Lost Lake Most Days I don't Recognize Me

Her mad laughter overflowed from atop the boulder, cascading down over him like a waterfall. While he remained how he had landed, more or less on his back with his legs jutting up into the air at random angles, a smile pushed its way back onto his lips at the sound. He peddaled his paws through the air, letting out one last mournful arooooo as though genuinely felled by the drop before falling limp.

This was a game he had certainly played before, though usually with a younger crowd. Still, it was his final chance, pretending to be dead so that she'd come down to check him out. Still as the grave, he tried not to even breathe visibly, and simply waited. If she didn't respond at all, he'd have to give up entirely, but hopefully she'd keep playing along and come over to bug him.

(This post was last modified: May 28, 2021, 08:49 PM by Chan.)

She dissolved completely into childish giggles at his display, all pretence of adulthood and dignity cast aside, just for this moment. Chan reminded her of her own younger brothers, back when they were still too small to have expectations and be disappointed with her. It was a great feeling, being able to just be herself and enjoy the company of others who didn’t want her to be anything else. Surely it would be enough to make anyone giddy, no matter their age.   Down below, the younger man had ended his squirming with a final death-howl and was now flopped like a fish. For a moment Flair stayed put, simply smiling down at his antics, but then she rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she jumped of her throne of victory to inspect the body; Grinning from ear to ear the whole time.   The snow felt extra wet and cold on her sun-warmed paws, and she almost regretted playing along, but then her gaze fell on Chan’s comically exaggerated death-pose, and she couldn’t fault him. Letting out a snort, she walked over slowly, lowering her head as if to prod him again, knowing full well what was coming, but surrendering to it none the less. Though she couldn’t help but add her own brand of commentary, wrinkling her muzzle in mock disgust; “Yuck, Y’ smell like y’ve been dead for a week!” ”Speech" Thoughts

dawnthieves.de

There was a moment where he thought she really might just leave him there like that, playing dead on the ground while she curled back up and returned to enjoying her sunbath. He had to fight a smile when Chan finally sensed Flair descend to his level. A few slow, shallow breaths later and he felt her nose poke against his fur. It was her words that caused his eyes to snap open, however.

"Wooow," he exclaimed, rolling belly-up so that his big long legs could angle skyward, against Flair's chest to shove her away as though offended.

"That is so rude."

Chan tried to make his next move all one fluid motion, but it wasn't like he was starting from the most graceful of positions. Flopping back onto his paws he tried to dodge around the russet wolf and leap back up onto the boulder, hopefully leaving her on the ground while he regained the upper paw. It wouldn't have taken much to stop him, though.

     

She grinned unapologetically down at his affronted expression, leaning forwards to pushing against the pressure of his paws. His faux-offense only made her snicker, sticking out her tongue at him.

 

Then suddenly, she was titling forwards, the support against her chest gone as Chan darted out from under her. Whether planned or not, the tawny boy had created the perfect distraction, as she struggled to keep upright, taken utterly by surprise. With a final shriek of dismay, she fell face first into the snow.

 

The cold and wet filled her ears and mouth as she landed with a sizable fwump! For a moment she lay motionless, stunned, then, with a determined snarl, she pushed back onto her feet, shaking the snow from her fur with a few, violent motions. Her head veered as she looked around, amber eyes narrowing up at the boulder, but all she could see was a dark silhouette against the bright sun. “Playin’ dirty!” She sneered, not nearly as bitter as she sounded. To take the edge out of the comment, she finished off by sticking her tongue out between her bared teeth and scrunching up her nose – a grimace somewhat mocking both the younger male and herself; Don’t think you’re safe yet!

He heard her hit the ground after the yelp, his back paws scrabbling against stone as he tried to swiftly heft himself up onto the boulder's face. He he put on a few pounds? Uh oh.. that wasn't good, he wasn't that old yet. Managing to reclaim the throne, the king of the hill twirled round to look down at his predecessor. The question came out immediately, like second-nature.

"You okay?"

Wouldn't be the first time play had resulted in bumps and scratches. For a moment, he thought maybe it had smarted, but her playful gesture made him more confident that she was alright. Chan flattened once more, taking up space and soaking up sunshine as he gazed down at Flair with a smile.

"First rule of Fight Rock: never drop your guard."

(This post was last modified: Aug 01, 2021, 05:45 AM by Chan.)

 

She shook her head lightly, smirking at the honest concern in Chan’s voice. She’d had much worse in play-fights with her brothers, but of course, it was nice to know that he cared. Rather than let him know as much though, Flair took him on his word, flashing a devilish grin; “You worry ‘bout y’self!”

 

With a sudden jolt, the fiery shewolf leapt onto the rock, aiming to plant her fore-paws squarely on Chan’s back. From there, it would be another quick jerk to bring her rear up as well, putting her whole weight on top of him – which would hopefully be enough to keep him down. If he wasn’t gonna give up his hold on the sun spot, she would simply lie down on top of him, just in time to catch the last few rays of sun before it disappeared behind the trees on the other side of the lake.

He didn't have too much time to retort, not promptly anyways. Her paws hit his back before he realized yeah, she was actually going to step on him. Like a dog toy, Chan lost all of his air in one big noisy whoosh. As soon as he had his breath back, he went to turn, expecting that she had simply intended on using him to climb up. Nope. Flair's weight didn't leave, and he got himself stuck awkwardly somewhere between his side and stomach.

"That's what I'm tryin' t'do," he grunted, but not without humor in his voice.

He shifted some more, torn between attempting to shove her off and finally conceding, and at last settled on the latter. She was warmer than the sun had been anyways.

"Yer... crushing..." he stretched out his legs once more, flattening fully onto his stomach again while speaking as though struggling for air. The end of the sentence was lost in another death sigh. It was comfortable enough.

(This post was last modified: Aug 30, 2021, 11:53 PM by Chan.)

The wheeze of air as his body compressed under her weight might have been alarming, had Chan not been play acting so much already. Instead, Flair relished the sound as one of victory, giving a deep sigh of delight as she settled down on top of him, more or less awkwardly, draping one leg over each of his shoulders.   Her only reaction so his words was a sarcastic: “Huh?” Spoken in a seemingly disinterested voice while she stretched out her neck to rest her muzzle between his ears, eyes drifting closed. An amused smirk curled her lips, though of course Chan couldn’t see that. But he could without a doubt hear her as she hummed in response to his dramatics, dismissing his death rattle as if already half asleep; “Hm…?”   As their fight finally settled, so too did the sun, sinking behind the horizon to leave the disputed rock in shadow. However, tired from the tussle and feeling plenty warm thanks to Chan’s radiating body heat, Flair didn’t much feel like getting up. Instead, she just groaned softly, curling her neck so she could bury her nose in the other wolf’s scruff, quickly drifting off to sleep. ”Speech" Thoughts

dawnthieves.de

At this point, he didn't actually expect her to move, and so there was no protesting as Flair remained. As she settled in, the whole of her weight saddled squarely atop his back, he could only smirk and do the same, cozying up where he lay and creating the perfect pillow for his maw with his forelegs. It didn't take long for him to follow her off to sleep, warmed and content.