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Settling in AniWaya hadn't changed Lannen's routine much. He looked like a fool, but he didn't care much. In his luperci form, he sat cross legged with his hands resting easily on his thighs. He breathed in deeply before exhaling, his breathing becoming rhythmic as he meditated. His eyes were partially open but unfocused. He pushed thoughts from his mind, letting his mind become like a sieve.
Surprisingly, he hadn't had felt the need to practice his mental exercises lately. His mind had been calm instead of churning. He never felt that burning ache in his muscles. But still he drew crisp air into his lungs in the cold morning light. It was better to stay in the habit than to let his hard won control deteriorate.
He let the sound of birdsong fill his mind, let the tension (what little of it there was, he led a relatively quiet life at the moment) melt from his muscles. He dropped one shoulder, than the other. Flexing his fingers, he let his hands rest open palmed toward the sky. After several moments he rose fluidly, ready to face another day.
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Leland still hadn’t acclimated to living in Aniwaya, not completely. The lands he was now familiar with, having discovered that with his spare time he enjoyed scouting the lands, though normally only the borders got very much traffic. There was his daily routine as well, which was rarely broken by social interaction. Mostly he would wake, talk a quick walk around the pack lands, hunt or fish, and then idle the rest of the day away. Yet Aniwaya and it’s ways were still strange to him. For one, he barely knew any of the inhabitants, and those he did know he did not know them as well as he should. Secondly, though he was learning more about the ways of the tribe, he did not exactly live as he should. Still he was lacking his spirit guide, and his home was a hole in the earth rather than the constructed buildings the tribe was accustomed to.
Yet every day provided opportunities for Leland to increase his knowledge and better learn to live among the tribe. It was not like his to shy from these opportunities so when during his daily stroll he came across a member he did not know Leland waited patiently for the male to finish his morning meditation before emerging from behind the tree he had been leaning against. Clearing his throat, hoping that the male did not mistake his staying out of sight for spying, Leland raised his hand in a peace sign, something he had witness DaWali do the first time they had met. "Ayllo there sir. How er you this mornin’?"
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Brown eyes poured over the scenery, taking in the lupine form of a stranger. He was glad to find that tension didn't creep into his muscles. His hands remained loose at his sides instead of clenched into fists. That was a definite improvement. He felt no anger at the fact that this wolf had seemingly crept up on him during his meditation exercise. Instead he felt genuine curiosity and he was pleased at the wolf's appearance.
He cracked a smile and fought not to make it seem like he was baring his teeth. He liked his solitude in the morning, but he was open to new experiences. That was why he had joined AniWaya after all. He had changed. He really had. He just had to prove it to himself, with actions. With words. He raised his wooden brown eyes and leveled them with Leland's face.
It took him a minute to decipher his accent, but found that the other man's words were kind. "I'm just erm..." He wanted to seem pleasant too, open to conversation. What word could he use? Fine seemed bland. Okay seemed generic. "I'm...dandy!" he exclaimed and the need to smack himself in the forehead for using such a dopey word consumed him.
His eyes dropped to the hand that Leland held up. A white eyebrow shot up in confusion as he wondered what the other wolf wanted him to do. Unbidden, before he even thought everything threw, he raised his own hand the same way and brought it against the other wolf's, slapping him five. "Uhh...'sup?" he asked weakly.
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Leland watched as the other brought his hand against's Leland's, completed by a slapping sound and the male's hesitant question. Blinking in confusion, Leland broke into plesant laughter withdrawing his hand. "Dandy, eh? Ah suppose I'm pretty dandy meself." Hoping that the male wouldn’t mistake his laughter or response for mocking him, Leland made a mental note not to mimic any of the hand gestures he witness Dawali make. It seemed that not all of them were universal within Aniwaya. Still it had gone all right, despite neither of them understand or giving the appropriate response to each other’s greeting, they were getting along alright.
"Mah name’s Leland. Haven’t quite gotten settled into the tribe jus’ yet, but I’m gettin’ there." The multi colored eyes looked questioningly at the other male, asking without words for the other’s name and story. Was he new here too? It seemed most of the member Leland was meeting were not of tribe origin but just strays the tribe had picked up along the way. "Dawali, ya know em? He let me know aboot this place and I figured it was as good a home as any." He had picked the tribe, though he wasn’t sure why, and he often found himself wondering why others came here. Did they know, or did they just act on pure feeling as he had?
