Post by Pavane on Mar 17, 2015 19:19:06 GMT -5
Ikuna - male wolf
Nonkene - female wolfdog
~*~Behind the Waterfall~*~
Ikuna slips behind the fall, padding into the cave with no more than a sprinkling of icy water to dampen his pelt. He steps to the side, turning to watch past the endless torrent of water... and wait.
He doesn't have to wait for long! Nonkene follows him in, putting her paws where his were and... "Aha!" There /is/ a cave back here, it's not just Ikuna playing tricks on her. She grins as she crosses toward him, bumping her muzzle to his shoulder. "I never would have guessed this was here."
Ikuna smiles, nodding to her... with a nuzzle for her ears as he does. "It's well-hidden. We... well, we needed that." He frowns a little, thinking back.
Nonkene's smile lessens as she nods, but it doesn't disappear. She gives Ikuna another nuzzle, then steps away from him, padding around the cave and looking at it. "It's beautiful, too."
Ikuna's smile returns. "It is. Perhaps we needed that, too." He looks to where the torrent of water diffracts the light, then back to Nonkene.
Nonkene laughs. "You /always/ need that." She grins, padding back to Ikuna's side. "Fortunately, it's easy to find. You just have to look at things the right way." She flicks her tongue out for a playful lick at his cheek.
Ikuna smiles fondly at Nonkene's claim. "Well..." he begins, and then his ears flick at her further comment and lick, his head dipping for a moment as he... fails to respond, at least for a moment. He gets his feet back under him by... changing topics. "This is where you were born."
Nonkene's smile is pleased and teasing both, a grin that's replaced by surprise at Ikuna's change of topic - which, yes, she most certainly noticed, but she lets it slide. "Really?" She looks around again, not that she didn't see it the first time. "Huh. I don't remember... being here before."
Ikuna chuckles. "I wouldn't expect you to." He turns his head toward her, nuzzling her cheek... and then stopping, pensive for a moment before he shakes it off with a little fur-fluff. "You were just a pup... and we didn't stay for long." He hehs. "I was always a little terrified that you or Kurux would fall into the water."
Nonkene laughs, too intrigued by Ikuna's words to notice his hesitation. "What, you didn't want to try to teach puppies to swim?" She bumps her shoulder to his, then lingers in a lean against him. "I bet it'd be fun to jump through that waterfall... in summer." Not now! She only got sprinkled on the way in, but that water was /cold/.
Ikuna snorts. "I /did/ teach you to swim." Okay, mostly Wachiwa did, but he was at least present for some of it. That counts, right? He watches her as she lingers against him, more of that pensive expression... but he doesn't lean away. In fact, he leans back to her, just a bit... though he frowns with concern at her words. "The current's pretty strong here..."
Nonkene laughs, her tail giving a sway... and her body doing the same, pressing to Ikuna warmly. "Well then, what's to worry about?" she replies, grinning as she feels the warmth of his bulk against hers. Her head tilts a bit at his concern, seeing his expression... and she smiles, nudging her muzzle up at his. "Okay, okay. I won't do it."
Ikuna blinks, tilting his head to look back at Nonkene in response to that nudge. "I didn't mean..." He dips his head, tilting it a little to the side to keep looking at the wolfdog. "I'm not an alpha anymore." His tail lowers, as if to echo his words with a pose that it's... not entirely used to, anymore.
Nonkene gives that tilted muzzle a little lick, then lifts her head as she listens to Ikuna with ears perked forward. "I know that." She leans in, bumping her muzzle down over his in a playful nudge of challenge. "I can still listen to you." She grins. "If I want to."
Ikuna's instincts from that time /as/ alpha have his fur and tail twitch at that bump to his muzzle... but they only begin to. He takes over from his instincts quickly - though not so quickly as to not be perceptible - and lowers them, as well as his muzzle to let Nonkene have the upper nose... for now. "Well.. okay. As long as it's what you want."
Nonkene does notice that reaction, but... she also notices the part Ikuna did on purpose. She licks over the top of his muzzle, and then down to its side to not keep her muzzle over his too long - just being the same level as him. "I do. I like you, Ikuna."
