Now that he could understand. As his hand rested above her heart, he smiled. It was nearly in synch with his own. Slowly he moved with her, his smile growing incrementally as the moments passed in silence. Light dawned in his eyes. "I got it!"

Her own smile was wide and happy as he moved with her, holding his hand over her heart as her feet started to move, tiny, baby steps back and forward. "Move your feet," she whispered, not wanting to break the rhythm by raising her voice. "Do what comes naturally."

His knees stiffened and locked as he lifted one foot, then another. He teetered back and forth, like Frankenstein. "Like that?" he whispered.

"Relax. Loosen up your legs." Her bare toes nudged against his as she bounced up and down a little to demonstrate. "See" Your knees want to bend, let them." Her fingers started to tap a waltz against his over her heart.

He bent his knees and bounced, flat footed. "One two three.." he counted as her fingers tapped. Now he looked like a jaunty sailor doing a jig.

She couldn't help it, she laughed softly, shaking her head as her feet and fingers stilled. "What does it take for you to relax, Tink?"

He stopped moving when she did and laughed with her. "I'm relaxed, I just can't dance." he shrugged and bobbed his head a bit. "Maybe if we got closer" That way my feet won't feel like they're all alone."

She blinked a little, glancing between them, and looked up innocently. "Okay ....uh ....how close do you mean' Like this?" She gently shifted his arm out from between them, dislodging his hand from her skin, and stepped closer, until their torsos were brushing.

"Yeah, just like that." He grinned. His arm snaked around her waist, holding her close. His hand took hers and held it up. "And one two three.." he laughed as he stepped lightly in the beginnings of a waltz.

"Hey ..." Frankie's lips curved in a suspiciously amused smile as he caught up her hand, moving with him easily. "I thought you said you couldn't dance."

"This isn't dancing." He smiled as they moved gracefully under the moonlight. "This is waltzing." he dipped her low, then brought her back up. "One two three, one two three."

She squeaked a little as he dipped her, clutching tighter to his shoulder with a soft laugh. Her feet followed his automatically as she stared up at him incredulously. "So all that bother ....that was just a trick?" she asked laughingly. "What on earth for?"

"What trick?" He was confused and brought the waltz to a halt. "I really cannot dance. But waltzing is easy. You count, you move your feet every time you count. Nothing to it." He shrugged and took a step back.

"But waltzing is dancing," she protested with a smile, stepping with him. "You just move to the music, to the beat you can feel and hear. Let your body do what it wants to do."

She gasped softly when his lips touched hers, colour flooding her cheeks as she stared up at him with wide eyes. Her lips fell open, her tongue sneaking out to wet them before she swallowed. "Jared?" she whispered softly, not pulling away.

"Yeah?" His voice soft and he blinked, a little confused himself. But he didn't make a move away from her either.

"What just happened?" Her hands flattened on his back, warming his skin through his shirt. Brown eyes fixed on his, softly questioning.

"I, uh." he blinked rapidly, trying to process what had just happened. "I kissed you?" He glanced away, just for a moment, then back. His grin was back in place. "Yes, I kissed you. That's what happened."

A faint frown touched her brow, moments before his infectious grin brought a smile to her lips. "Why?" she asked curiously, all but oblivious to any reason why he would want to kiss her in particular.

His nose twitched and he realized he still had that mask on his face. "My lips wanted to." he shrugged, then lifted his hand to start tugging on the mask. "I mean, it's like one second we're laughing and the next my mouth said move forward. Or maybe it was gravity. Or I don't know. But it felt right." He continued to tug, spirit gum stretching and not letting the mask go. "Ow."

"Ow," she murmured in a sympathetic echo, stepping back from him and taking his hand. "Come here ....go and stick your head in the lake, it'll help the glue come free." She gave him a shove towards the water, following along behind him. Her hand raised to her lips, touching lightly where his lips had touched, and a secretive smile appeared on her lips.

He got pushed and prodded towards the lake. Going to his knees, he plunged his face into the cold, dark water. He began shaking his head and blowing bubbles that popped on the surface around the cloud of hair that haloed his head.

Watching him, Frankie braved the splashing just long enough to clamp a hand on his collar and drag him up again, before squealing and hurrying out of range of the flying droplets.

