Charred Ash Draw [s]ide parts and skinny jeans

Familiar? Levi's ears picked up as he turned to watch the girl. Now not entirely about to die of the cold and wind, he was able to notice more about her, from the light behind her beryl eyes to the unique ombre of her coat. She was really pretty, but he couldn't put his paw on what he liked best about her so far. Something in the way she spoke continued to set him at ease, and there was an energy in her motions.

Levi was back to feeling like a pretty lucky wolf. Maybe in a few days he'd be introducing his new friend to Sawyer and everything would be set right.

Arcus twisted unexpectedly and Levi took a step back to give her room. Her gaze locked onto a suspicious shape in the snow, and she called it a den.

"For real?!" he asked, a note of incredulity in his voice that arose not from doubt in his companion's abilities, but rather astonishment at the kick ass coincidence. He moved forward, eagerly digging into the domed snow. At first it remained solid, but then something beneath his searching claws began to give and it started to crumble away, revealing an entrance to the shelter they'd been seeking.

"Get out of here, that's awesome!"

(This post was last modified: Mar 08, 2021, 06:02 PM by Leviticus.)

Being in the middle of a snowstorm, Arcus had no clue that they were digging out the den of the former Charred Ash Draw wolves, the ones her parents had left behind. Arcus was never formerly a part of the Draw, having been born outside it and then squirreled away from Relic Lore after several misadventures involving coyotes. But this is where she would have played with Scork and Aqweea— though, now that she thought about it, those probably weren't their names exactly. And though she didn't know where she was for sure, she was reminded of these things.

It was awesome, because it meant they'd be relatively protected. "C'mon, lets get inside!"

The inside made it very clear this den had not been used in some time. Roots hung willy-nilly from the ceiling and in the walls, clumps of dislodged soil littered the ground in various piles. But it was certainly better than nothing, better than finding something that had entirely caved in. Eagerly, she settled into a little, still-worn rut in the ground.

"Well, Levi, you come here often?"

Finally. Leviticus eagerly followed her inside the den (ladies first, of course), not minding one bit the slight disrepair that the space was in. What mattered was that it was insulated, and that meant soon it would be warm. While Arcus settled right in, Levi took a moment to sniff around and examine the space. Her jest made him laugh.

"Oh yeah, this is my pad," he joked along, throwing her a broad grin. He pushed at a mound of loose earth with his paws, "this is my luxurious bed, and these here," Levi went from floor to ceiling, cream-colored paw sweeping through the hanging tendrils above, "are what's called, high-end decor."

As they spoke the air changed, becoming theirs, filling with both heat and scent. Levi finally picked up on it then.

Oh. Oh. She was having... woman troubles. It was the only term he had for it, his parents had wanted to wait until right before he turned of age to have 'the talk' and refused to answer any of his questions on the matter that first March. All he knew was it meant they wanted a lot of alone time, but Arcus didn't seem like she wanted him to go away...

"Thanks uh, for letting me stick out the storm with ya."

Unless ya wanna tell me to leave now... Levi would understand. At least, he'd try to.

(This post was last modified: Mar 08, 2021, 05:53 PM by Leviticus.)

Levi went right along with her and she found herself giggling. She could only think of how different this response was from what she was used to. Her brothers and fathers were pretty serious wolves. They might have answered with simply, "No, OBVIOUSLY not," but Levi was willing to play along. Out of thin air he conjured the images of a much more splendid, luxurious place. Arcus found the juxtaposition hilarious, and while she might have just given him a few crass snorts she reminded herself that men apparently liked it when you laughed at their jokes. Levi was funny, so why not?

When her laughter had dissipated the silence that wrapped around them so intimately was a little jarring. They were two souls alone in all the world, a world that was just this den. To Arcus, this all seemed very romantic. She wondered, barely able to resist from asking, if Levi felt the same way. Maybe later, maybe later, she told herself. Get a grip. "Oh, it's no problem. You seem fun."

"Can you keep a secret, Levi?" his name lingered on her tongue for a long moment. She scooched in closer to him.

Levi was relieved that she continued to welcome his presence. More than not wanting to be out in the coming storm, he didn't want to be by himself again so soon. His crooked grin returned and he was put at ease once more, even as her springtime scent began to overtake all other smells. If it wasn't bothering her, it wouldn't bother him. In fact, he felt a little weird admitting it to himself, but it was kind of... inviting.

