestly, he fought to hear anything over the wicked whoosing of this crazy wind. He also felt her press closer to him, and despite the frigidness of the cold, he jittered more with the funny warmth only Arlette ever really made him feel.

A few more languished minutes in the driving snow, and then, they were inside. Finally. His teeth chattered within the tightness of his jaw, and wide eyes adjusted to the darkness here. The cave... well... the cave wasn't warm, but hey, at least it was dry. And, if they ventured a bit further, he bet he could even find a tighter nook to curl up in, and make warm by their bodies and breath, at least until the storm had passed -

"Hmm?" Kaito turned when Arlette spoke up from behind him; he had drifted a couple paces from her side, his own thoughts already running through the what-ifs and could-be's of the chambers farther down. With raised brows, he noticed the path of her eyes, and the trajectory of her paws, and he withdrew a step, in simple surprise, then stopped.

He took a second to sort himself, and huffed a little laugh. "I'd reckon there's no way to warm me up without getting you cold, too," a thin smile spread across his lips, and shook ever so slightly from the chill, "but the way you're picking off the ice feels nice."

Arlette liked a challenge and she didn't want Kaito to suffer a cold because of her. She went to bite the ice chunks out of his fur as he had said that he liked that. At least when the bigger chunks of ice were gone he could move better and would be less cold at least. The female's mouth was getting cold but that didn't stop her. She had started at his shoulder and moved her way up his neck to bite the ice out of his fur. She could feel herself flush a bit as she got closer to his face and jaw.

She was very careful around his neck since that was a sensitive point for wolves and she didn't want him to think she had bad intentions. She continued to move up and licked the ice of his ear instead of biting it. It was a bit harder to reach for the female as she was smaller. Her warm breath ghosting over the sensitive skin. She slowly moved to the side of his head. Cleaning his head from all the ice since it would just be an excuse to lick him. She figured that he would tell her to stop if he didn't want this.

Arlette licked over his muzzle which had barely any ice left. When she noticed she battered her flustered eyes up at him. Big red pools of admiration. She only managed to keep that contact for a second before she looked away. His side was still full of ice chunks so she should probably get rid of those instead of just slobbering all over Kaito's face. When she thought of it like that the female felt mortified about it. Her mother never told her how to seduce males. She felt clueless.

Kaito kept pretty still as Arlette worked to rid him of the spikes of ice and clumps of snow clinging tenaciously to his fur. And, he found himself quite amazed at what a difference being rid of them made! He not so much feel any warmer, persay, but his friend's efforts eased a burdening weight from his neck that he hadn't realized he'd been carrying until that weight was gone. What a relief, and he closed his eyes even as she nosed into that vulnerable stretch between his jaw and his jugular. He had seen her at work handling herbs and medicines, the delicacy in which she held her plants. He knew her gentleness, and trusted her tending would be done with the same measure of care.

He lowered his head when she reached his face. Instinctive, to simply assist her. She nipped and snagged at the ice which lined his cheeks - but only when she reached his nose did her gesture change, and he blinked open startled eyes to find her staring back up at him.

Kaito held her stare for a long moment, his own soft and searching; she was the first to pull her contact away, but he felt her look linger, and a chilling warmth pricked the blood in his chest.

She moved her head - presumably to continue picking the ice from his side - but he lifted a paw to stop her. "Wait," he said, before he could really think of what he was doing. "Was that - what was that?" a small laugh passed through his lips, but his brow furrowed. Confused, in himself, as much as he was with her.

Arlette wanted to continue but Kaito stopped her. She felt her heart start to race in her chest. She had been caught. He was totally seeing that she was just slobbering all over his face and probably thinking that she was gross. Arlette eyes moved all over the place. "Uh, I... ah..," she mumbled. Her eyes caught the soft smile and she panicked. She felt so confused about what Kaito was thinking!!

She felt a wave of heat go through her, Arlette took it as embarrassment. She wanted him so badly. The girl dipped her head submissively down, ears fallen back. "I'm s-sorry. I shouldn't--" How she wished she could run away, but outside was a freaking snowstorm. She was so much in her head that she didn't notice that her scent was getting stronger by the minute. The pale girl's eyes looked at anything except Kaito.

