Walk | Talk | Think
It seemed the spooking was coming full circle. No sooner had she startled Lebrah was rounding on the woods behind them with a rather fierce look about him, as if ready to face off against whatever had caused Anais distress. It was surprising and she watched with widened eyes, his unanticipated defense legitimately threatening enough to at least give a potential attacker pause, or at least until he spoke. There was no denying, angry voice or not, that he was no warrior, not physically or mentally, but his bravery was touching nonetheless. How selfless of him to be so willing to square off against the enemy even when one was not there.
She took his teasing with a slightly embarrassed grin, finally rising to stand in place as he soured over her suggestion of a bath and then seemed to come to terms with it. That was good. She still worried about what a meeting between him and her parents would be like, still worried that they would react in the worst possible way without even asking a single question to truly understand the situation, but if there was any possibility to making introductions she wanted him to look a little more presentable. Her father might only have been able to tell the mud by its smell, but her mother's keen eye would have spotted it from a mile off and she could only imagine how scrunched her nose would get in distaste. No, she needed to avoid as many of the bad first impressions as possible.
His tail bumped against her hip as he moved to stand beside her, questioning her own cleanliness preference. "Not usually," she answered truthfully around a chuckle, "I spent more time playing in lakes and rivers than I ever have mud." It was partly due to having a mother like Tahlia, so prim and proper and expecting the same from her children, particularly her eldest daughter. It was a miracle the woman had never truly called her down more harshly for attaining the scar she possessed against her right shoulder, the one that mirrored those on her brother and father, but it was only because there was nothing to be done about it now. It was permanent, and no amount of complaining was going to make it go away.
In his eagerness, Lebrah set off before she did, though naturally he did not get very far. Anais could only laugh again as he turned back and admitted to having no direction to go in, her own tail wagging now in playful excitement. Already she was having great fun just from having made her decision, from releasing the fears that had made it so difficult and accepting that there would undoubtedly be repercussions for it that she would somehow need to face. But there would be plenty of time to face that and give it its fair share of nervousness. Right now she needed to get Lebrah to the river to clean. "It's this way," she instructed him, glancing at him as she stepped around him and began setting off in the right direction. "Just straight ahead."
Smiling as she walked, she realized how delightful it was to not feel nervous or anxious or oppressed by her own fears as well as those of her family. In fact, for the first time in months she felt like herself, practically normal again. That must have been a good sign, right? It must have meant she was doing the right thing, that this wolf was indeed harmless and just in need of care and assistance. From the corner of her golden eyes, she glanced at him, the muddied, colorfully marked grown male, and wondered how she was going to do this, not only the big task of caring for him but even just the here and now one of getting him clean. He had already professed to preferring to keep his dirt on him, but...maybe if she could make it more entertaining he would be more willing? "Hey, Lebrah," she called, hoping he would take the bait but speaking confidently as if she believed he would without question, "last one in the river is a rotten egg."
Without giving him a moment to process what she was saying, or to determine whether it might even be a good enough threat to constitute him getting wet on his own, Anais turned and raced on ahead, lengthening her lead and hopefully making the stakes higher. If he did not act now, he was likely going to lose, and she hoped his desire to play the game would override his dislike of the water.
|
