Gold and Navy Reunite [Closed]

[Calypso]

Meds

Nanouk;

Summer. It had arrived quicker than many thought it would. The snow had melted, the ice was gone, and the land was warm and full of life. The water that ran through the valley had melted, just as the snow had, and now flowed in plenty. The Wildwater Falls were once again falling down into a pool below, which was full of fish. But there was one thing above the pool that usually wasn't there.

On a small cliff, one that had a thin path leading back down to the ground, there was a dark figure with golden markings. The figure had long legs, a long tail, and its muzzle reached out to where some of the water from the falls was going down. The wolf had cool water going across its face and down the back of his head between its ears.

Nanouk had originally arrived to do some fishing, but found that the water was nice and cool and refreshing. She had gotten a drink from that cliff, but seemed to only do so for a few moments. She soon pulled back her face from the falls, leaning over and hopping down from the small outcropping. She landed next to the pool below, the water tempting her. She presumed that no one else was around, so she walked forward, submerging her legs to get used to the water. She then moved forward again, all of her body being under water except her head and the very top of her body, her golden stripe that ran long the length of her face, back, and tail above water. She found the sound of the falls hitting the pool calming and remained in the water, scaring fish with her paws below the surface and her eyes closed.

[Meds]

DeSoto;

The summer sun beat down from the cloudless sky. The land below was lit in a thousand different ways, with no shadow being safe, and no breeze to stir the leaves. DeSoto was trotting through the trees, enjoying the shade as much as it could, as sparse as it was. His dark-blue eyes swept the land before him, but his search came up equally shadeless. He lifted a lip in near-annoyance, but quickly felt the cool of a forced-calm envelope him.
All the same, a coolness of the mind wasn't exactly a coolness of the body. DeSoto's sharpened ears flicked towards a sound of water off in the distance, and immediately he turned his paws in that direction. His dark fur passed through the bushes almost unseen, but every now and then a flash of sunlight would reveal the navy there. At one point he hit a dead end, having gotten lost on his way to the sound of water, and let a bark of frustration ring out of his throat.
His power activated in his momentary loss of control, and his bark of frustration turned into a booming sound that echoed across the hot land. DeSoto inwardly cursed himself for losing his patience, then ducked his head and turned back the way he had come.

Finally, he broke through the trees (squinting in the light), and came to the pools leading away from the Wildwater Falls. He couldn't see the falls properly, as the sun was in his eyes, but he didn't mind. He bent his head to avoid staring directly into the sun, and waded knee-deep into the cooling water. DeSoto allowed his eyes to flutter closed, then he bent his legs and submerged himself in the pool.
Suddenly, interrupting the monotonous rush of the falls, came a splash that was out of pattern. DeSoto's eyes flung open, for he didn't like being unaware of his surroundings, and he scanned the pools before and above him. The falls were situated further ahead, but as the land sloped down, various pools gathered here and there, a lot of them atop the others, which provided a nice sort of scenery, complete with many smaller waterfalls as the higher pools spilled into the lower. DeSoto didn't come up with anything upon looking, but thought that perhaps a wolf could be swimming in the pools just above his vision. He sat up, the water now only coming to about his waist, and peered towards the base of the falls.

A lot of it was hidden by mist, and the sun was reflecting off the water and making dancing light-shadows, but other than that he couldn't see anybody. DeSoto flicked his head, deciding whether to leave without being seen, or to stay and be spotted. Either way, he didn't move, his desire to find out who he had missed winning out over his desire to slip off unnoticed.

[Calypso]

Nanouk;

The falls were pretty peaceful. The sound of water hitting the pool filled her ears consistently, which clouded out most other sound. But she did suddenly hear something that wasn't the falls. It was a very loud, echoing sound, one that she honestly couldn't tell where it came from. She opened her eyes and stopped swimming for a moment, treading water and glancing around her. She didn't smell anything out of the ordinary, nor did she see anything. Yet...that sound had been familiar.

