Altar of Fire [m] drinking champagne, a bottle to myself

M for drug + alcohol use!

Random Event: A shooting star flies overhead and you're left with the following prompt: You've come across someone's abandoned 'party cache' - fermented goods and dried mushrooms are yours to celebrate another year with.

Alter of Fire, 10f/-12c, Midday, Overcast
All welcome! <3

If he was staying, the huge wolf might as well get used to the area. And with that, came the thorough exploration of the places around the willows. Once more, Moore found himself traveling near the large meadow he had first entered that had shoved him on a different path than he had anticipated. Not that he was complaining, now. Initially, there had been worry that group life wouldn't suit him anymore in the long run. But getting to know them and being able to settle in eased his metaphorical hackles, finding that he'd been worried for nothing. Even more so, the lonesome feeling at the back of his mind began to slowly fade. The thought brought an eased smile to his features as he sniffed around the knolls.

A glance up revealed an oddly… Square boulder. Stones didn't form like this typically, did they? Odd. But then, he never got anywhere by hanging back and examining from afar. Lumbering closer, he stuck his nose close to the snow and to the stone, picking up now stale scents, and… Ohhhh, well now, wasn't that a treat. A lopsided grin replaced the thin smile as massive paws dug into the snow and dirt, claws displacing both before revealing what Bailey had smelled.

"Well, congratulations to me..." Moore spoke out loud, albeit it was to talk to himself.

The previous occupant even had the decency to wrap their goods, likely if they came back for them later. Briefly, he wondered why they hadn't been back, but chose to push past the thought. If he decided to seek them out, the scents were stale enough there'd be little to trail. Peeling back some dried leaves and bark revealed the goods; fermented fruits and mushrooms. Quickly, he nosed past the dried fungi, holding more interest in the fermented goods. Shifting it all aside and seeing the amount of both goods, he wondered if he should bring it back to the group. A little celebration gift for teaming up, so to speak. They weren't a pack, but to have others' support was still reason enough to celebrate, in his opinion. Shifting to sit back on his haunches, he stared intensely, debating what to do.

(This post was last modified: Jan 24, 2022, 10:48 PM by Moore. Edit Reason: Maturity warning )

Hagar was, as usual, hunting. It was his main way of contributing to @Avella's group, and he enjoyed the practice; letting instinct take control, the rush of endorphins, and seeing his work quantified in the filing of each cache and belly were all very rewarding. Rather than prey, however, he stumbled across his friend Moore gazing over a particularly-strong smelling hole in the ground. With curiosity shining in his pale eyes, Hagar approached.

"Have you found something?" he rumbled in a low growl that did not lack warmth, briefly knocking the top of his skull against the taller wolf's jawline in greeting.

Orange eyes squinted further as Moore continued to stare at the hole he’d dug out, and would have continued to ponder if Hagars’ voice hadn’t caught his ears. Almost immediately, his ears perked, relaxed, and he shifted on massive paws. As his friend bumped the crown of his head against Moores’ jaw, Moore returned the motion, tilting his head to knock it back against the bear-like man gently to return his ‘hello’.

“Yeah, I figured I’d patrol and get the lay of the land, check it all out, y’know?” The large man rolled his shoulders up in a shrug. “And I found someones long lost treats, figured it’d be nice to bring ‘em back to everyone to celebrate the group, but I’m not sure how I would have got ‘em there…” He barked out a laugh, shifting his amber gaze to his friend. “I mean, I’d still love to get some back to everyone, but if we can’t figure it out, would y’want to share with me? I’m not big on the mushrooms myself, they just make me feel sick and sweaty…” Another chuckled bubbled from deep within his chest as he spoke.

Hagar's head bobbed up and down; yes, he did know. It was another advantage that hunting and scavenging provided, getting the chance to experience and memorize the local topography.

I found someone's long lost treats, Moore went on, inspiring his smaller companion to lean forward and give the unburied cache a few more good sniffs. His muzzle wrinkled and he pulled back, longteeth peaking out past his lips. That didn't smell like a treat to him.

"What is it?" he asked, needing to know before giving an answer. Usually a wolf that lept before looking, he found himself unsure if he'd be able to stomach the contents. He wasn't yet convinced that these were things that should be eaten... but clearly Moore had his reasons, yes?

A deep and loud laugh rumbled from within his chest as Hagar pulled away from the cache, nose wrinkled back. The scent they carried indeed wasn't… favorable. Especially the fermented foods, the mushrooms likely could have just been passed off as any other fungi.

