She had spent so long traveling and hiding out in the northern lands which was pretty dumb on her part considering both Dauntless was located there and Elias had found her there. But down in her heart the only place she knew was the peaks and that's where her paws led her. So she stuck around for awhile. She never truly learned the proper way for living and survival, so everything she did herself was pretty half-assed and definitely not pretty looking. She tried digging out a den once and lets just say it couldn't have had a use to even bury something. She mostly stuck to caves and occasionally a hollowed tree trunk out of her own instinct. A strange smell attracted her into the dark tunnels of this cave, a scent she had never encountered before and she was always interested in new things and exploring. She walked almost blindly through the cavern, often bumping into the stone walls with an "oomph" and a nearly silent aggravated whine of pain into the same spots of each shoulder. A interesting twinkling glow caught her eye immediately and she quickly went toward it happy to get out of the darkness. The scent she smelled from the outside of the cave was much stronger now. It wasn't necessarily a foul smell, but she couldn't distinguish it from anything else she came across. As a few of the shrooms came to her path she sniffed lightly without halting in her steps and moving to the next shroom. Soon she came to the end of the tunnel and into a bright room filled with the odd blue mushrooms that she had no idea what they could be used for. Some would call the scene beautiful, but her young mind only saw interest in the use and wonder of the new objects she came across. Walk "Talk" Think

Jupiter was picking his way through patches of luminescent fungi when the sound of claws on stone brought his head up. He was down here dicking around, doing nothing in particular except wondering if these were the fun kind of mushroom or if they were like the kind that had burned him as a youngster - and wondering if he could make a profit off of them in either case. Though he wasn't alarmed by the approach of another creature he was surprised by it. To get here one had to carefully feel their way through a lot of darkness and he didn't think there were many out there who shared his lack of regard for personal safety.

The shape that slowly took form in the muted glow of the mushrooms was vaguely familiar; he hit on that fact immediately. Why the face was familiar was lost on him for several seconds. As he considered her features he slowly straightened to his full height - he'd been crouched over the mushrooms before realizing he wasn't alone - and scowled thoughtfully as he tried to figure that face out. He knew he knew her, but he'd met a lot of wolves over the years. It didn't help that he chose to spend a great deal of his time inebriated in some way.

Finally it clicked. He knew her from puppyhood. His scowl shifted into a grin and he boomed, "Aw shit, I know you!"

She was completely unaware of anyone inside the cavern or anyone near her for that matter. That was, until the mushrooms seemed to grow legs and walk up towards her. She was a little taken aback by it, not necessarily that the killer mushrooms were out to get her but she was just trying to analyze what the heck was going on. They spoke, and as the words came out where the voice was much unrecognizable to her, her eyes traced his outline realizing this was not only a wolf but a wolf like no other. Her tail wagged slightly to the thought. A memory from a time she could barely remember but a memory of her best days. "Jup-iter?" she questioned with a grin much more emotional than her usual sarcastic one. She’d take a step towards him, looking up at his towering frame though not scared a bit by how much bigger he had become of her. "You got bigger." she teased with her expression easily being changed from sincere to joking. Viper thought little of most anyone she came across in her life and there were few that caught her fancy or she rather just thought as a cool cat. But the last time they met was different times, viper was known as Nuada and had the possibility of being the heir to her fathers throne. But at least she felt the happiness of freedom now, and if she ever wanted to remember anything from her puphood it was this jerk who seemed to throw back her own sass. Her eyes looked down for a brief second, "You know what these thingys are?" Surely he must have, otherwise why would he be lurking in them? Maybe he just found it amusing to hide in and scare passerbyers. Walk "Talk" Think

He grinned when she said his name. So he had been right. Jupiter had been awfully certain but it was nice to get validation. To confirm his identity he dipped his head in a playful bow and said, "The one and only." He then flopped into a careless sit and accidentally squashed a couple mushrooms in the process. Their bioluminescent goo stained the fur on his hip and gave it a glowing sheen, but he paid it no mind. Unless it started burning like that last stuff he got into, he didn't care what it made his ass look like.

She mentioned his height which earned her a chuckle. Jupiter made a point to look Viper up and down, then said with a skeptical squint, "Shit did I? You sure you didn't just get smaller?" There was a pretty big height difference between them. He was used to being a little bigger than the average wolf, but his and Viper's height difference was comical. She could just about fit under him without touching his belly and that was saying a lot.

As for the mushrooms... "Uhhh..." he knocked one over casually. "All's I know is they're mushrooms. I don't know if they're the fun kind or the deadly kind, but they are nice to look at, no?" Jupiter glanced back at his faintly glowing rump. "Perfection that it is, not much can improve upon my ass, but imma add "glowing fungi" to the list and if all these guys are good for is making me prettier I'm okay with that."

