((Liquid timing to before his Halloween event thread because literally no idea what he'll be like after that.))

Crux's head was a mess, well really his whole being was but his thoughts were hard to sort through. He had to admit some things to himself he wasn't yet sure he was ready to admit. He'd spent so long holding onto the idea of a wolf he hadn't seen in over a year. Ajax hadn't shown up at the party and Crux had had to slip back away home, his heart aching. But he didn't know Ajax, didn't know who he really was. They'd met when they'd both been children... Crux didn't feel like he'd changed much but surely they both had. And he'd carried a torch for him since that day, off of simple kindness, had literally brought a reminder of their meeting with him everywhere in the form of the feather pendant he wore even now. He was an idiot. Building so much off of scraps.

That was almost easier to reconcile, he could choose to carry feelings for a boy he really didn't know. Less chance of getting hurt that way... But suddenly finding his adolescence hijacked by Cryptis? That was another matter. Ajax was a dull ache, an old wound he could poke when he wanted to feel something. Cryptis? Well Cryptis was a blazing fire right in front of his eyes, she was a scar when it was still fresh and tender. She was a menace. Not in an unkind way but in a "I really like this girl who keeps endangering herself and it's distressing" kinda way. He could still remember the way she'd felt tucked against his chest as they'd awaited rescue. And it scared him.

Ajax was a memory, real but distant and untouchable. Cryptis was there, she'd stood right in front of him and risked life and limb for him. And he was pretty damn sure he was crushing on her hard. And it scared him. Cryptis could hurt him in a way the memory of a boy he'd only ever seen one day of his life couldn't. Crux wasn't even sure she knew just how much of him she could crush if she wished. And the worst part was he was pretty sure he'd hurt her first. Not intentionally no, but if he'd just been smarter, faster, stronger... He wouldn't have had to speak for her, she'd be back home and able to fucking talk!

Maybe that was part of why he'd chosen to contemplate here, on the other side of Armada lands. Not between them and Insomnia. He was afraid he would hurt her again... And if he was being honest he was also afraid of Medusa. Yeah she scared him shitless.

Crux tipped his head back, the rush of water escaping the gyser no longer even novel enough to pull his attention. He'd didn't even know how long he'd been sat here, debating with himself. Going in circles unable to figure out what he wanted, what steps he was going to take! All he knew was what he would change if he had to do it all again. If he'd known how that day at the waterfall would change his whole trajectory, he didn't regret helping her, no Crux wouldn't change that he just might have been... Wiser.  He tipped his head back down to watch the spout of water off quite far away. Beautiful at a distance... Yet he wished to be closer.

"Speech"

Art by TheStarvingRaven

Despite having lived near her all her life, Raka had never been to the Devil’s spout. She had seen in the distance, through glints of the trees and wondered what it was. But she had never ventured further then the treeline. She had been a good kid, stayed close to home, and gone to bed by curfew. Now she was going to answer every question she’d ever had, and even a few she hadn’t thought of yet. Which led her to the spout, and the colder territories further north. That was okay, she was still warmed with the memory of Absinth’s lips on hers. Yes, girls were definitely something she could admire. That left her with another question. Would her heart flutter if a boy's lips touched hers? There was only one way to find out. Perhaps it was bad luck for the handsome black wolf with streaks of blue in his coat. Bad luck at the thoughts rolling through her mind when she spied him. “Hello, did you come to see the spout too?” She asked, voice curious and warm. "Speech"

Crux was practically dead to anything but his own thoughts and the sight of the spout in front of him. Enough so that he jumped slightly as a voice called out to him. Crux twisted to look at her, blinking for a moment at the figure. Heat rose in his face, so easy to say he had a type. The young woman couldn't have been mistaken for his first crush but she shared enough coloration apparently. Crux hadn't wanted to find that out honestly, especially considering how undeniable it was for him that he was developing feelings for someone who did not look similar at all. Then it occurred to him she'd said y'know... Words. "Oh... uh-" Crux stammered and then nodded, pulling his attention back towards the spout slightly, enough that he was splitting it between the pillar of water and the girl.

"Kinda figured this might be a good place to do some thinking." He gave her a smile. "I'm Crux." Might as well get a name for that pretty face right? Unless she wanted to be alone in which case he could just head home.

"Speech"

Art by TheStarvingRaven

Woops She hadn’t meant to make the stranger jump, and she flashed him a grin as he twisted to look at her. Heat infused his cheeks, and she wondered if he had come out here to be alone. Alas, Raka wasn’t very good at taking a hint, and she loved to meet people. She moved closer to him, but kept the distance polite before taking a seat. She moved her attention to the spout to give him a moment to collect himself, but glanced back at him as he started to speak. “I’m Karaka - or Raka to my friends. You can call me Raka, if you like” she suggested as he introduced himself. Now that he was talking to her, her attention was more fully on him. Her natural resting expression was a smile, and it grew in intensity every now and then. “Anything in that pretty noggin of yours you’d like to share?” She wondered "Speech"

He returned her grin and did his best to keep his racing emotions under control as she seated herself. Raka, Crux filed her name away. Then a simple question and any work he'd done to stop himself from looking like a complete fool was lost as his face flooded with blood again. He stared down at his paws for a moment, suddenly finding he couldn't sit still. "Oh you know the usual," he started, "boys, girls, others." That had sounded much better in his head, he didn't exactly want to spill his whole not-dating history to a total stranger but he also frankly wasn't quick enough on his toes to come up with a lie.

