Ears swiveling, the brute regarded the creature before him. Welp. Now he'd seen everything. The monster was like those little lizards he used to catch and eat as a pup only way, waaay bigger. Was this some kind of reptilian freak? More importantly were there more like it? This stretch of land was one of his favorite places and he came here frequently, but he'd never seen a giant lizard here before. That didn't mean they hadn't seen him. The thought was unnerving. Valentine approached slowly, nose twitching and hackles rising as he regarded the hefty reptile. The beast was easily twice his length and about as big around as two of him laying side by side. It lay on the bank of the marsh with its mouth open wide, showing off an impressive array of teeth. Every inch of the creature, from its dark, beady eyes to its knobby, scaly hide, looked menacing. Really, the whole ensemble practically screamed "poke me". Coming up behind it, the brute slowed, ears pinning forward as a hiss began to bubble from the beast's gaping mouth. Valentine's head lowered and his nose began to twitch as he sniffed at the reptile's tail. In an instant the lizard was spinning, its tail and head rising as it to moved to defend itself. Startled, the cobalt prince started and backpedaled, easily moving behind the creature once more. It began to hiss again. He waited until his nerves settled and then reached out a paw to tap the creature's tail. It spun again and the dance was on, the pair moving in starts and fits as Valentine teased the giant lizard and it spun in the hopes of slapping the head from his shoulders. "Speaking" Thinking

Esti moved around the marsh's bank, taking little care as to whether or not her coat got dirty. She knew it would. The whole thing was relatively boring except the squishy feeling between Esti's paws. Each step rewarded the giant girl with a satisfying "squeltch" noise and released a pungent, earthy smell. She almost expected the whole marsh part to start bubbling. It didn't. The whole place was fairly quiet until quietly, in the distance, there was this hissing noise.

Esti's interest was immediately perked. Her ears shot forward and suddenly the squishy feelings between her paws wasn't as fascinating as before. The girl followed the hissing noise for a while until she could hear the wet stampering sounds of whatever it was. Was there a fight? Esti secretly hoped so, and she wasn't fully disappointed when she found a wolf assaulting a scaly, furry, marshy, very squat other wolf. Okay, the other thing wasn't a wolf. The not-wolf was the one hissing ans snapping around as the wolf jumped around it, hitting it. Esti observed the duo for a bit, thinking that if it had been Laufey how she would have gotten behind him and bitten his tail or something to scare him. This wasn't Laufey, however, so Esti went for helpful sarcasm, "Hey! You're not gonna get dinner that way."

"Speech"
'thoughts'

He ducked, the giant lizard's tail sailing over his head with scant inches to spare. The brute felt the rush of air against his crown, the nearness of the dangerous appendage sending a thrill of fear through his chest. That was so close! Valentine slithered back several paces, readying himself to rush forward again. "Hey! You're not gonna get dinner that way." A voice distracted him and the brute, unwilling to turn his gaze from the reptile, gave the speaker a quick glance before locking eyes on his opponent again. The corners of his mouth twitched up at her words, his gleeful expression contrasting sharply with the threatening display of the lizard. Lifting his voice above the hissing of the creature, he retorted, "What?! You mean I'm risking my neck for nothing?" "Speaking" Thinking

The brute spared Esti a glance and retorted with an equally sarcastic answer. Esti grinned at him, moving closer to the display, "'Fraid not" she called, readying her body. Esti had an idea; if she were to get into the circle of conflict, it would be easier to torment the swamp non-wolf. This way, they both of them could partake in the game.

As soon as the animal began to turn, Esti charged in, nipping at the now available tail of the beast. She prepared herself to jump back and shot the brute a look that would hopefully convey, "your turn" before the beast would have a chance to actually bite into the girl. If the male understood her and acted, this game could be fun.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

The fae was quick to answer him in the negative and Valentine was equally quick to react. His face twisted into an exaggerated, disappointed scowl like she'd just delivered crushing news. In reality, he was enjoying their exchange. It wasn't often others chose to engage him in sarcastic banter. He brushed the lizard's tail with a forepaw and then leaped to the side. The reptile swung to strike him, its body curling into a 'C' as it moved to trap him between its tail and its jaws. At the same time as the creature moved, Valentine saw movement out of the corner of his eye as the fae moved to join him. She nipped at the reptile's tail and earned an infuriated rumble in return. The reptile swung her way, rising up on its stubby legs in the hopes of grabbing the giant wolfess. Right on cue, Valentine dove towards the creature. His jaws parted, snaking downward as he moved to grab the hind foot of the reptile. As soon as his teeth made contact, the brute backpedaled. Hopefully the fae would return the favor and bail him out, or things were going to get ugly quickly. "Speaking" Thinking

