I'm flanked by cats and my dog is snoozing on the couch. XD
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“It's just a big ol’ foggy forest,” he said with a shrug. “We have a lake, a little bit of an open meadow before it runs out towards some rocky coast a few miles off. Nothing as grand as a farm with cattle or anything, it's most just a couple of lean-tos and a few tents right now.” No sense in hiding the fact that they were new, although as far as Laurel was concerned he wasn't about to settle on anything long term. If the winds of change decided to change and he got blown away with it, then that was what happened. Whether he was right or he was wrong, one day he'd just simply be gone. He didn't plan for the future, he only followed rule of thumb and stood with experience. It wasn't like he hadn't settled somewhere for a long while anyway.
“There's only six of us right now, which is fine by me, since before we settled down and I met up with an old friend, there was just one other with me.” Nikita had been following him around for a long time, it seemed. Through a brief whisp of setting sunlight that poked through the clouds, he caught something that glimmered out of the corner of his eye. The path that they were on seemed to dwindle in closer and closer and before too long he figured out to be a lake very much like the one that the Hollow possessed. “I don't know whether or not we'll get too much bigger than that, but at least we've got the room in case we do.” He liked small groups as much as large ones, at least. He had been in them of all sizes and shapes and so on.
“Care for a swim?” he asked then, gesturing at the lake.
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I wish he would snooze!
& he is by far the most interesting thing Anu has ever encounter... so how could she not stare!?
Lean-tos and tents sounded very sophisticated to Anu. She did indeed enjoyed the buildings that her pack had claimed but lived in a shallow den she had dug herself. She had never lived in anything larger or more complicated. She wasn’t truly comfortable sleeping to far from the ground, unless on the limb of a tree. In all she craved the cradling hold of nature to sooth any dreams she might have.
Nodding her head she silently agreed with him, there should always be room for growth in a pack and no one should be turned away. In fact Anu did enjoy a larger group one that allowed her to get lost sometimes, to busy with other distractions to always keep up with hers. But with in the masses Anu needed a few close friends; one maybe even two was just perfect.
Even though the sun had fallen the days heat lingered still, and Anu was happy to find and lake and even happier when he made the intelligent suggestion. A small jitter of excitement rose within her, “You read my mind.” She spoke quickly before taking to the water. Her small body slipped into the dark pool, but stopped just after the water passed her knees. Her head turned to eye the male and more specifically the garments he wore.
Did one swim clothed? She was curious, as she always was, to find out.
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Hehe, everyone stares at Laurel. >_>;
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He wasn't bothered in the least that she kept an eye on him and as it were, Laurel wasn't about to jump in the water wearing clothes. Not so much out of the fact that he didn't want to get them wet, but rather what contents were inside of the pockets. Lucky for the two of them and the others like them, taking off clothes didn't leave them stark naked for the world to see, although he had to admit in a sense it was stripping down. As Anu waded in, he placed his banjo against a tree carefully as though it were less fragile than it was. He undid the buttons of his vest after removing his trousers, haphazardly folding them (if it could have been called that) before he plucked his hat from his head and set it on top of the pile. “Remind me to shake out the spiders,” he said with a laugh, knowing that they'd definitely try set up camp there.
Swimming was far as he was concerned a very good way to get out of the heat when the sun dipped below the horizon. During the day it didn't really matter whether or not they were in water or out of it, it always seemed just as hot. Stretching as he took the first couple of tentative steps into the cool water, he sighed. “There's not much that can beat a warm summer night than a nice dip in the water.” He ventured past her, fanning his tail out momentarily before sinking with the lake bottom. “Nice little lakes like these are wonderful, whether you fish or swim in them.” A private utopia for the time being, at least until some creepy spider-lover claimed the land for themselves…
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As soon as her questions were answered she look from him and back to the dark waters. She slipped further into the lake and let the water sink deep with her fur. It passed the thick under coat and touched her skin, giving her the releaf she desired. Her eyes closed slightly, basking in the feeling. She couldn’t remember the last time she enjoyed a single feeling so much.
Her eyes opened with his voice, and looked as he fell into the waters' embrace himself. He looked quite different without his clothing, but Anu did not stare as she had before. She let him be as he was, with what ever he wore and did not wear. She did though enjoy the top of his head, able to see his eyes much clearer now.
