It was dark here, which was totally fine. The yearling lass was sprawled out in the dark, staring at a little circle of light formed by a hole in the ceiling of the caves. Dust motes and bugs danced in that little spot of light, and looked hella cool while they did. It was so strange, watching them disappear into the shadows and reappear in completely different spots. Of course, being high made it even easier to find these things amusing. With her limbs sprawled out on all sides, her belly was cooled by the frigid stone beneath her. The south was pretty hot right now, and she really liked it. All the birds had migrated here too, which made hunting pretty easy. Just find a river or a pond, or whatever, and snatch up the nearest waterfowl. Easy peasy.  With a loud sigh, she let her eyes fall shut. Everything was well with the world, and she was content. Her tail thumped lazily against the ground once, illustrating her calm sense of glee. Nothing could possibly make this bad, it could only get better. Maybe a nap would do her well, too. The happy medium between warm and cool was so soothing, it was making her very sleepy.  "Speech"

"Speech"

All he could here was the dripping of water as it fell from the skylights and dripped down the cave walls and the quiet clicking of his own claws against the cave floor. Ever since he had come to see Isolde and her young children he had found himself lingering in the south and in the areas near The Range more and more, even though he kept promising himself he was going to get up north eventually to visit Amalia. It felt like so long since he had seen her and she was always guaranteed to be a happy face to see so he was determined to keep true to his promise to see his sister. Buuuuut maybe just not today.

Instead he was working his way through The Whispering Caves, passing through the shafts of light that broke up the otherwise constant darkness. Each time he stepped into the light it lit up his bright russet and white coat, as the light tended to do. He squinted into the darkness but it was hard to see much of anything that wasn't in the light. Of course he thought he smelled another wolf's scent, but there were several in the air, some old, some fresh, and it was hard to distinguish just how new this one was. Unknowingly, he passed through another shaft of light, walking right past the yearling who was lounging just a few feet away, continuing on without a second thought.

Pawsteps were what caught her attention, coming closer and closer. She blinked her eyes open lazily, watching the darkness just beyond the narrow patch of light for the approaching wolf. She was too out of it to care if she might get stepped on, or even if she might get attacked. What did it matter anyway? As the bright auburn male strode into the light, his pelt caught it perfectly, gleaming. She made a small noise of appreciation, humming contentedly. He was very handsome, even she could see that. Lifting her head up slowly, she blinked a few times at him. The male hardly noticed, striding on by her. Well then. "Hey." Husky lyrics said plainly, watching his retreating form in the gathering shadow. If he didn't turn around, it didn't really matter, did it? Toxic pools watched on, pupils wide and dark. Only the barest sliver of her acidic irises showed. Her limbs slowly gathered themselves at her sides, leaving her laying in a pose remnant of a sphinx, though plenty sloppier. Did she really feel like getting up to follow? She wondered. "Speech"

"Speech"

Hey

He stepped dead in his tracks at the voice, his ears perking up with curiosity. Well, apparently that scent was a lot fresher than he imagined. He turned his head to look over his shoulder and, sure enough, he saw the shape of a woman laying on the cave floor in the dim light. Well, he certainly couldn't walk by a lady without at least introducing himself! Turning around he padded back over toward her with a small smile on his muzzle. Her features became more clear as he got closer and his sapphire gaze adjusted better to the darkness. She was certainly interesting with the splashes of color on her form, one of which being a white ear much like his own and of course the green eyes that stood out even in the dark.

He dipped his head in a small, polite bow, never one to forget his manners. "Well, hello. Please excuse me for not noticing you before, my head must have been somewhere else." He glanced around them at the otherwise empty cave before turning his gaze back to her. She had to be around younger than him, although not by much he was sure. "Can I ask why you're down here all by yourself?"

The male turned, thankfully. Moving didn't really seem all that good right now. The fiery man strode toward her, a warm smile on his face. Well, he seemed nice. A lazy grin of her own crept onto her features, triple hued banner thumping against the stone beneath her a few times. She even managed a casual bob of her head in greeting, listening to his apologies for missing her. She shrugged, waving it away with a small paw. "'S no big deal man," She assured him, shaking her head lightly. When he asked why she was here, the dark lass suddenly realized she had absolutely no clue exactly why she was here. Another heavy shrug of her narrow shoulders, tiara tilting to mimic the sweeping look over their surroundings she'd just watched the male do. However, her head lolled a little, as if she was about to pass out. However, the patchwork darling was all that tired. She was just relaxed to the extreme. "Uh, not really sure." She drawled, brows knitting together for a moment. That train of thought was quickly abandoned. Did it really matter? She was just here, no biggie. "'S quiet," She murmured, tongue continuing even when her mind had already left the topic behind. "peaceful, you know?" She sighed, blinking slowly at him. Honestly, it was astounding she wasn't like this more, but how often did one happen upon cannabis and the like? She was too much of a wanderer to bother with a stash, so she just seized whatever chances she could get. After a moment of silence, she tilted her head curiously. " What 'bout you?" She hummed, quirking a brow. "Speech"

