Redhawk Caldera Tired of troubles wasting my time

Post-dated to tomorrow, because I want to get all my replies situated now. I'm also being vague on how her encounters with Dove, and Peregrine and/or Fox went.

Yesterday, Somnia got most of her procrastinations situated. She had checked in on the Alpha pair, and also apologized to Dove for getting into a verbal skirmish with mental promises of also apologizing to Elwood the next day. Well, the next day came after a night of restless sleep.

The morning was spent hunting, and then plucking the feathers from her kill. Somnia had managed to find a crow at a half-eaten carcass that held an increased value in food than most crows. It would only let Somnia get so close before taking flight, but would go back as soon as she backed off. Eventually, its tolerance of having a wolf nearby increased until Somnia could kill it by quickly rushing in unexpectedly.

Crows seemed to be larger than a majority of the birds that inhabited the Caldera. It did seem to shrink a bit as Somnia plucked the feathers (which she stored in her den so they could eventually turn into toys for Fox's unborn pups), but there was still somewhat of a decent meal when she got done with it. Maybe it wasn't the best choice for a gift, but she got points for it being uncommon and the hard work in plucking the feathers, right?

Somnia would find out right after she located Elwood, which was her top priority right now. He proved to be pretty elusive, and it took a while for her to locate his scent without finding him. But, as she followed his scent, she would soon run into him.

Elwood wasn't mad at Somnia; sure, the incident with Dove had been uncomfortable, but he didn't fault either female for it. Hormones had obviously been involved, and normally he would have been more patient -- but after dealing with both Grimm and Finley in quick succession, his tolerance had been waning. Once he removed himself from the situation, he deescalated quickly and very nearly forgot about what had happened.

For the last week, he had busied himself with preparing for the birth of Fox's children. That meant extra patrols and filling the caches to the brim whenever possible. He was returning from a stroll along the borders with the intent to hunt when Somnia found him. The sound of her paws crunching against the half-melted snow alerted him to the presence of another wolf, so he paused, looking over his shoulder under his pursuer came into view.

He smiled when he saw his friend, eyeing the featherless bird clutched in her mouth. His tail gave a friendly wave as he allowed her to close the gap between them. "Hey, Som!" he said cheerfully, his greeting perhaps more upbeat than she had expected.

When Somnia found Elwood, he greeted her as if their last encounter never happened. The shock of it stopped Somnia in her tracks; while Somnia had been nervously fretting about whether she'd accidentally destroyed their friendship, Elwood had just completely pushed the manner aside. Maybe she was taking that encounter too seriously, but it had fucking hurt to watch her best friend walk out on her, and now Elwood was completely unscathed.

But, if Elwood wasn't annoyed with her like Somnia had expected him to be, then wasn't there no problem? The whole point of her apologizing and admitting that she had been wrong was to make sure there where no hard feelings between them, but Elwood had no hard feelings towards her to begin with. Did she still have to apologize then? Well, better safe than sorry.

Somnia closed the gap between them, and dropped the featherless bird at his feet. "This is for you. I'm sorry about the way I acted last time." Her ears flattened across her head as she spoke. While she had been prepared to go into a whole speech on how she had done wrong and how she could've fixed it as she did with Dove, it seemed as if the apology wasn't even needed, so why bother complicating it?

He's being such a guy, hahah.

Elwood was completely oblivious to the inner turmoil that Somnia was experiencing, in the classic and exasperating manner of a dude. He did notice the surprise in her face when he said hello to her, as well as her posture -- she positioned her ears in a way that was respectful, yet simultaneously defeated. She usually didn't exhibit subordinate body language around him (he didn't feel as though it was necessary, as he was her friend first and her leader second, at least in his mind), so he gradually came to the conclusion that something was wrong.

She placed the bird carcass in front of him, then stepped back and apologized. Elwood tilted his head, trying to think of what had happened. It took him a moment, but then he remembered the awkward encounter with Dove. Though he had been annoyed by the behavior of both females, he really didn't think Somnia was at fault; if anything, she had been trying to defend him.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," he replied with a quick shake of his head, unaware that his nonchalant attitude could be irritating to his friend. "That Dove is an interesting one, isn't she? I'm glad you were there, though -- I don't need to get in any more trouble," he added; he hadn't discussed the whole Grimm and Finley situation with Somnia yet -- though it had turned out better than he could have expected, it still wasn't something he was necessarily proud of. Once he assured her that he wasn't upset (and if she expressed interest in hearing about his "trouble") he would gladly fill her in.