She felt a chill go down her spine, then. Perhaps the water was growing colder than she originally thought. She swam another circle or two before going to the edge of the pool, scraping her claws along the surface and climbing her way onto the shore. She lifted herself up and out of the water, shaking off her legs quickly before shaking her whole body, water flying off the edges of her fur. She leaned down and stretched out her limbs for a little, pushing her paws out in front of her. She then stood up properly, glancing around the area. There was now a scent around her. She couldn't quite tell what it was at first, but she then realized it was of another wolf. At the moment she couldn't see anything, but maybe that was just because she wasn't looking down at the other pools of the falls. Once again, it seemed so familiar...yet she couldn't pin it.

When she finally did look down at the pools, she saw movement. She walked over to the edge of the surface, near where the pool she was swimming in fell into the next, and looked down at the water. Of course she saw the movement of the water itself, but there was another figure down there. She could see it moving, but the sun beating off the water made it difficult to really tell. She did see a very dark blue color, though, and for a moment seemed to have her hopes up, but she also didn't want to jump to conclusions. There were almost for sure more than just one navy-colored wolves in this valley.

[Meds]

DeSoto;

As his eyes scanned the scenery around him, suddenly movement above caught DeSoto's attention. It was the flash of another wolf, but who, he couldn't be sure. A calculated his situation for a mere moment, then plunged into the water before him. He paddled easily through, as the pools down at this level were quite calm, and clamored into the next. He glanced up again, but was at an even worse angle. He repeated this process until it was mist blocking his vision, rather than rocks, as he neared the falls. In no time he was up one more level, and with the sun behind him, came face to face with the wolf he had sensed.

DeSoto froze for a moment, eyes locked on Nanouk. Then she turned, and he saw the golden stripe on her back. Another wolf might have smiled—another wolf might have leapt forward and tackled their friend into the water, but DeSoto was not like other wolves. He stayed still, held back, and watched calmly. He allowed an agreeable twinkle to settle into his dark eyes, but he did not smile.

"Hello Nanouk," He said, as if he had expected to find her there.
How long had it been since their last encounter? He thought back for a fraction of time. It had to have been a season, maybe even two. They hadn't left on bad terms; indeed, they had left on much friendlier terms than they had met—but if DeSoto remembered properly, he had almost lost control, and ran off into the bushes. He had not been easy on himself after that encounter. For all of Nanouk's insistence that having no emotions actually made wolves weak, DeSoto simply could not agree. He had looked at his life from all manner of different angles—but still came up with the same answers. It had been a glimpse of something new, their first encounter, but DeSoto wasn't sure if he had liked it. Indeed, it made him vulnerable. Even frightened—and he wasn't sure that he wanted to go through it again.

[Calypso]

Nanouk;

She watched the movement of the other figure, curious as to what it was doing exactly. Swimming, obviously. It was a dumb thought. But there was a chance this other wolf had seen her and was looking to come up to her. She had began to turn away, but saw that her hunch was correct; whoever this was actually was trying to get to where she was. She didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, but she still stayed. She waited patiently, waiting for the moment when she would see the other wolf's face.

She watched as the other wolf began to visibly appear over the edge of the pool and her eyes went wide. Her previous thought had also been right. She knew she recognized that sound she had heard and that scent, and even that fur. It actually was him. But she wasn't entirely sure what to think of this. She saw him standing there, saw him looking at her, and heard him say hello, but what was her opinion of this? Was she happy to see him again? Was he happy to see her? That last question was debatable, since he never showed any sort of emotion. She could ask, but that would be a bit too straight-forward.

Her golden eyes went back to normal and she flicked her tail, facing towards him. "Hey." Her greeting wasn't much, but it did what it needed to. She stared at him for a moment, recalling their first encounter that had happened during the Spring. Had it really been a whole season since she met him? Yet this was the first time in all of that time that they had seen each other. After she remembered what happened last time, she slightly smirked. "Looks like your wish came true, " she stated, tilting her head to the side.