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[html] http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/k ... ump/12.png); background-position: top center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> Lannen half-smiled in relief, glad that his faux pas hadn't completely ruined his encounter with this man. It had been a while since he had been truly social around another person. Dames were one matter. Women could talk and talk and talk and Lannen had learned to talk to them. In retrospect, letting his trap fly hadn't been the best lesson he'd ever learned. He'd certainly been slapped, put down, and nearly had his balls handed to him on more occasions than he cared to remember. Guys were different and he actually felt like they were harder to read, even if they didn't do all that weird female crap.
"Yeah. Dawali. Funny guy," the white wolf mused. He had only met the male on one occasion, at the borders the day he had joined AniWaya. He was pleased to find that Leland seemed easygoing, open, genial. He made this easy for Lannen, and he liked that instantly. The white wolf hated squirming in silence, being awkward. He wasn't normally, but these days he had to watch what he said, which made things difficult, interrupted the natural rhythm of his personality of conversation.
"I haven't gotten into the rhythm of things here yet either," Lannen was surprised to find himself admitting this. He liked AniWaya well enough, but he wasn't used to it yet. He had grown up in a pack, but tribe life had some marked differences. Lannen sat down again, cross legged. He decided he wanted this conversation to be as comfortable as possible. He jerked his head to a spot next to him, inviting Leland to sit if he wanted to.
Lannen found himself at ease in the presence of another male, which again, was odd. But he'd take what he could get. "What's the hardest part so far?"
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Sorry I am taking a long time to reply and my posts are short! I am so busy trying to keep up with Cercelee posts that Leland is getting ignored!
Leland found himself grinning at the admittance of the other male that he too found the ways in Aniwaya to take some adjusting. He had met their leader, the one above Dawali, briefly, and Leland wonder if there were any true tribe members left aside from the two leader’s and Dawali’s daughter. Was the tribe mostly made of newcomers, trying their hardest to mesh with the ways of the tribe. Leland felt he was doing a fine job so far. Already he was more than comfortable with using his Luperci form, which he had believed to be the hardest task but found it came more naturally than he would have guessed.
Taking the seat beside Lannen gratefully he pulled his legs up, knees bent and looped his arms around his lower limbs, so that he was able to rest his chin on his knees if he wished. Yet he kept his head up and alert, his bi-colored eyes staring up at nothing at he considered the question. What had been the hardest part? Honestly, Leland answered. "I’m jus’ not sure. So much of it seems to come quite naturally ta me, but other things er jus’ weird." He couldn’t pin point just one aspect of the ways of life. Horses and dwellings he was getting use to, though he hadn’t taken either up for himself. Laughing heartily Leland gave the first answer that came to mind. "Tyin’ feather in my hair." The fashions on Aniwaya were something all together new to Leland and when he tried to mimic them he found his mane painfully knotted.
Looking at the male he shrugged, as if to ask what the male himself thought was the hardest part. Did the pleasant male come from a pack similar to Aniwaya, or was his past life as sharp a contrast as Leland’s? He knew he wanted to know more about the male, but he wasn’t sure if he should ask out right or see if the male would offer up any information of his own, though he seemed eager to converse which pleased the husky mutt. “My ol’ home was so much larger an’ mer social than here. Wolves an’ dogs alike... we must have number nearly a hundred in our one clan. Because o’ that I think Aniwaya is mer private than I’m use ta, though I certainly can’t say I’ve met a member I didn’t like yet.” Even with their strange ways, the wolves of Aniwaya were kind and Leland was glad to have found them.
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Gwen, idiot extraordinare, deleted this post. D:
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Sorry I am taking a long time to reply and my posts are short! I am so busy trying to keep up with Cercelee posts that Leland is getting ignored!
Leland snorted, thinking over once more his own failed attempt at adding a little oomph to his appearance. Perhaps he would get one of the many females of the tribe to give him a hand, he was sure they wouldn’t mind playing with hair. It seemed more so the females than the males enjoyed the feathers and beads and skin colorings, but that did not exempt the other sex. He wouldn’t mind wearing feathers, but not if pulling them back out was as painful as it had proven to be. There had to be a better way and until Leland discovered it, he would stay away.
