2023.06.24 Pre-Party Dragoning

2023.06.24 Pre-Party Dragoning
Wulfra makes a surprise entrance to Sark's isle where the two have a little friendly 'competition'
IC Date	2023.06.24
IC Time	Evening
Players	Wulfra, Sark
Location	Windstorm Isle - Meadows
Spheres	Bygone

Is there a party soon? Sark doesn't seem to be concerned, as, at the moment, he's simply perched on the paddock fence, feeding a couple of the giant horses little baby carrots out of the bag in his other hand. He's mumbling under his breath, sorta talking to them in between feeding and nose-rubbings. Shirtless at the moment and just in a pair of jeans, not too terribly worried about showing skin as well at the moment.

As Sark goes about his business tending to the horses, all is quiet, normal... that is until the horses suddenly seem to get a bit spooked by something, whinny-ing and pulling away from him... or at something behind him. Were he to turn around to see what this disturbance was... he'd be met with the sight of a human-formed Wulfra... staring. There was no sound, no felt presence... how did she even get there? Who knows!

The animals getting spooked is a good enough sign for Sark to take stock of the situation, and slowly cranes his head around. If it was Stella, they wouldnt have reacted, or at least would have whickered at her for treats. When he sees the staring Wulfra, a smile spreads across his face as he turns halfway around on the fence, "Hey. You....taking lessons from Trishna on how to be silent?"

Wulfra shakes her head, eyes glancing between Sark and the animals. A small grin creeps onto her face. `Bahaha... no. Believe it or not, she learns that from -me-....`

Sark chuckles low under his breath, still idly offering carrots to the two horses behind him, now without looking at what he's doing, "I wasnt expecting a visit, but good to see you regardless. Did you hear about the beach party this evening? Free food...."

`Party... yes. I think I heard talk of such during my... daily travels.` Wulfra says, glancing away. `Why, are you going? What kind of... free food... will it be?` She mutters, looking back with a tilted head and narrow set of eyes.

Sark mmms, "Well, its a beach BBQ, so I'm assuming there will be seafood and steak. Stuff easily cooked on an open fire, and I know several of the fae have easy connections to fresh seafood, so I would assume they will bring that as their contribution. I was going to bring a chest of honey mead so I wasnt too much of a freeloader..."

Wulfra's face goes through a mix of emotions... wide-eyed excitement and careful pondering. `Yes... do you think the wound-tight knight will be there? Hopefully the one I am friends with will be there as well... we talked about this before, but this would be the first time we've met since the incident... perhaps you can help make sure things are fine now?`

Sark smiles a little more, "Well, this IS out on the beach. Not on their turf, so they have no cause to act like anyone owes them anything, though if Miranda is there, I might recommend at least being nice to her since she's, more or less, the one that would decide if one of us is banned from the local Dreaming. I havent seen Alicia since we talked, so I dont know how things went, but if there's any smoothing down that I can do, of course. I did try to offer her my ideas to mitigate at the time...Im just not sure if she listened to me or not."

Wulfra nods to those words, wiggling a little as something seems to irritate her. One of her fingers grows smoky as it turns into an out of place looking claw so she can scratch the middle part of her back. `I suppose... I'll worry about it when it comes up. You say the tradition is to bring food as well... to not be a 'freeloader'? Perhaps I should drag one of the big fishies up onto the beach....`

Sark mmms, "If you aren't sure, hang out with me if your friend isnt there - that way, if someone decides to be a little shit, maybe I can keep it from getting out of hand? Large crowds start to overwhelm me after a while, and like I said, I think Stella is going to be Kieran's date, so I dont have an anchor I have to stay there for." He grins brightly at the idea of bringing a huge fish, "THAT might be overboard. I can just say the drinks are from you AND I, if you like."

Wulfra mmmms back, then steps forwards a bit more... and reaches out to give Sark a firm tug on the arm, as if testing something. `Anchor, yes... I could serve as such. You are quite heavy, though... when do you want to be pulled down? I have found -so- many interesting places below the water....` she says with a full-on toothy grin this time.

Sark rocks a little on his perch when she tugs on his arm, still showing some of his teeth in the grin, "Well, with parties like this, there's usually a flurry of people talking to you specifically, that slowly devolves into little social groups that stop interacting with everyone else. THaaaaats, right about the time I get interested in leaving. And hey, if you found something neat, I'd love to go see...."

