Llueve a mares, Ronan thought as he squinted accusingly at the sky. The weather back home-though even thinking of it as that felt too generous- was usually terrible so it wasn't as if he couldn't cope, but still. A man could hope for clear skies, better days and all that. Though, from his experience, hope never amounted to much but disappointment; same old shit, different smell.

He'd had the misfortune to pass through some real cesspits in his time, but aside from the whole looking into the depths of these woods made him feel like he was staring right into a gaping maw, it wasn't the worst. There weren't any bodies for one, none that he could see at least, though if he inhaled hard enough there was a twinge of something rotting somewhere. Eh, not his problem.

Coming to a standstill, he pressed himself against the trunk of an old oak tree, it offered him some shelter from the worst of the rain. It would have to do for now.

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Desponia wasn't really sure if she actually found this better than the island... For one thing her family wasn't there, that was a positive, and though it was summer in Boreas the island wasn't exactly one of the warmer parts of the continent even then. But even warmer as it was here it was raining which she couldn't consider good... The real big thing that was the she knew she'd passed this tree at least once before. She knew because she'd left a mark in it the fourth time she'd thought she'd passed it. Why did she keep getting herself lost in places? Desponia was starting to wonder if she really hated her family that much that it was worth it for her to repeatedly find herself in these situations... Jury was still out on that one. Maybe it was more to do with the grudge she'd been nursing for a year now... A new one, not even her family this time! This go around she caught something new though... A scent. She'd caught the whiff of something probably rotting a while back but this was... New and didn't smell quite so much like something dead. Curious and frankly not eager to end up like whatever had crawled in here and died, the woman would adjust her course, doing her best to try and track it which wasn't easy with the rain and the paths constantly looping back on themselves. Still she hadn't passed that one tree in a few minutes so okay sign. It did seem like the scent was getting stronger, and it wasn't until it was much closer that she could finally start deciphering it, closer than normal with the rain helping to obscure it. It was definitely a canine scent, masculine in its musk too... The woman grimaced, she hadn't exactly had the best of run ins with males in her life. The last one had ended in her deciding the next time she saw his face she'd take his goddamn balls for just fucking off like that. Still Desponia wasn't all that worried for her own safety, no more than usual anyways so she didn't change her route at this point. Though it wasn't easy to track whoever this was and at some point she stopped below one of the trees, squinting into the rain, which wasn't helping the visible light situation, unsure if the shape she could see up ahead was someone or just her eyes playing tricks on her. ""

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As he sat there, stoicly staring ahead, just barely making out shapes of oaks in the shadows. More akin to lurking figures than any real trees he'd seen before. His instincts were well honed by this point, he didn't sense any real danger, but he couldn't say he liked this place all that much. As such he didn't have much reason to suspect anyone else would be roaming these woods, the ground squelching beneath wandering paws, set on approaching him whether he wanted company or not.

He turned slightly, raising a brow at the outline of purple wolf once she was within view, just about through the thick sheets of falling rain. The world a miserable grey.  She'd approached from down wind, clever, though perhaps not intentional as he'd first assumed. It was just easier, safer to assume the worst then back track if need be, he was usually right, but not always.

"Can I help you?" He asked, not outright hostile but wary all the same. She had to know how this looked, right?

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A gruff voice finally helped Desponia to clarify what she was looking was indeed another figure. His tone made her have to snap down on her instinct to snipe back but considering the rain and how lost she was she figured, begrudgingly, that it was probably in her best interest not to pick a fight. Taking a breath the woman finally responded. "Sorry, can't see clearly through the rain." She didn't sound sorry. "Thought I'd picked up someone's scent but couldn't be sure." The woman took a few more steps towards where she'd been staring. Closer now she could see him much clearer. Where other wolves may have started at such a beast Desponia had little experience outside her own small world of bright purple, reds and blues and though she picked up that there was something there that wasn't quite wolf she wasn't concerned about that either way. It was when she picked out the shape of wings that she was thrown for a loop. But even then she only quirked a brow. Curious. He was handsome but the last man Desponia had thought that about had fucked off who knew where and she wasn't much of a flirt to begin with so she kept that thought to herself. "Any chance you know how to get out of here?" With her luck... Unlikely. ""

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Ronan side eyed the stranger, not entirely trusting but not so pent-up that he saw any reason to lash out. Admittedly his temper was explosive, but it wasn't entirely unpredictable, it was easy to see coming, and he needed at least some level of provocation. Though in his mind he always had a reason, even if in reality he might have blown things out of proportion.

