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 Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 11:37 am
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Oooh, why hadn't he joined a pack earlier? Wolves actually could be nice when in groups! Who'dve thunk it? Ever since Partridge and Dove had elected to stay in YMCA, the male couldn't have been a happier soul; very soon his usual tunes would sometimes stretch on the wind across the meadows there after so long having gone unsung. Sure, he didn't interact too much with everyone else, but Par wasn't very good at socializing yet: baby steps, right? He knew that the pack had a lot of little ones running about, though, and that he might be called upon to help pupsit - something quite foreign to him, but an exciting prospect nonetheless.
But for now, he rested near the edge of the pack borders beneath a tree on his stomach, panting lightly and looking quite content. He had had a very light meal for lunch (he practically ate like a bird as well as looked like one!) and now was debating what to do first: write a quick ditty about spring, since it was well overdue and needed to be done before summer was here in full, or return to the pack and see just what bundles of fur had graced YMCA. Frankly, though, Partridge was a bit nervous about meeting the parents. Terreis was terribly hard-headed as was Derecho, and Merrill well . . . she had always been so scary, so blunt. And none of them knew him well anyway. They'd probably not like a near-stranger near the kids . . .
"What a shame," he said with a small sigh. "I wouldn't mind an audience." It was about the only time the timid wolf would not be so shy about his singing talents.
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 8:27 pm
((*cracks knuckles, kisses her lucky dice, etc!* All right, new character comin' up! Let's see how I do, here.))  Though under somewhat different circumstances herself, Thrush was also enjoying the mildness of their late-spring afternoon. Trotting comfortably through the forest, she half-closed her eyes and thought she could almost hear little wood mice getting fatter, rabbits burrowing out nests to fill with tender babies. Almost too good to think about, really - it didn't seem wise to lose oneself in a sensuous food-daydream on land with as many wolf-smells as this one was beginning to have. She tuned her ears to catch anything rising out of the afternoon's ambient noise, and, pronto: someone was talking to himself, not 40 feet away.
Her easy walk slowed to something cautious; she was a small wolf, rather dainty-looking and what could arguably be considered "past her prime", which depending on the random stranger could elicit either friendliness or an easy death sentence. Still, though, she was not so frightened of her own species that she planned on living like a hermit for the rest of her days. No, she'd much rather settle in somewhere, she thought, little paws carefully floating her through the layers of underbrush, where she could get a taste of deer now and then.
She allowed herself to get close enough to gather that Par was not, at the moment, a threatening sort of creature - an amiable gray blur on the ground, relaxed and unintimidating. Taking a few stealthless steps forward, enough that they could clearly see each other, she put on a pretty smile and called out. "I'm sorry, what did you say? I couldn't quite hear you."
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Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 7:09 pm
As per his usual fashion when out of it, Partridge managed to incorporate the random voice directed at him into his conversation without realizaing it. "Oh, it was nothing really. Just talking to myself as usual. Comes out of being alone for a while, you know? all babbling and whatnot just to make sure you didn't decide to go deaf half-way on the journey, or -"
Only then of course did he decide to actually use his eyes and nose and ears, which were all sending messages to his lazy brain. His nose told him it was a wolf. His ears told him it was a female. His eyes told him it was . . . bird patterned too? Now that was surprising, and suddenly the normally skittish wolf was all a'titter, his expression brightening considerably. "Oh, sorry!" he called back. "Sometimes my mind isn't where my body is. Are you per chance a . . ." He racked his brains, forcing it to get back to work seriously. "Robin? No, those are usually colorful about the breast. Certainly not a pidgeon nor hawk that I've ever seen. Not a hummingbird or an owl, or a kestrel for that matter. What are you?" Partridge asked goodnaturedly, giving a curious appraisal from his seat in the shade.
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Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 8:28 pm
While Partridge busied himself incorporating Thrush into his inner monologue, Thrush was allowed a moment to revel in the outright oddity of running into, well, what would you call it...another bird. Her sense of pleasant astonishment only rambled on when Par finally really noticed her; she stood very still as the other wolf chatted excitedly. As he wrapped up, she found herself charmed, and smiling, so she trotted to a more proper distance for meeting someone as she spoke.
"I suppose I look like a chickadee," she said, a little shyly, "but...my name is actually Thrush." She tilted her head, still enjoying the novelty so seeing another bird-colored wolf. "And you're some kind of bird too, aren't you? I've never seen anyone else like that before." She sat very delicately down, fixing Par with a keen and interested eye.
