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Post by Fierfly on May 24, 2018 9:01:45 GMT -5
Kailypso:
For once in her life, Kailypso was quite without a suitable (even tactless) response. Kanga grinned at her firecracker explosion. Hang him! She barely caught her paw in time to keep from batting that smug little smirk off his face. She had no intention of hitting him, but that didn't mean it wasn't tempting. He flexed his neck, making it bulge beyond the grasp of her paws and she let herself back down to all fours, but still scowled back up at him. Blast it all Kanga! Why??? She suddenly realized something - Kanga's sense of humor was sadistic in leaving her caught off-guard and she despised it. Every track of conversation he could turn against her. To be fair she had dug herself into this one pretty well, but that had been no cause for him to infer...gah!
"Maybe I'm just insatiably curious - you were the one to say that a lovesick picture of those two was the last thing you wanted running around in your head - give it to Acribus." hardly a reasonable answer. "You're right, it's not a very reassuring thought - that level-headed wolves like Manaaki can melt into a lovelorn fool. Anyway, I thought you wanted to tease him about it - well, why not? Then you go and turn it around on me? Low blow Kanga, low blow..."
Aaaaand she was rambling again. Shoot! It was better than explaining the real reason she was grasping at gossip - she didn't want to go back to their previous topic. As curious as she was about Kanga's inner demons, there was no reason for her to resurrect hers, they were too close to the surface anyway - no need to give them any help with that. It would keep her up at night, it would lead to another emotional breakdown that she didn't have time for - it would lead to a whole lot of trouble that she hadn't any patience with - better to leave it all as alone as she could get away with.
"Besides, this is a new experience for me - watching a sibling lose his head over a girl - I'm curious as to how you feel about it." Please let the excuse hold!
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Post by Meds on May 24, 2018 12:40:44 GMT -5
Kanga;
Probably one of Kanga’s favourite things was watching other wolves react to his own reactions. He would push and push, or act the fool, and they would respond accordingly. The only surprising part was when Kanga remained neither threatened, nor defensive, nor angry. More often than not, he would simply fight a smile at the reaction he got. It wasn’t quite as bad as how pups acted, but to say that he was entirely mature in his conduct would also be untrue. This was why he needed Manaaki for balance.
”I think you have a different idea about the whole thing than I do,” Kanga said, slightly unsure why she felt so strongly about it. ”Manaaki doesn’t melt around Amora—he doesn’t become some half-witted fool bent on romance. From what I’ve seen, it’s all very formal. Business-like. Old fashioned. The way our ancestors may have courted.” His tongue lolled and his teeth flashed as he grinned. ”He goes about the whole thing in a very Manaaki-like way. Slow. Quiet. Thoughtful. Very different from how I would do it.” He smirked. And though she was right, he had hacked and shivered at the thought—but perhaps he needed to clarify. ”It isn’t that I can’t picture or abide the thought of them together. It’s anything involving my brother that would be...” He formed silent words, unsure of how to phrase it. ”I just don’t like to picture. You know. Them together.” He raised his brow and met her eyes beside him, still unworried about her slowly-cooling temper. ”Together, you know. Together?” Subtly wasn’t a Kanga trait.
He also didn’t miss when Kaily all but referenced Manaaki as a sibling. His brow lowered, but his grin turned crooked and a long canine poked out. He chose not to comment on it, but would log the memory away for potential future use. ”How do I feel about it?” His deep voice deepened still more, but his muscles shoulders shrugged under his thick brown fur, flashing red. ”I guess I can’t keep him tethered to me forever. I’m the one who needs a leash, after all.” He smiled to himself. Honestly he wasn’t sure, but recalling an inside joke that Amora had made on their first encounter brought a smile to his face. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad.
