ooc:
Rapture was indeed hers in this lone sliver of time that was to be her own. Her song was long and loud, spanning both the range of her vocals and that of the spectrum of elated emotion. Her muzzle was touched by a delicate smile, enthralled by her own private pleasure until her voice faded into the winds and she was left standing breathless, but happy.
As she lowered her head her ears suddenly perked in attention at the soft shuffle of snow underpaw. Her hackles rose on reflex but there was no aggression in her disposition, only a curiosity that mirrored the face of a pup having heard something strange for the first time. It was simply in her nature to regard all things benign until her eyes had a chance to describe to her something other. And harmless was the face she met, brilliant emerald eyes peering at her from a distance, more an acknowledging look than the lingering eyes of scrutiny. Her connecting gaze was quite similar, lacking the furrow of skepticism or glimmer of mistrust. Such initial reactions taken on by most loners were lost to her seeing as she not only knew the male, but it was not in her nature to look upon any familiar face with nothing short of kindness.
Her greeting was offered in a low whine accompanied as always with a soft smile. She proceeded carefully toward him, one heavy paw quietly in front of the other, making her intentions well seen as she lifted her friendly banner and let it sway in the wind. One would have assumed a wolf in her position would have been more formal, more upholding of her position even outside of pack lands. But while leading a pack was a role that commanded a certain respect, her actions conveyed she wished for no such acknowledgement. Outside of her home, she was but a common wolf encountering another as kindly as her upbringing would compel her to be.
Her nose quivered excitedly as she drew nearer taking in this hints of the Alpha’s packmates as well as his own unique musk. He smelled of the mountain air no doubt from crossing the Halcyon same as she, and that thought alone made her tail wag just a little faster though in controlled, generous sweeps. Advancing closer to his shoulder with nose still eager and invasive, she humbly lowered her head in his presence in an attempted show of her humility given their drastic difference in size. It was an observation she tried unsuccessfully to dismiss , but as her mate often pointed out, such attempts were wishful thinking. Better she embrace this ancestor encouraged evolutionary trait and form some way of making it appear she did not have the temperament to match those gifted with her size. Harmless, when she chose to be. And nothing more.
But a simple gesture was not enough to appease her worrisome mind. Her ears were drawn back against her skull as again she whined in greeting, this time raising a snow dusted paw to bat lightly at the Alpha’s shoulder.