The russet man watched the girl curiously as she lazed out her words, her head seeming like it was almost too heavy for her neck. His eyebrow quirked with a mix of concern and amusement as he watched her. She dismissed his appology and he was glad to know that he was forgiven, although he wasn't entirely sure she was entirely present. It almost made him want to do an experiment and see if she still remembered him several days from now, but he knew there was a very real possibility that they wouldn't meet again after today. He nodded in agreement that this place was indeed quiet and peaceful despite the fact that each sound echoed off the walls of this long cavern. Every one of their words bounced around them and continued down along the tunnel. She turned his question back on him and he pondered it breifly before finally answering, "Just exploring really. One of my sisters just had pups not too long ago and she lives near here so I've been hanging around with her, but I wanted to get out and stretch my legs, ya know." He had no problem being completely honest with even perfect strangers. Perhaps it was more information than she needed or wanted to know, but she also wasn't protesting his presence so he went on anyway. He settled down onto his haunches before asking his next question. "What's your name?" "Talk" "You" Think

The male looked amused as she spoke, but that was alright. No doubt he hadn't really been around many others who frequented this kind of condition. She didn't mind, even if he had scorned her and left the premises, she wouldn't have been too insulted. It wasn't for everyone. She listened to his story with intrigue, smiling a little at the news of new arrivals into this world. "Hey, that's great man, congrats on the little nieces and nephews." She murmured, lifting a rear paw to scratch busily at her ebony audit. It was suddenly itchy. The male dropped onto his rump, and asked her name. She paused, realizing her manners had left her entirely. Well, that was shitty of her. "Acadia Frost, but everyone just calls me Ace, or 'ah crap not her again'." She introduced herself warmly, snorting a little at the joke she'd made. "Is it cool if I ask yours?" She drawled, raising an eyebrow. Not everyone wanted the world to know their name, and that was cool. She could respect that, her father didn't always introduce himself right away. However, she saw nothing wrong with that. She wasn't a faerie, so her name didn't really have a lot of power in the hands of others, right? "Speech"

Leo gave a small smile and a grateful nod when she congratulated him on his new family members. He felt a small swell of pride when he thought about his nephews and niece, obviously a very happy to be an uncle. His tail thumped gently behind him as he thought about them. She went on to introduce herself at his asking. Her response was as unexpected as it was humorous and it was enough to pull a snorting chuckle from him. It was refreshing in a way to talk to someone so unconcerned with first impressions, although he couldn't quite decide why she was acting in such a way. He was completely clueless when it came to drugs and their side effects so all he could think of was that maybe this was just how she behaved. He had seen stranger behaviors than this, just in different ways. Again she would ask of him his own question and he smirked as he replied, "Of course. I'm Aaron Leopold Adravendi-Mathis, but I go by Leo. I've always thought that was quite a mouthful and Aaron has always felt... I don't know... Dorky?" He chuckled softly to himself at that while silently trying to decide where this conversation was going to go. She was certainly amusing if nothing else and quite pretty and interesting to look at. He didn't mind keeping up a conversation as long as she felt like talking. Deciding he might as well make himself comfortable, he slid down so that he was laying in a similar fashion to her on his stomach. The cool stone felt good in comparison to the southern heat. "You look fairly harmless to me. Why would anyone not be happy to see you, Ace?" he asked, genuinely as to why anyone would provoke a response of, quote, 'ah crap not her again.' "Talk" "You" Think

She could see his pride, and it made her smile a little. She didn't have nieces or nephews, but she did have some aunts that were a little younger than herself. That counted, right? He responded to her query with gusto, spitting out a name longer than any she'd heard in her young life. Why would anyone torture their child with that many names? She blinked at him a few times, mildly stunned by this. Holy tits on a stick. He reiterated that he went by Leo, which seemed much more doable than having to call him Aaron-Leopold.. whatever, it was just better. She chuckled, shaking her head a little as he gave his own thoughts on his odd first name. "I don't think 's that dorky." She hummed brows furrowing a little as she thought about it some more. Nah, it wasn't that bad. "I have sister who's name is Astrid." She informed him. "I call her Ass when she's being annoying, just for the sake of it." She snorted, taking a moment to laugh a little too much at her own joke. Ass. How hysterical! She was a riot! When her giggles subsided, she coughed to clear her now dry throat. "Now that's a dorky name." She giggled. The male settled on his stomach as well, joining her on the fringes of the light made by the little skylight. He was a little smaller than her, but with a lot more meat on his bones. She was a teeny tiny little stick bug, and everyone kept joking she might snap in two if a breeze caught her. When the male called her harmless, she frowned. Brows knitted together, she glanced over at him with toxic pools turned black by immense pupils. "I wouldn't say that.." She mused, remembering the sorts of mayhem she'd caused throughout her life. Like that time she bit that giant rogue right on the nose, and he's chased her through the orchard. That'd been really funny, especially when she tok the opportunity to wiggle her butt just out of his reach. Man, he'd been maaaaad about that. Come to think about it, she had yet to encounter him yet. Thank the gods for that one. "Well, I have a bad habit of pissing people off. It's really fun." She laughed, grinning like an idiot. It really was, watching them get all enraged and huffy puffy. They always chased her, and she always got away. Any child of Loki was a slippery little bastard, herself being no exception. "Speech"