Magnolia Glen [s] i think i was meant to keep you warm

Open to one other. Kana<3 || Morning, Light Snow, 5 ° F, -15 ° C

She knew this place well enough. More than well enough. She could recall all the time she had spent with Plant Boy here (because he was still her Plant Boy even if she knew his name) in their trips away from the Edge. From home. The Plateau had been fine and dandy but it had only been a resting point until she was back on her paws again. She had made that abundantly clear. Her end game had always been coming back home once she was well. It had just been a matter of time.

It was the snow that reminded her of her time spent away. Perhaps she had been foolish to return in the middle of winter still, no doubt travel would have been safer come spring. Yet that was part of the problem. She wanted to be safe when the warmer months finally rolled around. Nowhere could provide her with the safety she craved better than Shallows Edge could. Her fathers and best friend (did he still think of her as such? It was a troublesome thought to think he didn't) were there.

So she huffed and squinted like the last name she carried ran in her blood. No more dilly-dallying. She had places to be.

(This post was last modified: Jan 15, 2019, 12:22 AM by Hawthorne. Edit Reason: swear tag )

There was something in Askan's eyes, sharp and stinging so much that they watered. He squinted as he thudded along, through the deep snow like he was treading water, just barely keeping afloat. It'd be so easy to just let his paws take the reins and lead him wherever but more than anything it was spite that kept him at Shallows Edge. Or at least that was how he was feeling today. He'd always been so damn changeable, his moods bouncing back and forth like a bird flitting between tree branches, but as of lately he'd been turbulent and it was so fucking exhausting. He had no idea what to do. He'd be jaded and salty, then he'd mellow out a little after some thought, only to get pissy again. It happened day in day out, over and over and so fast that it was giving him whiplash.

In a way, this was what he wanted. It was cathartic almost, a petty form of self punishment, because if anyone deserved to be happy it wasn't him. Right? His well had long since ran dry, he'd used it all up in one go and now he was scratching around in the dirt, desperate to find one last drop. He cricked his neck and let out a long huff as he stared up the sky. This was the only thing him and Reyes shared now, assuming that he was still alive that is.

There was a huff not far from her position. Her muscles tensed and coiled as she slowed her pace to almost a halt. It didn't sound like a particularly big huff. Bears should be deep in slumber by now. Perhaps it was another wolf? Were coyotes still rampant within these woods? Her brows crinkled as she moved again, carefully creeping closer.

It was a swarthy figure that she spotted, maybe had there been a breeze or she was a bit closer she would have realized who it was right away. Her hackles raised briefly. Orange eyes were still just as squinty as before. Did she want to instigate something? Not really but she also had never been one to just...walk away. That would have been too easy and too kind.

So she let out a sharp bark to announce her presence to the stranger. Either they would leave or they stay. It didn't matter much to her. They looked a bit like a nut anyway, staring at the sky like it would do something more interesting than snow.

Askan didn't like being barked at. Regardless of his bitter mood he'd never been the sort to tolerate that kind of bullshit, especially not so close to his home. He was quick to square up his shoulders as his eyes narrowed into slits and his ears flicked this way and that, trying to pinpoint where that fucko was. His nose twitched and he knew. It'd be just so easy to storm over and tear them asunder, it was what he wanted, in a way but....Effort.That was the excuse he used anyway, pulled it up to his face and wore it like a mask.

The urge to groan like a bugling elk was near impossible to ignore, but he swallowed it down and swore he tasted bile in the back of his throat. Guh.

"The fuck is your problem?" He was quick to snarl, falling back into old habits like he was putting on an old pair of slippers. Comfy, snug, and well worn. "You wanna die, is that it?"

More often than not Askan's bark was worse than his bite, but today his words were particularly egregious and scathing. They didn't even feel like his own but they were fitting, just as snappish and crass as he used to be. He'd never killed before, not a person at least, and today didn't seem like the time to tarnish his record. But he had always been awfully good at starting off on the wrong paw, what harm could come from pretending to be someone he wasn't?

He stormed through the foliage, with a real long metaphorical stick up his ass, neck held stiffly like he had to be taller and all the more aloof. It was only when he recognised that greyish form and orange eyes did he pause. Even if only for a moment. And then he lunged and the two slammed to the floor, flailing legs sending snow cascading in their wake.

