Crush & Smother [Open]

[attr="class","pltxt"]Lorem dolor, consectetur.

Thames stubbornly ignored the wolf at his side, offering no more than an idle twitch of his ear as they spoke once more, criticizing his poor attitude. The female sounded slightly wounded, but irritation seemed to dominate her mood towards him, and that suited Thames just fine. He moved no further, intent on waiting out the stranger's visit as if it were a battle of wills, and instead kept his head turned slightly away, expression tense from exhaustion and frustration. He wondered if they saw him as a sulking pup, refusing aid out of misplaced pride, and the idea irked him. He was not a pup, and as far as he believed, had not been one for some months. His body wavered unsteadily on his weak limbs, and he forced himself to still, focusing all senses besides sight on the stranger who remained standing some feet away.

If there was one lesson he learned well as a youngster, it was that acts of compassion were not given freely, and that applied tenfold to strangers. If this wolf truly wished to aid him, they would surely call him on his debt at some point or another. The idea of anybody having a modicum of power over any element of him was abhorrent, and he would certainly not allow himself to be indebted over something as pitiful as sickness and injury. He'd survived this far, and would continue to do so.

You know, a wolf in your position would benefit from some friends. That attitude, however, will get you none. The sand-coloured wolf said, and Thames couldn't hold back his snort, a doubtful laugh forced through his clenched teeth. What benefit was friendship? He had never called any creature friend before, and had made it this far just fine. If you couldn't survive alone in the world then what purpose could you possibly serve? Fate favored the self-sufficient, as far as Thames was concerned, despite the fact that his current state was a rather vicious indicator that he was wrong. If he forced himself to admit it, perhaps it was nice to be sharing words of any sort with somebody after so many weeks of comparative isolation, but surely that was natural. It certainly wasn't out of any desire for companionship. Thames glanced up at the wolf, eyes deep amber in the dying light, and was slightly taken aback by her lowered posture, ears flat, tail limp. She seemed....disappointed? Hurt? Thames felt triumphant for one, spiteful moment, followed quickly by confusion.

He was utterly bewildered. This strange wolf had met him only minutes ago, yet seemed genuinely unhappy that he had rejected their attempts to reach out. He turned to them more out of reflex than any deliberate action, confusion clear in his tired-looking gaze, but a second look offered him no further information. He tried to force the feeling away, shifting uncomfortably.

"I don't need a friend." He said, and the words emerged with perhaps less certainty than he would have liked. Before he could attempt to correct his tone, the female turned, and walked across the beach without another word.

The confusion hit Thames once again, almost overwhelming him. He was never uncertain, never at a loss for words or actions, but found himself frozen, staring after the female's retreat with his mouth half-open, as if words would find him on their own. The mass of feathers and meat was still where she dropped it earlier, and Thames stared at it for a few long, perplexing moments.

Perhaps the sickness had reached his brain somehow. Perhaps it had muddled his ability to comprehend basic concepts. Why on earth would the wolf go through the trouble of catching prey - something that, in Thames' experience, was not a task to be undertaken with ease, only to abandon it practically at the feet of a rude stranger she encountered on the beach? What did she have to gain by doing any of what she had done? It occurred to Thames that perhaps she was waiting for him to lower his guard, so she could return and finish him off for good, but under his wary gaze, she simply climbed atop a large, flat boulder and lay there, watching the ocean turn golden under the sunset.

He was beginning to think that she was much stranger than he had initially assumed.

Thames took a halting step towards the corpse that lay abandoned on the sand, and gave it a rough nudge that rolled it over in an ugly splay of gore and feathers. The smell of flesh and blood set his mouth watering, saliva glistening on his exposed teeth, and his pride wavered for a moment as he considered simply snatching the gull away. Perhaps the strange wolf wouldn't miss it?

No. He would force the wolf to take the gull back. That would return at least one of her actions to some semblance of normality, and Thames could begin to make sense of the entire interaction. He attempted to call to her, but his voice was too weak for him to expect it to reach her over the sound of the waves hitting the shore. He steeled himself, forcing away any lingering uncertainty, and bent to gingerly pick up the gull at his feet. The feathers clung to his tongue, sticking uncomfortably to the exposed teeth and flesh on his scarred face. It was slow, but he was determined, and he eventually shambled close enough to spit the gull into the sand once again; the corpse now looking somewhat mangled from his insensitive grip, feathers stuck around his maw.

"You - ah," He fumbled for a way to get the wolf's attention, carefully keeping his head turned so as to hide the ugliness on the left side of his face."You left your...bird." He finished lamely, tone cold, and if he was a less arrogant creature, he would perhaps have admitted to the embarrassment that colored his tone. This was likely one of the least dignified things he had ever done, and he would be glad to be done with it as soon as possible.

"Leaving food like that doesn't make any sense. You should take it back." He spoke slowly, as if trying to both ensure she understood his intentions while also trying to make sense of them himself. He gave it an insistent nudge with his nose, and glanced expectantly at the stranger on her perch.

His breathing was slightly strained from his journey - 20 feet certainly was a long way to go when one of your limbs refused to function, and he steadily avoided the female's gaze; out of shame, or irritation, or just tiredness, he couldn't be certain. Part of him, tucked away in a secret part of his subconscious, anticipated the female's response with all the hope a yearling could muster, but it was largely drowned out, and remained a vague hint of nervous energy in the back of his mind.


