Outside of the pack a day after Jupiter's little party, Ashmedai awoke, head pounding and world swirling. The night before was a wish-wash of blurred moments and half-remembered fuckery. He groaned to himself and went to roll over when he instead was met with a facefull of plush, peachy fur. He pulled back a little instinctively, then, realizing it must have been a lover from the night previous, snuggled in closer, "Tell me whatever we did was worth this hangover," he mumbled groggily into her fur.

Then her scent hit him and his memories came back. She was the kissy girl from the party. Ash had talked a big game and led her off for some less-than-innocent fun when he found out that the amount he consumed far surpassed his libido and not only could he not get himself ready for said big game, but he spend a good portion of the evening (morning?) throwing up.

So wait... Ashmedai pulled back, looking around. They were... near The Range? Oh. OH. Ashmedai pulled himself to his feet, feeling a dry heave catch in his abdomen, but swallowing it down. He promised to make it up to her. For leading her away from the party. He acted like that was the plan all along; She was so impressed with Ash and Jupiter that he decided he ought to let her experience the head of their lineage- Valentine. "Oh fuck, I- uh- promised to take you to the ORIGINAL stud, didn't I?" He knew the answer before she had any time to respond.

Now where was that old fart? Probably by his tractor. Ashmedai crossed into the path, motioning for the girl to follow. "Don't worry, it was Tyrian's first party, he's not gonna be in any state to track you down and I'll talk to him before he gets the chance to think about it." Ashmedai walked with her- what WAS her name- to the tractor and then called out, "Dad? Valentine? It's Ash- I brought you a surprise."

The funny, oddball man had caught her eye at the party. He claimed to be the brother of the host and pointed out all the members of his family. They were certainly a strong bunch! So many slate and blue wolves with adorable face adornments- freckles or numbered dots- almost all of a large stature. When the man first took her aside, he seemed intent on having her all to himself but after a while he started to backtrack and saying "I need back up.... everyone else is at the party uhhh Valen! Yea, he needs to get laid, haven't seen him much since Rhythm left," and something about being the "best wingman in the history of wingmans OR sons," before explaining to her that if she was to be with one of them, it was possibly best to be with his father. Zora wasn't sure she bought it, but she was interested in the man that led to so many interesting offspring. On their way to the pack, the man- who boasted himself named the Pirate King or "just King for short"- found himself violently sick and eventually passed out from the effort. Zora knew a little about healing from her training and decided to stay with him to just make sure he didn't asphyxiate. He woke now, seemed to regain his memories and led her across the borders before calling out to the mysterious Valentine. Zora took a minute to preen before trying to sit pretty like her training taught her: relaxed ears, tail around paw, 45 degree angle from facing forward, slow blinking and distant eyes, and a light smile almost as if remembering a fond memory. She waited, heart fluttering, for the man who King had built up the whole night before.

Ashmedai's call went unanswered. Valentine was off in dreamland killing coyotes with his favorite woman. He'd have happily stayed here had not Lefty, who was curled up beside him, kicked him squarely in the nose. "Hey you old fart, one of your brats is making a ruckus. Shut him up, would ya?" Valentine awoke with a startled snort. the noise was quickly followed up by an angry growl as the pain in his nose registered. Damn skunk. "What?" he grumbled. "I said," Lefty snipped back, "One of your brats it outside making noise. Something about a surprise for you. " She kicked at him again, this time earning a testy snap from Valentine. "Make him be quiet; I need my beauty sleep."

Ready to be rid of the skunk, Valentine slid out of his den. He stretched and blinked blearily in the bright sunlight. "A surprise, you say? What-" His vision cleared and his attention naturally gravitated to the beautiful woman who accompanied Ashmedai. His eye was immediately drawn to her form. She was a gorgeous young thing; her coat as bright and cheerful as the morning sun and her eyes the sort of pale, dreamy gaze you could get lost in. Valentine was immediately enamored. His eyes never once strayed from the woman as he finished his question. "What kind of a surprise?"

