Drooping Willows I tell myself to draw the line

for @Incus early afternoon, Few clouds, 5F/-15C

Everything seemed to be happening so quickly this week. Not that he didn’t want it! Of course he did, it was everything Viorel and his group had been working so hard for, but now that it was here it seemed overwhelming. It had taken two months from the time that they had been dumped here for them to officially start the pack, and then it had only been a couple days after that that he had… been with Clover. The memory sent a hot flush up his neck, he knew it was part of being a leader, but it felt strange that his aunt and grandmother were going to know what he had done.

It had been that thought that had sent him out of the territory today. Claiming he was going to scout out the area that he had found his grandmother in - a lie, they had searched the area forward and backward and found nothing. He just couldn’t sit around back at the den and wait for something, he wasn’t even sure what it was, to confirm that he and Clover had been successful and Valles would be joining them this spring. It was an immature reaction he knew, but Viorel was young, and knowing that his family knew felt gross.

He could have asked Clover or Vanadis, or Sharlee or Vayko to come with him, but Viorel just needed to clear his head. Maybe he would run into Gyrfalcon again and be able to pretend to be a guardian, or maybe he would see no one. He just had to keep moving.

Arcus had been prattling on and on about meeting a boy and how amazing he’d been, it was enough to make her want to gag. Really, she couldn’t deny that she was, in fact, at least a little bit jealous. Dad never let boys around them other than Jasper, Oak and Aspen, and they were her brothers so like...obviously they were yuck. But here they were, hardly in the Lore for more than a week and her sister had already snagged a member of the opposite sex, done the weird falling-eagle thing their mom had told them about, and wouldn’t stop blabbering about it. Eventually, Incus had told her to shove it and walked off with a huff.

Now she was exploring the willow trees, their branches just starting to prickle with the beginning of leaf buds from spring. They swayed elegantly, like nothing she’d ever seen before and she felt enraptured by them. She walked through, sunshine eyes wide with curiosity and a light smile of her silver lips. There was nothing like this back at Autumn Ridge, which made it all that much better. So excited was she that she didn’t even notice the presence of the male nearby, which really should have been her first priority. Papa would be so disappointed.

I... don't know what Viorel is doing here, I'm sorry lol

Viorel had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he had initially missed the approach of another. Still, he noticed before she did it would seem. Watching quietly from the center of one of the willows, his left flank brushing against the trunk, her frame swayed in and out of view as the branches flowed in the breeze. Normally he would have walked out there, announced his name and started up some kind of fun conversation. But, today was not normal, today his head was swimming with too many thoughts.

He didn’t want to rush out there and start a conversation, but he didn’t have anything nefarious in mind either. Instead he stood stalk still, his dark form stark against the retreating snow and light barked trees. Yellow eyes followed the motions of the silver woman carefully, observing her every move, analyzing the way her face displayed almost childlike awe. It made his heart ache a little, just a few short weeks ago he knew he had held the same expression on his face when in the grove with Clover.

The thought of the white woman caused heat to crawl up his neck in embarrassment and he blinked away. What kind of creep did he think he was? Just standing here watching this lady as she was having a nice day? Honestly, he had no idea what had gone wrong with him since the start of March. He should just leave, but if he moved now she would definitely hear him and look and know he had been watching.

There was only one thing to do. He was going to have to pretend that he was blind and couldn’t see. Closing his eyes firmly Viorel did the only thing he could think of. He walked firmly into the tree with a loud and dramatic ”oof” as his head collided with the wood. That had hurt more than he thought it was going to.

(This post was last modified: Mar 26, 2021, 06:28 PM by Viorel.)

Really the weather wasn’t too bad for her stroll, though it may be a bit nippy for others. This was the first time she herself had experienced the heat that she’d seen her mother and elder sister go through when she was a yearling. When she’d seen them go through it she’d thought that they were overreacting, but the nearly unbearable warmth that coursed through her veins and made her hairs stand on end with an itch she’d never experienced before had quickly shown her they were not. Thus, the cool weather felt much like a blessing.

As she moved through the willows, she heard something hard connect with something solid, followed by a loud oof. Her silver aids swiveled to the side and her sunshine eyes followed, brows risen in surprise since she hadn’t sensed the presence of another. Without thinking she headed toward it, the smell of a male crossing the currents of air that she traversed. She felt a trill of excitement rush down her spine.

Her desaturated head peeked around the tree, head tilted to the side with a bright grin, “you okay? That sounded like it hurt,” she asked good-naturedly.

(This post was last modified: Mar 28, 2021, 08:07 PM by Incus.)

Had his eyes been open, the world probably would have swam for a second or two after his head collided with the wood. As it was, Viorel stumbled on his paws a little before he regained his balance, eyes still firmly shut. Now, most blind people didn’t walk around with closed eyes, but he had never met a blind person before so he had no way to know that. So yellow eyes were shut, and he could not see a thing, it was like one of the games they used to play as children where one wolf had his eyes closed and tried to catch the others.

