|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 9:40 pm
His lack of enthusiasm for hunting the water-dwelling meal didn't appear to bother Kai, and for that Alkos was grateful.
He listened intently while the other hunted, half-crouched as he struggled between simply sitting or standing at the ready to run at a moment's notice. The sound of dying fish as they slapped against the earth was not familiar to him, and thus added to his fear. He would have thought the recipient of the blows were Kai but the wolf gave no sign of being harmed and Alkos was left to his own imagination. Thankfully, it didn't last for long.
"Wha--?" Alkos said before he could help himself. Kai had spoken as if they were both to eat, but the lone hadn't participated in or helped the other on his successful hunt. They were not pack, either. He had done nothing to earn any part of the meal, and by then he was sure he had interpreted Kai's words incorrectly or heard them wrong from the start.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 10:05 pm
Kai nudged a still-gasping fish over closer to the blind wolf's paws. It flopped and wriggled and writhed against the other's forelegs. "You'd better grab onto it," Kai said, wisely, "Or knowing our luck, it'll flop right back down into the river and I'll have to catch it again."
Completely oblivious to the other wolf's embarrassment, he bent down and grabbed a fish in his mouth, biting down and savoring the damp, fresh taste.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:44 pm
Not one to waste an opportunity (especially as hungry as he was), Alkos did as suggested, his initial shock at feeling the damp thing thrash against his paws quickly subsiding. If anything, he didn't want Kai to have to go after it again and waste the male's effort and, maw clamped tight against the struggling form, he waited only a moment for any noise of disapproval from Kai's end before digging in.
"Thank you," he said abashedly, struggling to speak while chewing at the same time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:03 am
"It's the least I can do, really, after...well, anyway. We're friends. No need for all these formalities, right?" Kai grinned his usual sheepish grin and settled down beside his blind companion, gnawing his way through the fish and feeling the satisfaction of his belly slowly beginning to fill.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:30 am
Alkos' ears flickered with surprise at Kai's statement. He certainly considered the male a to be more than a companion -- no one else had been as kind to him these past few months as the jovial male had been today. But he had thought the feelings one-sided, and that Kai wouldn't feel so companionable once he had discovered Alkos' cowardice and worthlessness. To know that even now Kai would openly call them friends made him happier and more content than he had ever been.
"Right," he agreed, his voice quiet and his head low as he once again began to gnaw away at his meal, the corners of his lips lifting into a smile without any conscious consent. "Friends."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:34 am
Kai's tail thumped as they ate in companionable silence. He hadn't run into very many kind wolves on his journey so far. It was rather nice to be around someone who didn't think of him as a total joke, honestly.
"You know," he offered, "If you want...we can travel together. Two wolves are stronger, safety in numbers, all that business."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:46 am
It seemed Alkos' comfort was not to last. The offer elated him, but pained him, too. He was glad to hear it, and, had he the use of his eyes or any knowledge on hunting, he would have accepted without a second's hesitation. But what could he do now? Even within the small territory he had hung about in he stumbled about like a pup fresh out of the den. Any movement from him was painfully slow, overly cautious, and a danger itself to both him and any around him. He could not fight, and nearly everything frightened him. Even the food he gained he acquired by luck or by pity. No -- there would be no strength or safety with him, only burden. If he treasured the bond he had with Kai -- and he did -- he would decline.
His face took on the expression it had when the two had first met and an unhappy wariness cloaked him. "I can't."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:07 am
"Oh." His face fell, ears flopping back, golden eyes flickering. Of course, he was unaware of any of the thoughts going on in Alkos's mind. He just recognized that he was being rejected, and the feeling was so familiar that he hardly felt hurt by the disappointment.
"Well. That's okay, then. I can...maybe we'll run into each other again, eh?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 10:27 pm
Alkos nodded, remembering the movement and its meaning from days before the loss of his sight. He was glad, at least, that Kai would not be leaving immediately after, that they still had some time together yet.
He shuffled closer to the male, fish held tightly in his maw, then remembered it was he who declined the offer, he who was undeserving and unable to follow the kind-hearted wolf. It would do no good for either of them if his actions did not reflect his words, and he stopped where he was. The rest of the meal he ate in silence.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