Ikuna starts to nod, to relax a little... and then he stops, holding his breath for a moment before letting it out as a long sigh. "I... like you too, Nene - as a friend." Those last words come in a bit of a rush, hurried through as if to keep any wrong ideas from settling into place as his eyes shift away from her to the ground in front of him. "I don't... there's a reason I never took a mate, never had pups."
Nonkene's ears perk forward - then back, but they slowly creep back toward interested as her brow wrinkles to try to puzzle out what Ikuna's saying. "So... you don't want a family?"
Ikuna sighs, lowering his head as he keeps his eyes on the mossy stone of the ground. "...it's not that... exactly." He frowns, trying to put together words. "I don't... feel like most males do about females. I wouldn't... I don't want a mate I'm not attracted to... like that."
Nonkene tilts her head, watching Ikuna even though he's not looking back at her. Maybe that makes it easier, since he can't see her staring except out of the corner of his eye. Her brow furrows, thinking through what he's saying. "Oh." So what he's saying is... "You don't want a female for a mate."
Ikuna nods. "Yeah." He lifts his head a little - enough to glance to Nonkene and read her expression. "That's it. I like being part of families. Seeing pups... and we're looking for my sister..." Families, families everywhere, and Ikuna...
Nonkene's thoughtful look stays where it is, pieces falling together until they form an abrupt question. "Could you? Make pups, I mean. Not take a mate, not /promise/ anything, but just... do it?"
Ikuna blinks. "Uh." On second glance, with newly blinked eyes... he's got no more clue than before. "Well." Third try? "...uhm." Nope. He's got nothing.
Nonkene doesn't lower her eyes, staring steadily at Ikuna as if she's going to gaze the question right out of him. "Because I like you, Ikuna, and I want puppies." There it is. "I'm probably never going to have a mate. Wolves don't like dogs." And she's half-dog and knows it. "I don't need a mate. I wouldn't expect... that. Not if you don't want it. Just a friend." ...and puppies.
Now it's Ikuna's turn to listen, staring back at Nonkene. He's a little too shocked to do anything else, really. The part where he admits his lack of certain desires is usually where the conversation /stops/, not... this. "I..." She's looking at him. She's staring at him, and expecting an answer, and... "I don't know." It's the only answer he's got!
...it's not exactly the answer Nonkene was hoping for, but... it's something? She stares a moment longer, as if she's going to challenge a better answer right out of him, and then... she sighs, and drops her gaze. Her eyes look to the floor, and her fur settles. Her voice turns softer, more question than demand. "...would you try?"
Ikuna blinks again as Nonkene looks away, then resumes his watching of her. His muzzle half-opens, then shuts again as he watches her, standing here beside him on this whirlwind tour of their past. He knew her as a pup, but she's changed in time away; so has he. The decisions he made when he was... younger than she is now... have shaped his life. The reasons for them haven't changed, but... the circumstances have. He swallows, and steps toward her. "Let me think about it?" he asks softly, leaning in to offer a gentle nuzzle to her ear, then down along her cheek...
Nonkene doesn't look at Ikuna. Not when he's thinking, deciding whether he's willing - to give her puppies, or maybe even just to travel with her anymore. He might decide that this isn't worth dealing with and he doesn't want a friend who'd propose something like that. She's not going to bully or threaten him (who's the former alpha, again?), just wait until... he steps toward her, and she can't help but tense a little, holding her breath for... his words, and then the touch of his muzzle to ear and cheek. She lets the breath out slowly. Again, it's not exactly the answer she hoped for, but... "Okay." She turns her head, nuzzling back to him as her tension recedes. "You can think about it." She licks at his muzzle, and her lips quirk in a ghost of a teasing smile. "Just don't take too long."
Ikuna nuzzles and licks, affectionate to Nonkene even if... only as a friend. But maybe a friend who... well... he's going to need a lot of thinking about this. A whole lot of thinking. A whoooooole lot. For now... "Well," he says to Nonkene as he presses his muzzle to hers, "I'll try to think fast." Not exactly his strong suit, but... winter's a good time for it, right? Lots of reflective snow. Of course... it's also the time when wolves tend to... well... Ikuna's not going to think about that, because he's thinking about whether to think about it! ...or something like that, anyhow.