"What is it?"

"They're not like… For regular eating. They make you dizzy and warm, but in a good way," Moore paused for a beat. "At least for most. Some don't really like the way it makes 'em feel." Large shoulders rolled back in a shrug, as he moved his gaze from his friend back to the cache as he continued to explain. "They're usually for some sort of little parties, from what I've experienced."

The goods weren't exactly unknown to the man, either; that much was clear. Between finding leftovers in his travels and sharing with others in the past, the thick-furred man was well-versed in the contents of the cache.

"Y'don't have to try 'em if you don't want, it can make ya sick if you're not careful with 'em. And if y'eat too much, it's gonna leave y'with a real bad headache later." Even if Hagar chose not to, Moore appeared unfaltering in his decision to dig in when he got the chance.

Not for regular eating? Dizzy and warm in a good way? Parties? Hagar's head twisted slowly from side to side as while some of his wonderings were quieted, more popped up within his skull. At the end of Moore's little explanation, the other man could comprehend one thing: it was a high-risk, high-reward kind of thing.

Well, if his friend was up for it, so was he. A try certainly couldn't kill, right?

"Par-tees?" he asked, but was leaning forward, investigating the contents still and attempting to gauge what would be best to take a bite out of. Of course, he wouldn't until Moore did so - it was his find, and Hagar saw him as a more dominant figure than himself.

"I'll try."

"Par-tees?"

Another grin wove its way onto Moores' maw, the smile wrinkling the muscles around his eyes, causing them to squint. Moving his paws, he shifted to gently bump his shoulder against his friends. He'd found that Hagar was relatively… average. With what he spoke of and how he acted. Not that it was a bad thing; the chocolate-furred wolf was a good balance to his own loud and explorative self, and Moore enjoyed spending the time with him.

"Yeah! Celebrations for one reason or another." As the man confirmed he'd at the least try them, Moores' tail began to sweep back and forth. "Great! They're better enjoyed with friends, anyways…" A graveled chuckle scratched its way out of his throat, his grin widening.

Nosing through the cache, he took a mouthful of fermented fruits and set them aside for himself while leaving plenty for Hagar to choose through. The taste hitting his tongue almost made him reflexively drop them; suddenly, the man found himself hoping these hadn't been here too long and that they weren't going to make the two of them really sick. Pushing them around, they seemed fine, if not just a little potent. Swinging his head back up, Moore waited for his friend to take his pick before digging into his own choosings, sitting back on his haunches.

While he was casual and paid little mind to levels of dominance himself, he understood it was how Hagar operated, and likely it was how he was raised, noting how he had waited for Moore to take his pick first. His own family had worked slightly differently; there was the leader, but everyone had a say, and it was encouraged to speak one's mind. One of his siblings had felt the fluidity of the pack was too much and left early on, while Moore found the freedom refreshing and preferred.

Watchful orange eyes gazed at the other before he spoke up. "I don't mind if y'take somethin' before I do, Hagar," the thwump of his tail hitting the ground filled the pause of silence. "You're my friend and packmate, not a stranger." It was merely an offer, not a demand, and if Hagar chose to shrug it off, it wouldn't bother him one bit.

"Ahh," he vocalized, 'celebration' a word he was more familiar with by far. While those that he had experienced were far tamer than what Moore had likely seen, he'd enjoyed them nonetheless and was that little bit more excited to give the weird-smelling mush a go.

The larger wolf took his choice, and when he looked to Hagar expectantly for him to take his turn, it was as though the wolf had been given a release command. His muscles relaxed as he dipped downward once more, nosing through the contents and taking what smelled the least-appalling. Moore had been speaking, and his ears remained directed toward the man's voice as he did so.

He popped back up with an extremely soft apple stuck betwixt his long-teeth, the juice already dribbling down his jaw. His own thick tail matched rhythm with his friend's.

He raised a paw, pulling at the fruit so as to tear off a bite. It all but exploded, a clearly unexpected result to the lumbering wolf. His green eyes shot wide with surprise, before pinching shut apologetically - whoops. At least he had a mouthful to swallow still. Only after doing so and giving his now-sticky face and paw a few licks was he able to grin back at Moore and answer.

"Thank you Moore. I respect you."

It was a simple explanation for why he would continue to do so regardless of the assurance. It was simply in his nature at this point, a gesture as courteous an equivalent as holding open the door for another.