Words: 1171
Tags: @kai
Muse:
Notes: unsurprisingly Thames is actually a complete idiot.

[attr="class","pltxt"]Lorem dolor, consectetur.

I left it there on purpose. Do you not want it? Thames looked at his own feet to hide his puzzled expression, pretending to be very interested in the way the sunset shimmered over the sand. With the female perched so high above him, he felt small, uncomfortable with the disadvantage in their positions, and resisted the urge to take a few steps backwards in case she decided to become aggressive after all. She shifted atop the boulder, hopping down so gracefully that she barely seemed to disturb the sand at her feet, and spoke once again.

I could take it back if you'd like. You did seem like you could use the energy, though. Thames' gaze darted up to meet the bright green of the female's, expression full of distrust, doubting the both her words and the intent behind them. He failed to understand why she would leave a token of kindness towards him when he had done nothing to earn it. What did she have to gain by doing such a thing? Was it a ploy of some kind? Thames was frustrated by his own inability to comprehend her reasoning, and so remained silent, loathe to reveal his confusion, even though the expression was clear in his face. He was exhausted, and his body ached, and he couldn't spare the energy to attempt to puzzle out this strange wolf's motives.

The wolf approached, coming far closer than Thames would have deemed reasonable, close enough that her ears nearly brushed the long fur at his throat. If he'd wanted to, he could have snapped, clamped her flesh between his teeth and lashed out for such an invasion of his personal space. As it was, he flinched at the proximity, letting out a sharp sound that was closer to panic and shock than anger, all while turning his head further from her gaze, a move that came across as deceptively submissive when it was, in fact, arrogant. He cared little about what others thought of him, but the horrified reactions of his family pack upon seeing the permanent snarl torn into his flesh had damaged his pride more than he had thought, and he would rather avoid the taunts and snide remarks that he was used to receiving.

Ducking his head away from the female, he rumbled a weak growl as she plucked the gull from the sand, backed up a short distance, and dropped it once again at her feet. The bird was in quite a state by now, crusted with sand and saliva, and Thames wished that fact alone was enough to quell his appetite - it was not, and if anything he found himself even hungrier watching the potential meal be taken from him. He watched it for a moment, feathers ruffled by the faint sea breeze, and spoke so softly that he wasn't certain he would be heard. The entire situation had him lost, and part of him wished this female would be clearer with her intentions so he could know how to respond.

"What do you want?" He said, plaintive, before seeing how his words could be misunderstood, and continuing more bluntly. "Nobody would offer such compassion to a stranger for free. There must be something you want of me." He felt tentatively desperate, both for clarification and for the aid the wolf seemed to be offering. When he was alone, it was easy to convince himself that he didn't need help of any kind, but now, with an apparently kind stranger and the offer of a much-needed meal, he was struggling to maintain his certainty.

Thames was growing more tired; holding his leg aloft to prevent it hurting was bad enough, but having to balance on his three remaining limbs in his unsteady state only made the situation worse. He sucked in a sharp breath, resting his foot against the sand at a somewhat awkward angle, toes sinking into the sand without the strength to brace themselves against the yielding surface. The sickness that had yet to leave his body had him trembling faintly, despite the fever that heated his blood, and whatever conviction he had was rapidly leaving him, with the instinctive desire to survive taking its place.

I'm sorry if I have upset you. I did not mean to be insulting. It was very rude of me to say those things earlier.

Thames frowned at the words, giving a tiny shake of his head. Every time he thought he might be able to figure this stranger out, she came up with something new to catch him off guard. She was apologizing now? He had been far less friendly to her than she had been to him, and saying he was sorry had never once occurred to him. He licked his lips, wetting his drying nose and displacing a few of the downy feathers still clinging to his teeth. He dropped his head, far too weary and confused to maintain any facade of strength; if the female was going to kill him, he assumed she'd have done it by now. He could afford to let his guard down for just a minute, just to get some energy back. He turned to face her, blinking, his scarred eye clouded and watering in the low light.

"I do not upset so easily." He said, on the tail end of a sigh. "You had cause to respond as you did. I would be more offended if you had not taken my behavior seriously." Huffing slightly through his nose, Thames allowed his hind end to sink into a half-hearted sit, more out of tiredness than comfort, and looked up at the female wolf with lidded eyes. He would attempt to be as polite as he knew how, as much as it pained him to do so. This wolf seemed well-meaning, if a little too trusting, so perhaps whatever debt they chose to invoke as payment for the meat and some temporary company wouldn't be anything too trying.

He sighed deeply, closing his eyes as if to prepare himself, and spoke kindly, if slightly reluctantly.

"Your thoughtfulness is...appreciated." He said, meeting the female's bright green gaze with his own dull amber. "Truthfully, I am reluctant to accept your aid, however...I fear that I may perish if I do not." The honestly felt genuinely painful, a piercing ache in his chest that may have been his wounded pride rebelling against admitting his weakness. He tipped his head slightly, exposing a glint of his many exposed teeth, the slick of saliva and old blood that stained them. "If the offer still stands...I will accept the meal, and repay the debt by whichever means you wish."



Words: 1136
Tags: @kai
Muse: 50%
Notes: i hope this is ok;; I'm still trying to figure out how to write him^^