Redhawk Caldera Somewhere in my car

@Somnia -- if you have time! These two haven't hung out in a while. :) Also, I'm assuming that Finley didn't tell Elwood that she was leaving...so Stevie, if you see this and want me to change it, let me know!

Tag isn't working -- @Somnia @Somnia

Finley's absence hadn't gone unnoticed by her co-Beta; it had been a few days since Elwood had seen her, which was strange. He had tracked her to the northern borders, and then her scent had continued on into neutral territory. Elwood, however, had stopped at the outskirts, simply gazing out over the snowy landscape. He wasn't going to follow her -- he convinced himself that she wouldn't be gone long, and that if it was something important, she would have told him where she was going. It was just like the overnight trip he had recently taken; he hadn't informed anyone of his whereabouts, and he hadn't gotten into any trouble.

This was Finley, though; trouble seemed to follow her.

In an attempt to busy himself and keep from worrying, Elwood had begun building a new cache on the lower slopes of the mountain. He was actually using one of the tunnel entrances -- he had found that the dirt just inside the mouth of the cavern was soft and moist, making it easy to dig. He hoped that the cool air inside the mountain would keep food from spoiling. With his rump protruding from the opening, he busily pawed at the earth, unaware of how ridiculous he looked from behind.

One thing I've found out through trial and error, the tag won't work unless there's a space on both sides of it. I'm assuming that you probably had the tag directly next to the ooc thing without a space, and so it didn't work. ^_^

Elwood's scent saturated the air; he was extremely close to Somnia's location. She hadn't seen her best friend recently, and her Caretaker game didn't count. Elwood had shown up, but they didn't interact as much as she wanted. So when Somnia realized that Elwood was nearby, she made a beeline towards him.

Tail waving happily in the air, she almost let out a small woof to catch his attention. It was his silly, albeit vulnerable, position that stopped her from alerting him of her presence. The scent of fresh dirt filled the air, and hopefully it would help mask her scent a little as Somnia snuck up on him. Now, what to do?

She could always jump onto him and act like she was attacking him, but didn't they already get into a ton of play-fights/snow-fights? It was time for her to pull a new trick out of her sleeve. Somnia had used it only Finley, so it wasn't exactly new to her anymore, but it would be new to Elwood.

Getting dirt spewed into her face was a possibility that Somnia knew could happen, but regardless, she positioned herself directly behind Elwood. She made the weirdest face she could make, her tongue sticking out while her lips pulled back. She rolled her eyes repeatedly without stopping to add to the face. Know she just had to wait for Elwood to turn around, which shouldn't be too long of a wait. After all, Somnia wasn't one of the stealthiest wolves around.

I'm glad you've figured out the elusive tags! I'll keep that in mind next time I use one!

Elwood was so focused on his work that he didn't notice Somnia approach him from behind. She did a good job of obscuring herself, staying so quiet that she didn't draw his attention. He continued to dig, his forelegs alternating in a churning pattern as he unearthed the mud. By this point, he had cleared away the snow and all that was left was wet dirt.

He did finally pause, noticing that his forelegs were stained brown. A second look at his hole revealed that it was plenty deep enough -- he must have gotten lost in his thoughts and forgotten to regulate what he was doing. He would likely have to fill it in a bit, but he would do that in a moment. First, he wanted to get some fresh air.

Taking a step back, he ducked his head and emerged from the crevice. As he turned, he was met with the most bizarre sight: Somnia was right behind him, her face contorted into the strangest expression he had ever seen. Her presence was so unexpected that he couldn't stop from emitting a surprised squeak of a yelp, and then he flopped down onto his haunches and started laughing. "Your face is gonna freeze like that before too long!" he crowed, wishing he could take a picture of his friend.

Elwood's reaction was hilarious. With his yelp and fit of laughter, Somnia quickly joined in on the latter. Her face quickly contorted to one of amusement, so the silly expression was gone moments after Elwood spoke. However, the laughter was more reluctant to leave. Somnia tried to calm herself down, accidentally snorting a few times amidst the guffawing.

Finally, Somnia managed to pause long enough to speak. "Wouldn't be too bad! It'd be much easier to scare everyone!" She laughed for a few moments more before it stopped, leaving her to catch her breath.

"Yeah, you'd definitely scare everyone," Elwood teased, his laughter gradually subsiding. He was glad that Somnia had been the one to surprise him -- he hadn't been looking for company, necessarily, but he always enjoyed the time that he spent with her.

Playfully, he reached out with a muddy forepaw and attempted to smear some of the dirt on Somnia's pelt; apparently, he had some antics to get out before they had any kind of real conversation.

