Zephyr Rill painter in your pocket

The man didn't immediately crush his dreams.

He was pretty sure that meant they were best friends now or something because most people would have taken the easy route and called him out. But Laike was a man of surprises. The best surprises because he might have been scarred but he didn't act like it. That was more than enough for friendship in Cottongrass' mind.

His tail continued to drag along the ground in happy swipes and his rounded ears perked up at the question.

"Mmm." He started off. That was a good question. He didn't know what brought him to the forest other than a sense of boredom and the desperate impulse to shirk responsibility. Joining a pack was scary. It was easier for him to roam around the land and pretend he never thought about it. But that was a mouthful and Laike didn't need to know any of that. So he settled for a careful "I don't know." It was close enough to the truth so that meant it wasn't a total lie. Which meant less guilt for him! He shuffled on the spot.

"I guess I came here to explore? I have a few friends nearby I could probably visit." His smile brightened and he perked up like he was waiting for Laike to confirm the idea. It was a good idea. He could bother Aytigin and Otter if they were around.

LAIKE ARTEMIEVA

Laike waited patiently for an answer after that little thoughtful hum. Cottongrass didn't seem like he was on some sort of frantic mission for something or someone. In fact, he seemed pretty relaxed there on the ground. So the answer that came forth wasn't a total surprise.

Before he said something the pale male carried on with his thoughts and doings. "Visiting friends is always nice. Any chance they're apart of the River wolves?" His head turned to point towards Hearthwood River's territory. The wolves were there were fairly nice and seemed like perhaps some of them could very well befriend Cottongrass. He was a nice wolf after all. He was a good listener too which was a pretty good trait to have nowadays.

"If they are, I can walk to the borders with you. I'm about done here anyway and that's where I live." A small smile tugged on his scarred features. It certainly wouldn't hurt to walk back towards Hearthwood with Cottongrass, especially if they were both heading that way. Laike could also then keep some tabs on his packmates. He wasn't nosey but it was nice to know who they were mingling with outside of (and inside of) the pack.

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He followed Laike's orange gaze into the surrounding forest. There wasn't much to look at. All he could see were frozen tree trunks and barren branches but he imagined Laike's pack was somewhere out there. He couldn't smell any pack borders either. But he supposed following the man before him to hopefully meet some of his newfound friends would be better than heading towards Wild Rye Fields. It was the reason why he was out in the middle of nowhere in the first place.

His tail thumped against the ground and he ruffled his coat. "Depends." He finally spoke while his yellow eyes came to rest upon Laike's scarred features. And he sure hoped that his earlier theories of Laike controlling monster deer were only just that — a theory. A really dumb theory when he thought about it but he wasn't cautious every day. It also helped that he was also pretty sure he didn't have that much to lose. "Do you know anyone named Aytigin or Otter?" He asked all while he shuffled to his feet.

And he didn't know Laike's answer but he found himself more than ready to follow the man towards pack territory. If it came down to it he could probably just pick a random wolf there and pretend he knew them or something. Maybe he would even make some new friends. His tail wagged and he shot Laike a bright smile.

LAIKE ARTEMIEVA

He gave a small "Hmmm," at the names that Cottongrass spoke. They sounded just a tad bit familiar to him but not enough for him to plaster a face to right away. "Pretty sure I do." It wasn't a total lie and maybe someone there might know one of those names better than himself. Laike wouldn't do anything for the male he could perhaps call a friend but checking for some wolves wasn't very hard work at all. If anything was just like a smaller scouting trip. He would learn a few things about Cottongrass and his packmates (if Aytigin and Otter were packmates) while on a very small trip. Would do him some good to be a tad bit more social.

It seemed Cottongrass was content to follow after him. Laike stood up and shook out his coat quickly before he swung his muzzle some, motioning for the pale fella to follow along. The large male knew the trip wouldn't be a very long one and if anything perhaps a bit of small talk would be the only thing to slow them down. Laike was fairly good at walking and talking but he had no idea about his younger counterpart.

-fade-

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