Empress Riffle These are not the moves you're looking for

RE: You decide to be Fergilicious and get up in the woods just working on your fitness. Whose your witness? @Clover more grudging bonding time! set 1/9 late afternoon, 39F/4C, broken clouds.

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Archer Valle

Archer was getting braver about wandering beyond the borders, especially since Eros met that other pup. He hated to admit it, but he was jealous. He wouldn't mind meeting someone he wasn't related to, for one. He'd love it, actually, but he wouldn't be caught saying that out loud. Eros was the social one; Archer just followed behind and made sure his littermate didn't get himself into too much trouble. It was a hard job. That's why he was taking lessons from Clover after all.

Today the youngest Valle decided to explore up the creek, even though it was far to cold to swim. He already hated having to break the ice just to get a drink most mornings. The further up he wandered, however, the less ice there was in the water. He watched it bubble around the rocks; maybe it was moving to fast here for it to freeze? Moving kept him warmer, too.

Speaking of warmer, he was getting too cold standing here. He moved on, picking up pace and trotting down the embankment of the river until he reached a spot with rapids. The water was loud in his ears and he flattened them against his head. He much preferred the quiet trickling of the backwater to this nonsense.

A sprinkling of snow from tree branches above him drifted in front of his nose. Archer sneezed and looked accusingly up at the barren twigs betraying him. Stupid trees. Stupid snow. Stupid cloudy sky threatening to dumb more white crap on all of them. When would it be warm again?

He looked back at the river, rushing away around the rocks, a fine spray dancing in the air around the biggest stones in the water's path. That was an idea; dancing. It might warm him up a bit; his nose was starting to go numb. If one of his siblings was here he might try to talk them into making a fool of themselves with these antics, but as it was he was alone. He quickly looked around himself to make sure his brother hadn't followed him, or one of his uncles, and then he started to wiggle around. He felt silly at first, but as his blood started flowing and he warmed up, he got more into it.

This was surprisingly fun.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

She had been out hunting, wanting to try and fill up some of the food caches as the day was particularly nice out. It was the sneeze that had alerted her to Archer's presence nearby. With a quick glance around she turned away from her hunting and sought out where the boy was. A sneeze was no reason to panic, but with it being winter the thought of the beginnings of a cold did cross her mind, however as they were fairly easy to treat it wasn't too concerning.

Clover emerged from the trees to the burbling of the creek... and Archer shaking his body around quite wildly. She stifled a laugh, not wanting to make him feel embarrassed, but the sight was quite unexpected. The movements were almost rhythmic in nature, almost dance-like, and she stood there watching him for a few moments before finally calling out to him. "I don't mean to intrude," she said with a grin and wag of her tail, "but would you like some company?"

Archer Valle

Archer was getting so into his wriggling that he committed the mortal sin: he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. Between his dancing and the burbling of the creek, he'd missed Clover coming up behind him. Archer jumped and spun around, fur fluffing up and ears pinning back as he stared at his mentor with wide eyes. If it had been Eros he would have only known he had an audience when the older boy pounced on him, so out of everyone Archer had to be grateful it was the other mother.

After his heart settled down and Archer relaxed his stance, he glared at Clover. "What'd you have to sneak up on me for?" he complained, even though he knew it was his own fault for not paying attention. He was beyond the borders; anything could happen out here.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

A pang of guilt went through her at the notion she had made him abashed, not having meant to have basically spied on him without him knowing. She had just been so caught up in the sight of what he was doing that all proper etiquette had escaped her completely. Her ears splayed to the side at his glare and complaining tone, feeling a little bad about it, and seeking to try and remedy the situation by bringing a bit of lightheartedness to the situation.

"I apologise Archer, that was not my intention," she said intently, wanting him to know she did feel bad about it. "I was just so captivated by your movements," Clover continued, this time her tone having just a tinge of mischievousness as she tried to tempt him into the same mindset he had been in to dance the way he had been doing just before. "What do you say about... maybe teaching me some of them?" She grinned slightly at him then, her ears now pricking forward, wondering if he felt comfortable enough to let her join him in his moment of fun.

Archer Valle

Between her ears falling back and her tone as she apologized, Archer knew Clover genuinely felt bad about scaring him, even if he wasn't sure she regretted walking up on him. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, no longer a glare, as her tone changed to a more playful one. He sniffed and relaxed, considering her when she asked if he would teach her. After a long moment he said, "Promise you won't tell anybody?"

It had been fun, but if Eros knew then Archer would never hear the end of it, and the younger Valle boy had an image to maintain. As his mentor Clo clearly saw beyond that image, and Archer admitted he did feel more comfortable with her than he did many of their other pack members, in some ways moreso than his parents because he didn't want to impress her the same way he did Ma and Da.

"Okay," he finally acquiesced, trying to get back into the mood he'd been in when he'd started dancing. "First you gotta wiggle your hips like this..."

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

Her head bobbed enthusiastically in agreement, the tip of her tail beginning to twitch behind her in a small wag. "I promise. It'll be our little secret," Clover said sincerely, the expression displayed openly on her face and in her body language. She'd take the knowledge to her very grave if that's what Archer wished.

A pleased hum left her lips when he finally accepted her proposition, and she moved closer as he began to explain how to replicate the movements, her gaze watching him intently to really get a feel for how to move her limbs. Bending her legs at the knees, she used that movement to wiggle her hips from side to side in a vertical fashion, allowing her tail to sway behind her. "Like this?" She then added in a little bit of sideways movement by slightly stepping from side to side with her hind legs every time she unbent her knees. It was a little strange, but there was definitely some joy to be found in simply letting her body move so freely.

Her eyes moved to catch Archer's gaze with a quirked brow and a smile, wondering if what she was doing was considered correct, seeing as he was the teacher and she was the student now.

Archer Valle

A promise was made, and Archer felt a little better about being caught dancing. He trusted Clo to keep her word; she didn't seem like the sort to tell others things that were none of their business. She could keep secrets. So Archer showed her how to wiggle her hips, and she started shifting back and forth with a bit of a bounce. It wasn't exactly what he'd been doing, but he liked that move anyway, so when she looked to him for approval he nodded. "That works," he said. "Then you've got to kind of shuffle your shoulders like this, while you're wiggling your hips." He demonstrated, shifting his shoulders forward and back opposite to his wiggle rhythm so his body arched to either side as he moved. "You've got to stay in rhythm."

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.