[Training] [SE] Destruction is a healthy coping mechanism

Sah

Sah tsked and rolled his eyes, "Sure, like you were wanted." The Voice had been desperate but not that desperate. At least that's what the Wild Thunder told himself to soothe his ego. But seeing Talyson cradle his wrist gave the Wild Thunder pause. One that left him completely vulnerable to Boreal's righteous attack. The dragon slammed into him and Sah went down with a huff as all of the air was knocked from his lungs. Pushing himself up, he spit out a mouthful of mud. "Boreal!" Letting out an indignant laugh, he half-heartedly tried to nudge her away. Her efforts to clean his face were appreciated although dragon spit was going to be harder to wipe off later than mud.

Lilly's tail wagging in agreement with Boreal was the only cue Tal would get. The wolf raced ahead, and body slammed the courier in an effort to knock him onto his back. The clever she-wolf made sure to do so in a way where he wouldn't try to catch his weigh with his injured wrist. Letting out concerned yips and rumbles, Lilly set about licking the worst of the mud off of Talyson's face and pushing her snout into his chest to demand ear rubs.

Meanwhile Pad watched the madness with a tilted head, trying to decide if it was better to risk Lilly and Boreal's wrath and bite Talyson or go help Sah.

I think therefore I am,
But what if all I do is bleed?

"I never tried t'get her attention," Tal growled back. He'd been loyal to the Old Gods his whole life, and when the Voice had popped up again outside the Hollowed Grounds he'd avoided her like a plague. But before he could open his mouth for further argument there was a large white wolf headed his way and caught in the mud as he was there was no way to avoid her. "Hey!" he yelped, worried about his wrist. But Lilly was careful of how she landed on him and though the jarring thud of his body landing back on the ground shot into the injury, he didn't think she'd made it worse.

Still, he reached around her neck as if to give her a hug, nose wrinkled and eyes squeezed shut against the slobbery tongue as he finally pressed his ringed hand to his wrist.

And exhaled in relief as cool, gentle Healing washed through it, taking the damage with it so that he could properly apply his hands to Lilly's ears in what was sheer instinct after so many years among his own canines. Mud and slobber were a hail of a combination, but it was nothing a good, stout scrubbing wouldn't get out of hair and clothes and skin, and Tal gave up the fight against the sweet wolf and relaxed back into the mud with a perfunctory grumble.

Boreal was as enthusiastically determined as her best friend to give Sah a thorough washing, scrambling to keep her balance as she let him turn over but refused to get off him. It was a much better angle to give him kisses from his eyebrows down to his chin, and until she was certain the boys were cooled down and calmed down, baths they would continue to get!

Sah

Sah would have scoffed at Tal's last comment. Wanting answers wasn't the same as wanting attention. He'd been an Outlander trying to get a grasp on the political and racial intricacies of his new world. Was it so bad to seek out a primary source of information instead of listening solely to secondhand accounts?

Lilly happily accepted the 'hug' and wagged harder as she felt Tal submit to her will. She made sure to turn and give his wrist a lick of good luck now that it was healed, before returning to making a mess of the courier's face and hair. If he didn't look like a newborn ningo that had fallen out of its nest, then she was failing at her task.

Meanwhile, Sah attempted to turn the tables on Boreal with a laugh. Affectionate hands came up and started to scratch along her chin and horn in an attempt to turn the dragon to mush. Seeing and feeling his bonded relax, Pad decided to spare Tal. Instead, he glanced between the two men and in a brief decision, pounced onto Sah's other side to assist Boreal in making the Wild Thunder laugh.

The combined weight of the two sent Sah sprawling, and he was forced to admit defeat as he failed to shove the two off of him. Laughing he let his hands fall against the mud, "Ok, ok. I yield!"

I think therefore I am,
But what if all I do is bleed?

Lilly was a very good girl, and however mad Tal had been at her companion, he didn't blame the wolf at all. Once his wrist stopped hurting he made an attempt to push her off but then gave up and tousled her instead, scrubbing her ears and sides with affection and sending a cloud of fur to waft over the training grounds while his face was so enthusiastically washed. "Aw, c'mon, girl! Gimme a break!" he protested, a laugh bubbling up in spite of the recent high tempers as he attempted to wriggle out from underneath her.

