[PLOT - PRP] Hungry Like a Wolf [Wellspring x Aurelia]

[Daisicle]

A peculiar sprite was currently swimming away from Alu Spring with relatively limited success due to the feet he dawned in lieu of fins. A small net with a couple of freshwater fish - live of course - was tied to his waist as he went. They were mid-sized fish, perhaps young trout, and hardly served to hinder his movements. He'd be cutting it close at this rate.

She was probably already waiting for him, wasn't she.

One month had passed since he and Aurelia had made plans to meet in private on the shorts of the lake for a lunch date. In all honesty, he couldn't understand what had come over him in that moment, but it just seemed... right. Not just the idea of another date, but everything: the night, her in his arms, the feeling of her skin against his, the warm feeling in his chest. It was like years of running away from the truth had finally given in to the clearest answer: he liked her. Like-liked her.

Aurelia.

A blood pae'il.

She was perhaps the one pae he'd ever hated the most in his life, yet she also was the one pae he had come to care about more than anything. Life could truly be such a fickle thing - how could he have ever known that brat he'd met so many years ago would become so dear to him. Course he'd rather be sent to the roots than tell her that outright; he'd die of embarrassment!

He was a traitor now, wasn't he?

Perhaps Rais already knew... Perhaps he mother knew...

But after the last night they spent together - far more of an act of lovemaking than the previous drunken fevors - there was no going back. He'd take this secret to the grave if he had to. Hopefully he didn't have to.

But considering the way the light was infiltrating in the water, it might not be long until he met his watery demise. There was no sugarcoating it; he was late. Very, very late. At this point, it wouldn't constitute lunch anymore. They were swift sailing right into dinner territory. He'd be hard pressed to be able to make it to a safe spot in the lake to sleep before nightfall too... Ugh... What a mess. It wasn't his fault these fish were more of a hassle to swim with than he'd thought they'd be!

His head appeared out of the water's surface as he reached the shores shallows and he looked for what was probably going to be a decidedly angry Aurelia.

Tartara Seabreeze

 

[Mist_of_the_Ages]

For all her charm, charisma and sociability, this was her actual first date - outside of Venus parties of course. And wellspring had agreed to it. The thought made her stomach to twists and turns she wasn't accustomed to. True to form, she didn't handle nervousness well, and had arrived to their meeting spot entirely too early. But that didn't mean she slacked on any of the preparation, oh no. She was PEAK Aurelia in an adorable pink skirt and white camisole top. Her hair was braided with tiny flowers stuck in it. Even her tail had been brushed for today, not that it mattered with how much it swayed in excitement as she walked.

When she arrived she pulled out the blanket from her basket and began pulling out the various little food items. Vegetables, fruits, even a pie she had bought from the City. When all set up, the wolf plopped down, painstakingly arranged her skirt in a flattering way and smoothed the wisps of her hair down. And waited.

And waited.

And waited some more. She looked at the lowering sun, as it mirrored her own sinking heart. Where was he? Did she get the date or time wrong? No...no she had obsessed about this way too much to get it wrong...

Did he lie to her? No...no she believed him. He PROMISED and she believed him. He must've gotten caught up in something. So she kept waiting.

By the time the sprites head popped above the water, he would find the female curled up. Her tail tucked against her legs, head resting ontop her arms. One would almost think her asleep if not for her ears suddenly twitching a moment before she sprang upright.  

[Daisicle]

As he glanced up at the now-setting sun, there was but one thought on the young sprites mind...

Ah s**t.

Looking over at Aurelia, he feigned his best attempt at a calm smile while his twitching eye and lips betrayed his anxiety. Smooth, just be smooth. She'll understand, right? Right? Hopefully?

It wasn't like he could do anything else at this point.

Hesitating to venture further out until he could see her reaction, he lifted up the net so she could see the fish wriggling about inside.

"I... uh... I brought some fish? Cause you like meat, so... I thought that'd make you uh... happy...?" Awkward pause. "Surprise?"

Tartara Seabreeze

 

[Mist_of_the_Ages]

Amethyst eyes focused on the movement in the water before recognition flicked in them. "Wellspring!" Pure relief washed over her features.

He hadn't stood her up. He kept his word.

As the poor Sprite awkwardly spoke, the wolf brightly smiled as if she hadn't been sitting there all alone for hours. Like he was right on time. "I love fish! Come on up, I'm starving." Were those fish...still alive? Talk about fresh seafood! She wondered if that was what delayed him so long.

Aurelia sat up completely to make room for him on the blanket. "How have you been? Anything interesting happen the past month?" Not a trace of anger in her sweet voice, still smiling.