He was not so stoic- like someone else that Ali writes- that he didn't take notice of her beauty. But noticing something and acting on that observation were two entirely different line of thoughts all together. He couldn't see her clearly, as she couldn't see him, but he saw enough, sweeping curves and the only harsh lines he saw were what appeared to be the pointed tips of some horns that curled downwards and framed her face.

Even if the weather hadn't been so dreary, he imagined visibility was poor at the best of times. The trees were thick and dense, hard to distinguish one from the other making finding landmarks all the more difficult. Even with the rain a fog lingered just above ground, he would have thought it was smog, like he was used to, but it lacked that...throat burning feel to it. Just smelled cold, not quite like a frosty morning, more like...he wasn't quite sure, to be honest.

"No clue. Wouldn't go wandering much further unless you've got a death wish. Then by all means." He shrugged slightly, shoulder blades rising and falling, the movement almost cat like.

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"Fuck." Desponia muttered under her breath as he responded. Yeah that figured. Honestly she wasn't sure it was worth it to keep wandering around the way she seemed to, except of course that it meant spending as little time as possible around her family and the whelps it seemed were perpetually being pushed into the world from someone tangentially related to her. The reality was she simply couldn't justify just giving up a warm place to go with food and hell even protection but she also refused to just let herself feel comfortable with it. Would it have been easier? Sure would! But Desponia had never been the type to take the easy road when she could pick the more difficult path if it meant she could keep harbouring her irritation. The woman stepped back under some meagre cover, and gave the man a side long glance. He seemed largely at ease but she wasn't about to drop her guard around him totally. Still it was cold as hell! The woman shivered, the damp had long since seeped into her bones but that didn't mean she had gotten used to it. Desponia was aware that if the cold was too much there was always sharing body heat and to an extent she even understood that if the wolves involved were different this would have been a romance story level meet cute but Desponia had no intentions whatsoever of letting that sort of shit happen to her again. And by the man's demeanour didn't exactly lend itself to that mood. She didn't even know his name, and she wasn't about to offer her own either. Don't mind the fact that with little else to do as they waited out the weather she kept running her gaze over him, she was definitely just making sure if he made any sudden moves that she was ready to bolt. That he was easy on the eyes just made it a little nicer. ""

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Ronan knew when he was being looked at, could feel the weight of her gaze. The few wolves he'd met here tended to make a big deal out of his spikes, blades, wings, whatever they technically were called, so he wasn't exactly a stranger to it. But still, it wasn't so much that he shied from attention, but the judgement that often came with it.

"What?" Ronan finally asked, bristling, slightly more annoyed than usual.  Which was to say not much had changed, his emotional state these days wasn't all that varied. Think of it as a scale, with simmering frustration on one end and blinding rage on the other. "If you have something to say, out with it. Apúrate."

Because he naturally assumed she'd taken some sort of issue with him. With moods as sour as his, with the shit he'd seen, it just came naturally to assume the worst. It was hard to differentiate between bedroom eyes and I'm judging the fuck out of you eyes in these conditions, the rain thicker than sheets.

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((Minor PP for Des getting into Ronan's personal space allowed by Ali <3))

Desponia couldn't stop the visible irritation as the man spoke again, she bristled but instead of a snarl or glare instead she smirked, a smug designed to be irritating smirk. She'd been practising in case the asshole ever showed his miserable face again. "I'm sorry, are you expecting a lady to not keep an eye on a strange man in this sort of situation?" The way she hit the word lady, with so much sarcasm, it was hopefully clear she didn't actually think of herself that way but she had chosen her words carefully. With a tilt of her head and a widening of that smirk she stepped towards him, purposefully, languidly. "Besides," She drew the word out as she continued to slide towards him, "I thought most men enjoyed the attention of a woman." Desponia would continue to move towards him, to get chest to chest with him. Fuck he was tall! The woman tipped her head back to flash him her smirk again before she gave him the strongest shove she could, full chested shove. Maybe it was a power play, maybe his words had just rubbed her the wrong way. Either way she was the one escalating and she knew that. ""

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pp-ing ?approved by lo

His lip curled, vampiric fang jutting out over the edge. He knew full well she was looking to provoke him, her words carefully selected for that purpose alone, and would have liked to think he was above this kinda crap. Better than the sort who'd fall for such obvious bait. But obviously he wasn't, because each and every time he felt the tension drawn out like a string, pulled taut till it inevitably snapped. Ronan needed therapy like yesterday.

