Meeting everyone the other day had been quite overwhelming to the more reserved Vuesain brother. Though he was excited to see Margo again, and meet more of her siblings, everyone gathering in a big group like that made him feel all shaky. So he’d mostly tried to keep the attention off himself as much as possible, his mouth dry and tongue tying itself in knots whenever he did try to speak. He was just happy to get through it without making a complete fool of himself.

Hopefully things would go better one on one, at least, that was his plan when he approached the dark pup by the lake shore. Being the host, Leo felt responsible for the visitors, and making sure that no one felt left out – shy or not, his parents had taught him manners and compassion. So he took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before taking the last few steps, greeting the other boy quietly; “A-Archer, right?”

Thoughts ”Speech”

There was something indecipherable in the other boy’s pale eyes, deep and brooding, though it seemed to disappear once he focused on Leo. The tawny boy felt an odd twinge for a moment, wondering what Archer had been thinking about, for some reason he was very curious to know – perhaps simply to know anything more about the quieter of the Archer brothers.

Leo smiled lightly, nodding his head before carefully taking a seat next to the other boy. His own eyes drifted out over the lake, a comfortable feeling of safety washing over him as he looked at the familiar landscape. Archer’s comment surprised him; he couldn’t imagine living somewhere without the vast water source right around the corner – especially somewhere named Backwater. He’d never say that aloud though, instead he homed in on the second statement, asking curiously: “R-really, how so? It… It’s just normal water still?” The idea was instantly fascinating to the curious boy, and while his voice remained quiet and restraint, interest shone in his two-colored eyes.

Thoughts ”Speech”

Unbeknownst to Archer, Leo was just as fascinated by his dark fur and colorless eyes, as the other was by the – to the Vuseain – commonplace heterochromia. The only other wolf Leo had met with that coloring was Moonshadow, but she was old, and somehow he’d always thought that her eyes had paled with age, just like her fur had started to. Yet Archer, not yet a year old, looked remarkably similar, and the agouti boy was deeply curious about this new development.

Of course, much like the Valle, Leo was much too awkward to actually ask, afraid of appearing impolite towards a guest in his home. The water then, was a much safer topic, and one with its own allure. Two-colored eyes widened as the other boy explained, glowing with wonder at the new information. Moving water, of course, was not entirely foreign to the mountain pup, however the small springs and creeks around the cove all dried up when winter froze their sources.

The final addition made him shiver though, the thought of falling though the ice into a stream like the one Archer described filling him with fear. The Vuesain brood had been warned countless times about the dangers of the lake, and Leo was dutifully cautious. Now he shook his shoulders a little, to vent some of that anxiety before saying: “I bet. We h-have to break the ice to d-drink, but we aren’t allowed to d-do it ourselves.” It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but he wanted to keep the conversation going, and felt like he should give some sort of information in return for learning about the backwater; “Dad says, when the w-water is that cold, it doesn’t matter that we can s-swim, cus it’ll freeze your b-body, just like ice.”

Thoughts ”Speech”