She was just happy he had shown up at all. And she was not going to make him regret it.  

[Daisicle]

Wait... So she wasn't mad that he was late?

Was this a dream?

Reaching up to pinch his cheek with a claw, he had to accept with the pain that this was, in fact, reality that he was experiencing. And he wasn't particularly sure what to make of it.

"Oh, okay..." he voice trailed off before he glanced down at the fish. They'd probably swim away even if he found something to tie them down to; they weren't particularly small after all. Keeping his arms underwater, he flinched likely as he made the decision to keep them from swimming away and used his claw to snip their heads clean off. Oh Laisidhiel how he hated this feeling; he'd need a moment to get his appetite back. Why did pae have to eat meat?

Once the blood was beginning to drain from the freshly-killed fish, he tied them near the shore to let and walked on up. Water dripped off his hair and skin before falling onto the beach below. "Uh, nothing crazy. It's a pretty long swim from Las Venus back home, so I was mostly traveling." It might have shown on his body. He rubbed the back of his head as he failed to make eye contact. "S-Sorry about being so late; I didn't think it would take so long to get here..." Awkward pause. "How've you been?"

Tartara Seabreeze

 

[Mist_of_the_Ages]

Aurelia watched with interest as he carefully beheaded the fish. Had she known it was going to be so fresh, she'd get some sticks and make a fire. Some might find it odd that a cute preppy girl didn't squirm at such a dirty thing, but her family lived out in the woods. Her family hunted and brought back fresh kills. It was food, they had to eat, simple as that.

No, she was much more interested in staring at him.

Shiiiinnnyyyy

When did she start finding him attractive? After they met as adults, his awkwardness was endearing to her certainly. But she genuinely found him attractive. Well. Obviously she did considering she slept with him.

Twice.

"Ah, I see. Well I hope you enjoyed the trip then! A change of scenery is nice sometimes." Did he seem more muscular than normal?

Oh guardians, she really needed to stop staring at him! His apology was enough to pull her thoughts back, and her smile softened. He didn't apologize to her very often, even when he was mean to her. It was...really refreshing for him to be considerate. "It's okay. Just don't make it a habit." The wolf teased gently, her smile reaching her eyes. "I've been good, really good. I wish I had an interesting story at least, but my life outside of you and Venus parties is rather lame." In one fluid motion Aurelia stood up, her hands brushing at her skirt to brush away the sand. "Come help me get some dry sticks? It's getting a little chilly with the sun going down, and we can cook the fish to go with the fruits and veggies I brought."  

[Daisicle]

"It was... something(?) at least. Not too many places to sleep en route." Or at least places he'd feel comfortable enough to get much sleep in. Frankly, he was pretty tired after all was said and done. He brushes his hair from his face and flicked it over to his 'handy' side to wring some of the water out.

"I didn't say it had to be interesting."

...

"Oh, okay."

Brushing his hair back behind him, he didn't voice any protests as he headed after her. If nothing else, he could break branches off or something.

Tartara Seabreeze

 

[Mist_of_the_Ages]

Her face scrunched slightly at his matter of factness. Really, he was not the best at small talk was he?

But that was part of his charm after all. Her face scrunch turned into a smirk at the thought. Well, she'd just have to get him back for that. In one smooth motion, she hooked an arm around one of his and turned to the forests edge.

"Hey Wellspring." She spoke so soft it was almost a whisper, her face ducking close to his. "I'm glad you made it today." And with that tiny flirt, she started pulling them towards the trees, her tail happily swaying back and forth to light brush the back of their thighs.  

[Daisicle]

Being the sort of pae as he was, he was still feeling pretty awkward about being late and all. It wasn't his fault that it took a really long time to swim here - he came as quickly as reasonably expected - but for some reason it still didn't sit right with him this time. He tilted his head, probably getting some water from his hair onto her skin, as she called his name. "Hmm..?"

Oh, shoot. Now he felt guilty again. He really wish she didn't know how to play him like that sometimes.

Today, though, he might make a bit of an exception.

"Yeah... I was starting to think I wouldn't for a while there." And they were moving. "Hey Aurelia." he leaned back again for a bit as they continued to look at her tail (and potentially her butt a bit). "Is your tail different today? I mean... it feels different?" Oh, that was weird wasn't it. "Actually, forget I said anything." He was now looking decidedly forward at a landscape that he certainly did not recognize.

Mist_of_the_Ages

 

[Mist_of_the_Ages]

That would have been terrible. She didn't want to think about just how awful she would have felt if he hadn't made it...