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Post by Fierfly on May 25, 2018 0:06:26 GMT -5
Kailypso:
Tail as twitchy as a cat's and fur refusing to settle down nicely along her ruff, she begrudgingly loaned her ear to Kanga's explanation. It wouldn't be a good one. It wouldn't be satisfactory. It was Kanga for crying out loud! The excuse was never good - it was just Kanga. Nope! Look at that! He wasn't even bothering with an excuse, he was just correcting her. Peachy. Ah well - better to cling to this topic than go back to the other one - even if he could drive her mad with both. No, she was wrong. Manaaki didn't become some love-sick dolt or become half-witted and stupid and some intoxicated lovers did. he kept his head well enough - he was still quiet, deliberate Manaaki. Well that couldn't have been right. She mulled over that for a bit. Wolves (from what she'd observed - not that she had much experience there) always seemed to lose their heads when they fell in love. Maybe not to as severe a degree as she'd suggested, but they lost it - didn't they? Were not all like that?
No - likely not. But still - love was not love if wolves went on about their business normally. Something still had to be given. If not the sense they'd been born with - it must have been the heart. What a tricky thing - something so "good" and mysterious and beautiful required a tax - one's heart. To give that up - to give up the security of your own wisdom, to have to forfeit trust and hand it over to another, to have to rely on that wolf - to have to believe them always... such a terrifying concept. Losing yourself to give to someone else?
A losing battle to be sure.
It wasn't even the concept that bothered Kanga. No, it was them being..."together". Well - what did he mean by that? Together as in the commitment? No - Manaaki had stuck around with Kanga that long - that was commitment enough: Manaaki could embody commitment for all she knew. Maybe it was a bit of jealousy - maybe he wasn't comfortable with that commitment towards another. No - that couldn't have been it either - no siblings were that close, they all had to have their squabbles. More likely Kanga meant he couldn't see his brother being gentle and intimate with anyone. Oh, she was sure the brothers were close enough where they shared many thoughts. Trusting another with secrets and inner demons was a very bold thing to do - one she was not terribly comfortable with herself. Besides - that kind of tender closeness was not something brothers expressed very well. A brother's form of love was nips, kicks, claws, insults, curses and violent competition. Drawing blood was their sincerest form of begrudgingly and admiring saying "I love you, but I also want to maim you." She had brothers of her own - she knew.
Now for how he actually felt about it. ”I guess I can’t keep him tethered to me forever. I’m the one who needs a leash, after all.” Regret? A fond farewell? It was hard to say.
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;"*
She'd always despised the old saying - it was so forlorn and dejected. Yes, time came and went. Choices were made. Friends were lost. Wolves lived and breathed and died. That was how the world spun its story. Who was she to stop it?
*: "The Road not Taken" - Robert Frost
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Post by Meds on May 25, 2018 23:33:42 GMT -5
Kanga;
She was quiet for a time after he spoke last. She didn't seem happy, exactly, but when Kanga's eyes flicked backwards to check on that ruff of hers, it seemed to have settled down at least a little bit. She was still frowning though, and hadn't laughed when Kanga had referenced Manaaki and Amora mating, as he had expected her to. He supposed this was a slightly more serious topic... but it always felt odd to be serious; at least for Kanga. No, she seemed to really be pouring over his answer. Ugh, why did everything have to be so philosophical?
But then the red giant frowned, almost missing his step in the fading light but catching it easily enough. How did he feel, truly? He wasn't unhappy for Manaaki and Amora, that wasn't it. Indeed, if they madeâwhatever it wasâwork, then he would be over the moon for his brother. But there was another feeling there, too. Regret? No, he sighed. That was too strong a word. Fear? Perhaps. Perhaps Kanga was worried that Manaaki would find a new reason to live. Suddenly his younger brother, the trouble-maker, the loud-mouth, wouldn't be his only mission in life. It would be Amoraâperhaps pups. And Kanga knew that he should be happy for Manaaki, really he should. To get off of the self-imposed leash attached to his cursed twin would probably be the best thing that had ever happened to him. But, despite the guilt at the thought, Kanga was worried that it really would be better. That Manaaki would see how much time he wasted, how much more he could have gotten from life if he had just cut the bond the two of them shared a little sooner. And that's what Kanga was afraid of.
