Welsh Halfwit wrote: ↑Sun Apr 27, 2025 2:41 pm "It has been a hectic... few minutes," Nola agreed, leaning on Simon. She got the petphone out. "I dial, you speak to Thomas?"
Kai watches in silent amusement as Ray's muscles twitch, barely stopping himself from sprinting for the fish the fox reached first. Pure habit required him to reach anything first - especially something he'd knocked out-of-bounds, but he had a cool enough head to realize lunging at a smaller fox with obstructed vision might not go over well. That, or maybe he was expecting the weight of the backpack to ruin the maneuver. She wasn't expecting him to bring it to her though, and barely manages to snatch it out of the air before it landed on her. Wouldn't do well for a first impression with Cala to have herself stinking of fish, especially in a house. She clutches the tail joint between two digits of her handpaw as she stands, angling the majority of the fish away from her hip. She offers him a small bow of her head and neck in thanks.Hlaoroo wrote: ↑Thu Sep 25, 2025 7:30 am "Yeah. Familiar with each other." Simon confirms for Ray, before indicating to Nola to dial.
"Let's not go north. Let's go this way, towards the road. Thomas can pick us up there, same place he dropped us off. That'll be quicker than walking all the way to town." He stoops awkwardly to pick up the fish dropped by the wolf and drops it in Kai's lap.
"Take it with you. Deus will be grumpy if you waste it. And you don't want to make him grumpy." the fox warns, pointing at the foam collar supporting his neck.
"I'm Simon, by the way... The cat is Nola."
Ray's gaze lingers on the fox - Simon - as he speaks, and a moment or two too long afterwards. He can't get a read on him. That in itself isn't unusual, he's no psychologist, but... when the bear comes along and makes demands he would expect the forest's critters listen. Especially if he's implying that the bear... injured him? But now the plans were changing to a less direct route that involved cars. Or vans? he considers. Kai and I can't exactly share a seat. But what human would want unfamiliar wolves in their van with them? Unless they maybe know Cala, and they told people we were coming... but these two don't know her. His contemplation and blank stare are both disrupted by a nudge by Kai.
"Questions." She asserts, recognizing the tension in his muscles still. The phone the cat had didn't seem to bring Ray any comfort. He nods with a sigh, and the siblings return their focus to the pair in front of them as Ray speaks up.
"Sorry. I, uh... Ray. She's Kai. Think I said that - and, nice to meet you two of course." The pleasantries spill out, little effort spent to cover up his actual priorities. "What is..." He stumbles. There's a lot of questions, but none of them would be particularly friendly. And he was supposed to be friendly. "You're calling a human handler to pick you two up?" Maybe he was misunderstanding? "And we..." He trails off, gesturing offhandpawedly towards the bear and then nods where he's pretty sure North is. "So you can get that breathing thing handled, and you don't have to keep walking." That doesn't feel right. They were definitely implying the wolves would be getting picked up too, right? He looks to Kai for reassurance, but she simply maintains the neutral expression she always does. Would that be better? Being left to walk with... him? Deus? He seems...
uh...