She came to a sloppy seat as he had, her head cocked to the words he used again, she only noticed it this time since she wasn't so caught in the moment of seeing her childhood friend after many long years. "Shi-te?" Her accent a little weird to the new word she wasn't sure how to read, "I don't understand." It was more a question than anything, but she wasn't really expecting an answer either. Her lack of knowledge came from her own mistreatment. And though it wasn't entirely her fault her mother abandoned her, it was her fault to continuously go without help and guidance from her elders who wanted nothing more than to push her the right direction. She'd eye his paw as he knocked over one of the shrooms, she herself would find no ill-will in his recklessness towards the plant or whatever it was, even the fact that he sat down in a pile of them without thought. Her nose went down to sniff a head of one as he spoke about what he basically didn't know about them and she wasn't aware that if she even wanted to take a bite of one it could kill her. "How would they be fun?" She asked as her mind tried to go through the ways they could toss or kick it around or maybe even paint each other with them. Her young brain stuck in the mind of a pup, again her knowledge proving her almost innocent. Though there were a good fraction of wolves who probably didn't know the ways of hallucinogenic herbs, she was just an even more special case. Her neck craned just a bit to look at the spot on his rump that was tainted with the glowing splatter, ass, that must have meant hip. She wouldn't even question that one. Her gaze returned to him with a raised brow before she plopped down to the stone floor and wiggled around, squashing the shrooms beneath her. She'd stand just a little off from where she fell, turning to reveal her masterpiece created simply by chance of however she laid on, "Do I look like you now?" She asked, mostly joking but in a bit of a serious manner, "What do ya think I can get away with?" Surely Jupiter was much more of a trouble maker than she was, if not equal. But the thought that she could potentially walk around and pretend to be him was amusing to her. Though if they stepped out of the cave, the glow would probably fade instantly in the light of day. Walk "Talk" Think

His smile faltered when confronted with her confusion. Had she never heard that word before? How was that possible? That was easily his second favorite word after 'fuck' and it was as versatile as 'um' to boot. "Yeah, you know...shit. Like..." He drew a blank and ended up finishing lamely, "Shit." Jupiter had never had to explain such a - in his mind - basic word before. "I meant it as an expression of excitement, I guess, but the literal meaning is-" He was a grown ass man and he wasn't about to say 'poop' "The stuff you push out of your ass after a big meal." This was ridiculous. He shook his head as though shoving the conversation away. "It doesn't matter."

Happy to move on, Jupiter chuckled as Nuada took his joke further by rolling around in the stuff. "We could be twins," he teased as he stepped towards her and flicked a chunk of mushroom off her shoulder. As for what she could get away with... "Murder," he said with a serious nod. Ah, she'd asked him another question, hadn't she? He'd almost forgotten it watching her roll around. "Oh, uh, you asked how they might be fun, right? Some mushrooms can change the way you feel. Kinda like alcohol, I suppose, but differently. It's hard to explain without showing you. Some let people see things that aren't there. Some are aphrodisiacs. Others can make you believe you're a rock in a riverbed. All in all, they make you feel weird as fuck."

Before she could pop one in her mouth or something like that, he made a point to say, "These though? I'm willing to bet they're poisonous if you eat them."

His explanation of "shit" was still quite confusing to her. How could something exciting be compared to their poop? She wouldn't get it but wouldn't ask again as she felt she would just be more confused if anything. Perhaps she'd learn more another day, because right now simply just didn't seem to be the right time. If it was surprising, she knew the meaning of murder. Not that Jupiter would even flinch to larger words or those with strong meanings. There was a lot Viper didn't know, and compared to what other wolves knew, even yearlings, it was mediocre. "Oh yeah, I bet! I wouldn't even get in trouble!" Slightly a joke and slightly serious. She knew she wouldn't get away entirely with the blue fungus spread on her, but it was fun to think so. Even such a horrible thing as Murder "Who'am I ganna get?" His attention back to the mushrooms, she wouldn't hesitate to take a look at the one he plucked off of her and the other's scattered and smashed on the ground like paint. She'd smell the tops and splats quickly, she couldn't even imagine putting one in her mouth, they smelled so bad! People eat these for fun? But he would insist that these ones were not for eating, in fact they would most likely kill her. She'd sneeze at the thought and smell, there was no way she would even think of putting these pieces of Jupiter on her tongue. Everything Jupiter knew and seemed to be teaching her were very contradicting especially to her learning and messed up mind. Lots of words new to her, alcohol, fuck, shit. And it should have been clear to Jupiter that she was entirely confused. Her mind more focused on what she understood was that you eat the mushrooms. Her thoughts on how big and buff Jupiter looked, at least to her, would cloud her mind and she would easily change the subject. "How'd you get so strong?" she'd ask, reaching out with her nose toward his front chest and shoulder. She herself being a self-taught loner and caring for herself for so long paid a toll on her own frame. She was scraggly, thin, nothing beautiful as a girl should be. If that was even noticeable in the faint blue of the cave and the glowing splatter now on her dark coat. Walk "Talk" Think

