Cascade lazed slowly along the border, pausing once in a while to yawn. Valen's rugrats were getting to be a handful these days, not that they weren't already before, and they were getting big enough to near crowd her right out of the den - it was even worse when Valen squished in there. She really, really needed a bigger den, or she was going to need to start sleeping outside with Valen when he did instead of inside with the kiddos... Anyway she'd taken up a border patrol today, a duty that really fell under the mantle of the rank Valen had given her but one she hadn't really had the opportunity to do much of it before she'd gotten pregnant and then too fat to do it. Whoops. She'd left the children sleeping in the den, and escaped to the border. A scent tickled her nose, and she lifted her head in interest. Oh, Valen was returning? Returning from where? Grinning, the black-shaded wolf crouched in the moon-shadows directly in the alpha's path. Oh yes, he'd never know what hit him. Mwahahahaha.... ""

With a spring in his step Valentine trotted the final leg home. He'd just come from his date with Rhythm and the effects of her company still lingered with him. The more time he spent with her the more enamored he became. She was so sweet and gentle-natured; so different from the usual company he kept - and these reasons where exactly what had grabbed his attention when they first met. In her presence he found himself softening. Somehow she managed to soothe his restless nature, an effect that came as a welcome respite after the hustle and bustle of Imperium. That was not to say he didn't enjoy what he did, just that the occasional break from it did him some good. His head in the clouds, Valentine was wholly unaware of the mischievous presence that watched him from the shadows. He was giddy, his step so light and springy that it appeared a breeze could waft under his belly and carry him away. Already he was plotting their next date. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, that could spoil his mood tonight. "Speaking" "Thinking"

The form of her alpha approached through the deepening shadows of night and Cascade crept forward on nimble paws until she was nearly in range. He took one step closer, two... "GRRRRRRAWWWWWWWWWWWR!!!" She leaped forward out of the darkness with a fierce cry, ebony fur fluffed out, feinting as though she were going to collide with him but ending with a mere breath between their noses. "Tresssspasssserrrr," she hissed, a deep rumbling growl building in her chest that erupted suddenly into laughter and she frisked sideways in an endeavor to throw a paw over his neck to rest her weight against his shoulder and nibble his neck behind his ears. "Just kidding - knew it was you for a while now, you stink like a cheap whore and I can smell you from like a mile away." She paused thoughtfully to bury her face in his ruff and sniff, then burst into laughter again. "Valen! You really do smell like a cheap whore!" His fur practically stank like some unknown female ripe with another pack's scent, and Cas' grin turned sly. "Was she preeeeettyyyy? Do you liiiike her?" ""

He was bopping along minding his own business when out of nowhere a black shape threw itself at him with a scream. The brute of course jumped, nearly leaping from his skin in an attempt to get away from the shadow creature - a creature that soon burst into victorious laughter. Cascade. Thank god he'd swallowed the shriek that had threatened to claw its way free of him. She'd have never let him live it down. She danced to the side and threw a paw across his neck so she could lean against him and chew on the fluff between his ears before declaring that he smelled like a cheap whore. Still a little miffed at being startled, he snorted indignantly, ready to remind her that she wasn't exactly virginal angel either, when she buried her face in his scruff and once again laughed loudly, this time right in his ear. Annoyed, he attempted to shake her off of him. "I don't believe that's any of your business," he sniffed, "But if you must know, she's gorgeous...and yes I do." "Speaking" "Thinking"

Valen confirmed everything with a distinct air of... irritated cat. Oh he was miffed at her was he? Her grin only deepened as he sent her sliding from his shoulder to land on her rump with a thump. "Valen's got a girlfriend, Valen's got a girlfriend," she chanted in a low voice, for all the world like one of their children, before weaving her way cat-like against her forelegs and chest. "Ah, don't be so sore, Valen. It's not like I'm jealous or anything. Its just so adorable to see you with a crush on someone. Tell me, though," she added thoughtfully, flopping down and rolling partly on her back to bat at his legs. "Why is she in another pack if you like her so much? Wouldn't you rather have her here where you can keep an eye on her so she doesn't go out tom-catting on you? Smells like the type," she added, "all sweet and innocent but playing the field the whole time." She'd have to be the sweet and innocent type if Valen was being so protective over just talking about her... one of those perfect-denmother-and-wife-but-useless-at-anything-important, trying-to-catch-any-reasonably-clean-male-she-could-find-to-make-a-family types that seemed to pop out of the nicey-nice families maybe? Well Valen seemed to like her anyway, and it was Cas' job to make Valen happy, right? Mismatched eyes gleamed mischievously at the tall alpha as plots shifted like shadows through them. ""

Valen's got a girlfriend, Valen's got a girlfriend," she sang, appearing, for all intents and purposes, to be trying to annoy him. Or embarrass him, he wasn't sure. If it was the former, she was succeeding. The purple/black fae wove move between his forelegs and pressed against his chest, and the only reason Valen tolerated the catlike behavior was because he knew she would take it as a victory if he shoved her away. The catlike behavior continued as Cascade flopped down and began to bat at his forepaws. In response he shifted his forward weight to his right and lazily began to try to smack her paws with his left forepaw. She posed a question to him, one he had no trouble answering. "I would like her here, yes, but not for that reason. She has a home elsewhere," The distance between them had been the source of many a musing for him, but if they got that serious it was something they'd deal with then. "One that is protected by a capable alpha. She is as safe there as she would be here - that is what matters to me." And that was why he was okay with the distance between them. If she were a loner he would have insisted that she join him in Imperium for her safety, but that was unnecessary given her place in Abaven. "Speaking" "Thinking"

His obvious annoyance made Cascade grin as he swatted at her paw. So he wanted his pretty trinket here but didn't want to take the poor little darling biddy away from her flock? Was she too tender hearted and spineless just to leave them? Didn't seem like she was being held there against her will, after all - the pack scent that clung to Valen's fur tickled a vague memory of having visited a pack at the beginning of her pregnancy, though she couldn't for the life of her remember it's name or the name of the young alpha she'd met. Perch? Marlin? Or was it something musical? Forte? Jazz? She couldn't remember. She paused her pawing at him to regard him with seriousness, though overlaid with a mask of her typically silly nature, as she considered this new development in her Valen. "So what's your delicate little flower's name, Valentine? Or are you afraid that I'll seduce her away from you if I know who she is?" she teased. ""

In response to his attempts to mash her toes, Cascade grinned up at him. He of course frowned down at her all the while fighting the urge match her childish behavior by sticking his tongue out. Hm....or maybe hold her down and dangle a string of spit in her face. She continued grilling him, asking Rhythm's name and then insinuating that she was capable of stealing his love interest. Hah. He snorted at the absurdity of it. "Her name is Rhythm Destruction and you know what? You can try." Attempting to step over Cascade, Valentine moved to continue on his original path. He'd keep his ears and eyes peeled in case she decided to jump out at him again. If she did, he would be ready. Already he had a scheme brewing. --exit Valentine-- "Speaking" "Thinking"