God, he felt terrible.

Not emotionally, either - though admittedly his mother's appearance at the last meeting was still weighing heavily on his mind. Lark felt physically sick. Despite the cool weather, he felt feverish and uncomfortably warm; hoping the river might provide some sort of respite to him, he'd made his way to the rapids that were so familiar to him. He had no intention of even trying to cross it, for even as he made his way there at a lazy pace, he felt strangely unstable on his paws and it seemed as though his vision could not keep up with the movement of his eyes as he sought to examine the riverbank. Though he felt weird, he'd been sick before and he was certain he'd feel better tomorrow. For now, he'd have to tough it out.

Grunting softly, feeling a faint ache blooming in his limbs as he paced down the side of the rapids, he finally came to a halt. Briefly Lark would close his eyes, lids concealing emerald eyes for a long moment as he steadied himself before deciding that sitting might do better than aimlessly walking. Slowly and deliberately he'd lower himself to his belly, letting a soft sigh escape as his limbs relaxed beneath him. His head would lower to rest on his forelimbs, as he thought: maybe a nap might do me some good...

The roar of the river as it crashed around her was calming. You'd think it wouldn't, but it was - she couldn't explain why if asked, though. And so she dozed, by the edge of the river, her head buried in the crook of her paws, blocking her face from getting sprayed with the cool water. The rest of her got sprayed, though, and it was such a nice feeling - which was also surprising, since you'd think she'd want to be dry after so many days of rain. Unfortunately, the days of rain relinquished their grasp to the burning sun that just beat down on her mercilessly. Thus, a cool spray was more than a relief.

She couldn't hear much witht he rapid, but she could smell - and at that moment, a very familiar scent came drifting into her nose, buried though it was in her fur. Lifting her head, she blinked blurrily towards the source - and found a Lark slowly laying down several meters away. She frowned slightly; he ahdn't seemed to notice her at all. That was odd, especially with their proximity. He may have been 20 or 30 feet away but... that was nothing at all to a wolf's nose.

"Hey, find your own spot to sleep!" she called out, twisting her body around so she was facing Lark. "This river is mine!" Her drowsiness was pretty clear, but so was her teasing tone, and she he look at her he would find her tail beating on the ground behind her to a slowly and gentle rhythm in greeting.

"Speech"
"Language"

Art by AshleyAbstract

If Lark had been in any better state, he would've made some sort of joke about how things had gone the last time they'd met at the rapids. But he wasn't feeling terribly well, and though her scent hit his nose before he actually saw her, he couldn't muster the energy to lift his head when it felt so damn good to rest. Hell, he hadn't even realized she'd only been sitting downstream from him.

"Hmph?" he'd echo, his voice muffled as he forced his eyes open to blink wearily at her, head tilting to the side as he looked for her. His gaze drifted for a moment too long before it landed on her. "Sure," he'd call back half-heartedly. His head sure did feel strange - he'd chalk that up to feeling quite sleepy and his afternoon nap being interrupted. His ears twitched as he pulled his head up, shuffling into a more upright position, but not without feeling a cough tickling the back of his throat that he couldn't ignore. "When'd you get here?" Lark would inquire gently, unsure if he'd drifted off at all, or for how long. Everything just felt a bit muddled.

She wasn't sure what was so funny - his muffled inquiry, or his sleepy, tussled look, but either way she found herself laughing, amusement twinkling in her eyes. His sleepy 'sure' evoked even more laughter, as well as a fond thought that she didn't expect to drift through her head: He's adorable. Her smile getting larger, she stretched slightly, before forcing herself to her paws. She didn't much feel like getting up, but better to converse next to her friend instead of having to shout to him. He sat up as she moved, and she laid next to him, tail tapping the dirt behind her.

Lark coughed, and she frowned at that - sick? Perhaps a cold. "Me? Oh, a few hours ago, surely. I've been dozing by the river - I just find it so soothing," she sighed, peacefully. "And then you arrived and disturbed me," she teased. This was of course accompanied by a wink and a light chuckle. She didn't mind at all, especially with this version of Lark - sleepy, cute, and soft. And... hopefully not sick. "You feeling okay? I heard that cough of yours - or is just one of those autumn things?" She had once developed a cough and had felt awful for about a day or so, but then it went away and it was all fine - likely, that's what this was.