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 11:18 am
"Aha . . . I don't think I've ever seen a chickadee before," Partridge confessed with a slight frown. How careless of him! Nevermind that he had been caged up in the jungle for most of his life, it seemed a blunder on his part to miss a species when he was such an avid birdwatcher; after all, how else did he spend his time? He ought to be more useful to YMCA though . . . How odd, though, to look like one bird but be called another. "A beautiful bird if you're a good example! I'm called Partridge since I look like the bird; not a very elegant thing, though, kinda . . . fat." Like he was! Pack life was really treating him well from the gaunt thing he used to be.
"You're the second bird-wolf I've seen," Par continued with some awe, like they were an extinct species suddenly reappearing on the map. "The other one I know is Dove, after a turtledove. Have you seen any others like us by chance?"
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Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 11:36 pm
She shook her head, taking in the unfamiliar rush of excitement at this novelty, this funny, skin-deep kinship with a warbling stranger. "Honestly, up until I caught sight of you, I thought I was..." her pale eyes glowed as she repressed a smile, "...well, more unique than I find I really am."
She sat in silence for a moment, trying to tamp down the giddiness she'd been surprised with, so she could get on with acting like a respectable adult. Her small ears flicked; there, she had it. "You seem very comfortable, Partridge, and my guess is you live in this area?" Fishing, fishing, fishing - but for the first time in a long, long, stretch, she found herself both interested and pleased with small-talk.
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 10:38 am
Partridge bobbed his head in several enthisiastic nods. It didn't matter too much to him that she hadn't found someone else like them: another was enough! And she was shocked as it was just to see him. "Yes yes, I do indeed!" he replied. "There's a pack not at all far from here called YMCA. Gods, but I forget what it stands for. 'You My Cannibal Allo'? Um . . . 'Yearly Mine Count Always'?" Partridge frowned a bit in thought, flushing with the embarassment he was not doubt giving himself.
Really, what packmember didn't know what the acronym for their pack stood for?!
"Er, anyway, that is, um . . . It's a very pleasant pack if I do say so myself," he blustered on. "I used to be half this size, but they feed well amd take in even the elderly without question. The alphess never prods about your past if you don't feel like talking, too, and you don't even have to stay forever if you want to move on later to someplace else. I was actually about to head back there myself." Was he? Agh, where did his mind go suddenly! "The least I could do is give you a place to stay. Er, I mean if you're not already in a pack yourself. You didn't mention that, right?"
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 9:22 pm
She toned down a rather quizzical look as Partridge blundered on; how did you forget the name of your own pack? Poor Partridge, this was less of a good impression than he was initially pulling off.
She shrugged a little at his question, demurely averting her eyes. "Nope, no pack to call my own, I've been roving the last month or so...and I think I'm ready to stop." She smiled at the idea. "And if it's not any trouble for you, I would love to be introduced to your pack, as long as there aren't really any actual cannibals?" She glanced up at him, eyebrows raised as she tossed out a little ribbing.
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Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:05 pm
"Oh good heavens no!" gasped an aghast Partridge. The very idea of those beasts prowling the packlands, feasting on pups and the goodly alphas and - and -! He shuddered violently despite the pleasant weather, gulped, docked his ears, and went on, "No no no no no. No. Nothing of the sort here. There, I mean. I-It's not very far, and I'm sure they'd be more than happy to take you on."
Ohgodscannibals. Sdfkdjsflksh. Even away form them, poor Partridge was still haunted by shadows of memory. He took another breath to compose himself, past the point of being dead inside with embarrassment. Now it was just a zombie talking, metaphorically.
"But, um, a-a-absolutely a yes for you to come, yes indeed!" He stood up with a few mumbles, looking about with nostrils flared. "Let's see, ah . . . Um . . . Ah there we go! It's this way, ma'm." He began to lead them at a slow pace, face burning.
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Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 2:59 pm
Rather alarmed, she watched the wolf pass through a fit of heebie-jeebies, and she wondered, does he know cannibals, or is he really just this absurd? Ducking her head down, she replied to his direction with a passive little nod of assent, picking her way after the larger wolf as if she were walking on eggshells.
She silently counted out the approximate time a body should wait before changing the subject from something uncomfortable, and upon arriving at it glanced back to Partridge, trying for 'sweet and non-judgemental' as far as body language went. "I couldn't say for sure I want to be taken in, you know...when I was traveling, all I could think of was some pack to fall into, like a pillow at the end of a hard day. And now that I've found a place that's actually populated, it feels completely different. Like everybody's asking me to dance and I get to choose the one I like best." She grinned. "Which is ridiculous, of course. But it's interesting, how a pack means something different just depending on how far you are from it."