The last time they met, he had acted strange towards the end. Of course, she didn't fully know his personality, so that may have just been him. But he had turned away from her and randomly somewhat changed the subject of their conversation before running off. His last words to her were that he wanted to see her again, which was right before he bolted without warning or saying goodbye.

"Are you going to stick around this time or leave suddenly like you did before, " she asked, the tiniest bit of irritation in her voice.

[Meds]

DeSoto;

"Hey."

Ah, she was not happy. Or, perhaps she wasn't sure if she was happy. DeSoto could accept that, being a wolf who very-much analyzed his feelings before feeling them. In either case, he didn't know how he felt, either. She mentioned that it seemed as if his wish had come true. Instantly, DeSoto recalled having said that he had wanted to see her again.
Well, that had certainly been true—though it was a wonder he had said it at all.

In fact, no more than two days had passed in a row without the black and gold wolf crossing his mind. It bothered him, why he couldn't figure her out—worse still, why he couldn't figure himself out around her. Already he could feel the beginnings of the curious tension in his chest, just at the sight of her. At the same time, he thought he might want to either embrace her or chastise himself and run off again.
Surely, he thought as she made a subtle comment about him doing just that the last time, she knew why he had left? Surely, she knew it was because the very foundation that made him who he was was crumbling at its base? Even as he stood there, staring at her half in the pool and half out, he could feel the fissures starting.
He didn't know what he would be if that foundation cracked; and more frighteningly, he didn't know what type of wolf it would release.

So much for his self-training. He had spent so long trying to re-harden his defenses and make sure that nothing like their first encounter ever happened again—and yet here he was. Oh, he had smelled her from the pool below. Of course he had. Her scent was ingrained in the very fiber of his memory, try as he did to rid himself of it. Yes, he had known it was her that was swimming in the upper pool—but he had climbed up to her all the same.
Even in that moment, he had not allowed himself to accept that he knew it was her.

He gave his head an imperceptible shake, hoping that not too long had passed since she asked her (slightly) passive-aggressive comment. DeSoto's sharp ears flattened against his head and he turned, eyeing her from an angle.
"Time will tell," He said, his deep voice rolling out across the water until it hit her. "For now, I have no intentions of leaving..." He didn't want to admit to her why he had left in the first place; in fact, he had hoped she would have forgotten. But alas, it seemed she did not. Indeed, she had commented on that memory before anything else. He supposed that was to be expected. He dipped his head and took a drink from the pool.

"And indeed it has," He murmured between lapping up water, referring to his wish and it having come true. He couldn't deny that this was what he had wanted—oh, he had tried. He had tried to tell himself that no good would come of seeing her again—but blast it all, if he didn't run straight to her as soon as he caught her scent again!
DeSoto figured it was, in large part, due to curiosity. He was curious about this female and why she made him feel the way he did (scared too, of course, but also curious).

[Calypso]

Nanouk;

She waited. Waited for a response from him on his actions during their previous encounter. He remained silent, which was normal. He may of had a face of stone, but she knew that those gears in his head were turning, processing her words, remembering what he did, and more than likely thinking about what to say. She may not know him very well, but she could almost guarantee that she was right. Though, she had to admit that he stayed silent for a long time, longer than he normally had. Was he really thinking that much over? She couldn't blame him, really.

When he finally did answer, as before, it wasn't much to go off of. He merely said that he didn't plan on leaving but it was debatable. She also heard him say something under his breath, but she wasn't too focused on it. Probably talking to himself. She watched as he began to take a drink from the pool, giving her a chance to look him over for a moment. He hadn't changed, but she didn't expect him to. He was still the same, emotionless, navy-colored wolf she had met a season ago. But he seemed to be a bit more calm than he was when they first met. But she suspected that sooner or later he would find something that would stir him up, just like last time. She took a few steps forward, leaning her head down to drink as well.