Before Somnia could react, a brown spot was evident on her pelt, thanks to Elwood. There were quite a few ways she could react to this situation. She could joke around, saying that it was a wonderful new marking that she had always wanted. Another option was to act overly offended in a teasing way, even if she didn't mind a little bit of mud on her. The last option was Somnia's course of action.

Somnia didn't mind bits of dirt and mud on her at all. Silently, albeit with a scheming smirk on her face, she walked into the cold cavern where Elwood had been digging. She then proceeded to roll around in the dirt. Even without Elwood's freshly dug dirt it was soft and moist. Still silent, she came out and approached Elwood, her fur as brown as she could get it. "Your turn." Somnia said simply before slamming her side into his in a playful manner, also sharing some of her dirt/mud.

Elwood watched, eyebrows raised, as Somnia moved past him without saying a word. He turned so that he could keep his eyes on her, wondering what she was up to. She was a sneaky one, so he could never be sure what prank she was going to pull on him next. And, in true Somnia fashion, it was indeed a prank that ensued.

His mouth dropped open as she fell to the floor and started rolling in the pile of dirt that he had left in the cavern. Once she was fully coated, she stood up and beelined for Elwood. He slowly started to back up, shaking his head side to side despite the grin on his face. She was quick, though, and darted towards him in order to smear some of the mud onto his pelt.

He wouldn't let that go unpunished, so he scooped up some snow and plopped it down on her head. It wasn't as good of a weapon as the mud, but it was all he could reach from his position.

Although Elwood may not have thought it, Somnia thought that snow was a better weapon then mud at this point in their antics. While mud was usually the better weapon, it didn't do much when being applied to someone who had already covered herself with it. However, snow had an attribute that mud didn't. "It's cold!" Somnia whined, albeit with a smile on her face.

She bent down, trying to reach a foreleg over her head to remove the lump of snow. It took a few moments, but she finally got it. Then, a very un-Somnia-like thing happened. "Truce? For the rest of the day, no mud or snow fights?" If she really felt the need to play with Elwood, there were a great many things that didn't count as snow and mud fights.

She complained of the cold and quickly removed the snow from her head, while Elwood watched and chuckled. Then, he was surprised when she proposed a truce. It wasn't a bad thing, though; they played and goofed off all the time. He was actually looking forward to having a real conversation with his friend, though he equally appreciated their usual silliness.

He reached out a paw, intending to allow Somnia to touch her own to it in a sort of wolfish "handshake." "Truce," he agreed, settling to his haunches in front of her. His side was still caked with mud, but he wasn't worried about it then; he would give himself a thorough cleaning later. It would be easier to take a dip in Lake Rodney, but he didn't want to submerge himself in the cold water.

"So how's it going? Your activity the other day was awesome," he said earnestly. He had had a blast as her assistant, and it seemed that the other wolves had enjoyed themselves too.

Somnia reached out her paw, sealing the deal on their truce. Then, for the first time in a while, they actually had some real conversation! "Thanks! You did a good job too, keeping Finley and Prima on their toes." That was how Somnia's mind worked; she held herself equal to or below her friends. If given a compliment from someone she cared about, she had to give out her own compliment towards them

There was also another topic that came to mind when mentioning Finley. "How are you doing? I heard that you got into a small squabble with Finley a while back. I assume that you guys are past that now?" Somnia wasn't trying to snoop in their business, she just wanted to make sure both of her friends (but specifically Elwood as he was right in front of her,) were alright. She was going after the Counselor trade too, so she had to jump at some chances to use it.

Somnia mentioned Finley in regards to the game, then swiftly latched on to another topic. This effectively surprised Elwood, especially when she admitted that she knew about the little argument he and Finley had. Evidently she had talked to the Beta female, and he found it curious that Finley was sharing such details of their friendship...or whatever it was.

"Oh, yeah, we're good now," he said, thinking back to the tiff. He shrugged, trying to play it cool and remain nonchalant. "It was weird...we discovered this ice cave in the mountain, and we were goofing off, as usual. Then, out of the blue, she goes, 'Don't fall in love with me.' It just threw me off, I guess; I kind of just left after that, which probably wasn't the most mature thing." He recalled his conversation with Peregrine, in which the Alpha had tried to provide him a bit of advice about Finley. Peregrine had been willing to wager that something had happened to Finley in the past, causing her to put her guard up.

"But like I said, we made up," he concluded with a smile. He suddenly realized that this was the first time that he had talked about Finley with Somnia, so he braced himself for the potential barrage of questions that his friend might have.