Ashmedai wasn't thrilled with waiting. It wasn't like he called on dear old dad very often. For all Valentine knew, Ashmedai could be- uh- actually, he couldn't think of what would really get a rise out of Valen these days. Eventually the old fuck crawled out of his den and asked what Ash had for him- stopping midway through to ogle at Zora before finishing his question. Ah, yes, a good catch. Ash let his lopsided smile become coy, "Now I'm not telling you what or who to do or not do, but this lovely lady has all the love in the world to share and honestly I'm all loved out from the party last night."

It was mostly the truth. He was all "loved out," but mostly he had a bad hangover now that he wished to go and drink away. In all clarity, this girl deserved someone good and Ash was SURE Valentine could sort that out. "I'll tell Tyr she's in the pack so just treat her nice and make sure she leaves safely, mmkay? I've gotta go nurse the pounding in my head so I'll leave the gift-giving to you." He nodded firmly, leaving no room to Valentine to protest- not that he was sure he would- before he turned and sauntered off. He didn't really want his mind to linger on what they'd do so the sooner he left, the better.

-exit-

Zora waited patiently while the man came out, his voice thick with groggy overtones as he spoke. The older male hosted a slate coat and bold facial markings. Just looking at him, Zora couldn't entirely pin his age and with his gravely, sleep-filled voice, he was ever the more appealing. King briefly mentioned that she was full of love to give. He then explained he intended to leave and that he would- from what Zora gathered- get her in the good graces of the pack so that she wasn't trespassing. Once he left, Zora turned her attention to the man before her. She dipped her head slowly, sliding her ears back lightly, "It's nice to make your acquaintance. I'm Zora Sunshine Somnialis." She rose from her bow, her eyes coming to rest on the rugged man's face. "King- or uhm Ash?- told me a lot about you. I was beside myself with excitement with the way he spoke of you."

Well this a strange turn of events. Briefly Valentine wondered if he'd died and gone to Somnium and this was his brain's way of rewarding him for a life well lived; trying to give him the things he enjoyed while failing just slightly with realism as it usually did with dreams. But then he remembered that nasty, bitchy skunk in his den and knew he couldn't possibly be in heaven if she was still around. No, his afterlife would be skunk free unless he'd run afoul with whatever ran it and deserved some semblance of hell. Which, if true, would be full of skunks and woefully empty of pretty, doe-eyed young ladies.  

As for Ashmedai's call to treat her right and blah, blah, blah... "I wouldn't dream of doing otherwise," he rumbled huskily, forgetting, already, that Ashmedai was still within earshot. His eyes hadn't left the woman since he'd discovered her. The way he saw it, he had a limited time left on Earth so why waste it gazing at his son's face when he could be soaking up the beauty of a radiant woman. She bowed her head gently and introduced herself; her name as fitting and lovely as the rest of her. "The name's Valentine and the pleasure is all mine, my dear."

A slow, easy smile brightened his features as Zora went on to explain that Ashmedai had told her a lot about him and that was what had led her here. "Is that so?" he purred. It seemed a bit too good to be true. Had he been younger Valentine probably would have wasted time pondering the many ways this could bite him in the ass, but age had intensified his devil-may-care tendencies and he'd long ago decided not to waste any fucks on worries. Let the young ones deal with today's issues. He was retired. If this was Ashmedai's way of trying to become the favorite son, well, it was working and Valentine wasn't going to fight it or ask questions. "With praise like that how's a man to live up to your expectations? It sounds like I have my work cut out for me."

Zora laughed lightly and politely at the man's introduction. It wasn't forced or hard, just an easy laugh that rolled off her lips in acknowledgement. Her purred a question at her claims of Ashmedai's praises and she nodded readily, taking the pause to come just a little closer as she slowly raised herself from the ground. Her tiny form was dwarfed by the large man, but she wasn't too afraid. Valentine asked how he could live up to her expectations and Zora felt her skin prick with excitement at all the possibilities. Her smile widened, the tiniest tips of her teeth poking out from her lips as she craned her head up towards one of the dark-tipped ears. She was still a ways off, but her body language invited him to come closer as she reached towards him, "Perhaps you already have, she whispered softly.