Surprisingly enough, she didn't feel like she did last time. When they first met she was a bit flustered, antsy, and just had some sort of feeling going through her that she couldn't quite place. But that was likely because he had been the first wolf she had ever met in the valley. Now, after all that time of not seeing each other, she didn't feel that way. All this was, this uniting of the two wolves, was just a coincidental meeting two who had met before. They were basically just acquaintances, in a way. They knew a bit about each others' pasts and had a general idea of personality, or at least she did. But they didn't really know each other, and she was unsure if they could be seen as friends. The temptation to ask him about that was there, but she knew he wouldn't answer or wouldn't know how to, so she decided against it.

As she drank, her eyes moved up to look at him again, though she didn't stop her drink. She then realized something in her head, but was unable to stop it from coming out verbally. "You haven't thought about me, have you?" No! I should have thought first! I always think before I talk! Why did I... She quickly looked back down at the water, stopping her lapping but not moving her head away from the water. She wanted to say nevermind, say not to answer, but she knew it was too late. He would either notice that she hadn't thought first, would get confused by the question, or, with any luck, think that all the time she didn't respond was used to think what she said. But all of that was just in her head. She started to overthink, making her thoughts tumble over each other. She convinced herself that it was a simple question used as a tease towards him.

[Meds]

DeSoto;

For a moment, it was quiet and peaceful. Nanouk was drinking in the corner of DeSoto's vision, and he was able to hide his face in the water at the same time. Thankfully his eyes were dark enough that she probably wouldn't be able to see that he was looking at her. He was so curious about her. It drove him to the brink of madness. For his entire life, he had always known exactly how he dealt with things, and how he reacted to the environment around him.
Now, after only meeting this wolf one other time, that was all being shaken to the ground. He had thought he was stronger than this—and he refused to believe that such strength actually made him 'weak'. But he could not ignore the way she made him feel. She made him feel that anything was possible, rather than what he knew to be true—that some things were possible for some wolves, and not for others. He buried all of these thoughts in the water as he drank, though he was no longer thirsty.

"You haven't thought about me, have you?"

DeSoto froze with his maw in the cool water. His dark eyes flashed up to the side of her face once more, then back down. She was no longer drinking, but had her head suspended above the water as well. Perhaps speaking outloud had been a mistake on her part. In any case, blast it all, she had asked it, and worse, he had heard it. DeSoto had picked an awful position to freeze in, too, with his nose fully submerged. He held his breath as he tried to work out what to say, knowing that to move was to show that he had heard her. When he could stand it no longer, he lifted his nose an inch above the water, taking a breath as quietly as he could. He was silent and still for a few moments longer, and then succumbed to the pulling in his chest.

"I've thought of you." Every day. DeSoto lifted his head more fully out of the water and sat, fixing her with a calculating look. The water was cool on his hind legs and belly, gently pulsing against him and moving him with the current. He wanted to ask if she had thought of him, but for some reason he couldn't convince his mouth to form the words. It would be much worse if he tried to speak and lost his nerve halfway through, tripping over himself like a nervous and confused pup. But he couldn't say nothing. She was already so quiet, that him saying one sentence made it very unlikely she would reply at all. And he wanted her to reply. He took a steadying breath.
Alright. Breathe. He wasn't going to stutter. After all, who was this female that she should terrorize him so? He could do this. He was a smart, strong, evil, well-articulated wolf that did not trip over his words. He thought out what to say before he said it, and he always got his point across. Alright. Speak.

"Have—have you thought of me?" He closed his eyes in a seemingly-calm gesture, though inside he was shriveling up in horror. He had tripped over his words. Him, DeSoto, had choked out a sentence that he wasn't even sure that he wanted to ask. He tightened his eyelids. If he didn't look, he didn't have to see her expression.
But he opened his eyes anyway.

