[PRP] First Impression (Where Secrets Lie/Streams of Silver)

[Anhelisk]

The doe just bathed, finding a clean stream deep enough to duck most of her body into, and got help from her darlings to groom and clean herself. She feels wonderful, her gleaming coat set to rights again, bright and shiny enough to outgleam anything she has ever seen. She loves feeling so clean and well-kempt... and then it starts to rain.

"Oh, come on! I was just drying off, and now this?" she complains, huffing unhappily as her wasp flies onto her back and holds tight - Glint seems to hate it when his... or would it be her?... wings get wet. The pangolin seems perfectly happy with the almost-icy water falling on them, but as the parched ground starts to greedily soak up the water, the doe cringes. I don't want to get myself dirty, not right after all that... She looks around, finding a rocky outcropping she can hide under. Something to help herself keep dry, and on top of that, calm her poor little wasp a little. Anyways, it's high time she's taken a little break. She's been walking between meals and sleeping for days... nothing wrong with giving herself some rest.  

[StarScarred]

Secrets is coming up the path that leads to the other doe just as it begins to rain. She sighs a little in annoyance, but otherwise keeps walking. A little rain and mud never hurt anyone-- though she'd been caught in a terrible storm a few times, and those had not been fun. Liar, though, doesn't seem to be as nonchalant about it as she is-- the poor moth's wings become wet in no time, and forces the creature to ride on Secret's back, using her as a sort of ferry.

"It'll stop soon enough," she says quietly to her companion. "Looks to be a steady and somewhat long rain, but nothing too violent. We'll be home by the time it stops." Maybe. But she doesn't say that part. Sometimes the streams in the swamp could grow fat and overflow even from a little rain, and it made going anywhere that much harder. She shrugs to herself and keeps walking.

Up ahead, a rocky outcropping emerges from the mist forming in the distance by the rain. A few moments later, she's close enough to see that there's a doe, with two of her companions nestled under the rock's shelf-like outcropping. A small, black stream of mud and leaf litter flows around it, little more than an inch or two high, but it's enough to give it the impression of being it's own little island.

Secrets stops just before the little creek, and tilts her head up at the shiny silver doe. She doesn't think she's ever seen someone with such a spotless coat-- and she immediately understands why the doe opted to hide under the rock rather than get wet in the rain.

"You know, I don't think this rain is going to stop any time soon. It might be a few hours. Are you just going to stand in there all day and hope not to get wet?"  

[Anhelisk]

The doe smiles as she leans over, nuzzling Glimmer as the pangolin chuffs some sort of nonsense at her, and occasionally licks her affectionately with his long, sticky tongue. Gleam is now busily grooming her backfur, something that the wasp seems to default to when they're not on the move. Her pet's leg-combs rasping through her fur used to unsettle her, but now it's a comforting gesture, one of the only things the wasp does to show any sort of loyalty. One might even imagine it to stretch as far as a display of something resembling affection. The three of them are happy, their damp fur starting to dry as the moistness in the air is pulled into the raindrops, and the rivulets start to form into tiny, shallow rivers. The sound of the rain mutes everything out, letting them share what will surely turn out to be a quiet, warm evening-

But then a voice cuts in, rudely interrupting the calm, contented quiet time that she and her pets were enjoying. Of all the... She stops nuzzling Glimmer, and the pangolin rolls back off it's back, sidling up onto little pangolin feet to fix the doe with beady, inquisitive eyes. "Well, yes," she responds, tilting her head. "I don't need to be wet and cold, and my pets don't need to, either." And suddenly, a thought. Why am I explaining myself to her? She wonders in the growing silence. It's not like I care what a stranger thinks of me. She is about to turn away, and go back to nuzzling her precious baby, when a wet flutter catches the corner of the eye. She turns back, regarding the sodden moth on the doe's back with an almost concerned expression. "... do you want to join me? You may not mind, but moth wings can be pretty fragile, and if it starts raining much harder, let alone hailing, you might end up carrying your friend around for quite a bit of time."  

[StarScarred]

Secrets hears the note of irritation in the other doe's voice and tilts her head up at her, squinting a little to see her better through the rain. "It's only water, and besides, it's not that cold." If her tone is a little judgmental, well... so be it. I mean, really... was the other doe so vain?

Eying her critically for a moment, she almost doesn't catch the other's offer over the sound of the rain. But there it is, all the same. Secrets arches one pointy brow, and then looks dubiously down at herself. Not only is her coat soaked, but where once cream and pale seafoam blue had been, there is now only the brownish-black of mud.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea? Your little hidey-hole looks a bit tight as it is. I think coming in would kind of ruin your intention of attempting to keep your pretty coat clean."  

[Anhelisk]

"There's enough room for us both, and anyways, your moth comes before my coat. I'm not scared of mud, I just usually prefer being clean." She shrugs her shoulders, trying not to move her back too much as her wasp continues the rather pointless task of grooming her.

She sidles a little bit to the side, and Glimmer shuffles a little bit, too, leaving room enough for the doe to join them under the overhang.  