It was clear that the woman was coming closer, as the scent of her… spring heat became overbearing. Viorel wanted to groan. Not this shit again, he had spent all week chasing Clover around and had been brought little relief, and now he was out here to get distracted. Seems there would be no distraction until spring was over. He hated spring.

Suddenly her voice accompanied the sound of her paw steps, and Viorel jumped a little in ‘surprise’ as if he hadn’t been spying on her before this. ”Oh, uh. Yeah I’m okay.” She seemed nice enough, but he was just now realizing the flaw in his blind plan, how was he going to get away with his eyes closed. Plus, he had to be convincingly blind so he added, ”Not the first time and won’t be the last I bet.” Did blind wolves walk into trees a lot? He didn’t know.

Realistically he didn’t look very different from everyone else in her family; dark with silver and white flecks. But should anyone else tell her that she would have scoffed in their face, because obviously he was the most handsome boy she’d ever seen. Except...his eyes were closed. Why were his eyes closed, was there something wrong with him other than bonking his head hard? Then he mentioned it wasn’t the first time and wouldn’t be the last and her eyes widened.

Oh.

Her silver paws shuffled awkwardly beneath her as she realized the implications behind his words, suddenly at a loss for what to do. She’d never come across a blind wolf before. Why was he out alone if all he did was bump into everything? But she also didn’t want to make him feel bad. “Your head must be pretty hard then,” she replied with an only slightly teasing tilt to her voice. “Anywhere in particular you’re trying to go that I can help you with? My sister and I are out exploring, but I’m sure I can pencil you into my busy schedule,” oh yeah, smooth. Can’t seem too desperate for attention.

(This post was last modified: Mar 28, 2021, 08:08 PM by Incus.)

See this was exactly why this blind wolf thing was a terrible plan. Now she was going to offer to take him somewhere else and help him back to the pack, his fur clearly smelled like his family so he couldn't lie. But, if she brought him back there and they ran into someone else then he was going to be called out for pretending to be blind. Well what is he supposed to do?

Suddenly he had a brilliant idea. What if he wasn’t blind but just had allergies? That happened to wolves in the spring didn’t it? Oh what a good idea that was. Laughing he tried to answer, ”Thankfully it only needs to be hard sometimes.” Pencil him into the schedule, where could she take him to that wasn’t going to ruin this whole facade?

Humming slightly, he expanded on his lie, ”Oh well actually yeah! My allergies are so bad today, I was trying to find a pond or something so I could rinse my eyes out. I think once they’re rinsed it will feel better and I can open them.” Was that how any of this worked? Would she believe him? This was even more ridiculous than pretending to be the guardian like last time he was here.

Oh, she liked his laugh. It made her feel all funny inside, like there were worms wriggling in her stomach. The grin on her silver lips expanded and her sunshine eyes crinkled at the corners, her tail giving a swish behind her frame inadvertently kicking up the scent of her heat. She gave a loud laugh at his reply, because that’s what you were supposed to do right? Laugh at their jokes? Yeah, she was pretty sure that’s what you did when you were flirting.

Then, he was asking her to lead him to a creek to rinse out his eyes and her mouth formed an ‘O’, because suddenly he wasn’t blind blind and she was feeling really stupid. That made sense to her as to why there was no one leading him around, because apparently he wasn’t always blind so he wouldn’t anyways need a chaperone. She gave a nod in understanding even though he couldn’t see her. “Sure, not a problem! Happy to help! I think there was one a little ways to the right,” she said.

The girl swept forward without a second thought, pressing her shoulder to his to guide him. Having only been around her family she didn’t exactly know it was impolite to just get up in someone’s personal space because there wasn’t any personal space growing up. They would all lump together at night, piled up in one big ball of fur until it was hard to tell where one wolf ended and the other began. “My name’s Incus, by the way,” she introduced as she steered him with a gentle nudge.

(This post was last modified: Mar 28, 2021, 08:09 PM by Incus.)

Viorel thought himself pretty clever that his lie had landed seemingly without any questions from Incus. If he were a smarter wolf he may have questioned how naive this lady was, but as it was he was pretty naive himself, so he was giving himself all the credit. So now instead of a blind wolf he was pretending to be a wolf who was temporarily blinded because of allergies. He missed her nod, but her words brought the salt and pepper tail swaying happily behind him. What a pleasant lady she was. Grinning his typical charming smirk he alighted, ”Oh thank you so much! That’s a huge help for me.” It wasn’t, but he was good at pretending at this point.

The sudden contact made him jump with a start. He wasn’t used to being brushed up against like that by strangers, especially when he couldn’t see it coming. Shuffling on his feet a little in discomfort, he quickly composed himself. He allowed himself to be steered towards wherever it was that she was going to take him, and he fought the urge to peak. Keeping his eyes firmly clamped shut he introduced himself, ”I’m Viorel Valle,” then not one to let silence stretch on added, ”Where are you exploring from? What kinds of things are you looking for?” Maybe he could offer her some directions as a thank you for all her ‘help’.

Fresh tracks show an injured deer has recently passed by. Hunt opportunity! +10 Health