(Untitled)

[hereand_now]

Wolf has found the big bouncy thing near the Compound.

Now that he's here, he wishes he would have found it earlier, because it's the very best thing on the island. Besides the good people, of course, and maybe the cows. They're all pretty great, but this is fun. This is the most fun he's had since Jack and that nice man let him ride in the back

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[seeyousoonthen]

Savannah had been in the barn and smelled of horses and hay, sweat, manure, and dust. She smelled just like home so far as she was concerned. She was picking stray straw from her hair when she heard howling and the tell tale sound of springs. The sight of the enormous man having such a good time made her stop and smile as she watched him.

On a down-bounce she caught his eye and waved, just so he knew she was there, but she didn't think it was much of a time to try to start a conversation.

[hereand_now]

"Hi!" Wolf says when he sees the blonde girl waving at him and he raises one huge hand to raise back. "Come bounce with me!" He doesn't know her, but that's okay. Bouncing is an activity that he wants to share, even if it's with a complete stranger. Maybe especially if it's with a stranger. Doing something fun is the fastest way to make new friends, he thinks.

"It's fun!" he adds, as if she couldn't see that for herself. "The most!"

[seeyousoonthen]

She looked at the trampoline and then him and figured if she could handle surfing, she could do this.

"Well, stop bouncing a second so I can climb up," she laughed, taking hold of the edge and slinging her leg up.

Something low in her belly pulled and hurt, but it didn't stop her from her climb.

[hereand_now]

Wolf slows his jumps so that the material isn't shaking anymore and then holds his hands out to the girl so he can help her up if she needs it. "I'm Wolf!" he says, holding his big hands out toward her. "I never seen anything like this back home. Not anything. There were men that could fly, but nothing that makes you jump so big!"

It's almost like flying. Not like the men with wings, because there's no pain, but close as he'll ever get to flying, he thinks.

[seeyousoonthen]

"It's a trampoline," she said, her twang even more pronounced since she's on the verge of laughing. "I'm Savannah. Pleased to meet you."

And without warning she bent her knees and began to bounce, holding onto his hand in a death grip so she didn't go flying.

[hereand_now]

Wolf likes to jump high, but he knows better than to make people fly into the air too much, so he holds Savannah's hands, making sure neither of them go too far. "Trampoline," he repeats, having never heard the word before. "It's like having wings, almost. Like the men who could fly back home. I always wanted to fly like them, but I'm a Wolf, not a flier."

And that's okay, because he loves being a Wolf, but now he can be a Wolf who flies just a little.

[seeyousoonthen]

There was something about his eyes, his eagerness, his smile...his simplicity. It touched Savannah so. She'd not met anyone here like this and it only served to remind her of yet one more thing she'd lost from the world she'd come from.

"Where I'm from, people fly in machines," she said. "Have you ever seen an airplane?"

[hereand_now]

"Yeah, in Jack's world!" Wolf says excitedly. "They smelled real bad and they were too loud, I didn't like them so much." He likes the men with wings much more. They don't smell and they aren't loud, except for their laughter. They would laugh through the pain, because they loved to fly so much.

"Are you from the same world as Jack?" he asks. "California and New York and places like those?" If she is, maybe he'll stop talking about the bad smells. It isn't anyone's fault their world smelled so terrible.

[seeyousoonthen]

"Oh! Yes, that's where I'm from. I'm from North Carolina," she said happily, bending her knees to bounce just a little higher. "Sometimes the beach there didn't smell very good, and airplanes always smell bad. Where are you from? Somewhere else?"

She was finding it a little hard to talk, the bouncing making it a little hard to breathe.

[hereand_now]

"Yeah," Wolf says, a little breathless himself and when he hits the trampoline at a strange angle, his legs collapsing beneath him, he stretches out instead of getting up again. "Yeah, from the other side. We would flip there and flip back when we had to. Jack called it the Territories."

Wolf has only ever called it home, but he guesses that's a good name for it. The Daydream Place, the Territories, Queen Laura's World.

[seeyousoonthen]

"That sounds amazing," Savannah said. She sank to her knees and kept bouncing just a little. It reminded her of the ocean a little bit.

"And what did you do there?" she asked. Her mind wandered a bit, thinking of dozens of things a man of his size and sweetness might do.

[hereand_now]

"I'm a shepherd!" Wolf says proudly. "It's what all Wolfs do, except the bad ones, but those Wolfs're damned." And he doesn't like to talk about them, about the bad Wolfs that Morgan took West.

"We look after the Queen's cows. They sure are stupid, but I guess I love them."

[seeyousoonthen]

"I don't know much about cows," she admitted. "But I love horses. I take care of some of them here, and I have one back home."

She was trying to wrap her head around what he'd said about wolves. It seemed to be more than just a name. Savannah was constantly amazed by the different people she met on this island.

[hereand_now]

"You take care of the horses!" Wolf says, trying to think if he's seen here there at the barn before. "I like the horses, too. They're smart, you can see it when you look at them. They're real smart. Even the cows here are smarter than the cows back home."

He likes the animals on the island.

[seeyousoonthen]

"Very smart," she agreed. "You should come with me some time. None of them are mine but I just love them so much. And I got grooming supplies by...magic. I figure I should use it."

[hereand_now]

"Horses don't like Wolfs, I don't think," he says. "The ones at home didn't. They were..." He can't think of the word, but he can picture it, the horses prancing from side to side, snorting whenever he came too close.