Man, she was awfully unperturbed by his suggestion of murder. The thought delighted him. No small part of him wondered how serious she was; could he send her after someone and get results? The thought was intriguing. Normally he wouldn't have thought much about her comment, but her expression had him entertaining thoughts of seriousness. Jupiter harrumphed, then said jokingly, "Lemme think about it and get back to ya. I'm sure there's someone out there in need of killin'."

Nuada reached out suddenly and ran her nose across his chest, causing him to shiver. His knee jerk reaction was to drop his head to hers and attempt to brush his lips across the top of her muzzle. That was what she was looking for, right? The only time anyone ever took these sorts of liberties with another person was when they wanted to get a bit, shall we say, cozier. Jupiter, being Jupiter, was instantly and unquestioningly game.

His voice softer this time but no less teasing, he replied, "Little bit of luck, whole lot of effort." He studied her face, trying to gauge where her head was at. "Fight you some bears and haul a heavy ass cart across Boreas and you too can look like this."

As she didn't care much for the personal space of those around her, Jupiter's own touch from his lips would have her unfazed. She'd pull back slightly to look at him through the dark glow of the cave. And her eyes may have even suggested an intimate soft look. She wasn't used to others being even okay with her sharing a personal bubble even if it was a reflex she chose to ignore. But she was quick to pull her mint gaze away from his eyes as if they weren't sharing a moment or a feeling because well, she wouldn't understand feelings like that even in her age. Her mangled brain kept her from feeling anything mature beyond her time leaving her mother and learning to thrive on her own. "Well that sounds fun," Breaking the moment instantly she'd step forward and align her left shoulder with his left, turning her neck inward best to see his face again and uncaring if her chin brushed by his shoulder in the process. "I wish I was strong enough to fight a bear." She still had little knowledge of hauling a cart around the continent but she continued to keep her unknowns out of her mouth. She'd either learn or it would be put behind her. Jupiter was sharing a lot of things she knew nothing about, but she was trying to stay cool and collected with her once upon a time unfriendly friend. Her gaze and cheeky grin definitely showed she was impressed, and if there was even an once of maturity in her, one could say her tone was flirty even if she didn't know that was the suggested feeling or what it even meant. Walk "Talk" Think

Their eyes locked and Jupiter was instantly certain she was into him. He'd just started to lean down for another touch when she pulled away, playing - in his mind - with his interest. A hint of a smile pulled up the corners of his mouth. "If that's your idea of fun, I feel like I should show you a thing or two," he said with the laugh. "Off the top of my head I can think of oh, I dunno, a hundred things better than bear fighting." Was she following where he was going with this? "And don't get me started on cart pulling."

Her chin brushed against his shoulder as she turned to look up at him with big, teasing eyes. Oh yeah, she knew. "Sometimes," he ventured before reaching out in the hopes of trailing his nose down the curve of her neck towards her shoulder. "Strength's not the most important thing. Sometimes it's knowing when to be gentle." To emphasis his point he sought to gently nip along the top of her left shoulder. If she let him get away with that much he'd then lean back a little in search of her gaze.

She could agree with his desire to help her and guide her, even if it wasn't verbally. She felt she could trust him regardless of how much time they had apart. And how little she truly knew him. But she couldn't say there was anything more fun than fighting a bear. As she went on the last couple years hunting and surviving on her own, she found pleasure in discovering the battle field and learning to spar. And she was very interested in what other ideas he had to offer. She wouldn't flinch to his touch, but also didn't understand the meaning of it. Some might have shivered to the sensitivity along their neck and and curve of the shoulder. But Viper didn't understand the intimacy that Jupiter was intending. When his light teeth came out and grabbed her, her rump swung slightly away from him and she went to reach out and gently grab the loose skin in his shoulder playfully, though almost as if obeying to be gentle, learning in her mind. She'd let go realizing that Jupiter was looking to grab her gaze again and she would question, "I don't understand." Nearly silent but not in anyway uncomfortable. A usual cheeky grin was lowered but still present. She was eager to understand him and be taught. But she clearly had no idea what he was implying. Walk "Talk" Think