Only the most basic details had been known to Somnia beforehand. They were in the ice cavern, Finley had said something, and Elwood had taken offense. She hadn't been looking for Elwood to give her the other details, but he did. The missing information that he shared was odd enough for her to see his reaction as semi-reasonable. Reacting negatively in the spur of the moment seemed reasonable, but leaving without a word was a bit much.

Somnia gave him an odd, questioning glance, but didn't verbalize any of the questions running through her head. The characteristics of their relationship wasn't any of her business. If Elwood or Finley ever wanted to discuss it with her and ask for advice she would gladly listen and help. But in case they didn't want to talk with her about it, she wouldn't even try to ask them anything about it.

"Glad to hear you got it all sorted out." She concluded the subject on her end with a friendly smile.

Somnia had little to say on the matter, which surprised Elwood. She was usually a particularly insightful and wordy wolf, and he hoped that she knew that he always welcomed her advice. He frowned slightly, his tail tap-tap-tapping the ground thoughtfully.

"Yeah, me too," he agreed. He hesitated then; he had talked about Finley with both Peregrine and Fox, and while it had been helpful, nothing had truly been resolved. He would have to discuss it with Finley herself at some point...but it wouldn't hurt to get another perspective in the meantime, would it?

With that thought in mind, Elwood blurted, "Did she say...anything else about it? Or me?" He felt childish, but also in need of guidance. There was nothing to be ashamed of -- the rest of the pack seemed to think that he and Finley would end up together...it was just he and Finley that needed convincing.

Just when Somnia thought that the topic was over, Elwood brought it back. "I made a joke about how I was going to try and kill her or something, but I had said Beta instead of her. She must've thought I meant you, for she asked if I was mad at you too. When I clarified that I was talking about her and asked why she was mad at you, she gave me the simplest of details. Said that you were in the ice cavern, that she said something, and that you completely over-reacted and left without saying a word."

Somnia paused for a moment, wondering if she should say more. Would that be a violation of having Finley's trust if she mentioned it? Possibly, but what if she worded it in a way that didn't? "She blamed it on you being a male, rather than you yourself. We joked around a bit and claimed that you guys were only useful for keeping the world populated." There. She didn't express Finley's expressed like towards 'populating', yet she still hinted at the subject.

Elwood pressed his ears forward, eagerly drinking in Somnia's words as she recalled her interaction with Finley. He didn't even stop to think that he could potentially be putting Somnia in an awkward position, as she had heard both sides of this story. She had to worry about compromising Finley's trust while also fulfilling his wishes -- but none of this crossed his mind.

He wasn't surprised to hear her use the word "overreact" -- it was already clear that Finley thought his departure had been unnecessary. In fact, now that some time had passed, he would readily agree with that judgement. He pursed his lips as Somnia concluded that she and Finley had decided to blame it on the fact that he was a male. He could have retorted that the whole thing started because Finley acted like a girl, but he held his tongue -- it would do no good to shoot the messenger, and besides, he felt no animosity towards Somnia.

"Interesting," was his response after a long pause. One ear tilted out to the side, and then he grinned and said, "Well, good to know you girls just keep us guys around for one reason." It seemed that he was learning a thing or two from Finley -- deflecting and avoiding the topic was often easier than addressing it head-on.

Somnia grinned as Elwood spoke his comment. "Exactly! You get our point! And based off of that criteria, I believe we don't have a use for you here. We got Peregrine to ensure that our Alpha Female passes on her genes to the next generation. Why they keep you around - or any of the males for that matter - is a mystery to me." She quipped.

A shit-eating grin was on the Gamma's face. She felt especially proud of that jest, but whether it was actually as good as she thought it was was yet to be seen. Meanwhile, Somnia caught Elwood's gaze and held it, silently daring him to try to come up with a reason of why he thought he was worthy of Redhawk Caldera.

"Well, crap," was Elwood's initial response to Somnia's teasing remark. He knew that it wasn't true -- Peregrine had already mentioned that if he and Fox were to give breeding rights to any of their members, he and Finley would be the top choices due to their ranking in the pack. That didn't necessarily mean that they would produce children together, but it was certainly a possibility -- and one that Fox and Peregrine seemed to be pulling for.

But he played along with his friend, hanging his head and letting his ears splay to either side. "Guess I should go pack my bags, then," he said, shuffling his paws as though he was about to leave.

Elwood's reaction to her teasing left her disappointed. Somnia had expected for him to fight against her statements, to try and prove that he was useful. Instead, he had a different approach. Somnia didn't think he actually had any hurt feelings, but Elwood seemed to be a pretty good actor.

