Faster yet

The male tried to plant his paws and screech to a stop to look at Alarik, but then things went wrong. He turned further and threw his balance off, causing him to fall and slide upside down through the snow. Alarik tried not to laugh and failed, first snorting and then actually laughing. But it was only for a few seconds, and then he composed himself again. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you wipe out like that," he said. "and I didn't mean to laugh. Sorry."

The male explained that he'd been trying to leave the longest trail of paw prints and Alarik shrugged a bit when he said he'd messed it up. "Nah, you could always..." he loped over to where the skidding mess had started, "Pick up where you left off here and keep going!" Alarik laughed again. Maybe not. But the whole longest trail of paw prints thing sounded like a fun idea.

The comment about his markings made sense. After all, they were sort of like the color of dried blood. But then the male said they were pretty and Alarik smiled, oddly touched. "Well, thanks!" he said. "I'm Alarik Xanilov. It's nice to meet you."