well i grew up quick and i grew up mean

@Lyric !

Old age drives one to sentimentality, it seemed.

In the days since meeting Alastor, Aesop had been swinging between high and low. He was euphoric, nostalgic, ecstatic, melancholic. He was lonely, but never alone. He spent his nights beneath the stars and he muttered Greek under his breath, and he felt three years younger.

He was careful about his feelings. He parceled them out, sorted them into neat little boxes labelled 'Alastor' and 'Erasmus.' It would not do to fall in love with a memory masquerading as something different.

So his days were distracted. He made sure to practice his skills, Greek now among them. During the days he sought out plants, and while he walked he practiced his language. And when the nights came he divined their purposes, though he steadfastly ignored whatever they might have to say about Cancers and love.

Such was one of those nights, out on the rocky edge of the beach. He watched the stars tilt in the sky and watched the waves cycle through their tides, and he let himself feel just a little sentimental.

Lyric padded down the beach. She couldn't sleep. So she decided it would be worth her time to go for a walk. She liked the beach. She had a good view of the stars. Which she liked to look at. They were mesmerizing. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted another wolf. Perhaps this wolf couldn't sleep either. She would go and see if they didn't mind the company.

She chuffed quietly as she got closer "Uh hey," she paused "Can't sleep?" she asked tilting her head. She sat a few feet away. Then she stared at her paws. Watching the sand intently as if waiting for it to do something.


Ears twitching as she listened to the sounds of the night and of the water.

It was nearly impossible to hear her approach over the roar of the ocean, so he did not realize he has company until she speaks up. "γεια σας" he said, before realizing his mistake. "Shit. I mean hey."

He stood up and shook his fur out, then clambered gracelessly from his perch. He ambled forward with his momentum, coming to a stop before he got too far into her space. "Nah," he said in response to her question, "I'm always up now. Best time to catch the view." He jerked his nose at the stars above, shrugging noncommittally.

Lyric stifled a small laugh "Εντάξει εγώ του μιλούν και τις δύο γλώσσες" she said in the tongue he was speaking in. Her old pack used it quite a bit. So she was familiar with it.

"I like to watch the stars too, quite peaceful and beautiful," she said looking up at the sky. She sighed and smiled slightly as she glanced back towards the wolf.

"Lyric by the way," she said smiling still. "And you are?" The roar of the waves were quite loud but she was sure the wolf could hear her. She hoped.

A stream of Greek fell from her lips, and Aesop cocked his head.  "Shit," he said.  "You're gonna have to go easy on me, I haven't gotten much farther than hello and goodbye."  She seemed amenable to the idea of a conversation, so he plopped himself in the wet sand, tail wrapped around him as though it could protect him from the slight chill.

"I've been brushin' up on my skills, too.  You a buddin' naturalist or just got a passing interest?" he asked, glancing past her at the ocean.  The tide seemed to have peaked, its largest waves now cresting a few feet away.  Just a few hours after dark.  He took a mental note of it.

"Aesop," he provided.  "Pleasure to meet you, Lyric.  Likin' the place well enough?  I know it was a bit of an adjustment for me, what with the ocean so close 'n everythin'."  A good enough conversation starter, he thought, though a bit bland.

Lyric stared at her paws in embarrasment. "Sorry shouldn't have assumed you knew a lot. I know the tongue mostly because the pack where i am from spoke that as a common tongue amongst themselves. Especially on means of communicating in enemy territory. I started learning it from a young age." she replied still staring at her paws. Her ears twitched as the waves crashed against the shore.

 "The place ain't bad i'm adjusting to it. I like the beach though. Good view. Over the water. I could sit here and watch the stars all night," she said with a smile looking out over the water. "You been here a while? or what's your story?" She didnt mean to get all personal she was just curious. "Shit, you dont have to answer that," she muttered pawing at the sand. She had to work on the way she communicated with wolves who were older or more experienced than herself.

Aesop snorted, letting out a puff of air.  "Don't sweat it," he said easily, shrugging in nonchalance.  "Color me impressed, really.  I'm only one lesson in, and shit's hard.  Props to you."  He tipped his nose at her, taking the opportunity to really study her.  She looked young, fresh.  A few scars marred her face, small, pink nicks that were only evident at this proximity.  He realized just how old he was in Wilds filled with youthful wolves.

"You'll have to fight me for it," he joked, tail whipping playfully behind him.  "Never saw it before I got here, but the sea's fuckin' sweet."  He winced at the uncomfortable question, feeling the second hand-embarrassment for her.  "Fuck it, you're fine," Aesop told her, shrugging off any unpleasantness easily.  "I ain't much, anyway.  Just a wanderer and an old man.  Settled down here a few months ago, and here I've stayed."  He nudged her shoulder with his own, taking a risk that she wasn't uncomfortable with physical contact.  "You got a story for me?  Doesn't have to be the real one." 