The words of the male filled his head, it seemed they came from similar backgrounds. So many family and friends surrounding them each, Leland wondered if lack of space had been a factor in Lannen’s coming here. “Hope ya don’t mind me askin’ but what brings ya here?” Leland had to leave or else he had been expected to find a mate and settle down. Unfortunately the mate of his choosing had chosen another and rather than settle for second best he had set off with a broken heart. Aniwaya was a new beginning, in more than one way.
The red hued husky couldn’t but help to grin at Lannen’s words. “Ya plannin’ on rebuildin’ that large family here?” He chuckled, thinking of the females he had met here, and he knew there were others. He could smell them all over the lands. “Yeah… I’ve met one er two of ‘em… one er two.” Two to be exact, and he was quite conflicted between both of them. Perhaps Lannen had his eye on one of the two and would help a fellow out by taking one out of the running? The male sighed wearily and dreamily.
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[html] http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/k ... ump/12.png); background-position: top center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> Leland shot off a question that hit Lannen in a place that stung. He felt like clenching his teeth together, but refrained. He figured it was just about time to get over himself. Life happened, and he knew that it wouldn't always be roses. Still, he didn't like to think back too far. His life had been far from tragic. The only bitterness he had really ever experienced had been of his own making, his own failures. Still, it was hard to swallow. But he figured he'd better learn now. It wouldn't get any easier to deal if he clung to it like a child.
"I don't mind." Lie. He kept his tone light, though some of the lilt had left it. "I was too dominant to stay in my pack. It was either me, or my best friend. I hit the road." There it was. Nice and condensed, the reader's digest version. It seemed so easy to say. It almost seemed too easy to sum it all up. But he had just laid it out. Maybe he was just complicating things for himself. It wasn't something he was proud of, or something he wanted to think about.
He almost drooped with relief when the topic of conversation turned to women. Again, women were not something Lannen could profess to understand, but he enjoyed them immensely. All kinds of women, any kind of woman. "I'm just keeping my options open right now. Now is it one, or two, that have got you all twisted up?"
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Leland listening in silence as the male told his story, feeling that Lannen didn’t particularly enjoy the question but was open enough to share all the same. Unconsciously he laid his ears back at the mention of the male’s best friend, it seemed that song was too often sung. Leland had lost his girl to his best friend, or rather ex-best friend, but he said nothing out loud and thankfully the male did not toss the question back at Leland. The burnt sienna husky did not want to talk about Lela and Rue. Not now, not ever again. Both of them were dead as far as he was concerned. He was just moving on with his love life and didn’t need to be reminded of past failures.
Which is why speaking of women was enjoyable. Grinning sheepishly, he hesitated at the direct question. It wasn’t as if he knew the male well, but then again the male had openly shared with him and he highly doubted that Lannen would go about spreading Leland’s foolish crushes through out the pack lands. "Two." He admitted, scratching the back of his head with his palm roughly.
"One of ‘em happens to be Dawali’s daughter... an’ I don’t know how kindly he’ll be takin’ to that." So far from any hints or slips of the tongue dropped by Leland the father had not protested, but neither him nor Asha had said anything directly to Dawali so the male hadn’t much to go off of. Then there was Catherine, who was dancing in the back of his head. She hadn’t been part of the planned when he had joined, but there she was, neck and neck with Asha. "Asha and Catherine, ya met ‘em?"
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[html] http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/k ... ump/12.png); background-position: top center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> It seemed that they both had had sour experiences with best friends. His brown eyes caught the movement of his ears flicking back against his head. Lannen decided not to say anything about it. He wasn't one to fill silence when he didn't need to, especially when he didn't want to uncover information that could turn a situation sour. Things were tenuous enough as it was for him, usually. But with Leland, he seemed to have gotten off on the right foot. He wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
When the conversation turned back to women, he felt much more at ease. It seemed that the husky did have his eye on a girl, or two. Well, this was intriguing. Women, he could comprehend and appreciate. It seemed that he found a kindred spirit in Leland, at least on some level.
"Asha and Catherine - never met 'em," he said. "I did run across Ember though." There seemed to be a wistful note in the husky male's voice. "It seems to me you might like Asha a bit more - you did name her first, after all."
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Ember. He had yet to meet the female, but he would eventually he hoped. Although, he would not allow himself to develop anything other than friendship with her, one female was enough, two were exhausting, Leland could imagine how it would be to juggle three females within his heart. He was not polyandrous; he was indeed a one-women male. How he had let more than one work their wiles on him, he couldn’t say, but it wasn’t good. And yet, he couldn’t turn his feelings off for either one.