"I'm sorry." Crux chuckled nervously. "That makes me sound like an asshole doesn't it?" He lifted his head and finally turning it to look at her. "Like I'm some sort of swaggering idiot too confident in his bad lines." He swayed as he spoke as if acting out a pantomime of whatever a guy like that looked like in his mind. "I'm neither smooth nor confident enough for that, uh, obviously." Crux gestured to himself and there was that nervous laugh again. Ah that good old staple of self-deprecation, always there when he needed it to make it clear just how toothless he was. "Just silly teenage drama shit really." He was trying to pass off the answer to her question as nothing worth thinking about now that he'd fully made a fool of himself.

"Speech"

Art by TheStarvingRaven

Raka’s expression blossomed into a bright, warm grin as she looked over at Crux. amusement written in the creases of that smile. “Funny you should say that, I’ve had the same on my mind recently” She admitted, thinking with a little heat in her own cheeks of the white wolf who had recently shared Raka’s first kiss.

“Not at all… why would it?” She asked curiously. Boys and girls were definitely a prominent thing on her mind right now. Namely what the difference would be in kissing them. wasthere a difference? How did you know what you liked?

She giggled as he continued on, explaining why he thought that way. He gestured down, and she saw for the first time the band of crystals that wrapped around his hindleg. “Ohh…. that’s beautiful” she said, a touch of awe in her voice. A paw twitched forward, as if fighting past the urge to touch it before she contained herself. She felt her attention split, struggling to stay on topic or ask about the beautiful crystals that wrapped his paw like a living, moving carving. “Silly teenage drama is exciting Crux. I kissed a girl for the first time a couple days ago.” her eyes danced as she looked at him. “Ask me if I like kissing boys or girls more” the overly social wolf requested of him.


"Karaka"

It certainly was a bad habit of his: Undercutting himself all the time. Still it seemed she'd found him funny at least. Crux bit down on the instinct to flinch as he felt Raka's gaze land solidly on his leg. He had to admit he felt a mixture of frustration and amusement as he watched her wrestle with her desire to reach out and touch the crystals. Frustration that it was always going to be a thing, his leg was never not a going to be worth noting by strangers. But there was just something so damn infectious about her energy that he found he couldn't sustain his bitterness too long. "You can touch it, you won't hurt me." Sure the crystals were as much a literal part of him as any other part of his body but provided the girl didn't suddenly try to snap one off, or snap his ankle entirely Crux knew he'd be fine. They only seemed to hurt if damaged near the joint they protruded from, the crystal themselves didn't seem to carry much feeling.

And damn was her enthusiasm contagious and as Karaka started excitedly telling him she'd had her first kiss with a girl recently he couldn't help but chuckle. He couldn't say he knew what that was like, he'd yet to kiss anyone, let alone another boy. Still she threw him a challenge and Crux lifted a brow. He'd play ball! "Alright." He said, shifting so he was facing her more head on. "Of boys and girls which do you like kissing more Karaka?" He was smiling at her, more curious about where she was going with this than anything else. He almost certainly wasn't prepared.

"Speech"

Art by TheStarvingRaven

At his invitation, Raka closed the distance between them and crouched down beside him. She placed a careful paw against the crystal, holding it there for a moment to feel if it was warm or cool. Then, she brushed her paw gently up, and then down the crystals. Feeling for the way they lay. “And I thought my horns were beautiful… These take the cake. Do they grow? Is walking on them difficult?” Her questions were likely inappropriate, but she always had so many questions. It was hard to reign them in.

As he asked the question she had prompted him to, her expression broke out into delight again. It had furrowed into curious little brows as she studied his leg, but her eyes were on him now. [b] “I don’t know, I haven’t kissed a boy. Yet. She gave her brows a little wiggle in his direction.

"Karaka"

Crux watched the young woman as she got closer, and gently placed a paw on his leg and he even managed to keep a smile even if it didn't extend quite so far this time. Though he couldn't help but chuckle slightly as she spoke of her own horns. "They are impressive." He admitted. But of course the focus wasn't on her impressive horns it was on him, and his leg. He grimaced slightly as he considered the answers to her questions. "I guess they must, it's not a lot or anything but they've always felt proportional to my size, even when I was much smaller. I don't think I need to worry about them covering my whole leg or anything." Not that he ever had before this moment. "And yeah... It is. Where 'normal' wolves have space in their ankle joint to allow for movement I have crystals. My paw is stuck at that angle permanently." He lifted a forepaw and let it dangle at the wrist for a moment before flexing it as if pointing to the spout in the distance, a demonstration of the types of movements his hind paw would never do. "I get around fine but I'd be lying if I said it was easy."

Crux was more than happy to let the conversation move on from him and his leg and how much it sucked for him, forever. He blinked at Karaka as she admitted she didn't know, hadn't kissed a boy yet. Were there insinuations in her words? Crux felt his face flood with heat and he blinked a few times. "Oh uh... Neither have I... Kissed a girl yet I mean! Not that I've kissed a boy yet either..." He was rambling. Crux willed himself to shut up before he said something even sillier than what he already had. It wasn't like he hadn't thought about it of course. He certainly had he just hadn't... Tried it yet.

"Speech"

Art by TheStarvingRaven