Wulfra nods. `Ahhhh yes! You mean the anchor of the social sea, from which people reference when they mention how many fish there are within! I get it now... but yes, I normally just stand somewhere and eat things. I can be your buoy... but yes... that offer still stands.` Wulfra tugs the arm again, as if trying to pull him closer as she speaks quieter. `...but how are you with the breathing?`

Sark rocks a little more with the tug, and this time, eases over and 'falls' off of the fence to land on his feet, stuffing the rest of the carrot bag in his pocket. He eases up closer as she speaks and rumbles, "I've worked on the breathing. I think I should be fine, but I trust you if, for some reason, I get into trouble. After all, surely Im more fun around alive than I am dead, hmm?" He waggles his brows at that.

Wulfra finally lets go after he comes down, stepping away a bit to look out over the blue sky. `Yes, yes... good... I do not foresee there being trouble. How about the form... can you swim well?`

Sark tilts his head when she steps away, pausing for a moment before moving to close the distance again, but lowers his voice when he answers, "I wont be setting any records with my ability, but I can swim...not quite as nimbly as I can fly, but it works, and I can catch sharks and tuna with it."

As Sark walks back up to her, Wulfra, suddenly, leans her weight back into him... still not looking at him. She hrmms for a moment. `Shark, yes, the big fishies... you sure we shouldn't bring one of those too? How much is this honey mead you mention worth in the social festivities?`

Sark oofs softly at the sudden lean but shifts a little to accept the weight, reaching out to lightly scritch up her back with one hand while peering over her shoulder, "A cooler full like I plan on bringing is easily worth a couple of large slabs of meat that I think they will be cooking. But since the party says food and drinks will be provided, I suspect any contribution will be seen as the mark of a good neighbor, more or less. Makes us look generous, right?"

`Yes... more is good, right? Besides... we have some time.` Wulfra mutters, glancing between the foliage of the meadow. `Speaking of time... who do you think can get to the water faster?` Immediately as that leaves her mouth, she pushes away from Sark, sprinting down into the tall grass... and presumably towards the water.

Sark blinks for a moment as it takes a second for her question to sink in, then a laugh erupts from him as he tears after...not focusing on the water, no, focusing on her butt as he lowers his head to speed up and chase after, "You think you're going to make it to the water?"

Wulfra is fast... inhumanly fast. And she knows how to run properly. Sark, however, is all those things as well... but his body has that toned perfection hers just doesn't. He can manage to catch up to her as she's nearing the edge of the tail grass and the hilly slopes that fall down do the water below. Does he try to stop her? Nono. Instead just easing up close at that edge, Sark strains a little to give her ass a swat with one hand - apparently intent on chasing her all the way down to the water rather than trying to 'win' this challenge, though he does laugh after her, "You're very fast!"

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======---> Wulfra rolls Dexterity(3) + Brawl(2) (5 dice) vs 7 for 1 successes. 1 2 5 +9 9 <-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======---> Sark rolls Dexterity + Athletics vs 8 for 2 successes. 1 2 5 6 +8 +9 10 <-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======---> Wulfra rolls Dexterity(3) + Athletics(2) (5 dice) vs 6 for 5 successes. +6 +8 +9 +10 +10 <-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

Wulfra lets out a half yelp, half growl noise of surprise when Sark manages to catch up despite her head start. Almost in reflex, she carries the growl into a crazed grin before sweeping her leg out to the side as they come to exit the grass... she's trying to trip him! But, immediately following this move, whether successful or not, Wulfra suddenly -leaps- from the edge of the hill. The leap carries her like a soaring eagle through the air past the winding brush of the slope... leaving her quite a ways in the air due to the speed of the takeoff. As she falls, though, she seems to have planned for that... landing in a -perfect- roll like she'd been coreographed for an action movie... which she continues into running once more.

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======---> Sark rolls Dexterity + Athletics vs 6 for 3 successes. 1 2 4 +7 +8 +9 9 <-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

Sark watches her leap into the air, unclear at first if she's going to 'cheat' and sprout wings, so it could be understandable how he lost some ground while admiring her incredibly acrobatic stunt. When she does land and fluidly picks up the run again, he hunkers down and chuckles under his breath, "Oh no you dont..."