Unsure of whether to break the game or not, her words were in the game and out of the game at different points of what she said next. "You're useful! At least you can be at times! Maybe Fin and I could come up with some other use for you besides passing on genes." Cue the nervous tail swaying from a lowered spot.

What he liked about Somnia was how easy it was to banter with her. Their friendship so far had been mostly based on teasing and playful jests -- much like the way he interacted with Finley -- and he always enjoyed seeing her reactions. The tip of his tail wiggled as she tried to reassure him that he was useful, and he lifted his head and pricked his ears towards her.

"Like what?" he asked, thrusting his lower lip out in a pout. He was interested to see what roles Somnia came up with -- he was sure that they would be entertaining.

Somnia silently collected her thoughts on the matter, coming up with the whole list before she spoke. "First, you're a good bunny killer. Second, you're a good assistant chaos-creator. Third, your a good adventurer. Fourth, your a good Beta. Fifth, you're a warden who likes to take boring patrols for the sake of the pack. And then, even if you fail at all of that at times, you're always a good friend." She concluded with a smile.

A grin slowly spread across Elwood's face as Somnia provided a list of things he was good at. There were more items than he expected, and she finished by saying that, above all else, he was a good friend. "Aw, shucks," he replied bashfully, ducking his head for a moment. "Takes one to know one!" he added; he thought just as highly of Somnia and was glad that she was such a close friend.

"So anyway..." he said, meeting her gaze. "How are things with Ashton?" They had discussed Finley, if only briefly, and he was curious to see how Somnia's relationship with the pack's medic was going. Peregrine had mentioned the possibility of the two of them leaving the caldera in order to start their own pack and subsequently a family, but he wasn't sure if that was an aspiration that Somnia had mentioned or if it was just Peregrine's speculation.

Somnia smiled even more as Elwood indirectly called her a good friend. However, that smile faltered as he asked how things were going between her and Ashton. "Well, I haven't seen him around lately... I think the last time I saw him was about two weeks ago... Have you seen him around lately?" Somnia asked, staring at Elwood's face rather intently as she waited for an answer.

There were many 'what if's that ran through Somnia's head when she thought about Ashton's lack of presence. While she didn't want to believe any of them, neither of them were impossible. What if she had done something that was causing him to avoid her? Had something killed him outside the territory? What if Ashton left them? She chewed on her lower lip as she worried.

Hey, congrats Miss MOTM! :D

Elwood tilted his head, watching as the smile veritably slid off of Somnia's face at the mention of Ashton. It wasn't the reaction that he had expected, and he pursed his lips as she informed him that she hadn't seen him around lately. He could hear the disappointment and concern in her voice, and he thought back over the last few weeks. Ashton's scent still lingered here and there around the caldera, but he hadn't had a face-to-face meeting with the healer in quite some time.

Quietly, he replied, "No, I haven't seen him recently, either. Maybe he's off concocting some crazy new medicine." He attempted a smile, trying to lift Somnia's spirits. The resident medic was a little bit of an oddball, so there was a chance that he was doing exactly what Elwood suggested and had neglected to inform his packmates of his whereabouts. He hoped that Ashton hadn't up and left without a word -- this was a conversation that he would have with Peregrine in the near future, though even then Elwood wouldn't consider Ashton the type to disappear without warning.

Thanks! :D

With the quiet voice and attempted smile on Elwood's end, Somnia realized she was putting a damper on the mood of the conversation. She made an effort to push Ashton out of her mind for a moment; she could brood about him later when she was alone in a place where her negativity wouldn't affect others.

Somnia forced a smile onto her face. "I wonder what Fox's pups will be like." She announced, swiftly - and suddenly - changing the topic. "How long do you think it will take before they start to cause trouble?"

With a mannerism that was strikingly similar to the deflection of both Elwood and Finley, Somnia changed the subject in the next instant. Elwood wanted to say something to reassure her, but it was clear that she didn't want to dwell on Ashton at that moment. He hoped that she knew that he would always make himself available if she needed him.

The topic of Fox and Peregrine's puppies was a popular one, however, and it was easy for a genuine smile to blossom on Elwood's face. "Oh, I think they'll be causing trouble as soon as they're born," he said confidently, imagining the tiny balls of fluff terrorizing their parents. "They're gonna have the coolest role models -- with you as their caretaker and Finley as their grandmother, the adventures will be endless," he said; soon, he would be able to add himself to that list as the kids' uncle, once Peregrine asked if he wanted to assume that title.