Greatwater Lake jack-o-lanterns in july.

@Magpie <3

So... was it bad that she'd so obediently followed Fox's orders? Finley couldn't help but wonder this as she walked across the flatlands with her young charge in tow. There was a time when being told to do something that required a certain degree of responsibility would have elicited a haughty smirk and a see ya bitches, and off she'd be on the next reckless adventure. Not anymore though.. Now she didn't even question her instructions, just up and did as she was told like the good little puppy she was... What was wrong with her? Was she losing her edge? Was she losing touch with her reckless side? The side of her that made her who she was?? Was she growing... tame?????

Finley shut her eyes tight for a few seconds. When her eyelids popped back open, she shook her head and away went all of those dramatic, overly introspective thoughts. Instead she thought only one thing, for it was this one thing that was leading her thoughts astray - dear god I am so fucking tired.

"Why don't we camp here for the night?" Fin said as she was already dropping down onto her haunches. She'd barely slept the night before, being too wired from the excitement of getting to go on an adventure to do much more than blink at Magpie's sleeping form, waiting eagerly for her to wake up so that they could keep going (only slightly awkward when the girl actually caught her doing this... an unfortunate number of times). There would be no repeat of that tonight - her wide, squeaky yawn made that clear enough for her.

Magpie had followed her warden sullenly— though she made no move to escape or otherwise cause trouble, she didn't have to be pleasant about it. If anything, she was tolerating her companion only out of respect for Fox, despite the fact it brought back all kinds of sour memories of the Sunspire... the very place they were headed. She thought she might begrudgingly survive the trip until the first night, which caused her to wake numerous times to Finley's creepy stare. It finally ended after the hundredth time, when Magpie finally grew enough nerve to snap, "I'm not going anywhere, lady; calm down."

The following leg of their journey saw them walk in silence, Magpie irritated with the whole situation, and Finley likely irritated at her— which only created a vicious cycle of moody chicks getting moodier. When Finley called for a stop, Magpie feigned annoyance— she was tired, too, and grateful for the rest— and couldn't help but complain, "If I didn't have an escort, I'd already be there." As if her warden, not much older than herself, was some old decrepit crone. "It's not my fault you're so obsessed with me that you couldn't sleep last night."

Fin gave Magpie a deadpan stare as the yearling responded in the same snotty brat sort of way that she was beginning to suspect all kids these days were guilty of. Her mind slipped back to Junior and Saena and how they'd behaved towards her while she was laid up at the Plateau. They'd been pretty bitchy too even though they, much like Magpie, had little reason to be. Were Fin less confident of a wolf, she might have pouted over how mean all these freakin' teenagers were to her. Instead, she simply resolved to beat the crap out of Peregrine and Fox if they let this next batch of kiddies grow up to have such sour attitudes.

"Well if I didn't have such a grumpy ass piece of baggage to carry, I'd already be there and back," Fin grumbled back, rolling her eyes. Just because she wasn't really offended by the girl's treatment didn't mean she wouldn't stoop to her level to give it back to her. "And for the record, I couldn't sleep last night because you were snoring so loudly," she added after a beat, even though it wasn't at all true. It just sounded like a good excuse. Way better than the truth, which was that Fin was making a mental note to quit being such an awkward creep when she thought others weren't looking.. ehehehehe.

"What's so important at the Sunspire anyway?" Fin asked shortly after her jab, wanting to move the conversation away from the path it had taken. She was rather curious about it too. Fox hadn't provided any details about why they were doing what they were, just told her to do it.

It was Magpie's turn to give a roll of her eyes— Finley's retort made no sense, anyway— and she moved to lay heavily on the ground, mottled shoulders facing her escort. She was going to let the 'one-upping' slide without comment, but at the grey female's next statement, Magpie growled defensively, "I definitely don't snore, but I'm sure you do with all the heavy breathing I hear from you while you're awake." It occurred to her that she was being particularly disrespectful to the caldera's second-in-command... but Magpie found she couldn't care much. She wasn't even sure she'd return, yet. She had only come back to apologize, and if Fox had been the only receptive one...

She didn't snore, did she? Suddenly feeling very self conscious, Magpie rested her head on her paws, careful to take dainty and shallow breaths— maybe if she pretended that's how she slept, it would come true. But rather than resting as she had claimed, Finley asked after the reason for the trek. "It's not really your business," she grumbled; Magpie would have much rather done this alone, "but I have to talk to someone there."

GOD, she was a brat. Fin suppressed a growl as she retorted, calling her out on her heavy breathing. "I only breathe heavy because you're so exhausting..." she replied with a little frown. She was fighting against it, but she did somewhat find their interaction to be amusing. She was just so inexplicably grumpy, and they were both being rather childish in their quips to each other. Were Fin less tired she might have gone with that feeling, but instead she just glowered at the yearling.