Dutifully Valentine leaned down as the woman stepped up in search of his ear. She had his undivided attention. It had been awhile since he'd given it to fully to someone, but if anyone was deserving of it, it was this woman. She was far too lovely to receive less than all he had to offer. "Perhaps you already have," she whispered, causing his ears to prick. Where had this woman been all of his retirement? He could have used a cute little flirt to keep him company and fend off the irritation the skunk seemed to inflict on him always.

"Well," Valentine murmured as he stepped closer. The space between them hadn't been great to begin with but now it couldn't be classified as anything other than intimate. "Then I have no choice but to exceed them, do I?" All this talk of love to give and she had yet to really move in and show it, you know? So he was going to give just a little and see what she did. He just needed a sign, a little nudge, to know she was serious. So far she was all eyelashes and talk. Just because she had him didn't necessarily mean he had her. A tease was occasionally just a tease and he didn't want to get his hopes - or other things - up only to be let down.

Valentine's expression was thoughtful as he reached out to lightly brush up her foreleg with the back of his paw. "A-" What had she called him? King? Whatever, he'd roll with it. "King, made it sound like he left you high and dry. What a pity." He leaned back just a little and took his paw away as he sought eye. His voice soft again and his gaze probing, he asked, "How should we go about fixing that, hm?"

Zora had no obligation nor will to consider anything deeper than the present moment. The hushed whispers as the two drew ever closer, the quick exchanging of glances, her quickening pulse. It was what she lived for. He said he had no choice but to exceed her expectations and Zora nodded with a light pout- nothing less would suffice. He was kind and cordial, though, and didn't make the first move. He said that she was left high and dry- a pity. Zora let herself fall softly to the large man's chest, nestling into the thick furs, "Honestly such a pity... He asked how he should go about fixing that and she lifted her head up towards the fuff of his cheek, just at the base of his ear, "I have a few ideas, but I'm afraid none of them are... appropriate for such a public place."

Valentine had just enough time to remember his den had a skunk problem when out of the corner of his eye he saw the little beast running for the barn as fast as her little legs could carry her. That distracted him momentarily since nothing had ever scared her off before. If he'd known all he had to do to get rid of her was bring a woman home he'd have done it a lot sooner and a lot more often. Actually, he'd have done it more often anyway if it had been an option. This was exactly the kind of motivation he needed to get out more.

His attention was back on Zora in an instant with no outward sign that he had wasted thoughts on anything other than her. She was nestled in the fur of his chest, her chin brushing lightly against the crook of his neck from when she'd reached for his ear. The little woman was the picture of seduction and Valentine would have been hard pressed to focus his attention elsewhere for long. "Is that so? Well then we aught to take this somewhere less public," he murmured as he stepped back towards his den. Valentine motioned towards it grandly. "Ladies first."

-fade?-

The man accepted her touch and Zora in turn essentially melted into his fur. Not that she had a lot of weight to throw around, but nearly all of it pressed against the older man now, her ear tilting to listen to the steady thrumming of his heart. She was lost in the moment and had no idea of his skunk companion or that his attention had ever drifted for even a second. He didn't show it and Zora was too wrapped up in the warmth of him to notice even if he had. He mentioned that they'd go somewhere less public and Zora had to stop herself from falling onto the ground as be backed off. She reluctantly pulled away, but only just so they could both walk. He led her to a den and suggested she go in first. She took the opportunity to slide herself along his side, reaching up to nuzzle under his cheek and chin with the top of her head as she passed, and once more with her tail as she entered the den. Each move calculated to be slow and smooth- seductive and playful. Her heart beat excitedly in her chest thinking of the exchange that was about to happen. The idea of their fur and scents mingling as they did sent a small, pleasant shiver up her spine and if she had been any more feline, she would have been purring. She gave him the quickest of glances before fully entering the den and waiting for him to join her. -fade-