His breathing had sped somewhat as he considered everything. Maybe he could chalk it up to the twin thing, and not wanting to lose the closeness with his blood brother. But he knew that wasn't it. Not entirely, anyway. There was a large and highly-ignored piece of the puzzle that centered around Kanga's own fear to be without him. He never had been—Manaaki had always been there. In the beginning, before they were close, Kanga had been mostly on his own—and it had been hell. In his experience, without Manaaki by his side, speaking for him when things got heated or pushing him away instead of letting him do something (extra) stupid, life was barely worth living. Or maybe it was. He really, truly, didn't know any different. And he wasn't sure he wanted to find out.
Behind him, his tail was almost a constant flash of red as it twitched back and forth without his knowledge, agitated. Oh, why did she have to go and ask him that, anyway? If Kanga didn't have to think about anything, everything was fine. He could go through life making jokes, knocking over trees, killing moose, and be fine. As soon as he got to thinking about the fundamental stuff that made him who he was, or what he thought about certain things... that's when it often turned ugly. So what did that make him, exactly? Ignorant? Cowardly? ... Cursed?
"I've never heard that before," Kanga said when Kaily recited a short poem, but he could barely focus on it. His thunderous voice came out slightly forced as he realized his breathing was also agitated. He slowed his tail with some effort, then got a hold of his breath. The hill evened out a little bit then, so he ducked onto the level ground and sat. They were still a ways up the hill, so the view was still quite nice.
If what Kanga feared was true... if Manaaki went off and became Amora's pet... should Kanga find that too? A mate with which to replace his brother? Or was he just a blackhole, spitting out thorns and vines, ready to drag anybody in that got too close? No, that wasn't right. It couldn't be. He lifted a lip in a silent snarl, threatening his own brain if it didn't stop producing all this nonsense.
"Distract me." He growled, giving no context.
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Post by Fierfly on May 26, 2018 10:32:22 GMT -5
Kailypso:
Stupid old verses - why'd she learned so many of them? Couldn't she have learned to recite a few and been satisfied? No, reciting the same ones got boring - and she had a good memory for words - she'd learned a lot. Likely too many - couldn't she have memorized more practical things? Like herbs for healing or tracking prey? No, of course not. Her and her impractical words and speeches all cluttering up her brains - words were really so shallow. What good did they truly do anyone?
"I used to have to sing for my supper," she explained when Kanga observed he'd never heard it. "Just a bunch of nonsense thoughts that are supposed to mean something: it goes on a few more verses." Another ear flick. Kanga's voice - though loud - had been forced and was hollow of interest and real attention. It seemed that they were both falling into long, dark troughs of philosophical thoughts, to each their own. The light was waning - indeed the dark did keep things in.
They stopped - this view was still spectacular, but it was away from the border and looked more favorably out over this territory. It really must have been beautiful in the spring and fall. Winter was too dead and in the summer it must have been scorching hot - neither extreme well suited the rocky canyons - at least she didn't feel so. Maybe she was wrong.
Kanga wanted to be distracted. Hrmmm, how could she do that? Spew more nonsense verses? ...It was all she had at the moment. Continue the old one? No, that was enough philosophy for one conversation, tenfold more than enough.
"'Lately I've been - I've been losing sleep, Dreaming about the things that we could be And lately, I've been - I've been praying hard, -Said 'No more counting sorrows we'll be - we'll be counting stars.''"*
She shook her head at herself. "You'd think I could have crammed something more useful into this little head of mine for as much as it holds."
* "Counting Stars" One Republic
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Post by Meds on May 26, 2018 11:32:26 GMT -5
Kanga;
No, that distraction wouldn’t be good enough. Granted, this little song was more pleasing to Kanga’s ears—but it wasn’t loud enough to push Manaaki back out. Everything had been going relatively smoothly, and now his mind has taken such a different turn. Midnight Silence was no longer in view, but when he looked out over the forests he could almost feel it; or at least, he told himself he could. He listened to Kaily speak some more, and then a distraction really did present itself. Sing for her supper?