Nuada was quick to make a grab at him, but her touch wasn't quite what he expected. It was definitely a grab and not a lovebite; almost like an instinctive retaliation? He wasn't sure how to interpret her reaction. In the end, because she didn't outright rebuke him or move out of his reach, he chalked her awkwardness up to inexperience. Jupiter certainly didn't fault her for it. Everybody had been there at one point, trying vainly to be sexy and fun while not having the slightest idea how to go about it. If that was where she was at then he was just going to roll with it. A big part of his enjoyment was his partner's enjoyment so he was going to do his best to avoid playing up her insecurities - assuming, of course, she had them. He could only guess at what was going on in her head.

"Maybe not with bears," he admitted with a small smile. "But I've found..." he ventured as he reached out a paw to trace up the inside curve of her foreleg. "That in other areas a light touch can be as powerful as a strong one."Jupiter swung his hind end away so that they were almost facing each other directly. His eyes sought hers again. "Do you understand now or..." the corners of his mouth rose in a small, teasing smile. "Do you need more examples?"

Poor mislead Jupiter. Most would have lost patience and either given up or just forced it. She was being a tease without knowing. It was sad to say she didn't know better. They were just the same age but she was so inexperienced in every way of life. She had missed all the best things. And there was still time to for her to learn and experience. But she'd never experience the growth of adolescence. And she probably would never understand love when the time came. The touch on her foreleg made her pick it up and pull it into herself, but still not to say she was uncomfortable. To think she was insecure, just because she was a virgin, was extremely untrue. But no one could look into her mind and see that she was messed up into her maturity. But was it necessarily right to take advantage? No, even though Jupiter seemed to not have that intention. She'd reach out the paw that Jupiter had touched, mirroring the same touch she received just a bit lower considering Jupiter's much larger size. This is what she did when she sparred, this was her way of learning. Though it wasn't exactly practical or working for that matter. But she didn't have anyone else to teach her. She wouldn't say anything to the fact that she was still a little out of his loop, but instead she'd look back to his gentle gaze with a raised smile. Honestly she was vulnerable to him and only him due to him being the only wolf she knew from her past when she was "happy". She never accepted help or advice from anyone else, and she'd do just about anything he suggested. Walk "Talk" Think

Her reaction gave him pause. Unwilling to completely break from character he looked at her with a faint quizzical expression. Her state of mind was a mystery to him. She had entered into his space and been the one to initiate contact, and while she continued to play a somewhat active role, he was having a hard time "syncing up" with her. Even taking into account awkwardness attributed to inexperience, that didn't quite cover her reactions. Usually, if someone was interested, by now he was convinced of it. And if they weren't, that was usually pretty clear by now as well. He wasn't getting strong signals either way and wasn't quite sure how to handle it.

Nuada hadn't responded to his last question which only added to his lack of direction. In the end he decided to be blunt. When in doubt, forget pretense and go for clarity. If she wanted him, great, and if she didn't, Jupiter was exactly the type to not be embarrassed by what he was about to ask, at all. His motto was no harm, no foul and she could take him or leave him because he made no bones about the kind of wolf he was.

He leaned away from her. "Maybe I've misread the room. I'll just be honest; it feels like you've been coming onto me. But I've been getting some seriously mixed signals." Yep, just going to lay it out there. "So I'll just get right to it: do you want to have sex with me?"

Jupiter’s pull back wouldn’t embarrass Viper herself, but instead she’d even move into him as she had been to try and keep the same space between them. She was unfazed by his sudden change of behavior but wouldn’t lack listening to his words. He still spoke a way she didn’t understand. Coming on to him, mixed signals. Seriously nothing she had ever been exposed to. "Have sax with you?" her chin turned in interest but her smile had faded as she was secretly becoming overwhelmed with everything new that she tried to ignore to keep her ego. "I don’t know what that does..." even though it was nearly impossible to see through her thick constant devious expression, she was now feeling embarrassed or like she was letting him down. The change from her cheeky grin to a much more stale tone was enough to show. But she was in no way sulking or cowering, she never was. Jupiter couldn’t understand exactly what he was dealing with up to this point but it should have been clear that something was wrong. Walk "Talk" Think

Well now he was thoroughly confused. Slowly he sank to his haunches, his gaze riveted on Nuada's face. He honestly couldn't make up his mind about her. No one was this naive. He'd known about sex since, what, the turn of his first year? Somewhere quite early in his development a certain part of his anatomy had gotten intriguing and exploration of its quirks had become a lifelong field of interest. So that Nuada, someone who was roughly his age, had gotten this far in life completely clueless to the act set off all kinds of warning bells.