Nonkene leans in against Ikuna, enjoying his touch and the warmth of his body to hers, and nods. "Okay." She closes her eyes for a moment, just feeling him, hearing the roar of the waterfall that nearly drowns out the blood in her ears, and being... here. After a little while she opens her eyes again and looks to Ikuna. "Let's go hunting." A change of pace, a change of topic, a way of moving on and being uncomplicated friends.
...or at least as uncomplicated as they can get, with Nonkene's question burning in the back of Ikuna's brain. Still, he's glad enough to lean against her, enjoying the touch on the level of a pack-animal's desire for companionship if not anything more... though is there really a complete lack of anything more? He doesn't feel the same way about females as males, but does that mean there's /nothing/, or just /not enough/... and if it's the latter, just what exactly is it not enough /for/. Second-best might... or might not... but maybe... "Yes. Let's go hunting. There's a field near here, it used to have a rabbit warren..." And likely still does, given how rabbits tend to reproduce... he just can't get away from that, can he? Maybe if he runs really fast... he'll catch a rabbit and at least get to have a meal while he thinks about it!
Nonkene nods, and grins as she shifts to follow Ikuna. "Just show me where!" Half-dog she may be, but she can hunt as well as any wolf. That's how she was raised, by a troubled mother and an awkward adolescent Ikuna who was, perhaps, around just enough to hold a special place in her heart... though she's grown since then, and so has he. They're different wolves now, even as they leave the place where once she was a pup and he a too-young alpha.
Ikuna is retired now, a wolf not yet old but certainly no longer young... and Nonkene is, when it comes down to it, just about the same. They're two wolves (well, a wolf and a half and another half of dog), here together to retrace old steps and perhaps - as part of their journey - find something new. When Nonkene was born in this cave, it was Ikuna who stood by Wachiwa in place of the father... but of course he wasn't her mate. How could he be? He's nobody's mate, just... himself. Ikuna, the wolf who loves his family but... "Let's go hunt." ...he always did think better on a full stomach.
Nonkene - female wolfdog
~*~Behind the Waterfall~*~
Ikuna slips behind the fall, padding into the cave with no more than a sprinkling of icy water to dampen his pelt. He steps to the side, turning to watch past the endless torrent of water... and wait.
He doesn't have to wait for long! Nonkene follows him in, putting her paws where his were and... "Aha!" There /is/ a cave back here, it's not just Ikuna playing tricks on her. She grins as she crosses toward him, bumping her muzzle to his shoulder. "I never would have guessed this was here."
Ikuna smiles, nodding to her... with a nuzzle for her ears as he does. "It's well-hidden. We... well, we needed that." He frowns a little, thinking back.
Nonkene's smile lessens as she nods, but it doesn't disappear. She gives Ikuna another nuzzle, then steps away from him, padding around the cave and looking at it. "It's beautiful, too."
Ikuna's smile returns. "It is. Perhaps we needed that, too." He looks to where the torrent of water diffracts the light, then back to Nonkene.
Nonkene laughs. "You /always/ need that." She grins, padding back to Ikuna's side. "Fortunately, it's easy to find. You just have to look at things the right way." She flicks her tongue out for a playful lick at his cheek.
Ikuna smiles fondly at Nonkene's claim. "Well..." he begins, and then his ears flick at her further comment and lick, his head dipping for a moment as he... fails to respond, at least for a moment. He gets his feet back under him by... changing topics. "This is where you were born."
Nonkene's smile is pleased and teasing both, a grin that's replaced by surprise at Ikuna's change of topic - which, yes, she most certainly noticed, but she lets it slide. "Really?" She looks around again, not that she didn't see it the first time. "Huh. I don't remember... being here before."
Ikuna chuckles. "I wouldn't expect you to." He turns his head toward her, nuzzling her cheek... and then stopping, pensive for a moment before he shakes it off with a little fur-fluff. "You were just a pup... and we didn't stay for long." He hehs. "I was always a little terrified that you or Kurux would fall into the water."