Boreal was just as easy of a target, rumbling happily as Sah found the itchy spot at the base of her horns - and promptly flopping down with her full weight on his torso, resting her chin on his collarbone to give him a better angle - at least until Pad joined in and she chortled smokily, making room for the young wolf to put his cold nose and wet tongue to good use. Even after Sah gave up the fight she continued to give him a few extra kisses, scaly tail wagging happily at the sound of his laughter.

Tal, too, was forced to admit defeat, his own chuckle rising up from where he lay in the mud. "You win, Lilly!" he assured her, giving her nose a few kisses of his own in 'retaliation.' "I give up!"

Sah

Lilly's tag wagged furiously under Tal's attention, and she tipped her head back with a howl at his defeat. Jumping off of the man to let him up, the silver wolf happily trotted over to where her companion was struggling to do the same.

"Boreal! Pad! Come on!" Taking his cue from the dragon, the dark wolf refused to fully back off. He remained gnawing at Sah's ear as the Wild Thunder attempted to gently shove the two companions off of him. Feeling a mental nudge from Lilly, the Wild Thunder let his head flop onto the ground with a sigh. "Alright."

Gritting his teeth slightly, Sah turned his head, "Talyson." Face pinching, he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for." Although his anger had been justified in the face of the courier's accusations, the Wild Thunder admitted (under the psychic pressure of a wise she-wolf) that he'd taken it too far in his retribution.

Said she-wolf, happily yipped and walked closer to nudge Pad and Boreal with her nose to let them know to let the Abandoned up. All the while the rush of pride and affection that Lilly flooded the bond with made the painful apology worth it. Almost.

I think therefore I am,
But what if all I do is bleed?

Boreal crooned encouragingly as Sah went still, and the kisses finally stopped as she raised her head to give Lilly a congratulatory sniff. The wolf's plan had worked exactly as they'd hoped, and now it just remained for the humans to remember just who their packmates were. The occasional fight was all well and good, but at the end of the day they still had to rely on each other - however little the two headstrong males liked to admit it.

Freed of Lilly's weight, Tal was just pushing himself up into a sitting position in the mud, nose wrinkling in dismay as he tried to scrape it off his shirt. His name - the full and proper Talyson that so rarely boded well - drew his attention back to Sah and wariness flashed through his eyes momentarily. But the apology that followed had him blinking in surprise, even as Boreal rumbled her approval and pushed herself off of the hunter so she could amble over to snuffle Tal's muddy, slobbery hair.

The courier reached up to wipe mud off the back of his neck and cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yeah, well... 'm sorry, too." Not for defending Safrin's gift, but for not calling off the training when he'd realized how genuinely upset Sah was so they could talk things out without the adrenaline of a fight pushing things too far.

With a heavy sigh he got to his feet and then stepped over to offer Sah a hand up as well. "C'mon. We need t'get you cleaned up. You're a mess."

Sah

Lilly wagged, leaning forward to bump noses with Boreal in victory. Of course, it came down to the far wiser companions to keep the boys in check. It was always amusing and aggravating to watch the two default to idiot teenagers around each other. They were nearly 30 and could be appropriately mature at times, and yet. Lilly shook her head in exasperation, giving Sah a lick to the face as well. Pad backed off and was content to observe the proceedings.

Sah reached over to ruffle Lilly's ears, pausing at Tal's returned apology. "Thank you." The courier approached, and the hunter didn't hesitate to take his hand as he got to his feet. Running an eye along the man, Sah snickered, "I could say the same to you." The Abandoned then used a gentle wave of wind and telekinetic magic to make the worst of the mud on the two men fall to the ground.

I think therefore I am,
But what if all I do is bleed?

Okay, well... the day could have gone better. But it could have gone way worse, too, so... Tal released Sah's hand and wrinkled his nose against the breeze that blew the worst of the mud off of him. What they both needed was a proper scrub down, with extra attention paid to hair and clothes, and there was somewhere that fit that particular bill, especially with Ru in King's End at the moment...

"Thanks," he said, gruffly but grateful for the hunter's thoughtfulness. "It's a start, at least. If you're done here for now, we can head to Ru's spa an' get washed up proper." And a nice soak in the heated pool wouldn't go amiss, either. It might not have the healing properties of the new hot springs, but it had the benefit of being a lot more convenient in town!

With Boreal happily bumping shoulders with Lilly and Pad, Tal led the way back out to the street and the reward that awaited them after once more surviving their sophomoric shenanigans.

~fin~