Hearthwood River nice guys finish last

Sparring thingy with @Laike. An Aytaike thread has been long overdue.

Aytigin was in a perfect mood after meeting Cottongrass again. He hadn't had a genuine, bubbly crush on anyone in years, and he was certainly acting like a wolf wrapped in the hands of infatuation. His head was in the clouds, his face was graced with a smile, and even his pawsteps were lighter. Or, well, bouncier, like his white-furred counterpart. The snowy wolf was certainly rubbing off on the casanova, and it wasn't a bad thing. It did well for the rut he'd been in for a few days now.

But still, there were things to do. He had dropped a fish off at Kisla's den earlier, and he was heading to check on the borders when his own stomach gave a soft growl and he switched directions to the nearest cache. Couldn't work on an empty stomach, after all. He'd tried that his first few weeks of being a River wolf, and had nearly passed out a time or two.

He'd just gotten within sight of the cache when he found he wasn't the only one there. His packmate, the one a rank above him - Orc? Larp? Link? - was already there, chewing on some indiscernible prey item. He hadn't officially met the scarred man - was a little intimidated by him, if he were honest with himself - but he wanted to get to know him. He didn't think he wanted to just go up and speak to him, because opening his mouth seemed to get him in trouble sometimes.

He let the good mood make his decision for him, and padded up to his victim to fall into a play bow, tail waving in the air.

"Wanna play?"

LAIKE ARTEMIEVA

His teeth ground against what was left of a hare as he satisfied some of his hunger. Today had been chocking up to be pretty nice if only because he had been able to avoid most others. It wasn't that Laike didn't like anyone but he wasn't as sociable as most wolves. He was respectful and talked when asked or encountered but other than that he kept his nose in his own business.

There was a voice behind him asking him if he wanted to play. His hackles raised making his already large frame seem to swell. He could have easily been convinced that it was one of those children but they hadn't spoken, at least not to him. Laike turned himself around to see a dark large male in a play bow. His eyes narrowed on the male's face and his deep voice spoke out. "Does it look like I want to play?" The Artemieva's tail threatened to creep upwards but he maintained his posture. Did wolves usually approach those who were eating and ask to play? What in the hell even made this guy think that he wanted to play? Laike felt like he still had a lot to learn about the wolves here but he wasn't in the mood to do it today.

art by kydnt

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Aytigin wasn't sure how there were so many grumpy wolves in the world. Were no one but Inna, Cottongrass, and Mace kind at heart? Even asking for a play fight - a normal, everyday activity - was met with narrowed eyes and a grumbly reply. Outside of the Lore, with the gypsies, playing was done many times a day, and was certainly never complained about. Even if you had only just met someone.

Perhaps this man was shy. Aytigin was not to be deterred.

"Well," he drawled slowly, golden-hazel eyes flicking from the rabbit carcass to Laike's face. "Looks to me like you're just finishing up your meal. Nothin' better to burn off fat than a good playfight, right?" Not that the pale wolf before him necessarily needed his fat burned. He actually looked quite good, but since most men were uncomfortable with Ayti's flirtatious advances, he decided to remain quiet on that subject.

Dark brown head tilting to the side, and not raising from his play bow, the man continued, "Just kinda wanted to get to know ya. We haven't talked before, and I figured I might as well be friendly." His tail gave a wag. "You don't have to play, if you really don't want to. It's just healthy, 's'all." He would just go find someone else who would play with him, if this one said no. Perhaps Mace would be more willing - Ayti didn't want to force anyone to do something they really just did not want to do.

(This post was last modified: Jun 04, 2017, 04:40 AM by Aytigin.)

sorry he's bein a jerk. Laike's just being a little rough, not trying to draw blood or anything.

LAIKE ARTEMIEVA

Oh great. So not only was he being harassed to play, he was being called fat from the overgrown man-child whom he had just met. His scarred muzzled crinkled with obvious displeasure as the dark male kept speaking. He had never talked to the man before and they barely even exchanged glances so a play session was the best thing the dark man could think of?

"Fine." He snorted as his fiery gaze stayed locked on the male. Without much more of a warning, the Artemieva male launched for the dark male's scruff. He had every into to push the male all the way down to the ground. Mentioning he was already half way there all Laike had to do was lean into the large male in an attempt to get the rest of him down. He made sure his grip would be firm onto the male. It was more obviously that Laike was establishing dominance than he was just play fighting.

Perhaps he was being a bit of an ass but he really didn't care. The male had practically asked for it after all. Nor did Laike intend to do any real damage to him, he was smart enough to know better than to spill the blood of his own packmate.

art by kydnt

have you checked out my player preferences?

There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by coyotes nearby. +15 Health

It's cool - it's funnier that way xD

Aytigin wasn't a fighter - which, of course, wasn't to say he'd never fought before. Just a few play scuffles here and there, and then one or two serious fights with a wolf he would rather not think about or mention ever again. So he wasn't prepared for Laike to just leap on him like that, and, since he was so caught off-guard and off-balance, the smaller man brought him to the ground with relative ease. Teeth embedded in his scruff - not enough to hurt him but certainly not comfortable - and Ayti found that he didn't like having the older wolf on top of him like that. Because it wasn't play - at least not to the pale man - and Aytigin was certainly willing and capable of bucking back.

The dark wolf twisted sharply underneath him in order to dislodge the teeth from his scruff and, using his own weight as a weapon, shoved his shoulders upward to lift the other wolf off of him. Ayti was nothing if not strong, and his size worked with him in this instance. His shoulder did ache in response, but he needed to get those muscles loosened back up anyway. He spun quickly from his position nearer to the ground in an attempt to latch his jaws around the side of the other wolf's shoulder.

He, too, did not wish to actually harm Laike, and that was for more reasons than that he was simply a packmate. Aytigin was a self-proclaimed lover, not a fighter, and took playtime as what it was - playtime. Under normal circumstances, he would've just let Laike dominate him, because who actually gave a shit about ranks anyway? But he was playing to win, and so that was out of the question.