When she dragged him up, he whipped his head back and the water arched over his head as his hair moved with it before slapping on his back. "That's cold!" He laughed and turned to look up at her. But he could not see a thing through the mask that had slid across his face and covered the eye closest to her. "Hey! I'm blind!"

"Not only that, you're deformed!" Frankie couldn't help it, edging forward to poke at his slipped mask. She wasn't entirely sure she trusted him not to get her wet on purpose.

"Oh no! I turned into the Phantom!" He laughed and put his fingers around the edge of the mask and pulled. "mmm nnnn..." and finally it came free, leaving gobs of spirit gum on his face. "Whew! I'm not blind." He grinned, blinking rapdily.

Giggling helplessly, Frankie dropped to her knees in front of him, the huge skirts of her dress billowing out around her. Her hand lifted to pick at the gobs of glue still stuck to his face, gently cleaning him as she laughed with him. "You're such a goof, Tink."

Grooming is a very time consuming process for a cat. It can take place over several hours of each day, and even longer when that cat is not a cat for most of the time. Living among humans had helped Frankie to cut that time down a little, though she still did most of her personal hygiene in lynx form. Right now, though, she was sitting on a boulder outside the cave mouth, watching the moon rise, and dragging an unforgiving comb through her unrepentant hair.

Jared was not too far away. Ever since that kiss in the dark, he spent as much time near Frankie as he could. Watching her comb out her hair, he canted his head, hands in pockets, one foot crossed lazily over the other, toe on the point as he leaned against the mouth of the cave. "Do you want me to do that for you?"

With the comb snagged in one particularly unforgiving snarl, Frankie turned her head, grimacing slightly at the ache from the tug of her hair. She blushed a little on seeing him; but then, she blushed a little everytime she saw him now, since their surprisingly frank exchange of kisses. "If you think you can do a better job of it than me," she shrugged, and winced. "I think I've got the comb stuck."

"I don't know about better." he smiled with a shrug. Pushing off of the wall, hw walked over, then sat down behind her. Scooting forward, his legs on either sides of hers, he moved her hands from the comb and gently untangled it from the rat's nest. "You've really got pretty hair." He mused as he took the ends in one hand and gently combed through them, loosening and getting rid of the snarls there.

"It ....it's just hair," she shrugged with a smile he couldn't see, hiding winces each time the teeth of the comb snagged or pulled. Never mind how nice it felt to be surrounded on three sides by him, it was actually pretty pleasant to have someone comb her hair for her. "Yours is pretty, too." Even as she said it, she cringed at herself. Smart, real smart ....who tells a boy he has pretty hair"

"It's your hair." He tried to be gentle, but it was a real mess back there. Every time she winced, he did too. "I'm sorry it hurts." He whispered sincerely. "And I've got a mop on top of my head. I'm really bald." He grinned, waiting to see if she'd turn around and try to inspect.

"A mop" Tink, don't be daft ....you don't, do you?" True to form, Frankie twisted around in the vee of his legs, a faint frown on her brow as she lifted one small hand to inspect his hairline. "You don't," she accused him with a shy laugh. "You're such a tease."

He squinched up his nose and laughed at being inspected. While she was distracted, he'd managed to untangle that snarl of hair that had stuck the comb earlier. "I'm not a tease. I'm a goof, remember" Tease, goof. Make up your mind." He tapped the end of her nose with the comb.

She stuck her tongue out at him, making a grab for the comb. "You're both," she corrected herself playfully. "And you're cute and funny and daft and all sorts of fun to be around." Each compliment that followed on was accompanied by a poke of her finger to his shoulder.

"Ow, ow, ow." Jared laughed at her poking. "I don't know who you're talking about, Frankie. I think you've got addle brained or something." He glanced over his shoulders to see J'rial not so far off, keeping sentinal over them. "Unless you think Scales is all of those things?"

She followed his gaze, her head tilting in feline fashion as she took her time comtemplating the Saurian thoughtfully, determined to tease the Tinker just as much as he teased her. "Hmm ....maybe it is him I was talking about," she mused playfully.

He lifted his head in time to see her tumble out of sight. "Wisp?" He was up quickly and ran to the edge of that slope. "Are you alright?" He lost his footing, arms pinwheeling as he slid onto his bottom, all the way down the hill.

