It had been too long since his acceptance in this new pack since he'd seen her face and part of him wondered if it were on purpose. This pack was booming with members, all ages and sizes, colors and genders and it was easy for Lock to lose himself in the craziness of it all. Excitement had kept him in the center of it all, wondering what he could do to contribute to the buzzing pack and earn his keep; he'd settled on filling cache's and patrolling the borders. Eventually he grew interested in seeing her again, the curves of her face and her amber eyes intrigued her and he missed the brief exchange of words they had on their first meeting. He wondered too, if she thought of him.


Clenched in his jaws was the limp form of a rabbit, it grew too cocky and wandered a bit too close to the watering jaws of the big bad wolf and within a few short minutes would be the gift he'd give to the beautiful tawny woman he couldn't get out of his mind. He tracked her scent down, remembering the locations she most frequented and waited to see if she'd appear. If time seemed to take forever, he would call personally for her but for the time being he was patient and allowed her gift to lower gently to his paws to keep fresh in the snow. For the time being, while he waited, he made scent markers around the surrounding area, lifting his leg toward a particular tree trunk and releasing a hot stream of urine that was unique of his stench and a reminder to outsiders that the Vale owned these lands.

As he predicted, the wait wasn't long--a few minutes or more--and without missing a beat she asked whether he was busy. After marking the territory to his delight he shook his head, wondering what the woman could want from him and remembering his gift to her all at the same time. "No, I brought you something though." he said, motioning to the frozen rabbit who's downy fur shifted with the wind. He wondered if she had just come back from doing the same, prepping the land and warning outsiders to stay away, but the thought disappeared when he remembered that she asked whether he was busy. Perhaps she wanted him to do something. "Did you want me to do something?" he asked with the cock of his head, ears perking forward. At this point, her rank included, he was at her whim.

She turned down his request swiftly, turning it instead to him and how he was settling down into the pack. He thought long and hard about her question before finally shrugging his shoulders and adopting a smile along his lips. "I like it well enough. There are plenty of wolves and plenty of things to keep me busy. I can grow to really call this place home." he said, regurgitating a textbook response. This pack would suit him fine since it would keep him busy and preoccupied with more tasks then he could probably handle but he preferred it that way,  hard work had quickly become his middle name. "It's okay, I'm happy we can get together today. It feels like forever since I've seen you. I actually missed you, crazy huh?" he joked, giving her a light nudge and remembering that one of her ankles couldn't quite handle the stress that the others could and he quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, I didn't hurt you did I?" he asked and settled down to his haunches, limbs held close to him so that he wouldn't be tempted to touch her again. "how is your ankle healing?" he said, cocking his head once more.

Celandine nodded as he spoke, genuine interest playing at the delicate features of her face. Whether or not she actually cared was another matter entirely, but an observer certainly wouldn't question it. "You like being busy then?" The words were said with a grin, and an accompanying chuckle. 

"Me too." Again, whether the response was genuine or not remained to be seen. "I guess I'll have to make a little more time for you if you enjoy my company so much." The teasing in her tone was soft, and easy. Exactly how she wanted to portray it.

Months with Craw had taught her to accept touch as a normalcy, and so when he moved to nudge her she didn't even flinch. Realization and concern seemed to hit his face at the same time, causing a wry smile to plant itself firmly upon her lips. "I'm not that delicate. Don't worry." Another giggle followed her statement. "It's healing as well as can be expected, though I'd like for it to go a little faster."

Her warm smile made his own widen and without thinking the male eased in closer to her, craving both her warmth and scent. He couldn't explain the raging emotions that were flooding his body and mind but he liked it, more than he had the first time it ever happened and something about the amber eyed girl made the feeling more precious. He definitely wanted to bottle the emotions up and keep them forever but admitting this much to Celandine, this early, was ridiculous and he had no interest of scaring her off because of bad timing. He would wait until he could tell that the woman felt the same for him, he only hoped it wouldn't take past the breeding season for her to tell him what she was feeling as well.


"I prefer being busy, it keeps me from, well, being bored." he laughed, there wasn't a time that he could remember being bored but on the rare occasion that it did happen the male had found himself in more trouble than he liked to admit and talking himself out of those incidents had gone against everything he had worked so hard to build. Keeping busy kept his mind from wandering, and it kept him from second guessing his decision to come here, especially when meeting Celandine had been the primary reason for joining the Vale in the first place. "good, I never liked the delicate types anyway." he joked with her but he kept to his spot either way just in case. "would you be up to a short walk? We can find somewhere to put the rabbit just in case you aren't hungry right now." he suggested with a cock of his square head.

Celandine was not surprised by Deadlock's proximity, so when his mass came closer to her own, the ivory woman did not shy away. Surely someday she would be able to used these things to her advantage, and shooting him down now would eliminate the possibility entirely. "I can't stand feeling bored." 

Monotony had never really been Celandine's thing. That's why she liked travelling so much. There was always something new, and exciting. "Well then, I think we'll get along just fine then." Her words, accompanied by a smile, were sincere. 

Casting a glance downward at her paw, Celandine silently goaded it to behave. "Absolutely. If I don't get out of this communal area soon I might go crazy." She had been stuck well inside the heart of the territory since the accident, and she thought that just maybe, it would be nice to increase her own personal boundaries just a little bit.

His head nodded when she spoke, a smile peaked through on his lips when she mentioned that like himself, she did not like being bored and he admired the fact that Celandine didn't either. That was one more tidbit he learned about her and he concluded that he liked it, aside from the many other qualities that she had shown him, but she was a hard woman not to like and admire. On the inside he felt giddy, emotional and tingly but on the outside he was fully composed and stood beside her in wait for their walk to find a cache to place her freshly caught rabbit or just a walk; either would suit him at this point. "What do you like to do to keep your boredom away?" he asked her, fishing for more information and if she felt hesitant to share he added, "I take pleasure in hunting. It's calming and rewarding." he said, licking his lips for emphasis.