It had taken the young man a bit of time to build up the courage to return to the lake where he had first met the young blue eyed girl. The site of his first kiss, it felt like a lifetime ago. He had been a child then, now? Well now he was an adult and he felt the pressure of his ambition more than ever before. Some part of him was hopeful he’d find the girl here again, the promise of their practice sessions upon his mind as he approached the body of water. It had probably been too much to hope though, her scent was nowhere to be found and for the briefest moment a look of disappointment passed over his face. Then Torin rolled his shoulders and braved the cold water to approach the stone sitting in the center of the lake. He heaved himself up the stone, feeling it’s held warmth flowing through his now thoroughly chilled paw pads. Even in the early winter temperature its surface had managed to soak up some warming rays. With a huff the young man flopped less than gracefully onto his side and allowed the warmth to spread across his body, lids drooped lazily and the Adravendi began to snore lightly.   "Silent Treatment" & Deep thoughts

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Maple was thankful she'd escaped her recent predicament in the caves, and vowed that she would avoid caves for... at least like a year or something to catch her breath from the tizzy she'd worked herself into. No more caves. Striding through the open lands of the west, she felt like she could actually breathe. And, bonus, it wasn't as cold here as other places. The weather was getting chilly, she could smell it. There was probably snow, which was nice and all but Maple preferred autumn honestly. "That's just cause then you match the scenery, you dork," the tiny girl thought, right as she tripped over a rock and face-planted right into the lake she'd been walking towards. Fantastic, shoot her now. Time to quit life. Picking her orange face up out of the water, Maple grimaced. Suddenly her heart was in her throat as she realized it was entirely possible someone might have witnessed at epic fail. Backing a few steps away from the water she sat down, head held low as she sat there self-consciously wondering if she should run really far away right now, or stop being such a nervous wreck and shake the water from her coat already. Actions. "Speak" "Think."

He was dozing lightly, the scent of an approaching wolf gently pulling him into blurry wakefulness. He was only vaguely aware of the form of a wolf approaching and then- she was gone. And suddenly he was very much awake. There was a splash and Torin didn’t need to see what had happened to understand it. He pressed himself to his perch, almost too afraid to peek over the edge. He didn’t think she had seen him yet, and some part of him felt he should just stay hidden where he was and allow her to walk away thinking no one had witnessed her spectacular fall. That’s what he would have wanted if he was being honest. But no, what if she was hurt? Torin agonized with himself for a minute or so before finally inching himself towards the edge of the rock where he had seen the girl. He slowly lifted his head a bit. "Y’alright?" He rumbled softly, his dual toned eyes wide as he eyed the soaked girl. He felt some blood rush to the front of his face, what was wrong with him? "Silent Treatment" & Deep thoughts

Eventually she decided to start with straightening up and shaking out her fur, ridding herself of the majority of the water her pelt had... acquired. There was no time to think of what to do next - a voice found it's way to her ears and the pale girl froze in place. Briefly Maple wondered if her cheeks might become lighter or darker when she blushed so profusely. Lips parting, the little wolf turned to look for who had spoken with mouth agape and partly twisted into a grimace. Ears fell flat, tail drooped, the wisp of wolf seemingly deflating. "Er... Y-yes, I'm okay." Did her heart normally beat this fast? No, no it did not. "Good job Maple, what an intro." the thought had her feeling even more nervous until she finally got a grip and took some deep breaths. Smiling sheepishly at the older boy, Maple managed a half-hearted laugh, "Guess I looked pretty silly wiping out like that, huh?" Offering a lopsided smirk, her heart was still kind of in her throat but at least she was recovering. Now she just had to recover her dignity. Actions. "Speak" "Think."

As Torin watched the girl deflate he instantly regretted his decision to make his presence known, he hardly noticed the slight pink tinge her muzzle took on. Her expression said it all, she was less than thrilled that someone had witnessed her tumble. He nodded awkwardly as she confirmed she was alright. She gave a weak laugh and his face softened slightly though he remained mostly impassive. "If it’s any consolation I didn’t really... see it happen." He offered, his gaze sliding away as he found it was too awkward to look at her directly. With a grunt he rose to his paws and in one smooth motion leapt from his perch to the shore of the lake. Or at least that had been what he’d tried to do, instead his paws slipped on the stone, still slightly wet from his swim up and he fell directly into the water. The lake wasn’t particularly deep, especially not for a wolf as big as he but his surprise meant that he had become fully submerged before he realized what had happened. Spluttering he broke the surface and pulled himself up onto dry land. Great! He groaned as he flopped onto his left, now he was cold, soaked through and his right side was aching from where he had hit the water’s surface. Worst of all he had just embarrassed himself in front of a pretty stranger. If the ground could just eat me up right now, that’d be great. "Silent Treatment" & Deep thoughts

"If it’s any consolation I didn’t really... see it happen," the man offered. That kind of helped, but if Maple was being honest the real problem was her own mind that told her it was literally the end of the world when it probably wasn't. Nevertheless she did her best to smile in spite of herself. Okay so her tripping was slightly funny. At least he wasn't laughing at her. Her smile grew a bit at that. The little ivory woman was going to think of something funny to say at her own expense when the man rose and looked like he was coming over. Wait, over here? Where Maple was? Oh. Her stomach felt all full of nervous butterflies at the thought of him being closer all of a sudden, but this feeling vanished when the poor guy slipped and plummeted right into the same water Maple's just picked her face up out of. She almost giggled at this sudden twist of events but figured she ought to show him the same kindness he'd shown her when she took a tumble. Padding her way closer, Maple stopped a few feet away and flopped down on her tummy to look at him with a tentative grin. "Y'allright?" she asked, repeating his earlier question. Then, in hopes of not embarrassing him too much she added, "Least we can be soggy together, I suppose." Soft tinkling laughter fell from her lips, amused by their now shared situation. Actions. "Speak" "Think."

The girl padded over to him parroting his earlier question and he groaned, now he was really really hoping the ground would swallow him. Not that he thought it’d happen of course, no he would never be so lucky. Instead she offered an attempt at consoling him and he narrowed his eyes at her. "S’hardly fair." He rumbled, rolling to his paws. He grimaced slightly as his sore side protested but he still rose to his full height, easily dwarfing the smaller girl. "I am completely soaked and you just got your head wet." And with that he shook the water from his pelt. A low rumbling chuckle dropped from his lips as he stopped, turning his dual toned gaze back towards the girl. Despite his mirth he felt a little bad for potentially catching her with his “attack.” "We should probably actually find a way to warm up." He intoned, his voice still carrying slight tones of amusement. "I’m Torin Adravendi." He offered his name, just now realizing they’d not done so yet. "Silent Treatment" & Deep thoughts

Poor thing looked as upset as she'd felt before, drawing out her sympathies and preventing her from being too annoyed at his attitude when he spoke next. Fair? Ugh, who even cares about- "Ack!" Ears flattening, the woman tried to leap back but was unable to escape the curtain of water the man sent flying when he shook. Ears lay flat in horrified shock, a grimace that looked mostly like a pupish pouty face drew her brows together and made her look even more pathetic. Between the look and the damp fur, Maple probably looked like a tiny, angry little wet sheep. After a few seconds though, looking herself over in what had slowly become amusement, the little woman sighed, "Fair enough now?" Lips slowly curled into a smile as she laughed the whole thing off. She guessed the guy wasn't all bad. "You're probably right, not the best time of year to be drenched I guess," she said in her usual, soft and sweet voice, "I'm Maple. Nice to meet you I guess." she teased, grinning, orange-tipped tail swinging gently behind her. Actions. "Speak" "Think."