Kitsune woke with a mighty yawn, and found herself cuddled up against Iho. Unable to move without disturbing him, she poked him lightly in the ribs until he moved over. She grinned down at him as she got to her paws. She was dishevelled and sleepy and padded to the den entrance with another yawn. Pausing to press her fur down and shake out the sleep before stepping outside.

She blinked into the early morning sun as she put her pot over the little fire outside Iho’s den and started making them some tea. As it heated she glanced at the ocean and sighed, before turning back to her sleepy pirate prince. “I’m thinking of heading down to Auster, did you want to come?”


"Kitsune"

As was usual for the young male, when Kumiho slept, he slept hard. Practically dead to the world with his little Kitsune snuggled up close to him, the once-traveler dozed blissfully. That is, until a sudden poking at his ribs startled him away with a grunting snore and the wolf flailed about a bit, winding up in an awkward half-twisted position on his back with his belly up. "Y'know, when you said we should den together, I didn't realize the wake up calls were gonna be quite so... pokey," he remarked with a groggy grumble to his voice. The young man's jaws split in a wide yawn while he righted himself, smiling a bit of a dopey smile while he watched Kit smooth out her disheveled bedhead and matted fur. In the weeks since he'd joined Ashen, he and the princess had been nigh inseparable, practically glued at the hip wherever they went. He had always had a soft spot for sweet Kit, but now as he watched her go about her morning routine, admiring her in the monotony of their everyday lives, he began to wonder if perhaps there was something more there...

Once fully roused from the clutches of sleep, Iho trudged his way out into the cool autumn morning, rubbing the sleep from his eyes while Kitsune started a pot of water for their tea. Another little normalcy of their everyday lives that had become something of a little special ritual to the man. "Hmmm... tempting... but we could also go back to bed and cuddle the morning away like total degenerates," he suggested in turn when she invited him on a trip down to Auster. He shot his little fire fox a roguish smirk, teasing her a bit while he came to settle down by the fire. "I'm just kidding. You know I'd go on any adventure with you, my lady." The smirk on his lips grew into a full excited smile as an idea came to him. "Are we walking, or did you want to take the raft?" In the past season, Iho had completed construction on his new raft. While nothing spectacularly grand just yet, it was seaworthy and it could carry two wolves easily. He had promised to take Kit sailing at some point; what better time than the present?

"Speech"

“Then you shouldn’t snuggle with a prickly Princess” she said, putting an air of snobbery into her voice as she teased him. Not that he had a choice, really. He belonged to her. There was satisfaction in the thought as she went about her morning routine. Unaware, as she did so, that he was watching her preening. She was vain enough not to leave her den without ensuring her fur lay nicely about her.

She wrinkled her nose at her pirate as he mentioned sleeping instead of doing. Not that she would be opposed to some more cuddling with him. She liked the protective feel of his warmth around her. His scent had started to mean home to her, as much as her own mothers did.

At his mention of the raft however, her ears perked up and she turned fully towards him. “Is it ready?” she asked, delight over taking her voice. For a brief moment she forgot why she wanted them to head over to Auster.


"Kitsune"

Kitsune teased him back, claiming that he shouldn't be snuggling a prickly princess if he didn't want to get poked. Kumiho, in all his charm and charisma, responded in the way that felt most befitting the snarky princess: he stuck his tongue out at her when she puffed herself up with exaggerated aloofness. Their relationship may have come across as a bit juvenile to some, but to Iho, it was part of the charm that made Kitsune his best friend. The fact that they could goof around and poke fun at one another and still laugh about it at the end spoke volumes for their closeness and understanding of one another.