What she said about their mission intrigued her. It explained almost nothing, but did give her somewhat of an idea as to what was going on. She wanted more, though. "Someone, huh?" she replied, "A handsome someone?" Fin quirked a brow, smirking.

It was likely that the pair would have gotten along had circumstances been different; and even as they picked at each other with juvenile insults, Magpie had to inwardly admit that she appreciated the company. She had spent most of her life wandering alone, and that life didn't suit her. Traveling excited her, was in her blood, but it proved to be pretty meaningless without energizing companionship— at her core, the yearling hated to be alone. But her usual thick skin had been cut through in the wake of her return to the caldera; she couldn't begin to sort through it all, let alone start dealing with it. Instead, she was opting to lash out and vent her anger on whoever was nearby, as she so often did.

"Are you always so nosy?" she question, feigning annoyance— but truthfully, she was glad for the idle conversation. "A very handsome someone," Magpie agreed, "so handsome I might need to have his pups when I'm old enough." She was joking, mostly; neither of them were even close to breeding age, and it seemed like a lifetime away. Besides, she doubted she was the parenting type— it didn't occur to her that Fox had likely felt the same. It seemed too much of a responsibility.

As irritating as Magpie's attitude was, Fin couldn't help but be intrigued by what she said about her someone. Her ears perked as she admitted to wanting to have his puppies one day due to him being so very handsome. The beta smiled in spite of herself. There was nothing like talking about hot guys to bring two women together.

"Oh really?" Fin replied with a quirk of her brows, "Tell me more, tell me more - Like, does he have any scars?" Her tail wagged softly as she waited to see if Magpie would share. She might not have cared for Fin's companionship, but what girl could resist telling anyone all about the handsome men in their life?

She ignored the Beta's responding quip, this time, though she was resisting the urge to stick out her tongue— likely resulting in an odd expression. But their chatter soon moved to boys, the great unifier of women everywhere (and, on occasion, the great divider). Magpie was still warring with resentment and gladness towards the grey female's presence, but focusing on Summer was an easy and comfortable distraction from the turmoil that she had unintentionally seemed to set off in the caldera.

At Finley's question, the yearling tried to remember— did Summer have scars? She couldn't remember, for Magpie was consumed only by, "He has eyes the color of a golden sunrise, that draw you in and just... fill you with sunshine." Her ears and cheeks felt hot, at that, but it was the truth. Whenever she gazed into his eyes, she couldn't help but feel warmth all the way to her bones.

Magpie was quick to fall into the trap Fin had set. While some mean little part of her did enjoy their snippy back and forth, she truly was exhausted, and she really did her best work when she was well-rested.

Fin canted her head slightly as Magpie spoke of her boyfriend. She was quite poetic in her description, which Fin did her best not to make fun of. She did appreciate what the girl said about his eyes, though. For some reason, it made her smile in a way that had nothing to do with Magpie or her boytoy. A face was swimming in her mind that had golden eyes just like the ones Magpie described. In the weeks to come, Fin would realize exactly whose face it was she was seeing. But for now, she just thought it was some handsome stranger.

"Mmm, bright eyes, I like it," she said with a smile, "Go on; what else? Is he a blonde?" A yellow eyed blonde would be too much sunshine for her own taste. She preferred the gray coats, maybe peppered with black in some places. That would be nice.

If Finley had decided to poke fun at Magpie's description, the yearling might have laughed alongside her— while the Corvidae were known for their mastery of storytelling, the youth had never thought of anyone real in such terms. Not until Summer, anyway. Even the thought of him set her heart aflutter, like the weak and teary damsels that always seemed to fall in love with the first man they met.

Shit.

Before a horrified look could spread across the yearling's face— could she really be that stupid?— Finley encouraged her to share more. "Black," she answered quickly, eager to shove her previous line of thought somewhere deep and dark. After a beat, she continued, "I'm pretty tired, actually. Good night." As abruptly as she had begun to warm to her companion, Magpie was cold again; and she returned her head to her paws, shoulder to Finley.

Thoughts now stormy for a multitude of reasons, the yearling sought solace in sleep.

Something in Magpie's attitude changed rather abruptly.  When one moment it had seemed as though Fin was about to break through the temperamental teenage shell, the girl shut herself right back up.  Fin frowned slightly as she turned away, griping about being tired and bidding her a short good night.


"Night, Magpie," Fin mumbled after a moment before turning away herself.  She laid her head back down in her paws, her mind wandering to boys and handsome men.  Unbidden, Elwood's face began to swim inside of her head.  She pushed it forcefully away, instead focusing on a man that looked quite different - a silver wolf with blue eyes instead of yellow.  Take that, brain!  But, as she drifted off to sleep, blue eyes faded to yellow, for her subconscious could not be bullied into pushing away what her heart wanted.