She gave a small laugh for his comment of the spider filled pants, “it would be an interesting sight.” She teased, imagining him dancing from the critters in his trousers. “It’s the best idea we’ve had all night.” Smiling again she took partial credit for the thought even though it was clearly his suggestion.
Her hands moved over the lakes surface, pushing the water gently with them. Suddenly she was unsure of what to say, but spouted another one of her millions of questions. “Do you fish often? I can never catch anything, I’ve never really gotten used to using a rod.”
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“Yeah, I fish and I guess you might say I'm pretty good at it. I mean, I haven't starved to death yet or anything,” he commented with a smile, even if fish wasn't the only thing that went into his diet. He wasn't really that much of a hunter when it came to running down something and killing it, Laurel had more or less humanized a bit more than that. Give him a weapon, say maybe a bow, and he did a little bit better. But fishing was how he contributed, along with a good drink. “I'm not much of a hunter though. I can pick out a good drink and I can entertain.” Laying back against the water, he drifted into a lazy float, letting his tail act almost like an underwater rudder. “What kind of things do you like to do?” His turn to ask a question, anyway.
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congrats on ur co-rank!
Anu loved the hunt, the speed, the challenge and then the fight to the death. As passive as she was with her own kind, as well as most, when she wanted dinner she wanted dinner. Because of her speed she was able to out run most prey, it was always bringing the animal to the ground that was the most difficult portion. That was where the pack part came in, with others it was possible to actually bring down prey larger then a rabbit.
She was slightly surprised by his question, having been the interrogator for most of their walk. “Well, I enjoy gardening, and tree climbing… naps too.” She followed his lead and paddled lazily on her belly beside his floating form.”simple things.” she commented after a brief moment.
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It took me long enough to pick it even though I guess it was obvious. >_> *slow!*
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“Yeah, the simple things in life are truly the best,” he remarked, letting his eyes close slowly, almost overly lazy for the day. “Sometimes it's just nice to not do anything for a few days, just to exist in the world and see it for what it is,” a place of beauty over a place of death and decay, maybe. He was glad that he couldn't see the city of Halifax through the trees, he was glad that they were far enough from it that it was missing and lost between the hills and trees. Cities were often epitomes of decay and especially death; there were a lot of things there that could have killed any one of them.
But he liked them to rummage around in, on the other hand. “Have you ever done something like that? Just exist instead of always busying yourself with something?” Gypsies certainly had instilled it in him and since that, Laurel had found others outside of the lifestyle who definitely understood what it meant to do nothing and just exist for a while. Just to take in the world for every little thing it had and watch the day go by. Something that he hadn't really done since he had gotten there, needless to say.
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So sorry for the delay!
Life was long. It was as long as the horizon, and to a beast that walked most of it alone, even longer. Many believed that life was short, and thus live it and be done with it. But there was truth in the real length of life. Every moment that must be lived, the lungs must breath, the heart must beat, eyes observe and nose smell. Every waking moment sat atop the last, building sun touching towers. With every second actually lived, the smallest detail must be held with a gentle touch, it was those wondrous moments that determined whether those towers stood or fell.
On her back, she watched the moon as it danced between the tree’s foliage. She took in his words, tall ears listening to his pleasurable voice. It wasn’t harsh or demanding, but made his words more lyrics then sentences, the new realization distracted her from their meaning, slowing her response.
“Like when all you do it just live. Breath because your body has to, eat when only when you must.” She took another one of those tower building moments, enjoying the waters touch once again and exhaling heavily. “No distractions, head empty of all other wants or need… Yeah, I’ve just lived.” It’s what she had been doing, before resting in that tree along the Phoenix Valley territories.
“Do you think that others have done that their whole lives? Or is it just not enough?” How could someone be truly fulfilled with nothing to fill it for them?
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It's cool, don't worry about it.
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“Probably. There's plenty of people who just go through life just doing their own thing, not answering to anyone but themselves, just adrift in the world.” They were truly solitary creatures, though maybe their sanity could have been questioned. Laurel had never seen one that was just ‘normal’ because they were usually sick in some way. Relentless twitching, unfocused eyes, too many of them were fixated on chasing dragons. But if everything had a balance, then there were those who simply walked the line without an ill effects. For a moment, he wondered where he fell into the grand scheme of everything, but let the thought go just as it had come.