She was just getting to her feet when Jared came sliding down towards her, too startled to get out of the way in time. He knocked her feet out from under her, her slight frame landing on top of his as she 'eep'ed in startlement before bursting out laughing. "Tink, are you alright?"

They lay there, a jumble of limbs. He laughed, struggling to sit up. "I've been Wisped!"

"So now you're my slave, you have to do everything I tell you to do, right?" She giggled, pushing herself up to look down at him as she made a spirited attempt at capturing and pinning his hands.

"I don't do that anyway?" He laughed and got to his feet, dusting off his behind. "I mean, you snap your fingers and I jump, don't I?"

Frankie rolled off him and thumped down onto her backside, undoing all his good work with the comb as her hair picked up every loose bit of bracken it came into contact with. She leaned up onto her elbows, watching him with a grin. "Really?" Up came her hand, and click went her fingers.

Oh, he saw that coming a mile away. When she snapped her fingers, he jumped alright. Jumped so that both his feet were on either side of her waist and then plopped down to sit on her rump.

Frankie let out a squeal of laughter as she was squashed face down in the bracken, flicking her foot up to thump lightly against his backside as she twisted to look up at him. "Get off me, you goof, you'll squash me!"

He put his arms in the position of the Thinker. Sitting stoically, he stared down at her. "No."

She narrowed her eyes at him, not making any attempt to hide her laughter, and twisted around to lie on her back. Her hands lifted to push at him. "I'll tell on you," she threatened teasingly.

"Tell who?" But as she was now on her back, he stood up and stepped over her. Then he plopped down beside her, stretched out, long and lean. His palm cupped his head behind his ear, elbow to the ground. "Tell who, Wispy Wisp?" He poked at her belly.

She squeaked and squirmed, grabbing at his hand as she wriggled under that poking. "I'll, I'll, I'll tell Miha, and she'll ..." she trailed off, her wriggling bringing her right up against him as she grabbed his hand with both of hers.

"She'll what?" He laughed as his hand was grabbed. He was grinning madly and waiting to see what she'd do as such an opportune moment.

She stared up at him from the amazing distance of less than three inches, her mouth working silently as she tried to think of some dreadful threat she could use against her best friend. She knew he wouldn't take her seriously, no matter what she said."Oooh, you -!" Completely out of inspiration, she released his hand and made to roll away.

With the way her mouth moved, he thought he might get one of those kisses again. Just a little disappointed when she rolled away. Laughing at her frustration, he sat up and hugged his knees to his chest. "She could sic Scales on me!"

He laughed and let his hands rest on her hips when she straddled his thighs. "Like I said, you're so weird." He grinned with a chuckle. "And yeah, we mark our territory. Want me to wee on you?"

"Eww!" Her nose scrunched in almost exactly the same way as his had done. "That's gross!" His nose seemed to be her victim of choice today, for it got another tweak for that suggestion. "You saying I'm part of your territory?"

He grinned, at least until his nose got tweaked. "The nose! What'd it do to you?" He put his hands over it protectively. "I...um...are you?"

Her smile faded as she looked down at him, her expression soft and a little uncertain. "I don't know," she murmured softly. "Do ....do you want me to be?"

He looked up, just as confused as she was. "Um, if you want to be. Then yes." He nodded with a grin finally.

Chewing on her lip, Frankie seemed lost in thought for a long while, before finally offering him a shy smile and nodding slowly. Then she made a slightly worried face. "You're not really going to wee on me, are you?"

He laughed out loud and flung his arms around her to hug her tightly. "Not unless you want me to, Wisp."

Caught up in his hug, she fell forward to purr and nuzzle at his cheek for a moment. "You'd better not, or I'll do something worse to you," she threatened cheerfully.

He purred and nuzzled, happy to be hugging. "Oh no, what could possibly worse than weeing on me?"

Frankie snickered, leaning up on her hands as her hair dropped over her shoulder to tickle at his cheek. "You really can't think of anything worse?" she smiled sweetly down at him.

"Oh no you don't!" He quickly wriggled from under her. Jumping up, he ran up that steep incline. "You're not going to tickle me!"