...Thankfully she didn't have to deal with that, because he did. And he was right next to her all glisteny and cute and wow she was actually walking arm in arm with a cute boy this was so awesome! She looked up at him at her name. For some reason she liked it when he said it. He was so shy, it was like an accomplishment. "Yes?" Her tail? "My tail?" She echoed her thought, amythest eyes blinking.

Was it that she was hitting him? She didn't do anything different.

Except brush it.

Did he really notice such a small thing?! Her face felt like fire. Did he like it? Oh she really really wanted to ask him, but she bit her tongue. He said forget it.

Which meant ask him later. She could tuck the question away for now. "Ah! There's some wood!" Aurelia slipped her arm out from his - albeit with slight regret - to skip over to some fallen sticks on the ground. She reached out to touch them, picking the ones that felt the most dry. "Perfect! These aren't too wet, they should work just fine."

Daisicle

 

[Daisicle]

Shoot, that was a weird thing to comment, wasn't it. Stupid, stupid Wellspring. And being able to just cooly brush it off would have been completely out-of-character, so he couldn't just go back to normal right after. Nor could he just glance over and use his context clues to realize that perhaps she'd actually thought it was a compliments. Of course not.

Never.

He glanced up - when had he started looking down at his feet? - as she moved away before moving to join her. He had begun to extend his arms when he paused, mid-extension, as a drop of water fell from his bangs and continued downward. "Actually.... I probably shouldn't carry any firewood." Yeah, he'd probably just get it wet, and even he knew that you couldnt start a fire with wet wood.

Mist_of_the_Ages

 

[Mist_of_the_Ages]

She really, really wanted to impress him. Was she cute to him? Funny? Interesting? She wished she could read his thoughts. Aurelia just hoped his heart raced like hers did the rare moments he looked into her eyes.

RIGHT THE WOOD!

She had gone on auto pilot picking up sticks that when he spoke her arms were already stuffed. "Huh? Why not?" The wolf girl asked innocently, not immediately catching on why a wet pae holding dry wood for fire would be counterproductive.

She must have looked a little silly, hunched over mid-grab of a stick, her arms full of a good bundle.

Daisicle

 

[Daisicle]

Wellspring kind of just shrugged at her question, offering a simple "I'm wet." as a response. It made intuitive sense that wet things couldn't start fires.

He kind of felt bad that he couldn't do more of the heavy lifting, but it couldn't be helped. He'd just ruin all the tinder, just like he was currently ruining this date.

Mist_of_the_Ages

 

[Mist_of_the_Ages]

She looked at him after stating her question. The response was so simple, so matter of fact, the wolf paused before breaking into a laugh.

"I - I guess you're right!" She managed with her giggles, hugging the sticks to her body. "Didn't even think about that, good call. I guess we should go back then!" Since her arms were full, and he couldn't carry. But it should be enough anyway.

Still grinning, she turned to start walking from where they had come from. The little things she didn't think of from their two different worlds. She wanted to learn them. "You make my life interestin Wellspring. In a good way." Aurelia quickly clarified, a bounce still in her step. "Oh, will you be okay around a fire? It won't like...super dry you out?" Though they would be right by the water if he needed to jump in, she didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

Daisicle

 

[Daisicle]

Wellspring turned beet red, the heat spreading from his cheeks all the way to the tips of his ears, as he made eye contact with Aurelia following his statement. A few nervous laughs followed - had he just said something stupid? He had, hadn't he? If he wasnt already damp, he might have started sweating just a touch.

"O-oh... Okay. Yeah. Hahaha..." He quipped back before waiting for her to walk back. It was strange, a couple of years ago, he might have assumed her laughter was directed at him, but now he somehow knew it to be a different thing. A purer Thing? It was hard to put into words, but even if he was notably embarrassed, it didn't feel threatening like in the past. "I guess... I'll handle the moral support then?" He offered a lame joke of his own, aware of how bad it was.

Once shed come to pass his body, Wellspring turned and followed by her, walking side by side. Part of him remained uneasy of he glanced up and saw her Halo, but he could just as easily avert his eyes to it's existence.

For now at least.

He didn't expect to be able to keep that up for long though... That sort of thing would just inevitably become painful.

Blinking as she pulled him from his internal musogs, he looked over with a somewhat confused expression. "Do I really? I can't imagine how..." He failed to specify if he meant the 'interesting' or 'in a good way' aspect. Regarding her concern, he lifted his hand and physically waved it off. "I haven't had an issue with drying out since I was a teenager. And even then... It only happened once..." Yeah... The only time he'd truly experienced what it was like to dry out was the attack on the tree so long ago. Even in adulthood, so long after the fact, well, that sort of thing never really faded, now did it? "Does it dry out your skin... Or fur I guess...?" This was his kinda poor attempt to deflect the conversation away from him.