Kanga had heard of some harsh packs that would make their youth work or perform before eating. Even his own had tried such measures once or twice—but Kanga had never relied on anybody but himself for food. If they tried to cut him off, he would just go get something himself. ”Sing for your supper, eh?” He asked, the light accent that coloured his words more pronounced in the quiet evening. It was a good distraction, but he doubted she would want to extrapolate on it. Many wolves in the valley were closed off about their pasts. Kanga never liked to fit into the stereotype, but he was no different, really.
He groaned loudly, exaggeratedly, and leaned his big head back, earning himself a few back cracks as he did so. ”Would you say we bring out the best in each other, or the worst?” He asked. It seemed they both had so much baggage that on one paw, they related to each other. But on the other, their own darkness and secrets cropped up very often when in each other’s company. Kanga didn’t know if getting it all out in the open would be better or worse. Silver-ringed eyes found her, and he clicked his teeth together a few times in the silence that followed.
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Post by Fierfly on May 26, 2018 13:01:42 GMT -5
Kailypso:
"Mm-hm, Heaven forbid the baby get spoiled." she grunted sarcastically, but not bitterly. She had been the baby, and she had been spoiled dreadfully - the exercise was meant to give her a dose of humility, keep her aware of the work it took to provide for her demanding belly. It had just turned her into a hungry little collection of rhymes and old proverbs - they didn't really mean anything - at least, nothing really important that could be applied. A few were bits of gold, like the "Rose by any other name" - but mostly they were old songs and rhymes to entertain pups. What was with her obsession with words? She did appreciate pretty things - words were beautiful - so much potential to paint a picture: such power to convey these special thoughts and ideas...but overall shallow. Words did not move mountains, and contrary to how she'd been raised, words didn't bring a full belly.
Apparently the nonsense didn't have enough substance to really distract Kanga. He sought his own distraction - or maybe gave up in looking for one. Did they bring out the best in each other - or the worst? "Oh, I don't think we do too bad together over all. Others have brought out worse in me. 'Course we still rub the wrong way sometimes - I don't know that it could be avoided with any set of pals, but...eh, you haven't driven me to biting your head off. Or vice versa." Ah, and Kanga had resurrected her dry, morbid sense of humor - of course she was much too small to bite off Kanga's head - he'd have to be the one to do any biting.
"I think winter is my favorite season." she mused, despite having to sneeze and huff out a snowflake that had been drawn in with a pleased little inhale on her part. "I wonder how much longer this one will last." it couldn't have been going on for much longer, but it had been an astounding cold season and prey was beginning to get scarce. It made one at least start to wonder a bit.
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Post by Meds on May 27, 2018 0:38:03 GMT -5
Kanga;
So supposedly singing for her supper hadn't left a large scar on Kaily's psyche. She spoke sarcastically rather than with any sort of anger or regret, so Kanga imagined it was a more gentle thing than what he had been imagining. Maybe she had had a nice voice and the elder's had demanded the entertainment—who knows. Kanga surely didn't.
When she responded to his own question, his ears flicked. No, she didn't think they were so bad for each other; at least, she had met worse. Kanga supposed this was true, as he had met plenty of worse wolves as well. In that moment, he realized that perhaps the darkness he felt when in Kaily's presence was just truly him, and he just never opened up to anybody else except to her and to Manaaki. He glanced up at the darkening sky and considered that. It could be true. Perhaps he would have to meet and form a bond with other wolves to test the theory. But who was left to meet? Epsilon was a good candidate, but maybe Kanga wanted to meet another Loner, like Kaily. She was pretty unpredictable, and most times that was more fun.
"Oh, yes. Please. Warn me before I ever get close to you biting my head off. I just don't see how I'd get out of that one." He turned and smirked smugly at the small female beside him. The clouds were moving across the dark sky, and Kanga felt that so too were the clouds within him. These black mood plagued him sometimes, it was true, but on a positive note, they seemed not to last for very long, either. He guessed it could be much worse.
"I think winter is my favorite season," She murmured from beside him. He had looked back out over the snowy plain, but at her words turned back. "Autumn can kick Winter's tail any day of the week," He sniffed, pawing at the ground until the dirt underneath the snow was revealed. The soil, though dry and currently slumbering, was rich and red. "Everything is better with a little bit of brown or red." His tongue lolled once more and his tail flashed, showing first brown and then red. Hey, it was just facts. It wasn't his fault if he happened to fit into the category.