Lyric smiled when he congratulated her for her Greek. "Thanks, it took me a while. I think the younger you start the easier it is. Im sure had i not started learning till now i would have had it a bit harder." she mentioned. "Mainly because i was around it when i was just a pup meant i had to learn it if i wanted to communicate." she finished with a small nod. As if confirming what she said to herself.

Lyric laughed when the cream coloured wolf talked about fighting for the beach. "Nah the beach is all yours in that case. Ha. I can't fight to save my life let alone anyone else's," she admitted. She frowned for a moment. She knew that being a part of a pack sometimes meant fights. She didn't know how useful she would be in those times. If she was a caretaker perhaps during the battle she would be left behind to guard the pups. 

Her ears twitched as Aesop told her somewhat of a story. The reality of the awkwardness of the question setting in. The nudge afterwards did make her feel a bit better though. "My story, I ran away from home when I was 8 months old. I know that's young. I left because they wouldn't let me do anything. Didnt think i was capable of completing even a simple task. I had no friends and my brothers always picked on me. So, I figured they wouldn't care if I left." she stated. 

She didn't know why she had told a virtual stranger that but she did and she hoped that this wolf might understand better than the alphess had. She admitted she had weakness' but she could still do some stuff. If they would have just given her a chance.

"Necessity does help things along, doesn't it?" He mused.  Thus far he was having no difficulty learning and retaining the language, but they had only just gotten started with his lessons, hadn't they?  Soon he would find if he was truly going to have an easy time of it, but with a teacher as good as his, he was not all too concerned.  

He realized he must have cut a rather rugged figure, with his scars and his fresh wounds.  They had begun to scab over and itched something awful, but he knew better to fuss with them.  Especially when they were in such delicate spots on his neck.  Once again he remembered how close he had been to losing his fight with the intruder and how close his brush with death had been.  Quick thinking and quicker dodging had saved him, but would he always be so lucky?  "You'd be surprised," he said, and if it was a touch bitter, then at least he was justified.  "I ain't much of a fighter myself, though."  The statement was laughable, nearing irony when paired with his appearance.

Aesop listened with half-interest as she told the story of how she came to stand on this beach, and though he did not devote his full attention, he nodded along at the appropriate times.  And in the end he frowned, passing judgement on her loyalty.  "Just up n' left?" he asked, "without a word?"  And despite his attempts not to, a frown tugged at the corners of his lips.  He was quick to correct himself, his face slipping back into its usual stony mask.

"Yes it does quite a bit," she said with a slight hint of humor to her voice. She would have had no other way to communicate if she didn't know the tongue. So it was important she learned it and fast. 

"I don't know, you seem like you would have a better chance than I in a fight." she stated looking straight at him. She knew little about fighting. He at least knew some. He had clearly been in a recent fight with other wolves. Who she dare not ask. He had a few cuts that were beginning to heal but he could have had it a lot worse. 

"As for my leaving, no I didn't leave without notice. My brother was awake. I told him, he said he would tell the others. However, I doubt he actually has. No one will come looking for me though. I'm sure of it," she stated with a small nod as if assuring herself of what she said. She believed no one would come looking because no one gave much notice in the first place. Who knows maybe they didn't really know she was gone. No. that wasn't it. They would have noticed by now. Wouldn't they?

Aesop nodded.  "Good to know you're around, then.  Might steal you sometimes to get practice in between lessons n'all," he said.  He wouldn't ask for lessons from her for fear of losing his solid excuse to make the trek to visit Alastor.  Though he didn't dare try and address what he was feeling for the boy, he knew that he wanted to continue to see him, and that was enough to stay his tongue.  At her second fight comment, he shrugged.  Clearly, he could hold his own in a fight.  The intruder had, in the end, been chased out, after all.  Still, the victory was tainted, and he took no pleasure in it.

He frowned, thoughtful.  On the one hand, he understood the need to slip out quietly, unnoticed.  On the other, he didn't understand or particularly like her reason for leaving.  "You don't seem too certain," he said, picking up on her body language.  He decided not to push farther, let the sentence stand as a statement rather than a question, and let her continue on that vein if she wished.  To push any more out of her would be rude, and he wasn't even sure he wanted to hear it.  Other's stories always made him uncomfortable, as so often they were rife with devastation and loss.

"I uh-uh" she stuttered "I don't know if anyone followed me. I didnt have any friends but my parents might have actually come looking for me. I wouldnt go back though. I dont care if they would treat me better. Im actually happy here. I probably would have left them anyways. To go out and find my place." she said staring at her paws. 

If her parents had come to look for her. She had potentially just put the pack in a small amount of danger. She was only just realizing this. How could she be so stupid. She should have just stayed a lone until she was sure they weren't following her. 


OOC: Im baaccckkk xD I was away sorry it took me so long to post :p