The brute struck just at the right time, causing the reptile to turn around away from her. Esti's paws slammed on the ground, splaying out under her weight. Her tail curled above her back and her mouth opened in a smile. When the thing was facing away from her, Esti jumped in, snapping at the beast and drawing back. This odd game of trust continued for a while, the pair jumping around the lizard. The excitement was still high, but it wasn't getting any higher. The game went from extremely dangerous to kind of dangerous and, quite frankly, that wasn't dangerous enough.

As The creature turned from Esti, she shouted over, "This dinner date would be better if the dinner would stay still!" By the time she finished the phrase, she jumped towards the reptile and snapped at it, causing the thing to turn around once again and giving the brute a short window of time to reply.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

The game went on, the pair taking turns harassing the creature. It got stale rather quickly, the excitement waning as the three fell into a predictable pattern. A wolf would lunge, the lizard would swing, the other wolf would lunge...over and over they made the same moves. Above the rumbling of the reptile, the fae's voice rang out. "Picky, picky, picky," he called back, "I bring you the most exciting meal in Alacritia and you focus on the unimportant details." Alright, fine. If she wanted the "dinner" to stay still, he'd still it for her. His voice laced with a tone of martyrdom, he uttered valiantly, "For you, my love!" Quickly moving behind the reptile, Valentine sprung towards it. Nimble for one so tall, he was on the lizard's back in an instant. The creature surge forward and Valentine dug him toes into its hide in an attempt to keep with it. He moved with the monster, hoping to stay over its middle in the belief that it couldn't reach him there. When the beast stilled, he pounced, throwing his full weight onto its neck. With his back legs planted on either side of its middle and his front ones pinning its neck, the brute grinned over at the fae in triumph. "Speaking" Thinking

The male responded quickly and earned a smile from Esti. This guy was pretty cute in a way. She almost expected him to do something truly chivalrous with his sweet talk. He did. Kind of. As the gator turned back to Esti, the brute was suddenly on top of it. Esti's maw dropped and she let out a small gasp. Was he crazy? He smiled at her triumphantly and Esti shot him a sharp grin, her eyes narrowing slightly as if to ask, "really?"

Esti was impressed, however, but she didn't exactly know how to react. It seemed like any movement could upset this balance of safety the brute had on the beast. If she grabbed the thing's tail, it could probably throw the brute off, and that would be fun to watch, but on the other hand, Esti valued her life. She stood there a moment then asked the obvious, "Now what?"

"Speech"
'thoughts'

?Now what?? ....that was a really good question, actually. Admittedly, he hadn't given his plan much thought. All he'd been thinking about was impressing the pretty girl. It hadn't occurred to him that jumping onto the back of a large, heavily armed lizard was the embodiment of a bad idea. "Um..." he rumbled, "I'm not sure, actually. This was a much better idea a couple of seconds ago." As if agreeing with him, the beast let out a low hiss. Mock serious (okay, maybe a tiny bit serious) he locked eyes with the fae and said, "If I don't make it, would you mind tracking down my family and telling them I bit it? Gimme a good death though. I doubt they'd be impressed that idiocy killed me." Eh, well, now was as good a time as any for introductions. "I'm Valentine." "Speaking" Thinking

The brute seemed to realize his mistake too late and then agreed that it wasn't a good idea now. Esti rolled her eyes, but when she looked back at him, his eyes were locked on hers. A honest, obvious pout crossed over her face when he mentioned a family, "Damn," she muttered. She was so busy being disappointed that she almost missed the male's name. Valentine, huh? "Prin-" she stopped herself. She wasn't a princess anymore, "Esti. Just Esti."

The girl collected herself and reevaluated the situation, "Yeah, you're screwed man. I'll have to tell your family how I found you snout-deep in a mud puddle, trying to get with your own reflection." She made an overly dramatic sigh, "I'm sure your misses will curse your good looks and wish that your goodness was in your brain instead."