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Post by Fierfly on May 28, 2018 7:35:56 GMT -5
Kailypso:
Kanga chuckled and drawled appreciatively at her concession that at least she hadn't had the urge to bite his head off yet - or at least, hadn't taken the urge seriously when it had come to her. She was prone to fly off the handle - true, but she didn't often follow through with the impulses - especially not with the russet giant about. He wasn't trying to really drive her to madness - he liked to tease was all, and she supposed that was permissible, even if her ruff didn't agree as it was just now finally beginning to settle down nicely along her spine.
The snow lightened to a few stray flurries and the clouds boiled and rolled in a gust higher in the atmosphere. She looked up at them for a moment, then lay down and rolled over onto her back, forepaws clasped pupishly to her chest in a wistful sort of way - a position she was careful not to assume if she didn't feel completely alone. Her gimpy shoulder slowed her down too much in coming back up, and she was ridiculously vulnerable otherwise - but Kanga could go ahead and tear out an attacker's jugular if they tried anything, she wanted to take a minute to watch the clouds - she didn't often see them like this.
The sun must have been growing nearer to setting - the rolling mass was dark blue: pale yellow and silver lurking behind the clouds as a clear portion came through for a moment. Changing, moving on - taking their leave of the Valley to find other sights. To bless or curse some other location with wanton drifts of white. Off to some other place to cast their magic of silver and violet mountains and brown and gray dales and vales in between.
Kanga made a jab about Autumn being better for the russet hues and shook himself to show out the ginger in his brown coat. "Then why didn't you say Autumn was your favorite?" she shot back, "I'm not denying they all have their charms, and I suppose it would be more practical for me to like Autumn because there's more prey around - but since when was I ever practical?" Hm, an excellent question.
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Post by Meds on May 29, 2018 17:36:14 GMT -5
Kanga;
The jibe about wanting to get Manaaki alone was clearly still bothering her, as only in the moment did her ruff begin to settle. When Kanga noticed he was wont to mention it all over again, just to watch the rich brown fur rise anew. But he controlled himself. Then, as they paused to looo at the scene, suddenly Kaily was on her back beside him. This showed just how much more she trusted him than she had on their only other meeting, the first day the had come in contact. That had been an interesting day, and though they talked the light away, much as they had this time, there had still been a level of tension. The tension actually broke at one point, but thankfully Manaaki had been there. But this time, as he glanced at her staring up at the clouds, everything was easier. There were not so many instances of her becoming offended, not so much showing off from him. No, this was an easier meeting. Indeed, if they kept in contact, it would seem that the meetings would just continue getting easier.
”I did say autumn was my favourite,” Kanga snorted, turning his big head away from her. ”I said, autumn can kick winter’s tail anytime it wants. Hence forth,” His brow raised at the same tome his level of sarcasm did. ”Autumn is the best.” She mentioned some clever analysis about why she might like Autumn best, then explained that she wasn’t a very ordinary wolf and therefore didn’t like what was to be expected. Kanga shrugged. He wasn’t the best judge, as his whole reason for liking that season best was that it more-matched his fur. He shrugged his big shoulders and looked upwards once more.
”It’ll be dark soon, Hop-Along,” He said, poking just the lightest, most well-meaning fun that he could at her and her shoulder that he had once labelled as “gimpy”. ”Probably not awesome to walk down a slippery hill in the dark—?”
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Post by Fierfly on May 30, 2018 23:05:07 GMT -5
Kailypso:
"I've climbed mountains before," she corrected, "And I travel best at night. If you're asking permission to carry me like a pup the rest of the way down, I can manage. If you're suggesting we get moving, just say so. If you're suggesting I camp out for the night, I was thinking the same thing - I haven't cloud gazed in a while." Her breath streamed out of her mouth in a frosty cloud, eyes never straying from the rolling, boiling mass in the sky. No philosophical thoughts now please. She wanted to take a minute to just enjoy the sky and how small she was in comparison. Just watching the lazy world go by and enjoying the moment while it was there. Letting the vastness swallow her and she could be an anonymous soul again, just part of this huge world, a small part that didn't need to be a martyr, that didn't have to think to tomorrow, just live and breathe in this moment, and that would be enough.