His confusion continued, another chuckle punching through as a breathy laugh as his friend stumbled for words, reached for explanations and then seemingly grabbed hold of fog. Heat still fluttered in his chest -- he was so certain yet so uncertain, having never dealt with anything quite like this, but having heard much about this from others he'd met at home, or in his travels. Yet putting two and two together seemed like an ordeal to him now, and he didn't have much experience dealing with girls. Beyond his sisters, anyway, but those relationships had been simple, and straight forward. They had only ever led in one direction with a very definitive end.

Not like this. Arlette was gentle, yet the feelings she evoked were like fire in his skin, shivering him with a warmth much different than any he'd felt before. Frightening, and yet... "Wait, no. I just -- I don't understand." He said with that same furrowed look, only this time his ears turned back as well, equally uncertain and sheepish as his friend. "Are we -- do you -- ?" How did one even ask? If someone liked you in the way you liked them? He laughed again - nervous - and spluttered out, "I'm sorry, I just don't - know - I don't know what you're thinking, and I - I'd like to. To know."

I suppose that's one way to find out.

Arlette dared to batter her eyes up at him when Kaito seemed to stumble over his words as well. Her ears popped forward with a new filled hope 'are we'... yes? What are they? But he didn't finish that. She could feel her body relax automatically as the boys as starting to laugh more. It worked better on her than the frowns. She liked his laugh and she knew that laughing... well laughing couldn't be so bad, right?

Arlette felt her whole body heat up again. He liked to know what she was thinking? She didn't even know what she was thinking. Her mind was a mess. Would it even make sense to Kaito? "I just.... I... I don't know what you are thinking. I am-- I probably took it too far with getting-- with getting ice off your coat.. And-- I ... I didn't mean to. But I couldn't stop it. I didn't want to stop. I just continued licking and your probably grossed out by me now. But Ijustlikeyousobadly and well I know you don't like me and... I am sorry. I am a bad friend for slobbering all over your face you don't need that after climbing a steep mountain in a snowstorm--" she rambled that last part all in one breath.

At least she tried to explain herself - and actually, he found he could follow most of her confusion, her apologies, her uncertainty, her rabbit trails breaking out and looping back in on each other -- until, well --

"Woah, woah, wait, hold up, slow down," his smiling face kept smiling, his laughter kept trilling through his voice -- almost more now, given the sheer absurdity that -- holy moly -- what the heck? He raised a paw to gesture in the air in front of her mouth, as if to shush her, or calm her, or something of that nature -- anything to let him get his own words out. "First off," and he figured this was most important, "You're an incredible friend for even talking to me after I avoided you for so long, and no, I don't think you're gross, even if you put more icicles on my face that what was there at first, and all." And he laughed again, at how silly she was, at how much he liked that. At what was coming next. His heart thumped like a wilder thing through every second, and every breath.

"And second off -- " her words repeated, over and over - she liked him she liked him -- she liked him. And this, too, was most important, and the most difficult, still, to push out, "I, um, yeah. Well, I actually do... really like you... too." He eased her a crooked grin, and his ears slacked to the sides, and he felt as though he were not in a cave, but kind of sort of floating, only... somewhere nicer than in the blizzard. Like, not quite in the clouds, and not quite somewhere on this earth. More surreal... like somewhere new altogether.

Arlette felt out of breath as she looked at him. "I'msorry," she mumbled and looked to the side. She expected the male to say something but not the kind words he used. She looked up with some hesitation. "W-what?," she let out in surprise. Her heart skipped a bit to then drop in her chest because he had avoided her. Shit. She almost didn't hear about the second part. Her ears popped up a second before they fell back again. He... liked her back?

Arlette blinked in surprise and slight confusion. "You do?," she asked, sounding so unsure about it. She never had a boy like her, anyone for that fact. Sure, her family liked her but this was very different. "Then why did you avoid me?," she asked, visibly confused and maybe a little hurt. Because that made her think that the male hated her or something severe like that. She had looked forward to spending time with him, to just get cold shouldered was tough.

"I said that you're incredible," and he wondered what she would make of that, what she made of everything. The little hints she would pick up on... the building apology. All those wrongs he skirted around. Glad that they were off his shoulders, hopeful he could make some of them right again.