Joking aside, though, did this brute really have a family? The question rang loudly in Esti's mind. It really was too bad, she was just getting interested. Esti thought for a moment, debating on her earlier idea of pulling the gator's tail. She decided it might be in her best interest not to risk her life for this taken brute, but she was bored and there wasn't much else to do anyway. Esti decided she might try something, "If I pull it's tail and you jump, you think you can snap at it again before I die?"

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Esti, eh? An unusual name for sure, but who was he to think such things? How many brutes walked around with the moniker 'Valentine'? He snorted at her next words and flicked an amused glance heavenward. Oh, boy. The fae...Esti..mentioned his "missus" and the brute's gaze returned to her. "No missus, sadly. Family pack." There was no way he was going to say 'mommy' even though that was the only missus he really had. Well, there was Basanti, but she had yet to yank his chain. "Aw, you think I'm good looking?" Behind her sarcastic comments there appeared to be a working mind. Esti suggested a plan and Valentine, after a moment of thought, nodded in agreement. It was doable. He set aside the banter for a moment and gave her a serious answer. "I think so." The brute paused, then, "Any loved ones you'd like me to track down if it get's ya?" Staying serious was no fun. "Speaking" Thinking

Even in the dire situation, the banter continued. Esti caught that there was no missus. That was good for her- if they made it out alive. When Valentine caught her "good-looking" comment, Esti shot him a wink in a mock- or not so mock- form of flirting.

Things turned serious for a moment and Esti readied herself for the assault that would probably lead them back into the snapping-at-the-alligator game they were playing earlier. As the brute asked about her family, she brefely thought about Laufey. He probably wouldn't miss her too much. Just a passing thought of, "How's Esti doing, I wonder?" or, "I hope Esti is alright," but she wasn't too worried about him worrying about her. The girl flicked her tail, "Nah, just break it to my masses of followers and suitors gently." The girl smirked at the brute, royal blue eyes meeting his sky blue ones for a brief moment, "Go."

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Masses of followers and suitors, eh? Mock serious, he replied dryly, "I'll try." He tensed, well, okay, tensed further, and bent his knees, ready to run when she gave the signal. It came all too soon for his likely, but with sharp word, she urged him into action. Her command echoing in his ears, Valentine bailed left. He kicked off, throwing himself as far away from the reptile as possible. The brute's tail tucked, his rump dropping as he imagined the lizard's jaws mere inches from his hide. Once his paws touched ground, the brute threw in one more long stride before pivoting. Instinct screamed that he was a moron, that he should keep running and not look back, but that's not how the game went. Much to his surprise (now really, he shouldn't have been that surprised) the reptile, having seen him dive away, had turned to go after him. In a heartbeat, Valentine was nearly nose to jaws with the beast. Once more he bailed to the side, fighting the undignified shriek that threatened to come ripping from his jaws as he spun completely around and was pursued several paces by the lizard before it gave up. "Speaking" Thinking

All too fast, things happened. Esti snapped at the lizard, Valentine jumped, Esti jumped back, the lizard spun around again, then was off after Valentine. A breath caught in Esti's throat. She really wasn't sure what to do or if Valentine would win in this race. How fast were giant lizards anyway? Esti turned and looped around in an arc to observe the event, ready to jump in and help fight if needed, but also ready to turn tail and flee.

She didn't have to flee.

Somehow, for some reason, the lizard gave up. Esti caught up to Valentine, panting softly, "Okay... I thought he was supposed to be our dinner, not the other way around." She tossed him a toothy smile, her maw being parted slightly for air, "Maybe this isn't the best hangout. The company is pretty bad and the over all atmosphere is a little hostile." She shrugged, "Not the worst first date I had." she ended. It was kind of a lie, most other 'dates' were a lot... quicker and more passionate than dangerous, but she wasn't too picky, handsome company was handsome company.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Thank heavens for fat ass lizards. If not for its stubby legs and round middle, he'd be tailless for sure. Valentine ran all out for several paces before throwing a glance over his shoulder. When it finally registered that he was no longer being chased, the brute slowed to a walk and doubled back. Esti met him somewhere in the middle and the pair stopped, both panting from their efforts. Catty as usual, she had words ready for him. In response he grunted, face passive, before breaking into a lopsided grin. His gaze darted away, rolling heavenward briefly in amusement. Well, it certainly not the worst date he'd ever had either, although it was memorable for all the wrong reasons. "Perhaps I could make it up to you." Valentine's gaze returned to Esti. "Is it too soon for round two?" "Speaking" Thinking