"What's your birth season Kanga?" Idle curiosity for a chat. Something with no baggage please. Something simple that wasn't too personal, and yet enough to talk about and get to know each other a bit more. Whether they kept moving or stayed, it couldn't hurt to talk a while. They'd been talking for this long after all, what could it hurt to keep going? She wriggled on down in the snow, letting the cold, sharp shards get in her coat and clip and chafe her skin. She held her breath for a moment, letting the cold ache settle in her lungs, ears turning to take in Kanga's solid, hearty breathing, her own hearbeat, an owl's lonely hoot somewhere as he contemplated coming out before his mistress the moon, then changing his mind. This was why she needed to take more time to live in moments - they did wonders for her.
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Post by Meds on Jun 1, 2018 13:06:44 GMT -5
Kanga;
She chastised him, saying that she was perfectly capable on her own. Kanga modded slowly as she spoke. Fair enough. She had gotten on with a lame shoulder for this long, winter-aside, so why would now be any different? She then told him to speak his mind rather waspishly, which caused his brow to raise. She certainly knew who she was, in any case. There was no denying that. He grinned when she told him he wasn’t allowed to grab her by the scruff and carry her down the hill—not that she’d have been able to stop him if he had a mind to. ”Fine,” He said with a throaty chuckle-growl. ”But I do a fine pup carry.”
She then suggested they camp for the night. Kanga looked around and nodded to himself. He supposed the little flat spot was as good as any. His throat didn’t feel too bad anymore, either. He doubted it would cause him any more issues. He had had much worse; although, the idea that Acribus could have somehow poisoned his own teeth crossed his mind, however implausible. Such was the nature of dealing with dirty, corrupt, unpredictable wolves. ”Fair enough,” He rumbled with another half-grin. ”But I get the biggest piece of ground.”
He then craned his neck up to gaze at the last of the clouds as the sun began to sip behind the far mountains. ”Winter,” His eyes flashed slightly, remembering that he had expressed how it wasn’t his favourite. ”But just by a hair’s breadth.” In fact, Manaaki has been born in Autumn, the very last day. Kanga, born second, came in the first few minutes of what was officially Winter. It was interesting that the brojwr’s colors reflected the other’s birth season better than their own. ”You?”
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Post by Fierfly on Jun 1, 2018 15:06:16 GMT -5
Kailypso:
Eyes still glued to the night-coming sky, she could almost feel Kanga raise an eyebrow at her sauciness. Well, let him - he should know by then, she spoke her mind often enough, if he had a problem with it, he could deal with it however it suited him. He couldn't have been much bothered by it, indeed, he chuckled a bit and conceded that he would not carry her, though he was pretty good at carrying pups. She wanted to remind him that she was no longer a pup - though in retrospect, she wasn't that far off from it, and at Kanga's size, she may as well have been, she was ridiculously small in contrast, he could still pick her up by her scruff, or even around her torso if he took it into his head. There likely wouldn't be a way for her to stop him should he take it into his head, but he'd agreed not to...right? Well, he'd better or he'd get a sharp bat across the muzzle.
He also agreed to camping out for the night - this place was big enough for them each to have their own space - she wasn't even going to entertain the notion of them sharing a hearth for the night - no, that was going to get out of her head before it even got it (though to be fair, she had it coming to her after all the talk of Manaaki and Amora and their love life). Kanga claimed the largest piece - she had no objections, she always slept small anyway. Still, "Groundhog," she teased, smirking to herself at the unintended double-pun.
"I'm a summer birth. Got the temper and hot-headed impulsiveness to go with it - or so I've been told." She did indeed have the heat of the season in her blood - hot blooded, hot tempered, always hot, always in action, always moving in the restlessness of the eternal summer heat she had in her. Maybe that was why she liked lying still in the winter snow so well. Taking a moment to stop, to let go and be still, to relinquish the sun's hold on her as a subject of it's longest season, of it's most careful watch. To be free and watch the moon for a change.
