Kingsfall Forest Through the Trees

She knew Aytigin and he was pretty sure this must have been one of the best conversations he ever had. He was making friends while talking about friends! Who didn't like that? Certainly not Cottongrass as his smile brightened and he perked up at her latest question. Which was if he knew Ayti for long.

"Mmm." He hummed, lost in thought while he swayed on his paws. The gears of his mind whirred away and it wasn't something he had thought of before. Friendships didn't have requirements, right? He sort of just bumped into random wolves and if they didn't attack him they automatically became his friend. The same thing had applied to Aytigin when they had first met. "I guess." He finally chirped.

"I met him during the winter. Towards the end... I think." His tail wagged and he nodded as if to confirm the statement. Maybe his math was a little off but he was pretty sure if he rounded he could say he knew Aytigin for a long time. They had met in the winter and it was summer now so... Yeah. He would never forget the joy of splashing in frozen streams and the nap they had afterwards.

It was a little surprising for the Ebony Baranski to run into someone who Knew Ayti but maybe it shouldn't have been. He'd meet Lachesis and Lilya before joining so it made sense that he'd meet others. She just supposed she hadn't expected to run into anyone let anyone a rye wolf. She of course was happy for her friend that he'd met others and had friends outside of Hearthwood. She'd done the same thing, Lorcan was a perfect example of her making friends outside of the pack.

Her question about the length of time he'd known Ayti was a sound of affirmation that she took to mean he had known Ayti for a while. She sat back in her haunches just as the next words slipped from his maw. She wasn't sure what that meant, perhaps he wasn't sure how long he'd really known her friend.

Then he gave her some idea of the amount of time he and Ayti had been friends. “That is a good amount of time,” after all it had been quite a few months and sometimes that felt like forever. “How did you meet?” She asked letting her curiosity get the better of her and if the man was going to allow her to ask questions why not find out what she could.

~Table by Jacqueline

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you.

 

This girl asked a lot of questions, especially for just one wolf. And maybe—just maybe!—he should have thought twice about answering every single one so readily. But it wasn't often that he got to ramble about his favorite wolves and have someone actually be interested. He took what he could when it came down to social interaction. Even if it was just scraping the bottom of the barrel.

So without any hesitation about her latest question...

"I think we met somewhere nearby, actually!" His paws stamped in excitement and yellow eyes scanned the nearby forest. And everything looked the same but he liked to imagine the trickling stream was hidden just out of sight. "It was by this one uh... Stream. Like a river, you know? But a little different." He was more than sure Inna knew what a stream was but he was just making sure. Especially when he himself didn't fully understand the nomenclature. He wanted to have the wording right in case he ever told the story again in the future.

"Anyways—" The little details didn't matter that much, right? If they did she would probably just ask more about them like she seemed to be doing the whole entire time— "We met and played together in one of those streams. While it was winter!" He finished with an excited bark and a flourish of his tail. Like it was one of the most magical stories the world ever had the pleasure of hearing.

He liked to think it was pretty great. And with a wriggling rear he settled back and waited for her reaction. Because really, it was the best memory he ever had and that automatically made it one of the best stories he ever told. It was in the rules or something.

(This post was last modified: Aug 01, 2017, 04:32 AM by Cottongrass.)

Inna could not help her curiosity about this friend of Ayti's had been piqued and she wanted to know more. Was he good for Ayti? Was her biggest concern, after their conversation where he admitted to her about his past she felt he needed good wolves in his life to show him he was good to. This man she had met seemed good but she wanted to be sure that Ayti wasn't getting himself into trouble, he was her friend and it was her job to look out for him and make sure he only had the best.

As it was it seemed that the pale man was more than happy to give her the details she sought. One of those being where they had met, she glanced around them as he said that it had been somewhere close by, “Oh?” She prodded but that was unnecessary as the man went in to describe the place, “I think I know that place, I've been there a few times myself.” If she was thinking of the same place then the last time she'd been there was with Lorcan before she'd had Oksana. They had been looking for sweetgrass to help her when her time came.

Inna had not missed the excitement with which this man spoke of Ayti but she kept that observation to herself for the time being. As the man then went on to tell her how they had played in the water which brought a smile to her face, “That must have been very cold,” she commented. She of course was fishing for more details as to the day they had met and hoped the man would give them to her just as easily as he had the rest of the details. “It sounds like the two of you had a lot of fun the day you met,” she added letting her smile widen to give the man a little encouragement.

While hearing about how they had met was fascinating to her she was more curious about something else. “Have you and Ayti become good friends?” She asked wondering just how close of friends the two men were. This was important because she wanted Ayti to be happy with the friends he had.

~Table by Jacqueline

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you.

 

Everything she said was a complete understatement. And the urge to correct her was strong. Especially when it would be so easy for him to interrupt and bark something irrelevant because she seemed really nice. Like he wouldn't get snapped at or told off. But he was admittedly self-aware even if nobody except him thought so. He settled for silence.

Which was fitting because her latest question was something of a head-scratcher. Because were he and Ayti good friends? They'd only met a few times but when they did... It was like the meaning of fun coming to life all over again. But was that idea mutual? He didn't have a single clue.

"I hope so." He finally chirped, a soft smile sprawling across his features while his tail continued to wag. But he didn't let the moment last long. Because within moments his head was cocked and his brows were furrowed. Like he was evaluating her. And maybe it could have been threatening but his tail was thumping on the ground behind him and he couldn't stop smiling even if he tried.