While Elwood's nonchalant attitude towards the subject was slightly irritating, maybe Somnia could learn a lesson from it. It hadn't been some life-shattering fight, it had been a situation with high tensions and unease, but nothing more. It would probably do Somnia some good to stop worrying as much about the minor things.

The last thing Elwood said jostled her out of her thoughts as she partially listened to him. "Don't tell me you had a tiff with Finley again..." Somnia said, remembering the only time she had heard about Elwood getting into trouble.

As far as Elwood was concerned, he and Somnia would be friends forever -- there was likely nothing that she could do that would drive him away from her. She had been there for him when he needed her, and vice versa. But he appreciated her apology nonetheless, knowing that she would feel the same had the roles been reversed.

At the mention of "trouble," Somnia nailed the subject right on the head. Elwood cracked a grin; she really did know him well. He reclined onto his haunches, taking a deep breath as he prepared to unravel the story. There was no doubt in his mind that he would receive a scolding for what he had done with Grimm.

"It's kind of a long story, but...yeah, we hit a rough patch. I, uh, made the mistake of getting...intimate with Grimm. It was a one time thing, but Finley found out about it and was upset," he said, grimacing visibly as he recalled the situation. "We got into a big argument, and she threatened to have me kicked out of the pack." Even now, the words tasted bitter in his mouth; he never wanted to see that side of Finley again. He paused, waiting for Somnia's reaction before continuing.

Elwood definitely knew Somnia too, for she badly wanted to give him a scolding, but a few things refrained her. First, Somnia deserved a good scolding herself; when attempting to apologize to Dove yesterday, things took a negative turn, and instead of walking away before things could get worse, she verbally exploded and shot insults all over Dove. Secondly, did she even have the right to scold Elwood? Since when had she been nominated to tell Elwood who he couldn't get intimate with? Thirdly, what was the current status on the problem?!?!

"Well, did you get things sorted out yet?" Somnia impatiently prompted. Even if there was still going to be some scolding, disregarding her first two reasons not to, Elwood couldn't just leave her hanging! Were things all fine and dandy now with Finley, or was the threat of him being kicked out still looming over his head?

She pressed him to continue almost immediately; it was apparent that Somnia didn't like to be left hanging. With a quick nod of his head, Elwood finished the story. "Yeah, thank goodness. I was really worried for a day or two. But turns out Peregrine is a great mediator, because he talked to me and Finley separately and encouraged us to work things out." Peregrine really was an important part of the tale, and without his guidance, neither Elwood nor Finley likely would have known how to react when they ran into each other unexpectedly.

"I decided I was going to give her some time before I tried to talk to her. But of course, we we bumped into each other almost immediately. It was good, though, because we both apologized, and..." He left the sentence hanging for a moment, looking past Somnia with a small smile as he remembered the moment. For a second, it seemed as though she would have to shake him back into reality, but then he snapped to attention. "She loves me," he finished quietly, his tail thumping the ground as the words left his mouth. It was fairly evident by his expression that he felt the same.

There was a sharp intake of breath on Somnia's part as he suddenly faded out, making a very suspenseful moment. She was about to bump him to call his attention back, but Elwood spoke before than, revealing the best part of the story. Finley loved him! "Aww, congrats!" Somnia said, giving his shoulder a celebratory nudge with her snout. While Peregrine and Fox may have been avid shippers of Finwood, Somnia never got to witness any of their cute antics, - discounting the packtivitiy - so she had never shipped them. But, she was happy for them if they were happy.

Scolding him was forgotten, due to the surprising turn of events. Even after her mind was able to get past Elwood and Finley loved each other, it went to her troubles. While it was still playing out, Somnia was still positive that her situation with Dove would not result in a fairy tale ending. While she wanted to tell Elwood the current situation she was in, it seemed cruel to ruin the blissful mood he was in.

A huge grin found its way onto Elwood's face, and he would be hard-pressed to remove it. He was made even happier when Somnia expressed her excitement; she had never been one to try and force the "Finwood" thing on him (unlike Fox and Peregrine!) but it was clear that she was pleased by the turn of events.

"Nothing's official yet," he said, and if he had fingers, he would have held up air quotes as he said the word "official." "I think we're just trying to...enjoy each other's company for now." Elwood didn't mind their status at all, though he hoped that it would eventually morph into something more serious as time went on. But he knew better than to rush Finley into anything.