"Hey!" Knocked onto her backside by his wriggle, Frankie scrambled to her feet, laughing at the huge headstart he'd given himself. "Come back here, you coward!" With her face set in a wide smile, she scrambled after him, using hands and feet to get herself up to the top of that incline.

"Look, got the yellow belly to prove it!" Jared grinned and lifted his shirt before darting towards the caverns.

"Why, you - you goof!" Not a great insult, to be sure, but she was more concerned with making up the ground on him. She almost managed it, too, flinging herself towards him and catching at his ankle with her outstretched fingers.

His ankle was caught and he lurched forward. The trademark arm pinwheel and widened eyes as he fell onto his stomach with an "oof?, the wind knocked out of his sails.

Cackling in triumph, the little Wisp crawled forward hurriedly, right on top of him, to pin him to the ground. She bounced on top of the captured Tinker, giggling. "Dude, you are so out of your depth!"

"Oof! Oof!" Each time she landed, his arms and legs flailed upwards. "Am, oof! Not oof!" Quickly, he rolled to his stomach and sat up, catching her in a hug meant to keep her still.

Now this was an unusual position to find herself in. Sat straddling his kneeling legs, with her arms around his neck and his around her waist, Frankie blushed through her giggles, somewhat startled to discover herself quite this close to him. "Are too," she murmured sweetly.

"Who has who here?" Jared laughed and looked down into her face. He was asking himself that question.

Jared woke up with a grumble to his belly. He was hungry. Hungry for fish. Slipping out of the caverns, he quickly dove into the lake. He was one cat that tolerated the water, only because of the plentiful bounty of food stored within those aqua depths. Before too long, he had three or four catfish tossed up onto the bank. Crawling out of the pond, he sat beside it to dry off in the early morning sunrise.

Frankie stirred on hearing the splash, feeling the cool where there should have been a warm body curled up next to her. She stretched, yawned, and rolled over, looking around the cavern curiously. "Jared?" she whispered, thinking maybe he'd just moved away from her in the night. Then she heard the sounds of swimming, and clambered to her feet, creeping out of the den to wander down to the shore, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "What are you doing, Tink?"

Upon hearing his name, he glanced over his shoulder with a smile. "Good morning, Wisp. Just getting some breakfast." He gestured to the pile of fish. "Ever eaten catfish before?"

One hand snuck under her wealth of blonde hair to scratch at her scalp as she sat down near him. Not too near - he was all wet, after all. "Catfish' I don't think so," she mused with a yawn. "You're soaked."

"Yeah, had to catch them somehow." He chuckled and just sat there, letting the water drip from his hair and off of his back. "Go ahead, sink your teeth in. The skin's tough but the fish is so good!"

Frankie gave him a slightly uncertain look, but did as she was told. However, being a picky sort, she wincingly grew the claws on one hand to skin and debone the fish she chose first, before venturing to take a mouthful. Fresh water fish wasn't something she'd encountered before. "It's not salty," she exclaimed, slightly confused by that fact.

He watched her eat with a certain proud smile on his face. He'd provided for her. That, in of itself, was a major boost to his confidence. "It doesn't live in salty water, so it's going to have a more delicate flavor than say salmon." He nodded. "Do you like it?"

"S'diff'ren'," she mumbled through the last mouthful, wiping her lips on her wrist. She smiled at him. "But I do like it. Do you always jump in water to catch your breakfast?"

"Not always." He continued to grin and watch her. "Sometimes I hunt small game like rabbits and raccoons." He gave a proud nod. "What do you hunt?"

She stretched her arms up with a groan, easing out the aches of the night. "I've never hunted alone," she admitted. "Well, not decent food. I lived on rats and voles when I was ....coming here." Frankie shrugged lightly. "They're not very nice to eat."

"Yeah." He nodded and looked out over the sun rising over the lake. "I've had times like that, too. Dock rats are the worst." He made a disgusted face. "Blech."

She made a face with him; she could only imagine how disgusting city rats must taste. "Aren't you cold?" was her next question. She herself was shivering a little in the cool dawn air, and she wasn't dripping wet.

"A little" He admitted, trying to stifle a shiver and failing miserably. "Want to go inside?" He was about to put his arm around her, then thought better of it. He was all wet still.