Nonkene laughs, too intrigued by Ikuna's words to notice his hesitation. "What, you didn't want to try to teach puppies to swim?" She bumps her shoulder to his, then lingers in a lean against him. "I bet it'd be fun to jump through that waterfall... in summer." Not now! She only got sprinkled on the way in, but that water was /cold/.
Ikuna snorts. "I /did/ teach you to swim." Okay, mostly Wachiwa did, but he was at least present for some of it. That counts, right? He watches her as she lingers against him, more of that pensive expression... but he doesn't lean away. In fact, he leans back to her, just a bit... though he frowns with concern at her words. "The current's pretty strong here..."
Nonkene laughs, her tail giving a sway... and her body doing the same, pressing to Ikuna warmly. "Well then, what's to worry about?" she replies, grinning as she feels the warmth of his bulk against hers. Her head tilts a bit at his concern, seeing his expression... and she smiles, nudging her muzzle up at his. "Okay, okay. I won't do it."
Ikuna blinks, tilting his head to look back at Nonkene in response to that nudge. "I didn't mean..." He dips his head, tilting it a little to the side to keep looking at the wolfdog. "I'm not an alpha anymore." His tail lowers, as if to echo his words with a pose that it's... not entirely used to, anymore.
Nonkene gives that tilted muzzle a little lick, then lifts her head as she listens to Ikuna with ears perked forward. "I know that." She leans in, bumping her muzzle down over his in a playful nudge of challenge. "I can still listen to you." She grins. "If I want to."
Ikuna's instincts from that time /as/ alpha have his fur and tail twitch at that bump to his muzzle... but they only begin to. He takes over from his instincts quickly - though not so quickly as to not be perceptible - and lowers them, as well as his muzzle to let Nonkene have the upper nose... for now. "Well.. okay. As long as it's what you want."
Nonkene does notice that reaction, but... she also notices the part Ikuna did on purpose. She licks over the top of his muzzle, and then down to its side to not keep her muzzle over his too long - just being the same level as him. "I do. I like you, Ikuna."
Ikuna starts to nod, to relax a little... and then he stops, holding his breath for a moment before letting it out as a long sigh. "I... like you too, Nene - as a friend." Those last words come in a bit of a rush, hurried through as if to keep any wrong ideas from settling into place as his eyes shift away from her to the ground in front of him. "I don't... there's a reason I never took a mate, never had pups."
Nonkene's ears perk forward - then back, but they slowly creep back toward interested as her brow wrinkles to try to puzzle out what Ikuna's saying. "So... you don't want a family?"
Ikuna sighs, lowering his head as he keeps his eyes on the mossy stone of the ground. "...it's not that... exactly." He frowns, trying to put together words. "I don't... feel like most males do about females. I wouldn't... I don't want a mate I'm not attracted to... like that."
Nonkene tilts her head, watching Ikuna even though he's not looking back at her. Maybe that makes it easier, since he can't see her staring except out of the corner of his eye. Her brow furrows, thinking through what he's saying. "Oh." So what he's saying is... "You don't want a female for a mate."
Ikuna nods. "Yeah." He lifts his head a little - enough to glance to Nonkene and read her expression. "That's it. I like being part of families. Seeing pups... and we're looking for my sister..." Families, families everywhere, and Ikuna...
Nonkene's thoughtful look stays where it is, pieces falling together until they form an abrupt question. "Could you? Make pups, I mean. Not take a mate, not /promise/ anything, but just... do it?"
Ikuna blinks. "Uh." On second glance, with newly blinked eyes... he's got no more clue than before. "Well." Third try? "...uhm." Nope. He's got nothing.
Nonkene doesn't lower her eyes, staring steadily at Ikuna as if she's going to gaze the question right out of him. "Because I like you, Ikuna, and I want puppies." There it is. "I'm probably never going to have a mate. Wolves don't like dogs." And she's half-dog and knows it. "I don't need a mate. I wouldn't expect... that. Not if you don't want it. Just a friend." ...and puppies.
