In Dire Straits - Paint It Black

THERON

It had been a long while since Theron had been to this part of Inaria. He ordinarily stuck to the fringes - he prefered the less populous areas of the forest. He ignored the rest of the pack most of the time. He was content to wander on his own and keep to himself. When he ventured closer and associated with the rest of Inaria it tended to be trouble - or at very least, unnecessary annoyance.

Theron was not a socialite but nor was he a loner. He craved companionship in a sort of way he could not explain. Good or ill interactions alike would sate him. A rare madness that drove him to seek company. He wondered idly if he could find Moons or perhaps even Svetlana - to call them friends would be a generous assessment. Acquaintances would be the term most would use, yet even that seemed a bit... familiar to Theron. They were curious. He did not quite know where to categorize them. He was no simpleton. Theron just prefered his interpersonal relationships be kept very simple. There were clear lines of demarcation in his mind: Threats, non-threats, and food.

Still, he was bored enough to seek companionship of some variety.

He lifted his massive head and sniffed briefly at the breeze. The scent of the jacana trees heavy in the breeze, all but masking other scents beneath. Theron shook out his shaggy coat. His hackles bristled, looking stiff and somewhat uncomfortable as he plodded onward. The heavy brown fur fluffing up in a thick mane like ruff that made the already large dire mix look even larger.

Despite his “sociable” mood. Theron did not look affable or even approachable. There was a cold and detached hostility in his white eyes. Only apathy colored his features otherwise.

Since Gemini's arrival on the borders and the announcement of the party Felix had been able to think of little else. (Which was either a compliment to how peacful existance in Inaria was, or an insight into just how empty of intelligent thoughts his head was). He was abuzz with excitement and his teenage imagination was running wild. Most of his time was spent in a rich fantasy land that featured all sorts of unlikely scenarios. There was one common theme in most of them: he was going to do something incredibly brave and dashing -alligator wrestling maybe- which would catch the eye of Chelae. Then, when she came to fawn over him in a dither of admiration, he was going to completely ignore her. Ha! See how she liked it! Stuck up Princess-Snob-McSnobface! Not that he cared of course... Not him. He was too cool for that.

He was enjoying imagining what the look on her face would be when movement alerted him to the presence of another. A stranger. A Gemini? I.E. His new friend who just didn't know it yet. He bounded forwards to greet them. "Hey!" Felix called out to the stranger, tail wagging, all smiles. As he got closer scent revealed that they were only another Inarian. "Oh." Disappointment. "Never mind. You're not from Gemini." He visibly deflated, tail drooping. "You seen any of the Gemini lot around?" He asked. "Trying to track some down, make a few friends before the trip starts." He continued, volunteering information no one had asked for like he always did. It was only at that point he stopped talking long enough to realise his companion didn't look anything like the traditional definition of friendly. "You.. You er... going to the party?" He asked, nervously taking a slight step back and wagging his tail in a placating manor.

Felix lived a sheltered life. From his very first breath he had been tended, loved, protected and indulged. He was vapid, precocious and flippant, but his world let him be. Danger and monsters were only a concept. Nothing stalked his thoughts or disturbed his dreams. A party was the worst thing he had ever had to worry about. True evil existed only in stories. For him Dragons just weren't real.

et ready! Set! Dress! She smiled at her own reflection, the plastered on falsity was set in place, looking good. She brushed over her fur lightly from every angle, dressing herself as properly as possible, slowly adding the mask of a proper doll, dressing herself as the perfect lady, setting the make up of perfection. She smiled again, hidden from modesty flawed to the teeth. She didn't mean it, it wasn't real and it wasn't genuine, but that might be hard to tell for someone who didn't know her, one thing was clear though her smile didn't reach her eyes.

She finally left her mirror in the water and with a sigh she let her white legs carry her across the fields of Inaria, passing several trees on her way, she didn't stop to admire any of it, instead she began wondering how she could get the party going in this place. She was getting bored, Inaria didn't offer much passing and she hadn't met that many people on her walks, so first goal of the day had to be meeting other people and get a conversation going. That would be step one.

"You.. You er... going to the party?" Ah bingo!

She smiled and turned direction, close by were to figures, one she didn't know and the other was the innocently little boy Felix. She took a few strides across the grass and plastered that practice smile all over her face to Felix, getting up on his side and give him a well placed lick on his left cheek and grinned. "Well don't we just keep running into each other!" She turned toward Theron and passed him another smile, completely ignoring (not noticing so much) the look on his face. What was that dreadful expression honey? Brighten up, add a little make up, put up the mask.

"I'm Ginna, who might you be?" A little drama was always rightful in a situation like this wasn't it? But how to spice it up.. "Oh I have the most wonderful idea!" She almost brightened up and took a glance at both boys. "Let's do a friendly spar shall we? Good practice for all of us" And gives us something to do that isn't dreadfully boring. She got up, ready as she was and in one motion she jumped toward Theron, sporting a good chance for him she jumped on to her hind legs and tried to give him a push with her front paws on his shoulder. "You're not scared of losing against a girl are you?"