"No, I like it out here." She looked him over for a minute, and an idea occurred to her. "Stay there." Clambering to her feet, Frankie then ran up to the den once again, and emerged a few moments later with a soft blanket, and one of the pelts. The blanket she threw at him. "Dry off and you can get under this with me," she told him with a grin, shaking out the pelt.

She smiled up at him, enormously delighted with his assurances for some unknown reason, and leaned close, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his laughing mouth. "For some reason, I'm glad," she nodded. "I don't know why, but I am."

"Me too." He turned to press a kiss to her lips fully, then pulled away. "Going to be a good day, Wisp."

"Promise?" Frankie made a ridiculous face at him, one hand reaching up to brave the water in his hair to brush dark locks off his cheek. Her head tilted thoughtfully. "Why d'you spend so much time with me?" she asked then. "There's gotta be better things for you to do than babysit me."

"I'll do my best." His smile warm and friendly as they sat there, huddled under that heavy pelt. "Why do I spend so much time with you?" He gave her a quizzical look. "Isn't that what friends do' Hang out with each other?" His head cocked in a definite feline fashion.

"Well ....yeah, but ..." She paused, wriggling under the pelt to face him more easily, laying her bare feet on his thigh. Her head tilted in an echo of his feline curiosity. "Why me" There's so many others you could spend your time with and not have to persuade them or trick them into going further than this from the den."

"You're my best friend, Wisp." It was spoken simply, for it was a simple concept. "And you weren't happy just staying in the den, afraid all of the time. Now we laugh and play and wrestle. And it's fun." He grinned then, a toothy grin. "Plus, I like to see you smile."

She studied his face thoughtfully, leaning her head back enough to get a decent view of him even as that smile he wanted appeared on her lips, the expression making her brown eyes warm. "No one put you up to it, or anything like that?" she asked, glancing to the den. "I wouldn't think any less of you if they did. I know I'm not normal, for a lynx."

"Well, Miha asked me to keep you company, that you needed a friend. But I'd have done it anyway." He nodded quickly. "You were scared of your own shadow when I met you. And your confidence grows every day."

"I'm still scared of my own shadow, Tink," she laughed, insinuating her arms around his waist under the pelt and hugging him. "But I know you'll kill it if it hurts me, so I play along."

His arms were around her and he gently pat her hair down her back. "Oh Wisp. I promise, nothing's going to harm you, not while I'm around."

She snuggled into his arms, squeezing him affectionately. A drop of water fell from his hair onto her nose, and she shuddered. "Apart from you dripping on me, this is almost perfect," she murmured with a smile, wiping the moisture away.

"It is perfect." he smiled and tightened his arms around her. "We've got each other, a home, and protection from the pack. But mostly, we have each other." He felt his head begin to move towards her, dipping and slightly wavering. His lips definitely wanted to meet hers.

She felt him move, just that infinitesimal amount that seemed to poke at her instincts. Her own head raised to look up at his, closing the distance between their lips as she blushed in anticipation of a sweet kiss like those they had already shared.

She drew back just enough to stare into his wide eyes, her own expression seemingly glowing with delight. Her fingers stroked absently against his cheek. "Wow's a good word," she agreed with a soft little laugh. "Does it feel the same if you do it?"

"It feels better. Look." He glanced down, then back up at her with a wide grin. "You woke it up again."

Her head tilted, a little confused. "You've done this before?" was almost asked in completion before she glanced down, and her hands retreated from his jaw in startlement. "Jared, it's moving!"

"Nope, you're the first of everything." He nodded with a certain smile. "And like I said, it has a mind of it's own." He sat back up and glanced around. "Want to know a secret?"

She, too, glanced around, although it was hardly necessary. Between them they had noses sharp enough to pick up any scent before the owner approached within hearing range. "Only if you want to tell me."

He glanced left and right again. Tongue wetting his lower lip before tugging said lip between his teeth. "It feels good, to touch it."

"Really?" For some reason, Frankie's mind strayed to where it felt good to touch her, and she blushed brilliantly for a moment at the stray thought of what it might be like to have him do the touching. "Do you? Touch it, I mean?"

"Sometimes." He admitted, shyly. Glancing away, his face crimson. "But not when people are around. That would be strange."

She blinked with a slight frown. "And sitting on a shore in the middle of the morning showing your best friend your jumpy bits isn't strange?" she asked with amusement.