"Speech"
"Language"

Art by AshleyAbstract

Though he mostly felt sleepy, something felt a bit off with him. He was chalking it up to the possibility that he was maybe coming down with some kind of cold, coupled with being tired and relaxed, thanks to sitting by the rapids. Maybe. Lark hardly registered the fondness in Lillie's eyes, something that surely would've caught him by surprise otherwise. Instead, his hazy gaze followed her as she shuffled closer and finally sat by his side. He didn't believe her that she'd been here this whole time - he'd only been here for a handful of minutes, but it felt like much longer - and figured she was messing with him.

Holding back another cough, feeling the tickle beginning at the back of his throat, he managed a yawn instead. "Doubt I disturbed you,"   he mumbled back with a slight laugh. "You're the one that woke me up."  She'd question him, asking if he was feeling well, and he'd shrug slowly. The movement felt far more strenuous than it really was and he'd let out a soft sigh before speaking again. "I'm not feeling great," he admitted, his gaze lifting to meet her own. He hadn't been afflicted with much sickness thus far in his life, but he supposed he'd get over it soon enough. "Might be getting a cold or something. Just came here to rest." It didn't account for how hazy his head felt since he'd woken up, but oh well.

She grinned as he yawned - yup, he was exhausted. Poor thing. Her eyes sparkled with delight at his rather awful retort, and she snorted. "Actually, I was dozing quite peacefully until you came along," she huffed playfully, a grin still apparent on her face. and she... sort of woke him up? He wasn't really sleeping, he had only just laid down - he must have been more exhausted than she had thought, which was saying something. She actually kind of felt bad, though he was laughing, albeit drowsily and mumbling, so it was easy to ignore that guilty feeling that nagged at her so gently.

He answered her question readily enough, olive-colored eyes meeting her own, and she nodded slowly to his words. "Makes sense - especially with you being so tired. I called out to you only minutes after you laid down, which might explain the tired too... you didn't get to rest at all." Her tone was apologetic, and she laid her head on her paws, eyes still glancing up to look at him. "My apologies for that - I can go if you'd like?" she suggested gently. She would be more than okay with it if he wanted her to go away, and would understand.

Lark wasn't really in the mood to argue her words. As far as he knew, she had suddenly woken him up, even if she was trying to convince him otherwise. Still, her persistence was amusing in his muddled mind, and he laughed gently at her. But she still said it again, so very certain that he'd only been laying down for a moment. Oh well; whatever.  His brow furrowed as he averted his gaze to the rapids for a minute.

Normally he would've been more observant of her suddenly caring nature. She'd looked at him quite fondly a moment ago, and now she seemed genuinely sorry for interrupting him, even offering to leave. But he shook his head, jaws parting as he panted softly. He hadn't realized how warm he was until now. The river was probably really refreshing right now, but he knew jumping in was stupid. He hadn't forgotten the last time he'd come here with Lillie, not yet at least. "It's okay," he offered with a slow shrug. "You should stay." It'd be better to feel like shit with a friend than alone, right? And if he wasn't feeling better tomorrow, he'd probably go find Starling or Sparrow..

He stayed mostly quiet... though he did look confused by her insistence that he had not really been sleeping. But again, he was sick - even if just for the time being, and utterly exhausted. even a few moments would feel like forever, then; she knew, because she had felt that before. Oh goodness had she. And then there were the days where one would fall asleep for hours and hours and hours and it seemed you woke up only minutes later. Those were especially disorienting and confusing - you woke up not knowing if it was the next day or not! It as why she was more than okay with leaving if he wanted her to.

... which he didn't? Surprise flashed through her eyes as he shrugged... and said she should stay? Not even a 'you-can-if-you-want' but a 'you should'. That was... not the reaction she was expecting. At all. Not one bit. She opened her mouth to almost protest - to see if he was certain, but then, slowly, she closed her jaws, nodding slowly. Very well. She'd play along; she didn't exactly want to leave anyways. "Alright," she murmured, the shock slowly fading from her eyes. An impulse struck her, and she paused - to act on that impulse, or not? She... wasn't sure how that impulse would be received? Oh gods, she didn't want to screw things up. But... impulse. She wanted to act on that damn impulse... but she was too awake and her mind too active and anxious. Instead, she scooted forward a little, as subtle as she could. She stretched out, yawning, and resisting the urge to flick her ears back against her head as her paws overlapped Lark's, simply due to the stretch. When the stretch concluded, her paws scooted back under her - for the most part, anyways, but a part still overlapped if Lark had not jerked his paws away.