[Calypso]

(Ahhh, he's so cute X) )

Nanouk;

It was difficult to wait like this again. She hadn't wanted to ask that question, or at least not out loud. The moment she thought it, out it came, which was very unlike her, but it was too late. She glanced up for a moment, checking to see if he planned to respond, but, as far as she could tell, he hadn't even heard her. Was the waterfall too loud? They weren't that close to it, but it was possible that their ears were different in what they heard. She glanced back down, almost glad that he hadn't heard. But then she heard him take an inward breath and heard him shuffling. She wasn't sure if he heard her or not. His eventual response confirmed that he did hear her.

I've thought of you.

It was pretty straight-forward and blunt, but it answered the question. It didn't really explain anything beyond that, but perhaps that was a good thing. She wasn't quite sure what to say, but she still glanced up to find him looking at her. When she saw that she froze for a moment, but gained control of herself quickly and lifted her head away from the water, looking back at him. Her golden eyes remained locked on his own dark ones, curious as too whether there was anything else. She didn't know whether she should speak or if he would keep going. But he did say something before she could.

His question definitely threw her off. Her eyes slightly widened and her ears seemed to go nearly back against her head. Even the fur on her tail slightly puffed out as she turned her gaze away from him. How was she suppose to answer that? She wasn't even really sure of the answer herself. She had to admit that she had thought about him- maybe not as often as he thought about her- but still.

She looked back at him with slight confidence- not as much as she wished she had- and thought of her response. "Y...Yeah. I guess you could say that." She then did what she had done before again, responding without thinking. "Is that a good thing?"

[Meds]

DeSoto;

His answer was not necessarily to her liking—or was it? DeSoto no longer trusted the way he saw the world. If his very understanding of himself was being shaken, so too was his understanding of the world. Everything was upside-down, and there he was in the middle, struggling to get his footing and not fall away. She met his eyes though, and suddenly he felt, again, the sensation of the subtle pain in his chest lessening some when looking at her—as if it was her that was causing it, and her that was healing it. She held his gaze for so long without saying anything, but he deserved as much. He did the same to her. But this was too precarious of ground to be speaking bluntly and openly with no care in the world. Still though, it did make him impatient. Why he even cared what she said was a mystery in itself, and ever-so frustrating.

Finally, she confirmed that yes she had thought of him. But she didn't know whether or not that was a good thing. Her ears were back on her head and her ruff had lifted, which made DeSoto cautious rather than curious. It also served to remind him who he was and where they were. He was getting to be too vulnerable again, just as he had before. He made a mental note to get a hold on himself. Slowly, and in pieces, he felt his confidence replacing the confusion. He came to the realization that even if he didn't really know how to proceed from here on out, the least he could do was go about it proudly and with confidence. He was a proud wolf, after all. Trained from birth, member of Frigid Plague. There was no need for him to be sniveling and stuttering. This was not to say his attitude suddenly hardened or he became angry—it was just that, all of a sudden, he felt he had found his footing. Some armor had been placed back around him, it was true, but as they had found out before: if too much armor was stripped away too quickly, chaos ensued. Bit by bit was better, if it had to happen at all.

In response to Nanouk's question, DeSoto tilted his head side to side and waded to the very edge of the pool. Below him was empty air and falling water until it reached the other pool some ten feet below, and beyond that lay the territory spread out in front. He gazed off into the distance, noting how blue the sky was with the sun, and decided how to answer.
"It could be good for different reasons," He said, gaining some control over himself back and hinting once more at the logical and clever conversation they had had once before; after all, that's why he had decided he could tolerate her—the conversation. "And bad for different reasons..."
He turned, his legs half-submerged by the chilly water and his back to the open expanse as if he didn't mind or care.

"For example, if you were thinking about me in the sense that you would like to see me again, have another logical conversation, and in general benefit from my charming company—" Ah yes, there was the confidence. It felt good—as if his chest was re-inflating after having exhaled everything. He wasn't quite joking or flirting, as his voice was as deep and level as ever, but he was in no foul mood. "—Then I think that's good. But if you were thinking about me in the sense of, for example, hoping to get my back to a cliff so you could push me off of it and rid yourself of me for good..." His dark eyes flashed. "Then maybe not so good."