Lowering into a crouch, he inched his way over to her, more than willing to warm up together. When they met he flopped onto the packed earth, laying directly next to Arcus and leaning comfortably against her as he would have Sawyer back at their little clubhouse.

"Is it about how you knew this was here?" he asked playfully.

(This post was last modified: Mar 09, 2021, 01:12 AM by Leviticus.)

He was against her now. When he leaned in, ever so gently, she still felt like she was being hit with a fallen branch in a storm. If there was the crack of wood, though, it was just in her chest and no one to hear it but her own soul. A boy!, was once again her only thought. Levi was here right next to her and he wanted to be. Just like this! Arcus had kind of assumed that it would be harder to find a boyfriend but at the same time she was very happy that it... wasn't. Part of her wanted to run out of the den right now and tell Incus, to run back home and shout it from Autumn Ridge to the valley below that she, Arcus, had a boyfriend.

She found his guess a little curious, though. Had she known this was here? Squinting, trying to think about it, but nothing was coming back to her really. This den hadn't been hers. "Mmmm, no," the girl said shrugging, her shoulder moving against his thick winter coat.

"My dad said I'm not supposed to hang out alone with boys. I've never done this before." This statement was uttered without a shred of nervousness or embarrassment. Arcus sounded excited and wild. "It's more fun than I thought."

Leviticus' ears twisted as she answered. Not supposed to be alone with boys? His curious green eyes blinked back at her. Leviticus had never been told not to be alone with girls, though thinking back he did notice that they'd always naturally split off by gender anyways when it came to making friends and the such. Little did he know, it was a talk his sisters had definitely received from their father early on, the onus of protecting themselves placed squarely on their shoulders and never the boys in the pack. One of many archaic tendencies that the nature-worshipping wolves maintained and failingly attempted to pass on through their children.

There was absolutely no reason him and Arcus couldn't be friends and hang out alone together, not in Levi's mind, and so it made him happy that she called it fun.

"I'm having fun too," Levi grinned back at her before jesting with a wink, "and I'm a rulebreaker as well, so I got your back."

Of course, unless the man lived nearby or was hot on Arcus' trail already, it was unlikely he'd find out anyways. Levi certainly didn't feel any anxiety or guilt over the admission, because what harm could they possibly be doing?

"We can be outlaws together, hidin' out from dumb rules."

It was certainly a lot more fun an angle than the blistering storm they were actually undercover from. Levi twisted and pushed lightly on Arcus with his paws, muzzle reaching up to nip affectionately at her cheek. He wasn't sure why, but he really wanted to play.

(This post was last modified: Mar 14, 2021, 10:17 PM by Leviticus.)

A rule breaker. Arcus hadn't exactly always thought of herself this way, but damn if it wasn't true. Her earliest memories were of playing in forbidden mud puddles, rousing hordes of coyotes, running away to another pack, and making friends with all kinds of rougher folk. Her parents had just sighed—they said she was going to turn their fur grey before they were even old. If Levi was a kindred spirit then this was something she definitely couldn't tell her parents about. She could just chuck all the things like he's nice, he's egalitarian right out off the mountain because to her father, Alastor Leigh, that would amount to a pile of rabbit droppings.

Oh well!

She liked the sound of outlaws. No "dumb rules", in fact, "No rules at all!" she declared. He began to flea-bite at her cheek which felt sensational. And it gave her an awful, truly lawless idea.

"You know what would be a fun rule to break right now?"

Levi continued his prodding and nibbling, continuing to attempt coaxing his company into wrestling. Her question brought his gaze back to her matching eyes, alight with interest. Already, he trusted Arcus aplenty. His tail thumped against the den's dirt floor in happy anticipation.

"What?"

The worst rule of them all.

Now, Arcus wasn't dumb, she knew what would likely happen. In fact, if her father could be believed it happened one hundred percent of the time, but that didn't sound so awful to Arcus. They could work out the details later. This is the rule she wanted to break. She felt ready for it.

Leaning in to Levi she whispered something into his ear and then scooted back into the absolute darkness of the den.