Turtleback Lake Inertia

Any and all welcome! Tagging @Reyes because I'm weak  
RE:due to high winds and snow at the edge of your nearest water source, a cryovolvano has formed. Watch out for the ice spray!  Backdated to the 24th

Trudging along Askan sniffed and snuffed at the snow, hoping to come across something that would fill his rumbling belly. The lake was right there and so he was almost tempted to try his paw at fishing again. But the prospect of being dunked in ice cold water was more than enough to keep him on dry land, with a reasonable distance between himself and the little waves that lapped at the lake shore. It was in the past, he didn't have to think about it now, but it was all very embarrassing. Askan Selwyn, the heir to a generation old clan was unable to fish and had managed to screw up so badly that he could have died. Not exactly something to be proud of, was it?

Maybe he would get lucky and stumble upon something. It wouldn't be the first time it had happened, for all he knew a carcass could have washed ashore in a storm or... What the hell was that?

Several steps ahead of him there seemed to be some sort of mound? He would have assumed it was an ant hill, as it was of similar shape but it was made of snow and looked all slushy and brown. And it seemed to be making some sort of noise? A churning, almost gurgling sort of sound? His ears twitched and he crept closer, wondering what the hell he'd stumbled upon. Maybe it held some treat within, food maybe? His stomach rumbled again and he decided it was worth the risk. Just to take a quick peek. If it was nothing he'd move on and just go about his search. But if it did hold a prize... He trotted forward eager to figure out just what it was. Unbeknownst to him, the cryovolvano stirred and the pressure inside began to build. 

The fuck was up with all this awful weather? If it wasn’t snow, than it was some absurd amount of wind, throwing little ice crystals and snow flakes at his face like grains of sand. It wasn’t that different than some of the sands he’d visited before, and yet, somehow, it was one hundred, no, one thousand times worse than any of those places. At least the moving air kept him cool. Here, he was liable to freeze to death in mid-step, and he wasn’t even wet!

At least, for the time being.

Reyes trudged out with every intention of finding his partner and demanding they wait out the accursed weather in their communal den. That he found the man so far from Rye territory as irritating enough, but what the fuck was the other wolf doing? The older male gave a short bark, breaking into an easy lope to where Askan stood, watching the lake in orogeny. Which might have been fascinating, on any other day, in (almost) any other type of weather.

“Oi, cabrón!” he called, ears pinned against his skull as the unrelenting wind continued to blast against his face. “What are you doing, huh? Let’s go, before I fucking freeze to death!”

If he lost toes over this, he’d be certain to never let Askan hear the end of it.

Askan had just been about to poke his face into the little mound when a voice called out to him. With a-not so subtle- flinch, Askan yanked his head out and- Reyes? What was he doing here? Squinting against the wind, he closed the distance between them and gave his mate a quick nose lick in greeting. After all, he had missed him, just a little.

"Same could be said for you. You came out all this way looking for me?" At least that's what it looked like. Askan was amused either way. Reyes had braved the storm and the cold just so he could drag him back home, if that didn't mean something he didn't know what did. "That's kinda sweet, you sap." He grinned, and yes he was laying it on pretty thick but these days he took advantage of every chance to tease Reyes. Why? Just because he was a little shit, and because he could.

Admittedly, it was pretty cold out but Reyes was being a bit of a drama queen about this. There had been colder days, surely he wasn't that going to lose any extremities any time soon. He had to be exaggerating. Or-and this was more likely- as he'd pointed out before, Reyes was just lonely and wanted someone to huddle with. Not that the beta was complaining or anything of the sort, he just had to rub it in a little.

"I was checking out this thing." He explained, nudging him towards the little hill with a boop of his head. "You know what it is? It's making a weird noise."

Standing by his side, Askan watched Reyes inspect the odd thing. He didn't think it would be the sort of thing he would have see down south, but Reyes was smart. He'd seen all sorts of things on his travels and had all sorts of stories to tell. It was all actually really interesting, others just weren't clever enough to realise that. Yet again, maybe it was for the best as it meant Askan could hoard both his attention and his tales all to himself. Like  little secrets they shared.

The nose kiss came as a surprise, though not an unpleasant one. Not too long ago, Askan seemed to prance around the notion of affection (or anything even remotely similar) like it might bite him if he got too close. Reyes hummed softly, snaking his head forward to return the intimate gesture. “Es bueno verte, querida,” he purred, about to turn around and head back west towards their communal hideaway when curiosity got the better of the Rye Fields beta.