She drew in close, serpentine smooth, words a drawl in his ears till she was just right there. Another jab and he felt his eyebrow twitch. He wasn't exactly a stranger to female attention, for the most part they got a disinterested rebuttal, but not always. Some managed to squeeze their way through the cracks, his defences not as infallible as he'd like. Sometimes he was lonely, just a man at the end of the day.

He looked to the side, gave averted, muzzle wrinkled with ears stiff and upright. And then she had to go and push him, brazen and frankly not a very smart thing to do.

Lunging forward, the full heft of his of weight barrelled down on her, closing the already small gap between them whip quick. Pinning her down with paws shoving against her shoulders, jaguar claws barely peeking out for her to feel the slight scrape of their points. He stared down at her, thrumming with an energy he didn't quite to know what to do with. He'd been overly forceful, not at all mindful of his own bruising strength, a snap impulse born from a rage that felt all consuming. Anger he couldn't stomach, acid in his throat.

"Is this what you want? My attention?"

She was still pretty, even with the mud now marring her purple coat.

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Really she'd goaded him on, had gotten bold and tried to push some buttons. But as the man suddenly shifted in reaction to her shove Desponia felt a quick flutter of panic. She'd forgotten the most important rule, to know when to cut and run and never to cut off her escape routes. But he was quicker than his size might imply and as strong as it did. He easily pushed her over, the landing less than gentle. She was on her back, staring up at him, bright pink eyes wide for a moment as she struggled to process exactly what had happened. One minute she'd been standing and the next she was on the ground, back sore and held there by sharply clawed paws on her shoulders. And then the indignation flared. She pulled her ears back and her lips curled. Desponia wanted to snap at him, wanted to wriggle against his hold and take his nose off, but she also knew when she wasn't in a winning position so though she narrowed her eyes at him in a glare she didn't fight him, not yet. Worse: She kinda liked it... His force, the threat in him, she couldn't say she normally enjoyed being manhandled but something about it being him, something in the way he looked that made her, deep down, like it. Desponia hated that she liked it. "Now what tiger?" When she spoke again she'd softened a smidge, there was still an irritation there, a desire to put him in his place but she was being strategic, if that's what you wanted to call it. Some might have called it flirting, but Desponia didn't know how to do that in any way that didn't carry a hint of aggression. "You've pinned me to the ground, under you, so now what?" The woman lifted a forepaw and hooked her wrist around one of his forelegs on her shoulder. "We just stay like this until the rain let's up?" She slid her paw slightly further up his leg, the strength in his limbs could be felt. "What do you want?" Okay maybe she was flirting, a bit and she kinda hated that she was. She knew there was danger here, lots of it, she had no doubt if he meant her harm he could and would enact it and there was little she could do but fight back but maybe that was part of what was so thrilling about it? Desponia hated that she was enjoying this. ""

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Now what indeed.

He exhaled slowly, the barest trace of tension leaving his shoulders as he stared down at her. Expression tight, facial muscles pulled taut-looked like he was incapable of even smiling, like at some point he'd forgotten how. At least to the extent where he truly meant it, it didn't feel like a joke that didn't land quite right. He could be a bully and a brute, but it felt more out of necessity than a choice. Ronan didn't want to be like this, but the world had made him out that way, twisted his narrative out of shape and made him into...what often felt like an antagonist.

Her movements remained smooth, the brief look of alarm in her eyes had faded into something else. Appreciation perhaps? Her touch was gentle, sliding up his limbs and he should have rebuffed her, snapped at her to stop. But he didn't, remained silent for a moment longer, let her speak her peace, her words had no right to be as enticing as they were.

"Don't flatter yourself." He scoffed, as if he wasn't tempted. And yet he didn't draw away, his inaction spoke louder than any bluster.

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He rebuffed her and Desponia rolled her eyes, snorting derisively and dropped her foreleg to tuck it back to her chest. If she hadn't been pinned down she'd have rolled over or even up and walked away from him but she was pinned down so instead she turned her head to her right, refusing to look back up at him. The truth was while some part of her was relieved he'd turned her down, there was another part that was hurt. She was going to find that part, isolate it and kill it if it was the last thing she did! "Well, since I can't go anywhere, let me know when you decide something." Her tone was unamused, her words more than a little pointed. She may have egged him on but he was the one that had pinned her. This she reminded herself, was why she shouldn't flirt with men, they were prickly, aggressive and couldn't handle their ego even being poked at. And they'd never give a shit about her so why did she even bother? Not that that was just a thing men did, no one seemed to give her much mind. Which suited her very well thank you. Even if it made her more irritable during- Right... That was it. She was just frustrated. It was comforting to tell herself that the reason she'd even tried at all was her hormones going on a rampage and for no other reasons. ""

