Walk | Talk | Think
Still not entirely recovered from her anxieties, though they had undoubtedly begun to lessen, Anais jumped slightly in place as the mostly white wolf laughed very suddenly, catching her off guard and giving her a momentary scare. It was nothing more than a harmless laugh, and realizing her jumpiness had been for nothing only caused her smile to brighten just a fraction more out of amusement and sheepishness. And, even better yet, what she said seemed to work as well, providing the right sort of detour for their conversation to steer it away from the touchy subject of being his mother.
Lifting his head from her paw, the oddly marked male rolled to his back and stared up at her with a silly grin as he answered with his name. Lebrah. A unique name for a unique wolf. Though she tended to travel a lot - or at least had before - the girl was confident she had never met another like this male before her. No name, no coloration, no manner of being reflected what she saw here, particularly in this combination, and while it was entirely odd and should have been unsettling she could see only the innocence behind him, the childlike state of his mind that made him act as he did rather than how she would have expected.
When asked for her own name, she did not hesitate before answering. "I'm Anais," she explained, glad to at least know who he was and have herself known in return even if she could not grant the large request that he had asked of her. It did not help anything when he reached up to nose at her leg again, seeking physical reassurance in a manner that was familiar to her, and suggested that she smelled like home.
Oh, if she had not already been torn up over everything already, she certainly was now! Heavily she took a seat where she had been standing, the weight of Lebrah's words drawing her down in an almost physical sense. How was she going to tell him no? How was she ever going to live with disappointing him, this childish, trusting, unusual wolf who asked so much of her? There was absolutely no way her parents would allow it! They would take one look at him, judge him instantly without understanding him, and run him off. And if they managed to find her with him in her den, especially at this time, when she was still in season and vulnerable in a sense that she had never experienced before, she knew they would be furious. Taking him in, adopting him, would be a disaster.
And yet the idea refused to leave her mind. Desperately she searched her thoughts, putting things together and twisting things about in such a way that it might work out. It was a foolish endeavor, she was sure of it, but it would have been so much harder to say no. To buy herself some time, she continued to speak and ask questions, drawing out the conversation to keep his thoughts occupied while she tried to work out a solution that they both might find acceptable. "And you," she remarked, taking a leap on trust as she bent her head down and nosed against one of his muddied legs, the one that lacked the golden decoration, "smell like mud." Her smile warmed, grew more relaxed and almost reminiscent of the old her, as she continued to peer down at him, this odd wolf named Lebrah. "I know where some water is...if you want to get cleaned up?"
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