Reyes turned with a tired grumble, eyes narrowed against the constant howl of the breeze. Yes, sure, the little icy mountain the lake seemed to be building was fascinating, but did they really have to stand face-first in this nature-made wind tunnel?

“No idea, Askan. Ain’t keen on those damn noises, though.” Since when had ‘weird noises’ ever meant anything good? Sure, it probably wasn’t a snake or another angry mountain cat, but it was a lake, and who the fuck knew what lived deep down inside a lake in the winter time? Curiosity had its time and place – and that time and place was not in the middle of a winter storm. “C’mon, amado. It’ll be here tomorrow once the wind has died down. Let’s go.”

Askan was feeling more than a little bold today. And yes, it was true that-for the most part- Reyes was the one who made the first move, but that didn't mean Askan couldn't try it out for himself, now did it? There was nothing wrong with shaking things up, as long as they both liked it then there was nothing to complain about. And from that glint in Reyes' eye, it was fair to assume that he liked it. A lot. Now, Askan didn't know what Reyes meant by that, but it sure sounded nice....Ahem. The beta shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind, before he got a little too distracted. Not that it helped all that much.

The Selwyn had hoped that Reyes would offer some insight, that he'd know what the little mound was. But nope, he had no idea and it was obvious he had no interest in finding out. Much to Askan's dismay. It was true that they could return tomorrow if the weather cleared up, but what would  be the point in that? They were here now, it seemed stupid just to leave. And besides, Askan had come here to scavenge for food, he didn't want to leave without at least finding a scrap to bring home.

"It's just a noise don't be a-"

The little mound groaned and sputtered, louder than it had before, and for some totally unrelated reason, Askan decided that perhaps it would be a good idea to head home. After all, it was cold and Reyes had come out all this way just to bring him back, it'd be rude to say no. And like he said, the little mound thing would be there tomorrow if he wanted to see it again-which he didn't but that had nothing to do with the noise. Nothing at all.

"Ugh, fine. But just because you asked nicely. Know that if you were anyone else, I would have told them to shove it. So feel honoured that I like you."He grinned and shoved Reyes away from the mound with his shoulder.

Don’t be a what, he wanted to demand – but he was getting his way, and arguing now was more liable to make Askan ornery than anything else.

Reyes did pause to stop and watch, however, morbidly curious. What the hell could possibly make that much noise under the ice? His ears strained forward as grey eyes widened. Sure, he didn’t want to stick around and shove his nose into the damn thing, but if it was going to reveal itself right in front of them…well, his nose probably wasn’t going to fall off in the next minute or two.

The sudden movement (and following bump into his shoulder) caught the burly wolf off guard. He ‘oofed’ softly, twisting to snap his teeth in his mate’s general direction – no contact was made, but he hadn’t really meant to bite Askan, either. If he used this teeth, well…it was never in anger. “Feel honored that I like you, fatass,” he grumbled, skittering away lest he earn another shove. “Or I’d take your ear for that shit. Wouldn’t even come to get you at all, you know that?”

And sure, it was a special kind of like. But Askan was a special kind of wolf. And Askan was his – so no matter how cold his toes were right now, he wasn’t leaving until the beta was, too.

REYES | Dead man walking.

"Fat?!?" Askan gasped, as though he were a little old lady who'd just heard a youth swear. He wheeled around to check , and no his butt wasn't fat. Not at all! Huffing, Askan turned on him as a smug- if not a little smarmy- smirk pulled on his lips. "How would you know that, huh? Your eyes been wondering?" His cheeks got a little warm at the thought, but it wasn't a bad one per se. If Reyes wanted to look well...He was welcome to, Askan supposed.

Really, though for all his huffing and puffing, Askan knew that Reyes didn't really mean it. When he was truly angry Reyes had a certain way of talking, his words dripped with venom and were so scathing that even he was a little taken back. Maybe it was because he wasn't yet- and lets be honest,he never wanted to - used to it, but whenever Reyes spoke like that it made him want to shiver. And not in a good way. Fortunately for the Yukon, they were on good terms. The best of terms. So he didn't have a thing to worry about.

" Do you really think you could though?" Askan asked as stepped forward, till their noses almost touched and tilted his head in a condescending manner. Good thing he was just fooling around, otherwise he'd start to annoy himself. He was being such a twat. "We both know that I let you win last time, because if I really wanted to I could have knocked you down. Easy."