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Ronan followed her line of sight briefly to realise she wasn't looking at anything in particular, that there was no danger or looming figure in the fog. She was simply being stubborn, refusing to meet his gaze. He exhaled sharply through his nose, a short puff of warm air that brushed against the short fur of her chest, an inhale drew her scent in and his nose wrinkled. It wasn't as if he hadn't noticed, he wasn't nose blind but he wasn't an animal, he could control himself and intended to do so. Not that she was making it easy.

The dry snark of her voice had him rolling his eyes. His rage had simmered down, returned to its baseline level of annoyance, was mostly manageable behind a veneer of gritted teeth civility. If you could even call keeping a lady pinned in the mud civil.

"I think I prefer you where you are." He admitted, not quite liking how that came out. The connotations of his own words weren't lost on him, nor how she would interpret them. "You should be grateful, mujer. Anyone else might have ripped your throat out. Or your tongue." The fact he'd pointed that out specifically insinuated he'd thought about it, only briefly though.

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The implications of his comment weren't lost on Desponia but she just snorted and rolled her eyes again, still refusing to look at him. It was hard to ignore him though, the warmth of his breath as it ruffled her fur, the slight shifting of his weight and the way he readjusted slightly. The simple act of standing there, holding her down. Fuck. The threat, hardly veiled at all also wasn't lost on her but this would get a response with her. A short barking laugh. "I'd like to see anyone try, they might succeed but not before I rip one of their balls off." She was maybe being a bit too confident but she wasn't making any aggressive moves, barely even shifted her gaze to glance up at him to watch for his reaction. Though she was also hoping he'd make a goddamn decision on what he was doing, the mud was cold, seeping into her pelt, and she wasn't sure staying here for too long would be all the comfortable. She shivered. ""

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Ronan wasn't so convinced that she could, his brow arching as he looked down on her. He didn't need to voice his doubts, they were as clear as day on his features, a dubiousness that sunk into the lines of his face like a frown. Deep set and stubborn. Still no gratitude, she was infuriating as she was beautiful, a dangerous combination that had his tongue flicking against his teeth.

"We both know that would be a waste." Again his words were twofold, a waste of her life and his anatomy. "You're very good at dodging questions. What do you want?" He repeated, somehow even firmer this time, claws not quite digging into the meat of her shoulders, but the suggestion was there. The idea he could.

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It would have brought her no joy to know that the man found her just as frustrating as Desponia did him. His incredulity earned him a small sneer, lips curling up to flash fangs, the threat a little more open this time but she wasn't going anywhere so she wasn't going to push it. Even if him not seeming to believe her rankled her more than it probably ought to. All the first response garnered from Desponia was a snort, thought highly of himself didn't he? Not that she wouldn't have otherwise agreed but in this position she was much more inclined to want to be contrary. He'd bruised her pride enough that she wasn't exactly going to give him any more satisfaction than she already had, her own hammering heart and biology be damned! But it was his next words that finally set her off. She was dodging the question? SHE was? Snapping her head back to look up at him her eyes were narrowed and a growl was rising in her throat. "I'm the one who asked you first asshole!" She struggled under his paws, wanting to throw him off, wanting to knock him over and hold him down. "You pushed me over. You're the one holding me down." She tried to batter at his underbelly with her hind legs, get him to: Let. Her. Go. "I want you in the fucking mud, getting goddamn cold." The words were tumbling out of her before she could even register thinking of them. "I want you under me, under my fucking control." "I want you to make a fucking choice!" ""

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The tension was so thick it felt like it was falling with the rain, a part of it, indiscernible from the water soaking their coats. He stared at her, the red of his eyes near matching the glow of his coat. This was a mistake, one he was stumbling into despite seeing it coming from a mile away. A choice? He always strove to do what he thought was right, but things were never quite so cut and dry, so simple. One mistake could trigger a chain reaction that ruined lives, ended them before anyone could react and yet... He gritted his teeth, jaw tensing, brows furrowed in a perpetual scowl. He was frustrating and beautiful, confounding in a way that near guaranteed they would never get along. At least not until one of them changed, which was unlikely.

"Fine" Was all he said, letting her move but not quite the freedom she insisted she wanted. Till the rain stopped they'd be together, and after that Ronan did not think they'd see each other again.


FAAAADE

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