Wulfra doesn't turn back, doesn't hesitate, oh no... it's clear she's got that competitive spirit. She didn't sprout wings to 'cheat' before, no, but now on the final stretch to the lapping waves... the running woman starts to smoke. Fluidly, she swaps to running on two legs... and in the precious seconds it takes to clear, the fish-wulfra-dragon form is all that's left... bounding and throwing soil and sand as it rabidly pursues the water.

Sark laughs as she gets close and starts to smoke, while his bare feet make it to the wet sand and the edge of the tideline. With her already partially in the water, he flings himself up into the air for just long enough to let his scales unravel, so that when he lands, the goldbutt is on all fours to more easily tear after her, tail swinging wildly behind for balance, "C'mere!"

`GrrrRRRrrrrr...` the fish-fra lets out like a roaring engine as they both near the surf at the same time. With the water only partially covering their feet, and seeing they might be about to -lose-... Wulfra throws herself into a full on body-to-body tackle against Sark, leap putting her almost on top of him with her moving weight.

Sark wasnt really expecting her to turn the tables around and try to GRAB him, so the gold one is caught off guard with a soft 'oof' as he gets grappled, landing on his side in the surf with a huge splash of water and a crash of wings. All four legs do return the favor and latch on, trying to wrestle her over to get HER on her back, as an amused grumbling escapes him, "You ARE a lot of fun to chase..."

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======---> Wulfra rolls Dexterity(3) + Brawl(2) (5 dice) vs 6 for 1 successes. 1 5 5 +6 8 <-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======---> Sark rolls Dexterity + Brawl vs 6 for 1 successes. 1 1 2 4 +6 7 8 <-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

Wulfra continues to rumble and growl as the two tussle on the beach, splashing water everywhere as they roll towards the deeper ocean waiting. Despite being clearly weaker than him, Wulfra continues to show that sheer -tenacity- from nowhere and prevents him from fully pinning her. `FUN?! You should have seen the thingsss I had to RRRUN FRRROM!`

Sark bares his teeth with the effort, trying to grab hold of her arms to pin her down and constantly finding her just a little too slippery to get a good hold on. At her indignance, he gives her neck a deliberate lick and hisses, "Well, now I know why they were chasing your cute ass!"

Wulfra's flesh is decidedly fishy... more like a shark in its smoothness due to coming from being made of large, smooth plates. Already wettened by the surf, the blackness has a sheen to it in the sun. She gives a snarl back, edging them more towards dunking their heads into the pounding surf. `I. Neverr. Lossst. THE CHASE! And I'm NOT SSTARTING TODAY!`

Sark laughs out loud at her comment, growling with the effort as he struggles with her to haul her over into the next wave rolling in, "I guess that was me imagining putting my hand on your ass, hmm?"

`You got -lucky-...` Wulfra mutters, rumbles dying down a bit as she looks over the goldybutt she has her claws dug into and the water surrounding them. She dips her muzzle down into the water, taking a mouthful of it, then... blows it out riiight into Sark's face, leaving him with a faceful of half-steaming sea water from the flame-backed breath.

Sark acks softly at the splatter and pthtbtbtbts back up at her, sending a very short puff of sulfuric flame and smoke to wreathe her face, "Lucky my fat gold butt. But I'll be a good boy and not mention this to anyone else, for now, at least," and winks up at her.

Wulfra's eyes narrow. `This is -yourr- home turrf... I'd like to see how you'd fare in -mine-....` Then, her grisp loosens some, a low rumble turning more to a purrrr as she just lays there for a bit. `At this rate, we will not even catch a tiny one....`

When she loosens her hold a bit, he lifts a foreclaw to lightly 'pet' at her chest with his claws and rumbles, "Well, we dont have to catch anything right now for the party, remember. If we leave early, we can go have fun catching our own dinner. Fair enough?"

`Ah, yes... I suppose we have... time... hmmm...` Wulfra mutters as she shakes herself a bit from head to long, thick, fin-tipped tail, splashing Sark more in the process. `You know, I find myself enjoying the oceans very much even though they are new to me... somehow they are comfortable, especially at the lower parts.`

Sark mmms, "Maybe that is not so surprising. They are dark and the pressure is heavier, needing you to be strong to move around in it, and it is often populated with large, dangerous and strange creatures, hmm? YOu also find things like that lovely volcano Cypah took us to..." He idly slaps at her tail with his own while he makes this observation.