Hurt me

THERON
THERE'S A COLD BREEZE BLOWING
OVER MY SOUL

The last thing Theron expected to approach him was a child. It was evident in the way he stiffened uncomfortably the moment the boy started speaking to him. Though in truth, Theron was not much older than he -- though still much larger and more mature by far.

"Hey! Oh. Never mind. You're not from Gemini."

“No.” He replied, in a voice like a rusty hinge.

"You seen any of the Gemini lot around? Trying to track some down, make a few friends before the trip starts." The two brown young wolves could not be more different. The boy babbled affably while Theron hovered; wooden, creepy, and imposing. If a passerby saw them, they might be a touch concerned. "You.. You er... going to the party?"

“No... and no.” He answered the questions. Seating himself with the stiff motions of a wire doll. Theron might have craved contact, but that did not mean he was any good at it. Another approached, and his ears swiveled back to pin against his skull as the white and red female drew close. Theron ignored her comments to the younger boy, and indeed, her presence entirely until she addressed him.

"I'm Ginna, who might you be?"

“Theron.” He answered mechanically. It would be easy to mistake the young dire mix as a simpleton, for how mute he was. He behaved like an automaton outside its programming. In some ways, that’s exactly what he was.

"Oh I have the most wonderful idea! Let's do a friendly spar shall we? Good practice for all of us."

He glanced between the two of them with pale intense white eyes. Blinking slowly. Surely she wasn’t serious? A teenage dire nearly a foot shorter than him and her, a delicately built timber who looked as if she might break in half if he simply sat on her. Of course, in Theron's mindset, a spar meant a good deal more blood than the Inarian definition.

"You're not scared of losing against a girl are you?" Ginna shoved him with her forepaws and might as well have been pushing a boulder for all it got her. He chuckled. A throaty, guttural, and unsettling sound.

It might have been less threatening had he snarled.

"No. No... and no."

"No... Well... That's easy then!" Felix was actually somewhat relieved to hear it. Theron wasn't exactly the life and soul of the party, frankly he was that creepy and Felix vaugely wondered if he even had a soul. Theron sat which implied a desire to continue the conversation, though with only four words on Theron's part -and three of them being no- 'conversation' was a generous description. Felix dithered, caught between being polite and wanting to get away from this stiff and empty automaton.

Self preservation won out. "Anyway. Nice to meet you. Sorry to keep you, I'll just er... Show myself out." He backed away, smiling the whole time his tail wagging, but there was no way he was going to turn his back on Theron.

"Well don't we just keep running into each other!"

"Ginna!" Felix cried warmly, pleased to see her -or anyone- who seemed alive, she was a bright glowing ball of energy compared to Theron's dark brooding presence.

"I'm Ginna, who might you be?"

"Theron"

"Oh I have the most wonderful idea! Let's do a friendly spar shall we? Good practice for all of us. You're not scared of losing against a girl are you?"

No. No. Bad idea. He tried to subtly catch her eye and shake his head ever so slightly as a warning but he was either too subtle or she was not looking as she bounded up to Theron and gave him a push. She wasn't immediately murdered so he thought her lucky.

The gutteral chuckle that followed made his fur bristle and he schooched back a further step. He stared at Theron for a moment, judging his realistic chances against the block of pure hench that was sat before him. "You know my throat really hurts... I think I'm coming down with something. My glands. My glands are definitely swollen. You should feel them, you'd agree..." He made what he hoped was a convincing little coughing noise, and rubbed his throat with his paw. "Or I would. Totes would!"

Out the sie of his mouth he hissed to Ginna "That's an I-eat-babies laugh, not a super-fun-guy-play-times laugh." though it would be perfectly audible to Theron as well.

inna looked at the dark-red male as he chuckled a hoarse laughter that seemed to set off Felix completely, he was clearly scared about the situation and made up the worst told lie she had ever heard (almost worst beside the one she told herself), and while Theron's laughter supposedly was scary, Ginna just laughed with him. It was an involuntary action that she had no control over, and she tried to strangle it without much success.

Neither did pushing Theron give much success, he moved nowhere and he did not seem the least bit provoked. She was getting frustrated by the minute, intense impulses going through her and she began thinking, over and over, of the sensation of pain. She needed it, she wanted it! She stopped laughing and looked seriously at Theron. How would she provoke him enough to cause trouble?

"That's an I-eat-babies laugh, not a super-fun-guy-play-times laugh." She snorted and couldn't help but break out a giggle. "Felix is scared of you Theron. But you are not dangerous are you? Come give me a smile!" She tried to reach his face again, using her front paws to try and move each side of his cheek upward in a forced smile - this looked familiar indeed.

Ginna was getting impatient. If Forcing Theron caused no reaction but him pulling away she would set backward and bounce. She would bounce toward him and try and nip at his right ear, hoping to provoke some kind of violent reaction from him, she was poking the beast, over and over again she would not stop until pain had been delivered - preferably to her.