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Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2010 4:36 pm
The inner zombie moaned one last time before quieting back down in that silence, and Partridge was glad once the subject was changed. His demeanor began to relax as he followed Thrush's line of words. "I get that," Par said with a nod, relieved he wasn't stammering. "I used to be in a place I didn't want to be, and there weren't many wolves. Mostly humans. Now that I'm out here, it's a little more than dreamy to be honest . . ."
Though he had no understanding of what a "pillow" was. But it sounded nice and soft . . . Sigh.
Par hazarded a glance at the femme as they walked, trying a smile. "Is it so different? I've never been in one outside of YMCA, but they have it down as far as I know: family, family, family. Isn't that what any pack runs down to in the end? Luckily they happen to be very nice to boot, or I might be homeless."
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Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 11:02 pm
"Hmm," Thrush responded, somewhat noncommittally. It was kind of nice to see her companion's past accidentally bloom out before her in just a few quick sentences, but she didn't think she was quite eloquent enough to respond in kind. Maybe later she would find a way to sum herself up in a mouthful of words, but she was not a 'spontaneous, public revelation' kind of girl. 'Easily distracted' was more like it - she met Partridge's gaze for a moment and tried to stay on track. "Not all packs are based out of being family, no." A poker-faced blink. "But that's the kind of pack I'd be after."
The little wolf fell silent for a long moment, still peculiarly expressionless, apparently taking a conversational break to think hard about something private. She broke out of it after a few paces, though, inclining her head and leveling a smile and a pale grey eye at Par. "So what kind of family is your pack, then? Is it very big?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 2:26 pm
He was certainly confused by the answer enough to not mind the silence as he pondered it over himself. Wasn't family the core of a pack? Maybe not in the good sense, but at least in communion with one another? Par couldn't imagine a pack that was against itself, because that wasn't a pack, that was just a group of wolves at ends with one another . . . Gods knew he didn't want to be there again.
He jumped a little when the silence was broken, flustered. "I-I, ah . . Oh." Ahem. "It's a little on the big side, but that's because everywhere I turn someone's having puppies!" he tittered with a small tail wag. "Though it's slowed down a bit . . . I think someone's gotten pregnant again, one of the alpha's daughters I think. But at the core you have the beta, Merrill, who's kinda scary in my opinion; the alpha Chivosi, who I think's an angel from the heavens for taking Dove and I in; and Derecho, her son, I think he's an alright guy with an angry mate; and then Aleutian Ballad, I love her . . . love her name," - >>; Mini-crush slipping ack! - "She's the one that I mentioned who'll get puppies soon; and there's other too but I totally think I'm ranting so I think I'll stop now okay okay awesome."
He subsided into an embarrassed whine and hastened them onward.
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Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 6:24 pm
Thrush's eyes crinkled up in a big, good-natured smile. "Don't be embarrassed, I like to listen." And she had asked, after all. This Partridge, he seemed to have some very delicate sensibilities. She really did like hearing him talk, though; regardless of content, it so far sounded very much like a well-told children's story. "Dove? You mentioned her before, you came here with her?" Unable to resist, she pulled a very innocent smile and cocked her head. "Is she your mate?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:35 pm
"M-M-M-Mate?" Partridge stammered, all a'flustered by the very notion, the very implication in those innocent dark eyes and tilt of the head. "Wh-Why, I'd never - She's t-t-too - I-I could't-!" Oh, how terribly embarassing! He couldn't even speak, or form a full thought, or -
Deep breath. Stop acting like a little pup, Partridge reprimanded himself with a wince. He couldn't erase his very flushed face, however, and gulped.
"O-Of course not! Butnotthatsheisn'tprettyo-oranything," he made clear in a hasty, unclear fashion. "She's just been . . . d-distant." To put it lightly. "I-I think she left a while ago a-and just never said goodbye . . ." Par drooped as he trailed off, like the breath was being forced out of him. He had dearly admired the femme for her feisty can-do attitude, and had been most grateful for her aid in the jungle that saved him from the cannibals. It had been very gut-wrenching when he noticed within several days that she was no longer present within YMCA.
Not that many noticed his rather private turmoil: Par was very good at being unnoticed in the somewhat large pack. He thought he had gotten over Dove's departure, but it seemed the sensitive male, even a year late, could not part with unrequited feelings.
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