you'll never get better, you'll never get over it

While he resumed his foraging, the scent of another grew ever stronger, confirming his fear that he was not alone amongst the trees. With it came the steady, rhythmic thud of paws on the ground. He sighed, mostly to himself, and opted to ignore the commotion. After all, if they didn't stumble across him, he wouldn't have to deal with them. The sound of paws grew closer, and the volume of the rustling told him to expect a wolf equal to himself in bulk. Rich magenta gaze flicked up, cranium rising to lay his attention on the wolf who was certainly almost upon him at this point. It was a female, he noticed once he opted to put any thought into considering the scent. Then, a truly titanic form broke through the foliage, and he was captured by the stark ebony mask upon her face, with its sharp teeth-like extensions. Her hellfire gaze fell upon him for a mere few beats before they seemed to roll back into her skull. The unsettling sound of unawares limbs crumpling to the earth, and the subsequent thud of a massive body collapsing with them in a heap sent his auds flattening against his skull in alarm. Dark lips pulled into a thin line, features scrunching up in a grimace of concern and pain. Her ragged gasping was something wholly unexpected, and simultaneously confusing. For one of the few times in his life, the cosmic giant was struck dumb by a medical emergency. Clearly he was losing his touch.

Wary footfalls thumped against the ground as alabaster paws brought him closer to the crumpled heap of wolf, a pile of matted, greasy dove grey fur. A few cautious pulls of air drew in her scent, and he noted the vague scent of illness underlying the reek of damp straw and herbivore dung. What in the gods' names was this woman doing in her spare time? He wasn't sure he wanted to know. It wasn't the sour, acrid stink of a serious illness that he would be at risk of contracting. Nonetheless it was something he had to be aware of, and consider throughout his examination. Brilliant optics narrowed as he took a moment to consider her scrunched up, distressed expression. "Aye, girl, don't try to take my head off for a second, would you?" he grunted slightly above his normal volume, a fair enough warning for his books. She was very much his patient now, and he wasn't accepting refusal or backtalk. Never one for excellent bedside manner, the man sought to bury his snout into the fur along her throat. The sensitive skin of his nose would be able to detect her pulse, and any blockages along her airways, if that wheezing was a result of something lodged there. He had to be careful and move slowly, as the large, curving tusks protruding from his lower jaw could punch through the tender skin of her throat if he moved too quick. Should she flinch, and he was moving too quickly, he wouldn't be able to pull back to avoid causing further injury. All he needed was to get his nose lightly up against the skin, and take a brief note of her pulse, then note any distinct shapes under the skin that might allude to blockages. Then, he would be much better off using an upturned paw to test against any blockage with his pawpad. Less risk of slicing a neck open, or losing an eye if she opted to take a chunk out of whatever touched her.