For once, DeSoto allowed a smile to flash his teeth momentarily, before it was once again hidden by the blank expression.
"So knowing that, you tell me." He watched her carefully, taking one more step backward until he was quite literally at the very edge of the pool. "Good, or bad?"

[Calypso]

Nanouk;

After she had asked the question, his position on the other side of the pool shifted multiple times. He had finally settled with his back towards the open sky and his face looking towards her. His response, though, was slightly amusing. It was almost like he was doing what both of them did best: think first, but instead of doing it just in his head, he was saying it. She found this odd and was unsure what too think of it. He presented both options of where this conversation would go before it even got to either of those points. He was getting smart. Or maybe not, if what actually happened turned out to be neither of those scenarios.

All of this caused a smile to form on her face and a slight chuckle to escape her throat. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Similar to what had happened to him, her confidence returned. She looked back over at him with a small smirk and narrowed eyes. She then stood straight an slightly stretched out her limbs once again before facing him. "Perhaps its both, " she stated, walking forward and putting her paws and legs into the water before turning and walking towards him head-on. "Maybe I've been thinking about having a decent conversation and enjoying your charming company before pushing you off this cliff. With where you're standing, I wouldn't even need to make conversation. I'd just have to rush forward, " she said, stopping a short distance from him but not right up in front of him.

For a moment she stayed silent, simply staring at him with narrowed golden eyes. She then slightly lowered her body as if she really were about to leap at him. She did slightly jump forward, but it was just a tiny jump, one that wouldn't even have enough strength to budge him. Instead of the leap ending with her running into him, she landed just before him, a small amount of water reaching up and hitting his own pelt. But it wasn't just the water that touched him. Her own nose just barely pushed against his own, remaining there for a brief moment before she turned away, her tail brushing across his side, and trotting a short distance from him and back out of the water. She then turned her head back, but her body remained facing away from him.

"Don't worry. Just like we talked about before, if I had the intention of killing you, I would just tell you anything and everything."

[Meds]

DeSoto;

She smiled, then. It was like the golden sun coming out from behind navy clouds. DeSoto drank in her smile as if it was water and he was dying of thirst. But then it was gone, replaced with something much more mischievous. He carefully cleared his mind, preparing himself for whatever may come next.
It was in that moment that he made a half-way decent self-realization. His training had taught him to look at everything objectively except himself. Nanouk had pointed this out, or maybe she had just made him realize it, in their first encounter. But now, as he stood there, confidence restored and getting the smile of a lifetime aimed directly at him, he realized that maybe his training wasn't all for the bad. Maybe, just maybe, it had given him the tools necessary to clear his mind; indeed, become the blank slate that he had been taught to be—and yet, perhaps he could be aware of it while he did it. He had always been a very thoughtful wolf; maybe this new territory with Nanouk, all these confusions, thoughts, and feelings were opening him up to becoming a very self-aware wolf indeed. It certainly seemed that way, as he had realized this all in the fraction of a second, still standing atop the cliff, now-aware that he had cleared his mind in preparation for the next chapter.
Interesting.
He would revisit that later. But in the moment, Nanouk was speaking, and he found himself not wanting to miss a syllable.

She was toying with him, as her mischievous grin and inching-forward exhibited. He stood still, watching her, as if made of stone. When she was done speaking she leapt at him, stopping just-short. A wave bubbled against his pelt, and then her nose brushed his own. It was done so softly that he couldn't even be sure it had really happened—save for, of course, the explosions that were going off inside of his brain and the crippling pain that was blossoming inside of his chest.
Then as quickly as she had come close to him, she turned and walked away, her tail flicking against him, before coming to rest across the pool from him.