Lark didn't know why it seemed like every time they hung out, all they did was... sit and nap together. Not that it was such a terrible thing. They'd gone to find Finch a pretty gift once, and they'd also had that mishap by the same rapids they laid by now; but it all ended with them napping. Huh. He was too tired to think about it much, but it was amusing, and something he could definitely tease her about later.

And yet one thing he did note to himself was that Lillie seemed to care. Enough to stay, and ask if he even wanted her to stay. He got no snide remark as he once might have gotten from her, and he made none in return either. Just.. comfortable silence for a moment as she relaxed at his side. Not only that, but she stretched, pulling her forelegs out so her paws crossed with his own. Frozen - partailly from uncertainty, partially from not knowing what the hell to do - he didn't pull away from her, but rather let his head fall into  a more comfortable position resting atop his forelimbs. A quiet yawn would part his jaws as he mumbled something sleepily. "Sorry.. so tired.." he'd state the obvious, his eyelids drooping shut quite quickly.

Sleeping - dozing - all seemed a regular for them. Other than the first couple of times they met, every other time ended up with them sleeping. First the adventure, where they found the gift for Finch; then the... nightmares, which ended up with her curled up against his much larger form - she was embarrassed to even think of that - the rapids adventure which ended in napping, and now this. She was missing other times, of course, but it seemed the major ones resulting in sleeping. That was more than okay with her; she adored cuddling. Well, not that they ever really cuddled. Or that she wanted to cuddle with him... right?

Right... her breath froze mid-intake as Lark also froze, and it wasn't until he moved again that she let her breath out shakily, heart thudding deep in her chest. What was he going to do - move away? Move closer? Do nothing? Oh wait, he was just laying his head on his paws while she had a mild panic attack. He yawed, and she nearly jumped - jeez, she needed to stop being so tense; why was she so tense? A soft mumble reached her ears, and she strained to hear what was said; when it registered, she laughed - a single bark of laughter (and not a literal bark) that was louder and more obnoxious than she intended it. Or was it just her imagination that made it seem that way? She didn't know, at this point.

"T-that's okay," she answered, struggling to keep her oice level and smooth... and ultimately failing. She stuttered on that first word for no apparent reason. She slowly lowered her own head down, eyeing the brown fur in the corner of her vision. Would it be okay if she rolled over and let their fur touch, warmth? Would it be okay for her to snuggle up? Should she move away? She didn't want to move away, she wanted to be closer, but she was utterly terrified of moving closer. She had no idea why she was terrified, either.

What the hell was wrong with her?

She had no idea. Swallowing hard, and glancing up at Lark again, she slowly starting twist her body towards his to lay on her side, though she froze partially mid-way. Should she keep going? Should she stop? It was such an awkward position she stopped in; what should she - oh, screw it. Eyes wide, she tilted herself fully onto her side, and when she did so she could feel the fur of his sdie burhsing her back fur eer so slightly; that in itself made her breath nearly catch, though at the same time long to scoot back even further and feel the full, comforting warmth.

It made no sense to her, and she didn't understand it at all; why this was happening, her own panicked thoughts, her emotions - what did they all mean? If only someone would explain.

"Speech"
"Language"

Art by AshleyAbstract

If he'd been more fully conscious of Lillie's behavior, he would've probably been very.. confused? Concerned? Something in him could tell something was off, but his head was pounding and his chest aching, so it was difficult to discern whether the weirdness was from him or something else. It wasn't completely off the wall that Lillie stretched her paw to touch his own - maybe a bit unexpected, but far from unpleasant and, though he couldn't rationalize that it was something he explicitly liked, it wasn't something he disliked either. He was quiet for a moment as his eyelids fell, hiding his emerald gaze, drifting very slightly to sleep.. But then Lillie barked, a sound of laughter, which startled him back to reality with a slight jerk. But before he could say anything - the sound was a bit weird and he thought maybe he should tease her for it, tell her to quiet down and let him sleep - he felt the warmth of her fur as she rolled to her side to lay against him. Though he felt quite feverish, her added body heat made him feel warm in a totally different way; he struggled to keep himself from coughing again, feeling his vision grow hazy as he tilted his head to try to get a better look at Lillianna. His mind had other ideas, apparently. He let out a quiet, hardly audible "Mm," as he adjusted to a more comfortable position, eyelids fluttering shut again as he leaned more firmly into Lillie's side. It was difficult to think about anything, or he would likely be just as panicked as she was - confused at why her touch was suddenly so comforting, confused at why he even felt confused at all about it. But, incapable of thinking much, he simply laid there, his breathing slightly labored as he drifted, once again, to sleep.