In the end, they all ended up in the same place anyway. “Some people have to have purpose in their lives, a reason to be there. I don't think it really matters whether or not we have a purpose or a reason to be here, we just are and that's how it goes. May as well live life anyway than sitting still and thinking about it.” He opened his eyes then and let them fix to a budding star in the sky. “The world doesn't slow down just because we do, it doesn't stop turning when we die or when we sleep. And neither should we, I suppose,” because he couldn't remember a time in his life when squatting somewhere meant slowing down.
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my dog has the hiccups…
No, she needed something more then existence, more then just living. It was nice once in a while to just live and be content with simple things. But Anu was one that needed much more to live for, even with all the time she had spent on her own, there was a breaking point. Whether or not she wanted to admit it, she needed the family that Phoenix Valley had given her.
So insightful, Laurel was. Anu enjoyed talking to him and discussing something further then just the weather. She did enjoy talking about the weather, but there were times when she need more. Did lone wolves talk about more then just the weather, or related small talk? Anu would certainly have to find out.
“It sounds liberating.” She turned again the cool water, paddling closer towards him, not having noticed how far she had drifted. “But how do you live without knowing you have fulfilled your purpose. And how do you do that when you’re all alone? And how does someone not have a purpose? Everyone has a reason for being here, its sad to think that someone out there believes that they don’t have a reason to be here.”
It was a sad thought, when everyone deserved to have a fulfilling life, and everyone deserved be happy.
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“Yeah, but who says we have a purpose for being here. The obvious reason is that we're somebody's kid, but I don't think everyone has a purpose in life. At least, if we do, a lot of us never figure it out,” he said, wondering if he had ever considered whether or not he had a purpose. If he had one, what was it, exactly? Shifting his eyes over to her gray form as she swam back into his view, he went on talking. “What's your purpose?” Maybe women had a purpose and men didn't, maybe it was a gender thing. It wasn't like their lives came with instruction manuals, anyway.
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Of course she had a purpose. How could she not? His questions seemed to have a very obvious answer, but as she thought about it for another moment the answers became more blurred, until she really couldn’t see them at all. Her purpose was more then just one thing it was many little things. Just like the things that made life worth living, they were small, almost the size of details.
“Maybe they aren’t looking in the right place.” She lifted an eyebrow at him inquisitively. Eyes went back to watch the moon, thoughts flowing from her head and out her mouth. “My purpose is to be a friend, to support my pack and family. It was to love some in the past, and then to others in the future. It is to be here, talking to you.” She rambled, loosing her breath at the end of it. “You must have one... Well, I know a few already.” Her words came out sort of mater of fact.
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Wanna start wrapping this up?
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He supposed that was what purpose was, being a friend or a relative. Someone who was there to support and comfort and all of those other things. But what interested him the most was her matter-of-fact tone in mentioning that he had one. Laurel tried not to let his expression contort to something incredulous, was the purpose of others figured out that easily? Or maybe it just one of those things that were supposed to be described however someone liked. “And what would that be?” he asked, raising his brows curiously as he glanced over to her, pondering her response. It was fun to be described by people, at least when he knew that they didn't have anything bad to say about him because they'd only met him.
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This can be the last post, if you’d like!?
Note: The following words are not… words: stomper; prunie
She watched him react, and enjoyed watching him change of his face. There were few times when she could get a rise out of another, and enjoyed watching peoples reactions. It was always easy for her to figure other people out, she understood then so quickly and with so little effort, many open the door to their minds and hearts without even noticing the slight draft.
“You’re my spider stomper of course.” She spoke in real seriousness. Anu looked to her paws, and noticed the pads had become wrinkly in the water. Though the night was still warm, it was no longer young. She would like to get back to her bed and sleep her growing weariness away. “And I will need you if I’m ever to get back to my bed.” Smiling she swam over to him wrinkling her nose and showing him her hands, “I’m all prunie.”
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*fades to black, lulz!* 
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“I suppose in that case, I best had walk you back,” he said with a chuckle as she displayed her hands. So they headed towards the shore, at which point he dressed, and then started back through the forest. Which of course, was covered with spiders out under the moonlight, rebuilding their webs and scurrying across the forest floor, much to their collective dismay. But eventually the volume of spiders thinned out, and before too long he was catching glimpses of Phoenix Valley by the time they had bade one another farewell.
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