Step In, Step Out

[clearlyleah]

 Leah will admit to herself perhaps this one time that being a wolf is not so bad. She runs through the trees, smug that she is faster than all the others, and uses the cover of dusk to skip ahead, taking shortcuts that only she knows. This is the second time she's been on this path for the day, and the faster she runs, the more she feels like she

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[doriath_crowned]

Elurin has been doing reckless things lately, as evidence by the raw gash under his chin, where Curufin drove his blade in.

He's one of those kids who run off when caretakers aren't looking, and an emotional teen who's recovering from a painful and confusing heartbreak, and lately, it's been hard to keep tabs on him for his twin brother.

And thus there is a young elf, sitting on a stone, and sunbathing. Or something. Feel free to come sniff at, Leah. He likes the beasts of the forests.

[clearlyleah]

Leah knows of heartbreak, more than she'll ever admit. Currently she's just walking around, sniffing at this and that. She's decided that she is definitely NOT in Washington anymore, and she's comfortable with the idea. No more Washington, no more wolfpack, no more Sam. Regrettably, no more Seth, but no more pain, and perhaps no more changing into a wolf, either - although right now, it's done her a bit of good.

She spots the boy sitting by himself, and she slowly, slowly approaches him. If he notices the thing tied to her right rear leg, he'll see clothing (shorts, a tanktop, and a white button down shirt, but really, it was wadded up) but she's got nothing else to speak of on her that could be considered strange. Really, Leah's just a tawny coloured wolf of moderate size. Perhaps she's large for a female, but she's not colossal.

[doriath_crowned]

Elves have excellent sense - more atune than humans, and he heard the wolf coming a long ways. He'll roll to the side, and for a split second, he mistakes her for another, before he actually clicks that this is not the wolf he's used to.

He observes, keenly, not afraid but certainly attentive. He's not moving for now.

We're assuming that Elurin probably smells like no-one (or nothing) Leah has never smelled before - half-elven, with Maiar heritage, he probably has a unique smell.

[clearlyleah]

She doesn't smell anything about Elurin that she recognizes, obviously, and it intrigues her. She moves in a half-circle around him, not quite stalking, but not precisely being obvious, either. She can see from the way his eyes move that he can see her, but she doesn't really seem to form any obviously aggressive movements.

Finally, she'll step in, and approach. She wishes she had a way to talk to people without having to phase, but then again, a talking wolf? It was nonsense. She tries not to appear horribly brutish, and so her ears and tail pick up quite a bit, giving her a most curious impression.

[doriath_crowned]

The young elf looks at the wolf, tilts his head. He and his brother were in the care of the little beasts of the forests for a while, and he knows to communicate with most, though wolves were never the pack they favored.

A little red fox is in the vicinity, and sniffs at Leah, not daring coming closer, but clearly curious. It whines at Elurin, as if to alert him, and the boy sits up.

"You don't smell wolf," he says, though he's only taking a guess.

[clearlyleah]

When he says that, Leah decides to take a cue. The wolf actually sighs and turns, tail pricked upward and with a curl to the end of it. She trots off into the bushes, where she's sure to have cover, and there are a few moments that pass before the girl-Leah sticks her head over the top of them.

"Well, you don't smell like a human," she retorts, struggling to tug on her clothing without exposing herself. She's a tall thing, so she's got to basically crouch while she's dressing. It's an ungraceful procedure, but finally she manages, though her overshirt is inside out as she emerges again. She picks a leaf out of her long dark hair and flicks it to the ground, walking towards him.

"So I guess we're even, then. I'll tell you what I am if you tell me what you are," she says. He's not a vampire, she can feel that. He's got... a clean sort of earthy smell. She has no idea how to describe it.

[doriath_crowned]

Elurin didn't look while Leah was changing, so he missed the whole awkward procedure she put herself through. Mostly, he laid on his back and waited, looking at the clouds above.

When the voice comes, though, he looks over, and raises an eyebrow, mildly.

"Ah. So you're wolf-souled, like Firekeeper. And I'm half-Edain, so of course I should smell like man," he tells her, like he would tell someone about the sun being up there.

"And what's it matter to you, what I am?"

[clearlyleah]

"What's an Edain?" she asks, literally plopping down in the soft grass next to him. She took on his posture, stretching out and finding to her delight that bugs did not instantly attack her. A gnat-free world, then? She could get used to this.

"Wolf-souled, I guess that's a way to put it. I was normal, and then I wasn't, one day. I was the only girl though, and evidently that made me different. I didn't like it - I don't like it now," she says honestly, but she doesn't offer any more in that department. That's getting into Personal Things, like the fact that Leah doesn't think she can even have kids now, which is a bummer.

"Well, it doesn't matter, not really, but why not get acquainted? We can talk about something else," she says with a wave of her hand. Leah's pretty mellow.

[doriath_crowned]

Leah is also a bit all over the place, Elurin thinks, and he stares at her a little, forcing himself not to gape.

"I'm confused, did you still want to know what an Edain is, or... what do you want to talk about?" He's having trouble following her, just because of the flow of questions and the information delivered.

He's however not gaping at her clothing - his friend Molly dresses strangely too, and he and his brother do tend to be on the slightly dirty and untidy side, though his dress is medieval. In short, though he is a prince, he probably looks like a stable boy, more so because he is barefoot.

[clearlyleah]

"Well, yeah?" she says, not sure why he would think otherwise. Leah is a curious sort of girl; she'll listen if you're talking and it's interesting. "Is it like, royalty or something?" she asks, pulling a clover from the ground and gnawing on the stem of it thoughtfully.

[doriath_crowned]

.... "Edain? Eru, no. It's --- well, I'd say you, but I'm not sure, now." He frowns, thinking, then realizes he's heard the word before.

... "Human."

[clearlyleah]

"Oh," Leah says, as though he's said something incredibly interesting. And he has, in a way - because if he's half-human, then it left something else open.

"So what's the other half?" she asks, tilting her head not unlike a dog might when you say 'Cooookie?' to it. She is still absently nibbling on the clover stem, though now she's on her stomach with her feet up and kicking lightly - she could just as easily be on the phone, twirling a cord around her finger for the way she looks.

[doriath_crowned]

"Well, I guess I'd have to say it's Eldarin, but it's really three-quarter Eldarin and a quarter Maiar, if you look at our family tree." He smiles a little. "Sorry, it's complicated. Er. Do you understand ?"

Sorry, Leah, we hope you didn't have too many issues with fractions at school.

[clearlyleah]

"So you're half human and then three-quarters Eldarin and one-quarter Maiar?" she asks, trying to follow along. "But - what's a Maiar? I don't - I'm not stupid, or, well, I might sound dumb for asking, but these are new words to my vocabulary," she says honestly.

[doriath_crowned]

Gah, this is complicated. He sighs. "I... I should explain. Let me tell you about my family, perhaps? And I will start with the Eldarin. And maybe that will make sense to you."

[clearlyleah]

"Okay, sure," she agrees. "I could tell you about my situation in return, but I somehow feel like it won't be as interesting," she admits. Leah's all ears, though - and if she meets another one of his kind, she'll be sure to think back to this exact conversation and be happy she was present and attentive.