sorry about the wait luff! I need to post more with Prip to really get into him, ah! Everyone is in a crummy mood, haha.
It had been a long while since his spirits had been low. In fact, Pripyat could never quite remember a time when his spirits had fallen and failed to rise. Life had always been pleasant, if not easy, and so what ate at the boy that day Prip really couldn't put his paw on. The weather was unfavorable, yes, but that happened and Pripyat couldn't chalk up his sour mood solely to the whims of the rain. That his mother and father were often busy with the pack had never bothered him before, in fact he took joy in knowing that Mother and Jefferson ran Phoenix Valley, and yet it was today he sorely missed both of them… his mother slightly more so than his father. Was it boredom that contributed to the displeasure he felt? Perhaps a combination of all these elements? The ashy colored creature couldn't explain it, he only knew that as he paced the wooden floors of the ranch he wasn't quite happy, and it was a strange sensation indeed.


Room after room seemed empty, even Bindu's, which she had inhabited almost exclusively since Geneva brought the strange, wounded canine to stay with them. The scents of all the others who inhabited the ranch house were thick, coating every surface, but neither hide nor hair of them was to be seen. Or at least it seemed so until he came into the library, a room that neither interested nor disinterested him, and he discovered the smaller chocolate creature. Like him she was still a child, but a smaller, younger one, and although he had known of her, they hadn't properly met. The girl had come along with Jefferson's adopted daughter, whom Pripyat had been rather shy about meeting, though he hadn't let on to his parents. Did Jefferson favor Addison over him? The idea caused a great deal of jealousy, and this was perhaps the root of Pripyat's sudden busy schedule whenever Addison was around. He simply did not have time for the older, and perhaps better, girl.


Yet the fluffy girl before him did not cause such feeling, and rather the sight of her cheered him and lightened his heart. Had all the unrest simply been loneliness? With wide, blue eyes Pripyat surveyed the girl as she stared in awe at the books he was already too accustomed to but couldn't read. Her coloring lightened his heart, so warm and rich compared to his cool blue and gray coloration. Straightening himself and with steady steps he approached, his inquisitive voice friendly, and he hoped, mature sounding. "There are a lot of books, huh?"

No worries!
The girl did glanced back to him but did not turn to greet him and the brows of the small boy furrowed in frustration. Her voice floated back to him and the sweet childish tones distracted him from his initial disappointment. Read? He couldn't read. He had never even considered it, although he wished that he had, because Pripyat just then didn't wish to admit that he couldn't read. Yet the girl continued on as if she didn't know or care if he answered her. She wanted to learn. He did now too, although just why he wasn't sure, but the desire was suddenly planted there. "No, I can't read…" His voice was soft and his ocean eyes glued to the girl's back, waiting for something more, waiting for the spell that the books held her to break.



When she finally did turn Pripyat smiled warmly at her, taking in her face and features more fully. Her eyes were of the sky, a vivid and bright blue, although not quite the exact shade of his own. Grace. What a pretty name. And his was so strange… not pretty or bold or anything really. Whimsical maybe. "Hello Grace. I'm Pripyat. Pripyat Soul." The boy straightened himself up on oversized paws and stood straight, so that he was taller than her. Why this suddenly seemed important he couldn't put his finger on it, but it was, as she sized him up. Unconsciously his chest puffed out, but his face remained friendly and his tail wavered behind him.



"Of course I live here." No one had ever asked the boy if he lived here before, they had all known, or assumed. Yet she was young, younger than him, so he granted her the mistake. "My father is Jefferson. He leads this pack." Had she met the grumpy old gimp? Surely if she had then she wouldn't question his place in this pack anymore. "Where are your parents? Do they live here now too?" Or had she come by herself? Or, god forbid! did Geneva take in more homeless and helpless youths like Bindu? Bindu he could handle, Geneva still had time for him and his father, but if she kept taking in strays… Pripyat shook the hateful thought from his head. Even if Mother had taken in this pretty girl, she wouldn't stop loving Pripyat, he knew that. He knew that for sure.