Now it's Ikuna's turn to listen, staring back at Nonkene. He's a little too shocked to do anything else, really. The part where he admits his lack of certain desires is usually where the conversation /stops/, not... this. "I..." She's looking at him. She's staring at him, and expecting an answer, and... "I don't know." It's the only answer he's got!
...it's not exactly the answer Nonkene was hoping for, but... it's something? She stares a moment longer, as if she's going to challenge a better answer right out of him, and then... she sighs, and drops her gaze. Her eyes look to the floor, and her fur settles. Her voice turns softer, more question than demand. "...would you try?"
Ikuna blinks again as Nonkene looks away, then resumes his watching of her. His muzzle half-opens, then shuts again as he watches her, standing here beside him on this whirlwind tour of their past. He knew her as a pup, but she's changed in time away; so has he. The decisions he made when he was... younger than she is now... have shaped his life. The reasons for them haven't changed, but... the circumstances have. He swallows, and steps toward her. "Let me think about it?" he asks softly, leaning in to offer a gentle nuzzle to her ear, then down along her cheek...
Nonkene doesn't look at Ikuna. Not when he's thinking, deciding whether he's willing - to give her puppies, or maybe even just to travel with her anymore. He might decide that this isn't worth dealing with and he doesn't want a friend who'd propose something like that. She's not going to bully or threaten him (who's the former alpha, again?), just wait until... he steps toward her, and she can't help but tense a little, holding her breath for... his words, and then the touch of his muzzle to ear and cheek. She lets the breath out slowly. Again, it's not exactly the answer she hoped for, but... "Okay." She turns her head, nuzzling back to him as her tension recedes. "You can think about it." She licks at his muzzle, and her lips quirk in a ghost of a teasing smile. "Just don't take too long."
Ikuna nuzzles and licks, affectionate to Nonkene even if... only as a friend. But maybe a friend who... well... he's going to need a lot of thinking about this. A whole lot of thinking. A whoooooole lot. For now... "Well," he says to Nonkene as he presses his muzzle to hers, "I'll try to think fast." Not exactly his strong suit, but... winter's a good time for it, right? Lots of reflective snow. Of course... it's also the time when wolves tend to... well... Ikuna's not going to think about that, because he's thinking about whether to think about it! ...or something like that, anyhow.
Nonkene leans in against Ikuna, enjoying his touch and the warmth of his body to hers, and nods. "Okay." She closes her eyes for a moment, just feeling him, hearing the roar of the waterfall that nearly drowns out the blood in her ears, and being... here. After a little while she opens her eyes again and looks to Ikuna. "Let's go hunting." A change of pace, a change of topic, a way of moving on and being uncomplicated friends.
...or at least as uncomplicated as they can get, with Nonkene's question burning in the back of Ikuna's brain. Still, he's glad enough to lean against her, enjoying the touch on the level of a pack-animal's desire for companionship if not anything more... though is there really a complete lack of anything more? He doesn't feel the same way about females as males, but does that mean there's /nothing/, or just /not enough/... and if it's the latter, just what exactly is it not enough /for/. Second-best might... or might not... but maybe... "Yes. Let's go hunting. There's a field near here, it used to have a rabbit warren..." And likely still does, given how rabbits tend to reproduce... he just can't get away from that, can he? Maybe if he runs really fast... he'll catch a rabbit and at least get to have a meal while he thinks about it!
Nonkene nods, and grins as she shifts to follow Ikuna. "Just show me where!" Half-dog she may be, but she can hunt as well as any wolf. That's how she was raised, by a troubled mother and an awkward adolescent Ikuna who was, perhaps, around just enough to hold a special place in her heart... though she's grown since then, and so has he. They're different wolves now, even as they leave the place where once she was a pup and he a too-young alpha.
Ikuna is retired now, a wolf not yet old but certainly no longer young... and Nonkene is, when it comes down to it, just about the same. They're two wolves (well, a wolf and a half and another half of dog), here together to retrace old steps and perhaps - as part of their journey - find something new. When Nonkene was born in this cave, it was Ikuna who stood by Wachiwa in place of the father... but of course he wasn't her mate. How could he be? He's nobody's mate, just... himself. Ikuna, the wolf who loves his family but... "Let's go hunt." ...he always did think better on a full stomach.