Wulfra snrls a bit at the slap, bringing a forepaw to Sark's chest so the claws can dig into the scales like a cat on a scratching board. `Yes... dark, crushing atmosphere, scattered landscape... just like home. The creatures there are more familiar in their spiky and translucent shapes, too... but this time, I don't have to worry about anything bigger....`

Sark rumbles at the push of her claw and how they dig in, almost a purr up at her, "It does not mean you cannot enjoy yourself out here. Enjoy the depths because they remind you of home, but come up here and....enjoy the company. Learn new things. Have FUN...."

`I am learning... plenty.` Wulfra says, bringing another pair of claws up to Sark's face to wrap around the top of his muzzle. The blackened digits trail smoke up, clouding his view of her. `Like what I need to train to maximize my 'fun' with you....`

Sark purses his lips and blows a stream of sulfuric smoke at her face when she grabs his muzzle, using his claws to lightly scritch across her chest, "That can depend on what kind of 'fun' you are wanting to have!"

Wulfra opens her maw and eats(?) the blown smoke. `Kind of fun? Now you're going past my level of knowledge... enlighten me as to the types....`

Sark rumbles at, "Well, that depends on what you have fun doing...and if you aren't sure about that, we can certainly see what else you might like. I mean, I dont know what Stena has taken the time to show you, but the humans have had SOME good ideas...and some things that dont need them, like playing with the dolphins and seals...."

Wulfra glances away in thought. `I enjoy... flying, seeing, eating, fire, spicy things, dark things, eating things... and maybe uh... what is the word for it...` she says, looking back at Sark and removing her muzzle claws. `...pets?`

Sark mmms, "All of that is fun, though we both know you like much spicier things than I do....and pets I can do easily. You have soft fur when you use it, and soft skin when you use this form. Both are pretty to touch...." Perhaps to demonstrate, both foreclaws splay out to graze over her chest and undersides, letting the points of his claws lightly drag.

`rrrrrrrhhh... yesss...` Wulfra mutters, her own limbs pulling back to show more of her chest and belly. `...these were... a rare treat before....`

Sark smiles at that and lets his hands work in a little more firmly, "Well, they dont have to be so rare. I mean, its not like I have an overly busy social life, and even then, noone has said you arent welcome. I know you and Stella seem to keep not hitting it off, but I think a little time will smooth that out."

`rrrrrhhh...rrhyess... prrrhabably...` Wulfra mutters in barely coherent speech as she flips over onto her back in the surf, fins getting squished down.

Sark slowly rolls over when she flops onto her back, looming over a little to watch her face, taking his time to splay and curl his fingers and claws around so he's actually massaging up her sides and playing across that sleek belly. He mmhmms close above her head and rumbles, "Clearly you need petting more often..."

Wulfra's many closed eyes twitch a bit as her rumbling purrs resonate through Sark, not even trying to make words now. Her limbs hang limply above her like would a dog's, head leaned back into the surf as he goes lower. One he reaches a certain spot on her belly, one of her hinds even starts to twitch a bit....

Sark mmms thoughtfully at that and doesn't try to say anymore to press the point, instead simply watching her reaction and how much she's enjoying it. When that hind leg twitches, he casually focuses his attention a little bit, digging in just a little more with the pressure of his fingertips and that light scritching across slick skin. He murmurs, "We do have a party to go to very soon, but I could very happily offer you a continuing of this later...."

`rrrrrrrrghhrrhh... rrrhhh... parrrty? Oh... yesss... the... parrrtyy....` Wulfra mumbles, wiggling a bit as Sark presses into the spot. She doesn't move for a bit, grumbling, but then finally flips over. `Shall we... swim overr? I like pretending I was a surfer... or something... change before I go up.`

Sark chuckles softly at the suggestion, "I dont know how well I can pretend I'm a surfer, but Im game to try. I dont think anyone that's there DOESNT already know who you and I are, so pretenses dont have to be that believable." He winks at that and finally takes his claws off of her, giving her tail a light affectionate squeeze.