He had done most of the work. so it was only fitting that, since he had done this AND delivered the killing strike, he should eat first. There was no hierarchy to follow here outside of a pack, no alphas or pups or nursing females, or anything along those lines, so it was more of a matter of right, rather than privledge or rank.
"You should eat from it first." She motioned.
Besides which, he had already been kind enough to give her a small meal earlier when she couldn't hunt. She wouldn't have taken no for an answer even if he'd planned to object.
"Ladies first please I insist...besides you have a need." He licked his muzzle and sat down with a smile. She had such a direct approach it wasn't something he was used to. In the pack all the females he dealt with were family. His grandmother and mother were such sweet soft spoken females. Talia was different, not that she wasn't female, she most certainly was. She simply had a way of moving that radiated confidence, probably from such a long time being self suficient.
"Veero..." She began sweetly, moving closer with a playful batting of her eyes, briefly. "I'm glad that chivalry isn't dead, but out here we'll play by the rules of the wild, and I'm certainly not so weak that I'm going to fall to pieces or starve if I have to wait a few minutes. The first bite goes to the one that made the kill.... This is your first large kill since you left your pack isn't it?"
Despite the firmness in her tone, there was also a gentle teasing to it, perhaps not unlike a mother to the father of her pups when she was trying to scold him without emasculating him in front of the children.
"Talia..." He murmured in response to hearing his name, he almost stepped back as she moved closer but instead held his ground. Hey love didn't come easily after all and the way her voice carved out his name, she was something else. He chuckled and looked at the fallen doe before nodding.
"Well yes it is...I did manage the kill...I guess it's different out here then in a pack." The motto when in rome would have fit quite nicely had Veero known it, since he didn't he simply moved over to rip into the deer haunch.
She watched, satisfied as he finally saw her reasoning and went to eat, smiling to herself behind his back. She kept an ear out for scavengers or kill-thieves meanwhile.
Her father had tried to teach them a cowardly way of living, though she had learned normal pack life as well, from several different experiences, All it had done, in the end, was drive her away from home that much faster. He'd tried pushing male after male off on her as she grew up, to the point where she didn't even care for pack life anymore and preferred to take her chances in the wilderness alone. She couldn't convince her family to come, but she'd made a nice living out on her own. She found she really enjoyed the lifestyle of a lone wolf, though she liked it more once she had company, but the freedom was undeniable. Compared to the life she'd had before, anyway. She loved the unspoken law written by pure instinct, and she lived by it, by what her gut, that little voice inside her head, and her pride from time to time said was right.
He'd get the hang of it too, with time.
Once he'd had time to mark out his choice of the meat and it seemed like enough of a pause had passed she joined him as well at the carcass, starting with the softer meat.
He smiled up at her when she joined him at the kill and finished eating with gusto. He liked the feeling, liked knowing that his good work had helped provide them both with a meal. He felt proud of himself and rather protective suddenly of Talia, She had been hurt and tired and he had provided for her, he had never been able to really care for another like that.
He licked his lips again wiping away the blood and sitting back feeling rather nicely sated. "Well that was work well done!" He stood and gave a contented stretch. "Shall we move on, or would you like to linger until morning?" He glanced up at the darkening sky.
Given her earlier meal, even if small in comparison to an entire deer, she didn't need a whole lot to get her fill. She ate until she felt she was growing close to being full, at which point she stopped. It wouldn't do to over eat and be sluggish afterwards, even if she had room for more. Her tail had taken to wagging a bit though as she ate side by side with him, deciding it had been a good call to let him stay. She'd be lying to say she didn't feel a bit of attraction to him just now, she did so love a male that answered the call of the wild just like her. This kind of feral living really suited her... for now, maybe that was why she'd stuck with Tsume for so long, but there was something pressing about being with him.
In any case, she'd missed this companionship. There was no one to congratulate or praise or anything of the sort after a good hunt when one hunted alone, not unless she fancied talking to herself and answering herself.
She didn't.
"Hmm, very well done indeed." She agreed with a short laugh before she stood back to lick her own chops. The blood would come off as long as she wiped it clean now, otherwise her white fur would stain until they could get to some water, and she didn't particularly fancy crusted blood in her fur. She wasn't a damned feline either, so she didn't have the flexibility that they did when it came to grooming.
Talia did the next best thing, she stepped up and started grooming him instead.
"Let's move on. I'm ready to run." She grinned between grooming licks to the bloodied areas of his fur that his own tongue couldn't reach. Eating was messy business after all, when you had to eat by shoving your face right into your food.
Veero was mildly surprised when Talia came right up and without any shyness began to lick his muzzle. He quickly realized that she was simply grooming him, but that hardly helped stop his tail from waving like a banner in the breeze. He leaned closer to her and flicked his tongue over her muzzle softly. "You uhh...have a little...blood." He smiled and gave her a few more licks until her fur was clean again.
"Run...right!" He leapt to his feet and looked over at her. "So we're heading south right?" He loped in a small half circle around her and then glanced south. He wanted to ask her to race, but she wasn't some playful cousin of his...this was a lady.
Oh, Veero. He'd pick up soon enough that Talia wasn't THAT kind of lady, the stuffy kind that did everything proper and acted like a prude.