Not one to get squiggy about the topic, Jupiter did his best to pull the pieces together for her. He was convinced that at some point it would click and she'd go 'oh yeah, right, that, I've heard of that' because he couldn't wrap his head around the idea that she was 4-5 years old and didn't have so much as a smidge of understanding on the topic.

Unless...

His face went slack. Oh god had he felt up a mentally handicapped woman? Surely not. His expression unreadable, Jupiter studied Nuada's face. He didn't remember her being simple when they were children but they had been children. Who was to say he simply hadn't noticed? "Sex is something two," or more, but he was trying to keep it simple for her. "Wolves who like each other do for fun or to make babies. You're telling me you have no idea what I'm talking about? Bonin'? Bumpin uglies? Smackin' the salmon?" He could spout euphemisms all day but surely if she knew what he was talking about he'd given her enough to make her understand. "Are you familiar with any of those terms?"

Viper slowly found her rump to the dark stone surface and her tail curling in to her. Jupiter had turned rather serious on the subject and if she hadn’t been so religious to him she would have probably just abandoned him mid-sentence. Babies? Um no, no. Viper didn’t really know how babies were made or born clearly, but she definitely didn’t want any running around her. But how was there a difference between having fun and having babies? "Well, I like you..." she stated rather bluntly much like a young child would to a young crush. But she wasn’t necessarily crushing on Jupiter. She just thought very highly of him. His questioning had her feeling unlike she ever had, her eyes found themselves wandering the room rather than keeping fixated on him as she had the entire encounter. And she knew she never wanted to feel like this again. This embarrassment. Her gaze looking down at his paws, she shook her head “no” in response to not knowing a single phrase he shot at her. She had never felt stupid before and here she was not understanding what was wrong with her. Walk "Talk" Think

"Well, I like you..." Yikes, yikes, so much yikes in such a small, mushroom covered package. She said it in a way that reminded him of a pup and he did not like it. The further they got into this conversation the more baffled Jupiter became. This was not normal. He wasn't about to use the 'm' word but they were both grown ass adults. She should know what he was talking about. Surely she'd had heat cycles before, right? If she had, it was a marvel she'd made it this long without discovering sex. Where had she been all of her life? He had so many questions.

And you know what? He actually didn't really want any answers. Nah, he was ready to cut his losses here. This was just too strange for him. It had been a roller coaster, that was for sure. A short one, yeah, but a roller coaster all the same. He'd been reunited with a childhood friend, thought he was getting lucky, very nearly got sprung, and then it all fell apart and devolved into whatever this was. "Well, it's okay," Jupiter of course was lying through his teeth, but he could see the look on her face and he didn't want her to feel any worse. He just didn't want to deal with her anymore, either. "Don't worry about it, everyone learns at different speeds, you know."

He cleared his throat and sighed really loudly before getting to his paws. "You know what? I think it's time for me to head home. It's been great, though. I'm glad I got to see you again." Jupiter started to move towards the tunnel to the surface. "Take care, alright? Maybe we'll run into each other again some day." His movements were casual and unhurried, but he couldn't get to the outside world fast enough. This was just to strange for him - and that was saying a lot.

-exit?-

Jupiter’s words were not reassuring to her. But as she was already in a state of mind that she felt wasn’t on her spin wheel of emotions in many years, there wouldn’t be a change to her outward expression. She kept her gaze at his paws for a good amount of time but when he mentioned he needed to head out, her eyes slowly traced the form of his legs and eventually made it to his face where she wasn’t quick enough to grab his own gaze. She wasn’t completely aware that he just wanted to get the hell away from her because he played in excellent part in being a gentleman in the last few sad seconds of their encounter. "Yeah, sure." she spoke through an almost kind tone which was so unlike her that her voice was almost unrecognizable and if there was anyone she actually knew up to this day in her life they’d know that whatever was going on inside her churn of emotions was the opposite of her everyday lifestyle and honestly what she was feeling was dangerous. She wouldn’t follow him out of the dark, sparkling blue tunnels and instead would draw her optics down at the crushed and whole mushrooms beneath her. She felt a little sad that she was now all alone again, but not enough to draw a tear because “Viper never cried”. And she didn’t. She began to feel anxious but it wouldn’t come out into her physical form other than maybe a couple shivers. She just felt so strongly that she wanted to wash the glowing shroom juice from off her pet. -exit viper- Walk "Talk" Think