He'd never considering arguing fun, mean things were said and more often than not his feelings got hurt. He spat a lot of insults but it always felt as though he lost in the end, that he was left wounded and hurt and they walked off scot free. He wasn't trying to hurt Reyes here at all, he didn't mean it. It was just banter.

When Reyes claimed he wouldn't even come to get him, Askan merely snorted. Yeah, right. Like that would happen. A boar would sooner soar across the sky as it shot rainbows out of its ass. An amusing image for sure, but he couldn't let himself smile. Nope, had to remain serious. No smiling allowed, he was Askan Selwyn not Askan Sellose.

Of course his eyes had been wandering! He was allowed to, see – who was going to stop him? Not Askan. He was pretty damn certain the beta liked the attention, no matter how aggressively he groused. So instead he only snorted quietly, reaching forward to nip at his partner’s nose, his snout – what did he think this was, some sort of elaborate plisky? Reyes wasn’t above a firm nibble. The wolf leaned forward, this time giving his mate a sharp nip – to his cheek, to his neck, to his shoulder, too. Nothing was safe, not from the dark southerner.

“That so, mi luna? You were just going easy on me, huh?” he rumbled, pressing forward to throw his weight into the other man’s side. He didn’t believe it. Not for a second. But if Askan wanted to play like that? He’d not be the first one to back down, oh no.

His muzzle snaked out, teeth grazing across the thick bottle brush of his partner’s tail mischievously. His own waggled fiercely behind him. “That your way of saying you want a rematch, amado?” he asked, his mouth twisting to one side. “Because if that’s what you want – come and get it.”

REYES | Dead man walking.

"Yeah, it is so." He insisted, as a coy grin pulled at his lips. He couldn't quite match that alluring rumble that Reyes managed, but damn did he try.

Reyes could nip at his snout and push him around as much as he wanted but that wasn't going to change a thing, Askan wasn't going to back down. It was all fun and games, of course, no harm was meant. But the Yukon had never been the sort to turn down the offer of a challenge. If Reyes wanted another tussle than that was what he was going to get, shitty weather be damned! To an outsider their relationship probably seemed odd, if not a little antagonistic. They often spat insults at each other and this wouldn't be the first time-nor the last, probably- they'd gotten into a fight over 'who was the best'. But if this outsider went as far to assume that they didn't care about each other, well they'd be fucking wrong, that's what. There was nothing wrong with what they had, it worked for them and most importantly it felt good.

Having a tussle-despite what some might think- wasn't a complete waste of their time and effort. How were they supposed to defend the field if they just sat around and flirted all day? Not that he'd ever call it that or that he disliked the flirting part but...the point still stood. Ahem.This was one of the many things he adored about Reyes, that he was was always pushing, driving Askan to do better, to get stronger. He might not have said as such, or even intended for things to work out this way but that's just how it was.

Still as much as Askan wanted to roughhouse, Reyes was sending off some mixed signals. A bite to the tail was one thing, but he definitely wasn't doing that. Either way, Askan was game.

" It might be." Askan hummed. He had lost last time, so it would be nice to even the score. "You sure you should be talking to your superior that way?" He asked, bumping Reyes away with his butt. He didn't deny liking said butt, so Askan thought it was fair game."Maybe I should teach you some manners whilst we're at it."

(This post was last modified: Apr 01, 2017, 06:27 PM by Askan.)

“Superior! Tchhht. You want me to call you ‘jefe’, huh? Show me that you deserve it, then.” The grin Askan got in return could only be described as wolfish, a steely glint in moonstone eyes as the bulky wolf twisted around even as he was forced sideways. His neck strained as he snaked his head forward, white teeth clicking over dark fur. He did little, save perhaps pull a few strands free, but the intention was there. As far as he could tell, however, the beta was quite serious about the tussle – so Reyes would oblige. After all, if he did nothing but run his mouth, his word would mean not much at all now, would it?

The only warning was a small uptick at the corner of his mouth before he sprung, weight already loaded on his hind legs from the little shove his partner had given him moments earlier. The wolf launched himself, shoving his barreled chest into Askan’s side with a delighted yap. Ask and ye shall receive, my friend – even if you don’t quite expect it yet. “C’mon, then. You gave it to me last time? Veamos de qué estás hecho.” His feet thumped against the ground. “Vamanos!”

REYES | Dead man walking.

Guardian Dem 1/3

(This post was last modified: Apr 01, 2017, 11:31 PM by Reyes.)