Lannen could see through his words and Leland smiled sheepishly. "Aye, but if she feels anythin’ back, now that’s the tricky part." Leland uncomfortably scratched the back of his head again. Catherine was easier to read, wore her heart more on her sleeve. She was excited to see Leland, and that made Leland happy to see her too. Asha was another story, one he couldn’t quite understand. "Not sure what ta do about either of ‘em…" He peered at the male, as if he might have an answer.
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[html] http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/k ... ump/12.png); background-position: top center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> Lannen was not the right wolf to ask about keeping a female happy, or narrowing choices down to one. His eyebrows flew up and he put his hands up, laughing. "I wish I had the answers, man," he said. Poor guy, looked like he had it bad for Asha. Now he really wanted to get a look at the girl, to see what all the fuss was about. He wisely chose not to voice that thought, experiencing having taught him not to comment lightly on the object of another male's affections. Lannen's head was pretty hard, and it had taken more than a few beatings to make him learn that lesson.
"Women are maddening," he said. "As for feelings, I never really worried about their feelings before." Of course he had worried about some feelings, but they didn't particularly have to do with the heart. His concerns had led him farther south in his dealings with women..."I guess you could just ask her." Seemed like the logical thing to do. If only women were logical things...
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Leland paused considering, not at all miffed by the laughter of the male but instead sharing in it. Indeed women were maddening, Leland had yet to comprehend them and he doubted if he ever would fully. "Ask her huh? I’ve been down tha road before. Not always as easy as ya’d think" In his experience, and from watching the failures of his brothers, he knew that women could be dishonest, confused, or unclear with this words and feelings. Or they might even be clear and mean one thing, but turn around and do another. Asking was an option, but Leland wasn’t sure if he had the courage to do so until he exploited his other options.
Clearing his throat, why he decided to share this now when he had tried so hard to forget about it, he turned to Lannen. "Back home, my best friend stole my girl. She promised that she loved me an’ only me an’ everythin’ but then she turned around an’ ended up with him." He had been so upset then that he had left, not really saying good bye to either of them, only letting his brothers know briefly that he was leaving and not to expect him to return. Perhaps now that he could speak of it meant he was getting over it all, despite the blow to his ego it had been. Or perhaps he was just distracted enough by the pretty girls here to dwell too much on it. Either way, it felt nice sharing it with someone. "I loved her too... stupid girl."
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[html] http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/k ... ump/12.png); background-position: top center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> Lannen nodded his agreement with Leland's assessment of the whole situation. It was true. Talking to women was pretty pointless, by his estimation. Now, non-verbal communication on the other hand? He could totally dig it. Lannen had never been much of a talker, but he appreciated this conversation. He appreciated that Leland was so willing to overlook how awkward he had initially been. He thought he had found a potential friend in the guy.
He shook his head when Leland went on to describe his relationship mishaps. He couldn't imagine how utterly humiliating and disheartening that must have been. But he didn't say anything, not wanting to comment on the other male's emotions. It was brave of him to share. He appreciated it, especially after he had shared. Although he hadn't expected Leland to, somehow the husky at put them back on equal footing. Give and take, or whatever it was.
"Stupid girl," Lannen agreed. If the girl had made Leland willing to give up his oat-sowing days, why had she wasted her chances? Lannen certainly wasn't willing to give anything up on a girl. Immature? Maybe, probably. He didn't want to think about it.
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Lannen didn’t have much to comment on the story, and in a way Leland was grateful. What was there to say? The husky mix was content having the male just agree with his accession of “stupid girl”. That was what she was now. Of course, if it had not been for her breaking his heart, he would be here now, talking with this Aniwayain male. Leland would have never met Dawali, Asha or Catherine. So he owed her that, because his life was more interesting now than it had been ever before. Daily life was slower, there were few numbers in his pack but the traditions of Aniwaya were rich, the spirit guides almost unbelievable and the people far more dedicated to one another than he was use to. Life was better here, he was sure of it.
"Such is life, it goes on, yeah?" His mother had told him that everyone experiences heartbreak in one way or another, at some point. He hadn’t believed her, he did now, though he hadn’t even told her that before running off. As interesting and important as women were, they weren’t the whole world. "So, ah, how else do ya fill yer time?"
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