"Don't worry. Just like we talked about before, if I had the intention of killing you, I would just tell you anything and everything."
DeSoto had an idea, then. If she could catch him off-guard and do something highly out of character (at least from what he had observed so far), then so could he. There was nobody around for miles—nothing they did here would ever get out to the public. So this time, the grin that shadowed onto his face was delighted and devilish all at once—then it was gone. Maybe he would learn to smile one day—but today wasn't that day. Today, it would seem, was a day for play.

"You would tell me anything and everything?" He repeated, taking a few steps away from the edge, closer to Nanouk. "Anything? And everything?" His tail moved across the surface of the water and he cleared his throat. "But only if you planned to kill me? Ah, well that does present something of a problem—oh I know," He said cryptically, backing away once more. "I'm nothing if not a problem solver."

Oh, his eyes were dancing now. The sun reflecting off the pool hit them, too, showing that they actually weren't black, and were in fact blue like the rest of him.

"If anything and everything is on the line, then I may as well off-myself. As long as I get to hear it after." His voice was deep, there was no smile on his maw, but there was a twinkle in his eyes. He had continued backing up as he spoke, and then as he uttered the last word, he reared onto his back paws, still facing Nanouk. He teetered for a moment, watching her as if he was doing nothing more than commenting on the weather, then leaned backward and fell into oblivion.

In reality he only free-fell for about nine feet before plummeting into the pool below. He had already swam through it to get to Nanouk in the first place, so he knew it was deep enough to permit such a fall—but she didn't. He hit with a mighty splash and then stayed still, floating, watching for her head to peek over the cliff.

[Calypso]

Nanouk;

It was almost as if she could physically see the gears in his head turning. He remained silent at first, and also did so when she made her little playful gesture. She tried to find any reaction from him, but she found that there was none. But she didn't expect any different. She almost felt disappointed, but she shooed the feeling away. She was about to turn away, but she saw something. Out of the corner of her eye she saw...a grin? She only saw it for a moment before it was gone, but she knew she had seen it. She had triggered something, no matter how minor, and it made those feelings of disappointed fade quickly.

When he began to speak, she listened, but questioned his words. The way that he put his words did throw her off on their own. The way he said it suggested that the only way she would ever tell him anything was if she was going to kill him after, which wasn't true. When they first met she had told him some of her past, yet she didn't kill him for telling him about it. She was completely honest with him last time, yet she didn't plan to do something like that. She turned her head towards him, one ear flopping over on her as she tilted her head slightly. "That's not what I..., " she didn't finish her thoughts, but he spoke again.

He said he was nothing if he wasn't a problem solver, but what did that- he then stated that if him dying meant that he would hear the anything and everything she was talking about, it was worth it, or something like that. She watched as he began to back away from her, nearing the edge of the pool. At first it didn't register in her head, but when it did, her ears perked and her eyes went wide. "Wait-!

Too late. He had lifted himself on his back paws and fell backwards. She ran forward towards the edge as she heard a loud splash. Panic had set in all of her, though she wasn't sure why. As she ran forward, her paws skidded to the edge of the cliff, looking down over the edge to see him floating. If this were a normal situation she would have been thrilled to see that he was alive. But it was the fact that when she looked down, he was looking back up at her, almost as if he knew she would look over the edge. Within moments of seeing his very alive face looking back up at her, one main thought ran through her head.

He knew that if he fell he wasn't going to die! He did it to mess with me!

At that thought, her teeth suddenly bared and her ears pinned back. She jumped the pool that they had been in moments before and began to quickly jump down the stones that acted as a dramatic stairway down to the next pool. When she reached the bottom she made a sharp turn and ran to the edge of the water, stopping just short of the edge, and growled.

"Why did you do that!? At least I only teased you! That wasn't funny!" She knew she was most likely giving him what he wanted: a reaction, but she couldn't of held that back. Really she had felt that way because as he fell the thought that he had just tried to kill himself because of her ran through her head, causing chaos to set in. But now she was just angry, and she didn't plan on hiding it.