Although he was still very much enclosed in his own cheerful little bubble, he gave Somnia a pointed glance after a moment and asked, "How have you been?" He was referring more specifically to the horrible incident with the black wolf, but he also wanted to hear about how things had been going for her in general.

Eventually, Elwood sank out of trance that love had put him in long enough to ask Somnia how she'd been doing. Relieved to have the opportunity to relay what was on her mind, she told him what was going on. "I may have gotten into some trouble too.... And it's definitely not going to have some fairy tale ending." Her ears slid back guiltily at this.

"I tried to apologize to Dove yesterday too, but she responded as if I was useless, and was wasting her try to make things right when I should just stay out of her sight. I got irritated, and told her I was doing it because I wanted us to get along when Fox's pups were born, so they don't have to grow up with fighting. She then said that the only wolves here that she actually cared about were Fox and her pups. I took that as an insult to the pack, as she was acting as if the rest of us were useless. I told her that we weren't useless and have done more for Fox than she had to try and make her respect us. Lots of mean words later, Dove ran away from me with the threat that she would tell Fox I was being a bitch, leaving the implication she would try to get me exiled."

Somnia studied Elwood's face for his reaction. Would he be mad about her getting on Dove's bad side again, or would he find Dove the one at fault? What if he acted like he had last time, storming off and telling her to sort out the drama herself?

There probably weren't many things that could pull Elwood out of his blissful fog, but Somnia's mention that she had gotten herself into trouble did the trick. His brows knitted together and his whole expression grew more solemn; he pressed his ears forward as he regarded her, waiting patiently for her to explain what had happened.

He tried to listen objectively as Somnia elaborated on what had transpired with Dove; the gist of the story was that she had tried to apologize, but Dove had continued to be rude. He wasn't surprised to hear that his friend had gotten defensive in return, and he shook his head as she added more details. At the end of it all, she confessed that she was worried Dove would try to get her exiled. The irony of the situation almost made Elwood smile -- since he had been on the receiving end of a very similar threat only two weeks ago -- but he could see that Somnia was worried.

"First of all, I really don't think that Fox would kick you out over that," he said, first and foremost attempting to reassure her. Both Peregrine and Fox thought highly of Somnia; it would take a lot more than a catfight with Fox's sister to get her removed from the pack. "But it sounds like you at least tried to do the right thing. It's Dove's problem if she can't accept your apology. I'd just avoid her," he added. He wasn't sure if Dove's attitude was always in need of adjustment, or if maybe it had something to do with her current hormonal imbalance. Whatever the case, he didn't think it was worth Somnia getting worked up over.

Elwood didn't exactly take sides, but he gave Somnia advice. He claimed that Fox wouldn't kick her out over the issue, and while Somnia knew it deep down beneath her worries, it was nice to hear another person's confirm it. As for avoiding her, Somnia could do that too. "Yeah, thanks. I'll just avoid her from now on." She said, concluding the subject.

"So.... Finley fell in love with you after she told you not to?" Somnia asked, pushing her troubles aside so Elwood could go back into his blissful bubble of cheerfulness. The situation that had occurred between them seemed unique. Somnia had never heard of someone telling someone else not to fall in love with them, but doing it themselves.

Elwood wasn't perhaps the best wolf to give advice, especially for a situation like Somnia and Dove's -- but at his core, he simply didn't want his friend to worry. He truly believed that nothing Dove said to Fox could convince the fiery Alpha female to boot Somnia from the pack; and were such an incident to transpire, he would stand up for the Gamma in a heartbeat. But if Peregrine hadn't been willing to let Finley kick Elwood out, he thought that Somnia's odds were looking pretty good.

She quickly shifted the subject back to talk of Elwood's budding relationship, and though he wondered if there was more she wanted to say about Dove, he was always happy to talk about Finley. His goofy smile returned almost immediately, and he laughed out loud at Somnia's comment. He hadn't thought about it that way yet, but she was exactly right -- Finley had insisted that Elwood not fall in love with her, and then she had done exactly the opposite. It was a very Finley-esque thing to do.

"Well, we all know how good she is at following her own advice," he quipped; she was nothing if not reckless, and being with her terrified him a little. She was unpredictable and wild and very much her own individual -- he had no desire to try to tame her, but wanted to grow alongside her. "I still can't believe things worked out the way they did," he mused, his tail stirring behind him.