[StarScarred]

"If you insist," she isn't going to turn down the opportunity to be dry, after all. That's just stupid and impractical. They won't get home before dark, maybe not even until tomorrow morning, but at least they'll be able to dry off. Even if the company is a bit... shinier than usual. Not for long, she thinks with a small smirk.

She steps through the muddy little creek-- there's no way to avoid it-- and her coat stains an even blacker shade of brown. Once clear of it, she shakes herself off as much as possible before making a quick little dash under the cover of the overhang before her coat can collect more water. Liar flutters down next to her in a little heap of sodden wings, and Secrets is forced side-to-side with the shiny doe. Her cold, wet, muddied flank meets warm, dry fur-- and immediately transfers half of the muck onto her new 'companion'.

Clearing her throat after a moment, she looks over at the other, "Well... thank you, I suppose. I don't mind the rain, but Liar doesn't do as well." It's a little grudging, yes, but it seems genuine.  

[Anhelisk]

Streams smiles a little as she watches the female walk up, and eventually slide under the outcropping with her. She feels the squelching of mud, and doesn't comment, starting to sit down - it looks like it's starting to rain harder, if anything, and that means that it's stopping will be fairly long in coming. After all, it's been raining for a while. " My name is Streams of Silver," she volunteers, after a relatively long silence.  

[StarScarred]

The soft plip-plopping of the rain suddenly turns into an angry hiss as the dark sky unleashes it's fury onto the swamp. Secrets sighs softly in resignation at their fate, and settles in for a long wait. The humid warmth, and the white noise of the rain, creates a comfortable atmosphere, though, and she feels as if she could almost nap there. Almost.

"...Where Secrets Lie. You've already met Liar," she looks over at the moth, whose wings are already much more dry than a few moments ago, and then back to the doe. "You can call me Secrets--it's easier." And Secrets was, if nothing else, a fan of practicality.  

[Anhelisk]

At the mention of practicality, the doe smiles, and nods. "Silver," she amends, then turns. "The wasp on my back is Crystal Shard... Glint. And the little scalebutt here is called Shimmergloom. I shorten it to Glimmer, though, a lot of the time. Little rotter almost responds better to the nickname..." She looks over to the moth. Poor thing's soaked. Good thing she decided to come under here.  

[StarScarred]

Silence glances at the giant wasp and the Pangolin, in turn, noting their names. She's seen them before, but never as someone's pet-- and the giant wasp was particularly surprising, seeing as they were hive creatures. Liar seemed to like him, her?, well enough though-- perhaps because they were both insects, not that she could be sure.

"Well, it seems my hypothesis about the rain has proven correct. We're going to be here for quite awhile. Could be worse, though... at least the trees block most of the wind." Otherwise their little haven wouldn't make one bit of difference.  

[Anhelisk]

Silver nods, going to lay her hooves in front of her and fold her head on that, until she realizes that it would get her wet. She frowns slightly, shakes her head slightly to get most of the moisture off of the scales on her nose. Nothing quite like water on the literal mirror of one's snout to cast annoying reflection... and one wonders why she's so irritable during the highsun hours.

The wasp seems to regard the sodden moth with a look of interest, creeping over top to the does before rubbing it's legs together, making sure it's adequately clean before it carefully starts running them along the wings, pulling droplets of water away as the meticulous insect does so.

Silver watches this grooming behavior with interest. "You know, I've never seen that wasp groom anything other than me..." she remarks, interested.  

[StarScarred]

As the wasp moves toward Liar to groom the water off the moth's wings, Secrets can't help the small smile that creeps over her face. Talk about fast friends... she thinks, amused.

"Perhaps it's just instinct? Or maybe it's because they're both ah... insects? Who knows. Liar certainly seems to be enjoying it, though."

If the moth could, Secrets imagines it would likely be purring in contentment at this point.

Sighing softly, the pale doe lies her head down to the side. Their little alcove may be a tad cramped, but it's comfortably warm against the slight chill of the rain, nonetheless. And her hair, wet from the rain, is beginning to dry-- the long curls regaining their shape as the time passes.

"...Looks like we might be spending the night here. Unless it suddenly lets up, anyhow, which doesn't seem very likely..." The sudden storms that sometimes took the swamp could be as quick as a flick of one's ear, but other times they lasted longer-- and this one seemed to be the case of the latter.  

[Anhelisk]

For a while, Silver watches the wasp taking dust and dirt and water off of the moth's back, just enjoying the quiet calm of the moment, while the rain forms a gray curtain that separates them from the rest of the swamp. The closeness to her pangolin and the other doe keeps them all warm, while the insects sit and the wasp continues to clean and preen the giant moth's multitude of wings and feathered fronds.

Silver nods as the curly-haired doe mentions staying the night. "Well, this place is as good as any to sleep," she responds with a nod. "As long as you don't mind, I'm good with the idea of snuggling up and getting a little shut-eye."  

[StarScarred]

"A little sleep sounds like a good idea..." Secrets sighs softly, the feel of the soft rustling of the Wasp combing Liar's wings was an oddly soothing mix to the sound of rain and thunder outside, and the humid warmth that wraps around them like a blanket in their little shelter. It's rather comfortable, actually.

"...Maybe when we wake up.. the storm will be gone," her words come softer now, and Secrets lies her head down to sleep -- following her companion's example.