[Meds]

DeSoto;

All was quiet and peaceful as he floated in the water for a moment, and then, like clockwork, Nanouk's head appeared over the edge. DeSoto's own ears perked, for she had appeared very soon and looked quite upset. That was only for a moment though, as a split-second later she became quite angry. Ears pinned and teeth bared, DeSoto could hear her growl from down in his pool of serenity. He watched her, expressionless, as she began jumping down the rock-stairs to get to him, lecturing him all the while.

She was shouting that it wasn't funny, what he had done, and for all the world she looked like a wolf who thought her best friend had suddenly died. DeSoto watched her fume and rage until she quieted, and a small smile played at the corner of his lips for a moment. He gathered up a mouthful of water and spat it into the air, allowing it to rise up like a fountain and come splashing back down.

"Well I am evil," He mused, paddling and kicking his legs backwards until he had eventually circled around nearer to the danger of Nanouk. "Besides," He added, flipping over and standing on his hind legs once more so he could reach the bottom and keep his torso above-water. His front paws floated out in front of him, peaceful, occasionally batting through the water. "You couldn't have thought I was really going to end it all—? I had said that I may as well off myself as long as I got to talk to you after. That would have been quite a feat, even for me." The sun was not so bright down in the lower pool, but edges of it still caught his eyes and made then sparkle.

He hopped/swam forward on his hind legs, getting ever closer to her, sitting by the edge. His face was expressionless but if Nanouk had looked very closely—unlikely in such an angered state—she might have seen that his blank-face had the hints of a smirk on it. The hint of a mischievous little grin.
He had half a mind to pull her in. It was warm, and she had already been swimming—but he didn't want to test her any further.

Well, perhaps a bit further.

He lifted one paw and brought it down with a crash, which resulted in a splash that traveled over to her. The movement was done in such a way that her getting splashed could have been an accident.
"What would you care if I died?"

It was with only a half-serious tone that DeSoto asked the question, but he watched her closely after that. Her anger was cute. —cute? DeSoto had to reevaluate that thought for a moment. Yes.... yes, he was pretty sure he thought it was cute. Had he ever thought anything cute, before?
He couldn't recall.

[Calypso]

Nanouk;

It was true that her initial anger had faded slightly, but it was now replaced with annoyance. He looked so care-free, swimming through the pool as if nothing had happened, not a care in the world. Even if him doing that had just been a playful joke, it hadn't been to her.

But...why? Why did him falling make her upset and enraged? It wasn't like she really saw him as her best friend, she hardly knew him, really. But even as that thought went through her head she doubted herself. She had returned to the question of what he was to her, and she still couldn't answer.

When he spoke, swimming near her, she let out a final growl of annoyance before she let out a sigh and seemed to contain herself. She listened to what he said without and word at first. After he had said that him dying and then talking to her after would be a feat, she shook her head.

"Either way, talking to me at all can't mean that much." How wrong she was in that statement when it came to Desoto, but, of course, she didn't know that. She glared at him with fiery golden eyes while he sat in the water near her, looking at her with those expressionless features that were almost always there, taunting her.

She then felt a splash of water hit her and realized that he had thrown his paw dow, causing the water to hit her. She couldn't fully tell if he did it on purpose but still went with the thought that it was not accidental. He then asked a question that once again through her off. She turned her face away, trying to think of what too say, but coming up with nothing. She stayed silent for a long while, not daring to face him when she had no answer and no idea how to do so. Finally, she let out a long sigh and sat down, allowing herself to roll over onto her side, her head closer to him now.

"I don't even know anymore. I guess I would be pretty upset, but I don't know why. Many times now you have angered, annoyed, interested, and just made me feel off. At this point I have no clue what you are or what you mean to me." She closed her eyes for a moment, then lifting her head slightly and looking at his eyes. A tiny smile formed at the side of her jaws as she looked at him.. "You're a very frustrating wolf, you know that?"