"Why?" He asked, more than ready to turn the tables on her. Having someone actually be interested in his rambling was nice. But he didn't like the emotions she was moments away from unearthing that would no doubt ruin the atmosphere. It probably also had something to do with the fact that he was getting bored and somewhat uncomfortable with all the prodding.

If he wanted to be poked and pricked so much he would run into a bush or something.

(This post was last modified: Aug 01, 2017, 06:19 PM by Cottongrass.)

So far Inna had learned about the first day they had met but that didn't tell her all she wanted to know. If she told the story of how she had met Lorcan it would never lead to what their relationship had become. It would most certainly never predict that she would have gotten pregnant by him and had his daughter or the closeness of their friendship now. She remembered the day fondly how she had thought they made a great team and as it turned out that part could have been foreseen.

What Inna wanted to know is how important Cotton was to Ayti and the kind of friendship they had. Surely he had to be some kind of important if the pale man was coming to Hearthwood to see her chocolate friend. To make the trek all the way from Wild Rye Fields had to indicate that this man in front of her felt strongly toward Ayti. She just wanted to protect him like she knew he would do for her.

“Good, Ayti needs good wolves in his life and you seem like a good friend to come all this way to see him.” She hoped that Ayti felt that he and Cotton were close friends too. It wouldn't be fair to pale man either if Ayti didn't feel the same. So she supposed in a way she was looking out for him to because if Ayti wasn't being good to his friend she might have to say something.

Of course then the tables were turned on her as the man stopped answering her questions and asked one of his own. “Ayti is my friend and I just want to make sure he has good friends in his life. He needs that right now and I like you Cotton. I think you are good for him and you seem to really like him.” She told before getting right up into the pale man space, “You don't think I didn't notice how excited you were when talking about him did you?” She asked raising a brow.

~Table by Jacqueline

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you.

 

The question was meant as a poke. Nothing more than an innocent, teasing poke because he was getting tired of letting her ask all the questions. But he must have messed up somewhere because the reaction he got wasn't the one he wanted. Instead of getting a simple response like no reason or something else unhelpful he got a speech. One that was more than a little intimidating especially when Inna preceded to invade his personal space.

He suddenly found himself okay with her always taking the reigns when it came down to controlling the conversation. Especially if this was how she responded to all questions that were directed at her.

His ears rolled back and his tail started wagging a different tune. One that wasn't exactly all sunshine and daisies but more like a panicked response. He tried to wriggle back on his rear to put more distance between them but found that he couldn't. Not when he was stuck sitting down unless he wanted to invade her personal space any more than he already was. "Huh." He blurted out, painfully uncomfortable with the change of pace.

Whatever happened to the game of mindless rambling followed by prodding questions? That had been fun. Way more fun than whatever was currently happening.

"Okay, well. I'm gonna, uh, go, now. Right now." He spoke with something awkward oozing between every word. And without anything else for him to really do besides start groveling — he waddled backwards before pushing himself to his feet. There were a few tense seconds where he could only hover before making up his mind.

"It was nice talking to you...?" Please don't kill me when I turn my back on you. Without another word he turned on the spot and headed into the surrounding forest. Hoping that she wouldn't follow him and he would never have to endure another interrogation sentence by her.

Let me know if you want me to add a fade and then archive, Thanks for the thread.:)

With Cotton's question she decided to express just how much she cared that Ayti had a good friend. Also that she was looking out for her friend to make sure he had good wolves in his life. The last part of what she'd said had only been meant as a tease but it quickly became apparent that Cotton hadn't taken it as such. His whole demeanor changed to one that seemed nervous, it was a little strange to her. She'd never made anyone, well maybe Lorcan, nervous before.

Any chance she had to find out more about Cotton was gone as he spoke only one word in response to what she'd said. Perhaps she gone a little too far but how was she to know the man could be a little skittish about having his space invaded. She hadn't backed away just yet and in hindsight maybe she should have as it seemed to upset him further.

Next thing she knew the pale man was dismissing himself from the conversation by telling her he was going, “You really don't have to,” she told him. She watched as he got to his feet and paused for a moment. Inna looked at him curiously. She'd seen the way his tail wagged and his ears go back, heard the awkwardness of his voice as he told her he was going to go.

She sighed as he said that it was nice talking to her, “You too Cotton. I hope we get the chance to again.” Though she would remember not to invade his space next time. She wondered if he would even want to talk to her again considering how fast he had excused himself from the conversation. It wasn't very long at all before he'd disappeared into the forest. Inna chose not to go after him as it would probably make him more uncomfortable.

She made a note that she would have to ask Ayti about him. She was curious now but more than that she wanted to know if he was normally like that. Something about the whole thing bothered her. Maybe she would find the pale man later and talk with him though not in such a personal way. She would also have to apologise for scaring him.

Inna also hoped Ayti wouldn't be angry with her for what had happened between her and Cotton. She didn't want to upset her friend but she wanted to know why Cotton had been so awkward before disappearing on her.

That was a thought for another day it seemed as she remembered why she had come outside the border. With one last look at the place she'd seen I'm disappear from Inna turned toward the Lowlands maybe she could find a sign of Lorcan out there. She took off at a moderate pace wondering if she would be able to maybe have another piece to the puzzle.

~Table by Jacqueline

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you.