He laughed at her look of utter confusion, and disbelief. And... well... he guess he couldn't blame her. "Yes, I do. I like you, Arlette, in a way I don't really know what to do about," and Kaito turned his ears in sheepish apology. "I'm so sorry -- I was an idiot. And... I guess I was afraid," he scuffed the ground with his paw, "Your dad -- well, I mean, after he exiled that girl... and you know the way he looks at me when I'm around you - " and he laughed again, at how absurd and terrifying everything still seemed to him. About this, about all of this. "It was so stupid - I was so stupid. I should've just been brave - shouldn't have ignored you - and I can't... well, I can't really change what I did, but I can change things starting now," he glanced at Arlette, cheeks warm, and solidarity in his eyes, "We can change things. I - I mean, if you want to."

Arlette still couldn't really believe it that those words came out of the male's mouth. She felt herself heat up and her tail started to wag. She felt like she was dreaming because she never thought Kaito would feel that way about her. She didn't really feel special enough to be worthy of his attention. She felt her eyes lit up with excitement when he continued. He really liked her!

It seemed that Greyback had really made an impact on the male. She could understand that. She was even afraid sometimes, she knew that it was normal. "I was afraid as well," she admitted. She really felt that she would get kicked out as well if she wouldn't follow the rules. She looked at him with big red eyes. "It is brave to admit your feelings," she returned to him and stepped a bit closer. She felt her confidence growing a little now he said he liked her. "I don't know... I need to think about it," but she said it with such a grin that she clearly didn't need to think about it.

"I really like you too, for a while," she admitted. "So we change this to what? W-would you be like my mate then? I don't really know how things like that go," she asked him. "Or would it be less official than that?," she added, curious.

He loved the brightness that overtook her, the light that filled her sweet, gentle eyes. Kaito wondered if this is how dad had felt, when he'd look at mum. He thought so. He hoped so. From the stories mum told him, he believed so. A wide smile teased at his face, and he gave in willingly.

Something in knowing that Arlette shared his fears eased him, like maybe he hadn't been completely insane, if Greyback's own daughter had been afraid -- even though that would never make what he'd done in shouldering her off a right and okay thing to do. At least she understood, and being understood was what any young heart longed for -- that, and she had called him brave. Him. Kaito? He had never been the brave one, and her praise kindled his affection.

He understood, though, why she would want to wait -- and he nodded, and listened to the next steps she wanted -- keen to respect her in the boundaries and possibilities they would explore and pursue, together. But confusion seemed to touch her words, and honestly... Kaito also didn't quite know what to do after admitting feelings. It'd been a build up enough to get to that point, honestly, and he, well... he had nothing else really planned.

"Umm... I don't really know either, I've, uh," he laughed, "I've never really done this before." He tried to think back, if mum had ever told him anything about any of this, but his memories were hazy at best. "Umm..." he narrowed his eyes in thought, "I could court you? That's pretty much the opposite of what I was doing before," he said with a laugh and a sheepish grin, "So we could be official, but not official-official, but working to become official-official. Hanging out more, getting to know each other more, maybe going on more trips like this," he laughed again, and his ears turned to the sides, "once you think about it, of course."

Arlette's eyes were only on Kaito. He was the only one that had her full focus. Her body was feeling warm, and the snowstorm definitely forgotten. She kind of liked that Kaito had never done this before, either. It made her feel special. No other wolf had ever sparked such feelings within him and she secretly loved that. It made her more self assured that she might be special and not just some girl. She still felt a bit flustered knowing this, but very flattered.

She nodded when Kaito spoke. Courting sounded very official already, and very nice. She wouldn't mind getting to know Kaito better and spending time with him. She nodded. "I would really like that," she nodded and wagged her tail excitedly over her hocks. She leaned forward and licked him over his muzzle. "Is that courting too?," she asked. She liked that they were exploring this licking and showing affection. She had seen her mother give Greyback little licks. Or see them groom each other after a big meal. "I don't need to think about it, silly," she chuckled. "I'd like your idea of courting."

So that was what they decided. Arlette was all warm and fuzzy inside and from what she could assume, Kaito had been feeling the same both flustered at the admitted honesty. The female hoped that taking the ice out of his fur and staying close to him had also saved him from hypothermia along with admitting feelings to one another. This was the first time she really helped someone by just using common sense. Taking the cold away from him by using her own body heat and biting the ice away where needed. That was one other thing she could add to her list of things she learned.

- end -

editing an ending