It probably would be better to say "female" rather than lady, though she certainly shared enough qualities and practice to act the part when and how she watned.
But right now was not one of those times. No sooner than he'd stepped back after grooming her fur a bit (Her ears had rocked back a little with pleasure that he was willing to help her with her fur as well.) and asked that then she suddenly tapped his nose with hers and turned on her heels, so to say, and took off at a playful running speed. "TAG! You're it, Veero!" She laughed jovially into the settling nightfall as the moon went slowly on the rise.
Veero was watching her slightly mesmerized and basking in contentment. Then he suddenly felt her nose bump against his and blinked at her words. He leapt up and grinned excitement running through him. Talia wanted to play tag? What a female! He barked and ran after her.
"I'm gonna get you!" He laughed and raced after her and while he was fast enough to brush her flank he let her get a bit ahead. He watched her at first simply glad to see the sinewy stretch of her muscles. Grinning he put on a burst of speed and bumped against her hip. "Tag!"
Her laughter was his answer, teasing and light, full of joy as they ran, the moonlight gradually filtering through the trees without a cloud in sight to hinder it's bright glow. Once in a while she'd look back to see where he was in relation to her, half yelping, half laughing as he caught up with her finally and she felt his weight. Without loosing a step she moved to the side with the light force of the tag, then challenged him back by altering course to follow.
"Not for long!"
But like him she was relishing in the run and the play as her muscles warmed and stretched and she took long gliding strides, so she wasn't interested in catching him right away. Talia leaned her head back just enough to howl into the air shortly as they played, pressing for as much speed as she could get then to n** at the air by his haunch, just to let him know she was gaining.
Veero had spun and twisted laughing as he ran past her and continued south. It was part journey part game to them, and he had never felt quite so free and alive. It was incredible to know that they could go anywhere, do anything. On top of that he was with the beautiful Talia, which just made the night even better. He watched the way the moonlight struck her fur and highlighted the brilliant shades of silver and white.
He heard the snap and felt the air pass chuckling he put on an extra burst of speed leaping onto a log and thrusting off of it to tumble and roll landing back half on his feet. He gasped out and laughed his tongue lolling.
Talia wasn't at all far behind him, happily running along after, only stopping as she vaulted over the log behind him and landed on her paws just a bit past where he'd landed. She slowed to a stop after, turning to face him again with her own tongue lolling grin.
"Not bad."
He chuckled and leapt at her playfully moving to bat at her muzzle and tackle her down. She was incredible serious enough to survive but also playful. He lifted his head to howl upwards and a part of him hoped that despite the distance his family would be able to hear and know he was happy. He looked back at Talia amused and licked her muzzle. "Your fast...."
The dark female was laughing as she was toppled sideways, crashing down against the ground with his weight. She took the chance to catch her breath as he lifted his head to howl, not minding his weight since it wasn't placed against her injured areas. She couldn't really join in like that though, so instead took the chance to watch him, deciding not to read into the lick just now. In her mind, it was one thing to do it for the sake of grooming (Which was both gratitude and companionable affection for a friend.) and just doing it when it wasn't neccessary, besides, it was just one lick.
"Well I better be, I have to have SOMETHING to make up for being so small." She laughed a bit, moving to rise from underneath him.
He laughed and moved off of her quickly, fun and games were fine but he had to remember to treat her with respect after all. Grinning he flopped over and gazed up happily.
"I'm glad I decided to follow you...this has been pretty amazing. I'm used to doing everything with my pack, and we're all family. I miss them, but being out here just the two of us is incredible."
He looked over at her sitting up and realizing he had almost confessed how incredible he thought she was. He really did find himself drawn to her though, something inside of him was urging him to stay by her side. It was odd and new to him, primal and half born of instinct and half born of rational thought. He admired Talia for her beauty, her wit, her playfulness, and another part of him was simply drawn to her as any male to a female.
She rolled over until she was lying on her stomach, looking over at him comfortably. She'd always loved the freedom of living as a lone wolf. Times might be hard once in a while on her own but she wouldn't trade in the thrill for anything.
"I can understand that. I was born into a pack myself, but nothing compares to this. I wouldn't go back. They were too controlling. The heirarchy drove me crazy." She rolled her eyes, tail swaying lazily over the leaf strewn ground.
"Well..my family isn't controlling...I love them." He murmured softly and looked at her for a moment wondering how serious she was. She said she would never go back to a pack...and deep down he knew he never wanted to leave his loved ones. He liked Talia, he was a bit head over heels for her...but would he really leave his family to be with her? It was too deep a thought, too hard a question to spoil the night with. He forced himself to his paws and stood over her his head lowering to playfully n** at her muzzle.
"Come on...we should find a place to relax for the night...keep going in the morning." He turned away from her his mind flicking through thoughts both serious and casual.
She wanted to let the conversation shift after hearing the shift in pitch in his voice. It seemed logical, reaching up to bat at his muzzle with her paw. "Yeah... sure." She replied, rising to her paws again, shaking out, then began walking to lead them in the direction of what she smelled to be an old badger den, they should be able to both fit. "Alright then. Sleep sounds good." Talia yawned.
