Dipping her narrow muzzle in the water, Vesper noted the younger coyote’s reaction but didn’t move until she spoke again. Lifting her nose and taking a breath, she listened as Wraith described her father taking her on patrol-walks when she was smaller. It sounded like the right thing to do; Ves would do the same if she ever had children (which was an impossibility, but the languid thought came anyway). She didn’t think she knew who the girl’s father was, however, but it didn’t truly surprise her. If he was still around, she’d figure it out sooner or later, and if not, she didn’t need to bother learning his name.
The suggestion and tentative smile made the Optio lift her head fully from the water, and she nodded once. “That’d be fine. Just give me a second to bid this warm pool farewell.” Her voice was coated with feminine melodrama as she looked down at the water, quickly dunking her head in it before skipping out from the rocks onto the snow. She shivered and shook her tattered coat quickly, regretting the decision but knowing that the cold shock would be easier than trying to drag herself out slowly.
“Wh-where you do th-think we should p-patrol?” the tawny woman asked through lightly chattering teeth. She’d hoped to shift down into her lupus form for ease of movement and lighter paws, but she knew this weather could cut her to the bone. Since when had she gotten so soft?
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