Elwood was back in the mystical, mind-boggling world of love. Getting a bit mischievous, Somnia found the opportunity for some teasing. "It may have worked out so well that before you know it, you're going to be one of those people who take it upon themselves to demonstrate the baby-making progress at pack feasts. Then, Finley's going to blow up like a balloon. Next, a thousand little mini-Elwoods and mini-Fins will come out of her. Lastly, they'll take over the Caldera, and Peregrine and Fox will have to kill you because your babies..." Hmm.... What was a good reason for Elwood's babies to get him killed? "Because your babies were cuter than theirs!"

Somnia grinned at Elwood satanically. But, she wasn't done yet! "Somewhere in the middle of that though, we're going to have to go explore the tunnels again to find Finley a jewel.... Or have you forgotten about that jewel we found and our agreement to give it to Fox when the devils are born?" Her tail was swaying proudly, for she felt she had done a good job with her story.

Elwood chuckled as Somnia predicted his future with Finley. He wasn't sure that he would ever be as bold as Fox and Peregrine -- the idea of "dirty dancing" in front of the rest of the pack made him feel uneasy, even now. And the thought that the Betas' litter would help them to usurp the Redleaf-DiSarinno clan hit a little too close to home; that was essentially what Finley had threatened to blackmail him with, had he gotten Grimm pregnant. But the rest of it -- Finley all cute and round, their adorable babies roaming the caldera with their older "cousins" -- sounded perfectly appealing to him.

"We'll have to smudge dirt on the kids' faces so they don't look as cute -- I'm not ready to die, and I definitely don't want to be killed by Peregrine! Can you imagine how he would torture me?" he crowed, imagining death by explosive farts or diarrhea or some other bodily function. Amidst his laughter, Somnia reminded them of the peridot they had found within the confines of the mountain some time ago, and his ears perked in response.

"You're right -- I totally forgot about that jewel," he said, remembering the way it had sparkled in the sunlight. "We'll have to take that one to Fox, but will you help me find one for Finley?" he asked in the next breath, now excited to have something to present to his "friend-girl."

Somnia chuckled as she tried to think of all the ways Peregrine could torture Elwood. But before her mind could get too far down that road, Elwood asked her a question. First, Somnia gave him a playfully chastising look for forgetting. Then, she answered his question. "I'd be glad to help. Didn't we mention using the firefly leaves Ashton used to light up the area?"

Once his name left her mouth, the playfulness drained from Somnia. Many different emotions tugged at her from inside, not a single one of them positive. There was longing, for she wanted him to come back so badly. But there was also anger, fear, and jealousy clashing against it. Throughout all this, Somnia remained stoic; dealing with them would be another time, not now.

Want to wrap this one up? I want to have one where they go searching for a gem for Finley, if that's okay with you! :D

He was glad that she agreed to help him find a gift for Finley. There wasn't another wolf in the pack that he would want to participate in such a personal task with him. Somnia would be sure that he picked out only the most stunning jewel; already, he was becoming antsy at the thought of spelunking with her, but the next few days would suddenly become very busy for them both with the birth of Fox's pups.

The corners of his lips turned down in a slight frown as she mentioned Ashton. Though she seemed to try to keep her cheerful facade, he could hear the disappointment in her voice as Ashton's name rolled off her tongue. If the medic ever came back to the caldera, Elwood would have some choice words for him. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I can try and collect some of them from his infirmary..." he suggested; he didn't intend to make Somnia venture into her former beau's den, so he would do it himself.

Sure! You want to start the new one? :)

Brief thoughts of arguing that she could do it instead occurred, but were dismissed rather quickly. If Elwood wanted to do it, he could do it. Somnia would find herself in his den in the future anyway, whether it was by herself or not. So she just nodded, signaling it was alright with her for him to go ahead and do that.

Then, Somnia decided to excuse herself from the situation; she wanted some time alone to brood. "I think I'm going to..." To what? Hunt? She definitely wasn't going to do that, and she wasn't going to lie to her friend either. "Do stuff. I'll see you later." With that, she started to turn around and walk in the direction of her den.

While she could've stuck around and silently brooded for a good few moments, it didn't seem right to put Elwood through that. Elwood had proved today that he was just like most of the other guys, and didn't over-think things, and then think about them even more like she did.

Yep! :)

Her only response was to nod, and then she abruptly excused herself. She didn't even give a good reason as to why she was leaving -- just that she was going to go "do stuff." Elwood stared quizzically after her as she quickly departed, concern evident on his face. He was worried about her friend, but it was obvious that she wasn't ready to talk much about Ashton -- or what had happened to her after Ashton left.

With a soft chuff, he retreated as well; and though he worried about Somnia, thoughts of Finley kept flooding to the forefront of his mind.