As soon as he mentioned the raft he'd been carefully constructing since his arrival in Boreas over a year ago now, Kit's eyes lit up with wildfire, questioning if it was ready. "I think so!" he replied with a nod of his head and eager grin. "Well, it's seaworthy, at the very least. It'll float, it'll move, and we can steer it. I haven't finished all the extras, so it won't be a luxury yacht befitting Her Royal Highness Kitsune Tachi Oritsu Abraxas, but it'll get you places like you've never seen before!" Iho tapped the side of the kettle with his paw, testing the heat of the metal to gauge how much longer the tea would take. "You haven't told me why we're going to Auster yet though." The seafaring wolf raised a curious brow over icy blue eyes, fixing his diminutive partner with his gaze while he awaited her response.

"Speech"

No matter how aloof she pretended to be, Iho was more dear to her than he could ever know. When her world was rocky and uncertain, he was there, picking up the pieces. He had proven it time and time again. Now, with her father abandoning his family, he stood by her steadfast and reliable. And cheeky as ever, tongue sticking from his maw. She reached over and swatted it, but it was gone before her paw could land.

As he recalled her full title with ease, she felt a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth. Okay, so maybe she had used it enough time that it slid off Iho’s tongue without a single hitch.

When he tapped the tea, she grabbed their favourite mugs and settled them down beside it for him to pour. “it sounds wonderful, Iho. I can’t wait to see it in action!” It almost made her regretful that its first excursion out to sea would be for this. But perhaps after she had done what she intended to, her and Iho could go for a little adventure around Auster before coming home.

“Haven’t I?” she asked, eyes widening in an expression of surprise at his question. “Are you going to tap the tea all day or pour it?”

"Kitsune"

The cheeky little kitsune wolf feigned surprise when he pointed out the fact that she hadn't told them their destination or purpose yet, and then tried to deftly avoid answering his question by poking fun at him for delaying with their tea. Kumiho made an exaggerated roll of his eyes before lifting the kettle carefully with his jaws, holding the handle steady while a free paw tilted it up so the hot tea could flow smoothly out the gooseneck spout and into one mug, and then another. The cups steamed delightfully in the cool fall air, and Iho set the kettle back down over the fire to keep the excess warm in case they wanted a top up. "For all your finishing school teachings, it seems manners were somehow left out. What would your mother say?" he remarked with a roguish smirk.

Iho carefully took his mug into his paws and held it up to his lips, taking a long sip of the tea and feeling the warm liquid flowing down his throat to warm him from within. Aaaah, there was nothing quite like it! "We really need to get some sugar one of these days," he commented with a smack of his lips and a pensive frown. "How you Ashen wolves drink this stuff natural is just... it's beyond me." Even when he'd been a pup growing up in his tribe, his mother had always had to add a little bit of sweetness to his drink. The earthy and herbal flavors just didn't agree with his palate. "Y'know, for a captain to sail a ship properly, he needs to know his destination first." Wily blue eyes locked to Kit's face again while he took another long sip of tea. "I can't exactly take you somewhere until you tell me where it is I'm taking you. And Auster's a pretty damn big place, so you can't just say Auster."

Iho reached a paw over and nudged Kitsune's shoulder playfully. "C'mon, Kitty! Where're we going?"

"Speech"

“That I should hang you for your insolence” she shot back blandly, smiling over her tea as she knew both herself and Iho wouldn’t believe it for a second. She took a sip, letting the warmth and soothing flavours roll over her for a moment. She frowned at him as he mentioned sugar. She hated to think she lacked something he desired. She’d have to find out where to get it. Today perhaps, tomorrow at the latest… she let the thought distract her for a little while longer. Considering it a problem to find a solution to. Buying time before she had to face reality…

She sighed. Rubbing a paw to her eyes. She didn’t want to look anything but regal and poised, but there was definitely a hint of tiredness and anger there. “I don’t actually know exactly where we are going. I figured if we took a trip down into Auster and made land, we’d find the scent sooner or later. It's not a scent I'm likely to forget in my lifetime… after all.” she paused, letting that sink in for a moment before offering him a roguish smile. “I'm considering taking some eggs with us. Unless you have a better idea?”

"Kitsune"