"Shuddup silly fancies, I'm tryna enjoy the moment." she told the little voice in her head that threaded these thoughts together for her. "Kanga, could I ask another personal-ish question?"
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Post by Meds on Jun 1, 2018 17:14:04 GMT -5
Kanga;
”Groundhog.” Kanga’s wide tongue lolled out of his mouth in a half-open grin. She could call him all the names she wanted. He was used to such things, though Manaaki’s names for his twin often were more biting. Such was the life of the younger being. ”Well it isn’t like I have a choice,” Kanga snorted, referencing the fact that he would be mighty surprised if Kaily weighed even half as much as his hind legs alone. He shrugged though and snorted, then flopped downward. The ground fairly shook under his bulk, but he rolled over softly enough. He didn’t tuck his front legs to his chest as Kailypso had, instead choosing to splay out as if he had fallen from a great height and lay dead and squashed.
”You got that right,” Kanga said, brown eyes flashing as a second and more-wicked grin spilt his lips. If she were a bit bigger, and he a good deal smaller, she would be downright intimidating with that temper of hers. ”I like to think I’m more like an Autumn-born. Unpredictable and wild and free, hinting at something colder just beyond the bend.” He blinked slowly, gazing upward and almost losing himself. ”And Manaaki is a lot more cool and collected, like after a fresh blanket of snow, you know. No, I never much liked winter.” How could he? It was Winter that made him who he was—the season that his mother had died.
”Please,” He said in response to her request of another question. He gave a sharp shake of his head, his ears flapping loudly.
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Post by Fierfly on Jun 2, 2018 13:30:38 GMT -5
Kailypso:
Kanga grinned at her jab. So sue him - what choice did he have? He was huge - he needed the space. To prove it, he threw himself down in a huge, mass of muscle and fur and fairly gave her an earthquake. It was enough to make Kailypso turn her head to make sure no rock slide was forthcoming, but a brief exasperated look out of the corner of her eye did it for her. Let him throw his weight around, he had it to do with, what was the point in being huge if you couldn't brag it up a bit? Besides, it was Kanga, such antics and not-so-subtle ways of looking for attention. He was like an impatient pup always looking for some form of recognition and attention, not necessarily an attention hog, but he struck her as the type that liked to keep things interesting and didn't mind sitting in the spotlight.
Kanga grunted approvingly at family's assessment of her temperament matching the season of her birth. She was wild and hot-headed indeed. Well, she wouldn't deny it. Kanga admitted he felt a bit out of place in winter - it seemed more Manaaki's season, cool, quiet, collected. Autumn was again his preferred time, cheerful, mischievous, unpredictable, warm some days and yet always hinting at something colder just beyond reach. Kanga was distant with his inner demons - he'd been willing enough to share them a while ago, but would he have actually kept his word? Maybe she should have taken him up on it after all. Well, the personal-ish question was close enough to crossing that line.
"Why are you always trying to be so cheerful Crooked Smile? Don't get me wrong, I'd sooner laugh than cry as much as the next guy, but why are you always trying to hide your problems?" A foolish question if she'd posed it to anyone else. The Good wolves tried so hard to focus on the happy moments in life, never mind the vain sadness, move on is all. The Evil wolves would have scoffed, to show weakness or pain was weak - only the strong survive. To ask anyone else: "No one needs to know my burdens, they're mine alone." "What's it to you?" "Well, why are you so defensive about yours?" But Kanga didn't react like that - he'd been so willing to share his if he could understand hers. He could already see one of her weaknesses, her gimpy shoulder - everyone knew that one - and yes, she showed her teeth when she felt threatened with the jabs and curious looks about it, but Kanga didn't show his teeth unless someone else did first. He didn't snarl about his problems, he pushed them back so others coudln't see them, always hiding behind that crooked smile. She'd heard the hesitancy in his voice, something she might have called wistfulness in any other beast. She'd seen the darkness in his eyes before, so why was he trying so hard not to let it show?
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