You discover a half-eaten deer carcass. +5 Health

She regretted everything the moment she heard the voice. Part of her contemplated running while she could, playing it off like this never happened and doing a retake when she got to the Edge. Fuck fuck fuck. He wasn't in a good mood from the sound of things. No doubt she was going to get a verbal beat down real soon. It was a dumb mixture of fear and pride that kept her glued to the spot. How could she flee from him even when she planned to return to him?

Her head dropped when she saw those Selwyn yellow eyes. For a moment, she thought she was off the hook but then something wildly unexpected happened. She was practically dropped to the earth by him. It had been easy to take her over so quickly with such an unexpected strike. Askan! She hollered loudly, somewhere between excitement and distress, as she tried to untangle her limbs from his. Get off of me. She snorted as she aimed to jab her nose into his shoulder.

Askan pinned her down with his weight alone. She was taller than him, leggier, but she couldn't even compare to his sheer bulk. Call it heft, beef or whatever you want; he was a big lad and had no problems with throwing his weight around. Despite all of his feelings, dark and tangled things that hurt his heart, he never intended to hurt her. Nor did he think he even could, she could stab him in the back and he'd just take it. Just because.

She could bitch and whine all she wanted, Askan didn't want to give her the satisfaction of having her own way. He wasn't looking to punish her, per se, rather he needed a moment to gather his thoughts. More often than not they went nowhere. It was so easy for him to get lost, to follow the wrong trail till he was up to his elbows in quicksand. The more he struggled against the rage and hurt the more it pulled him in, like a siren song he couldn't help but listen to. He huffed a long, tired breath as his ears flicked back, a wolfish approximation pinching his nose or running a frustrated hand through his hair.

"So you're back then." Was all he said.

He supposed that he wanted to know where he stood, that she wasn't just here on a flyby. She'd been real miserable when he'd seen her last and it was good to see she'd sorted out her head but... Worry worry worry.

He pulled back then, unfolding himself as he rose to his paws and shook the snow from his shoulders and tail. With a grunt and a flick of his snout he motioned for her to do the same, he couldn't hold a conversation when his counterpart was laying on the ground like she'd been dropped off a cliff.

(This post was last modified: Jan 18, 2019, 01:03 AM by Askan.)

Much to her dismay, the heftier Selwyn didn't budge much. Yet she knew better than to fight back against him. This hadn't been some sort of planned spar and truthfully, if Askan wanted to end her that would be flattering in a horrifying way. She held her breath and prepared for whatever was to come.

Which was not what she had been expecting.

His words felt odd and seemed to clank around in her brain for a moment as she laid, finally, free on the ground. Had her adoptive father not motioned for her to move she likely would have stayed frozen. She was quick to move onto her paws but did not shake the snow like he had. It was almost characteristic of her to have such a rugged look.

I am. She finally blurted with less grace than a buffalo. I...want to come home. If you'll let me, of course. Because she understood the warpedness of it all. Hawthorne had been so firmly against those who left only to return but...here she was.

She wanted to come home. For a moment the string of words was all tangled and coiled in his mind, frayed ends and tight knots that made his mouth dry as his brows smushed together in what  seemed like tepid annoyance. Would he really make it that easy for her? Was he such a doormat that he'd swing open the doors and let her stride back in? The others, those who'd left without a word, could stay gone for all he cared but maybe he wasn't as tough as he liked to pretend. Maybe he'd let those he loved stomp all over him like a musty old rug. Maybe it was what he deserved. Maybe maybe maybe.

"Huh."

What a world he lived in. Some things came full circle and followed their course, whilst other stories were cut shot, the ends left dangling in the wind till they turned to dust. He liked to think Reyes would come back one day but he wasn't holding his breath. Gripping onto hope like that hadn't done him any good, if anything it had prolonged the pain, like scratching off a scab and not letting the wound heal. He'd always bear scars in one form or another but these sorts didn't make him feel strong at all, they weren't proof of strength or resolve. There was nothing but suffering in the end, of that much he was certain.

"He's gone." Askan mumbled, then clarified. "Reyes." As if he could mean anyone else.