"Oh." he suddenly cupped his hands over his jumpy thing and turned away from her. "I'm sorry." Scooting along the edge of the lake, he found his clothes and quickly donned his jeans.

Frankie slid onto her bottom, digging her toes into the sandy grass as she watched him with a smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," she apologised. One hand had lifted, touching her fingertips to her lips as she privately relived her newest kisses.

"It's ok. I just thought, well, it doesn't matter." He smiled with a shake of his head. Kneeling beside her, he put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry for being strange."

"No, what did you think?" She shifted onto her knees again, bringing herself a little closer to eye level with his as her hands settled on his arms gently. "You're no stranger than me, Tink."

"You make me feel good, Wisp." he offered shyly. "But I didn't expect my thingie to wake up. Not so quick, like that. But once it did, I didn't think that you'd think it was strange."

"But I've never seen one do that before," she hurried to explain, "or felt it, or ..." She stopped herself there; no need to freak him out with her wandering thoughts. Her hands slid against his bare arms as her head tilted with a smile. "You make me feel good, too," she told him softly. "Would you ....would you like to do it again? The kiss, not the freaking out and getting awkward part."

"I...I don't know." Her words were like a bucket of cold water and he placed one more kiss before gently lifting her and rolling out from under her. Truly, he did not know if she would be hurt if they kept going down that road. "Maybe we should talk to the Eros and Eranthe."

She lay on her front, propped up on her elbows as she looked over at him, concerned and a little worried. "Is that where our friendship is going?" she asked softly, rolling on her side to face him. "Do you want to mate me, Tink?"

He nodded, quickly. "I'd like that. A lot." hugging his knees to his chest, he looked down at her with a smile. "You're my best friend, Wisp. And we're not so young that it's not feasible." He canted his head then. "Don't you want to be mated to me?"

"Oh, no, it's not that I don't want to," she rushed to reassure him, pushing herself to sit upright and rest her chin on his knees. "I do want to be your mate. I just ..." She sighed softly, shrugging a little. "In my old pack, we didn't have an Eros and Eranthe. They just got on with it. I don't know how I feel about letting someone who isn't you show me how to be."

"Oh." his eyes lit up then. "I don't know how to be, though. And I don't want you to get hurt because I'm stupid and clumsy." He lowered his head so that just his eyes peeked out over his knees.

"But it can't be all that different from humans, when we're in this form," she mused thoughtfully, gently brushing his hair from his eyes so she could smile shyly to him. "And they manage just fine. Maybe it's different for wolves than cats." She shrugged. "Alastor and Inkeri frighten me, anyway."

He smiled when his hair was moved, and lifted his chin to kiss her hand. "They do?" To be honest, he hadn't paid much more mind to anybody else in the pack besides Wisp, Miha and the Alphas.

She nodded awkwardly, tweaking his nose gently with the pad of her thumb. "I haven't really spoken to them," she admitted softly. "At all, if I'm honest. They seem so ....distant, and isolated. I don't understand how you can teach about mating if you don't have a loving nature." Frankie leaned back, shaking her head with a little snort of laughter. "I'm just being silly."

"No, you're making sense. But I think that they just teach the physical part of mating. You know, the s.e.x. part." He nodded, hoping that he was right. "They can't love everybody they're teaching, can they?"

"I don't know," she protested, leaning back enough to curl her own knees to her chest with a sigh. "And the Dark is a wolf. How do I know that ..." she glanced around and lowered her voice to a whisper, "....s.e.x ..." her voice rose once again "....with a wolf won't hurt me?"

"He is too big." He nodded and scoot closer so he could huddle with her. "Maybe we should just, you know, do this on our own. I don't think the Mother Coyote or Lord Ulfric will mind. Do you?" He gave her an anxious look.

"W-we could ask them?" she suggested doubtfully, turning just a little beneath his arm to look at him. Her hand absently landed on his knee affectionately. "I mean, well, I would have asked them anyway, but ....if we want to try this on our own, then ....it's probably even more important that we ask them. Yes?"

"Yeah, maybe we should." He nodded, agreeing with her. "I heard Lord Ulfric once say that he gets the final word on who mates with who." With a shrug, he glanced away for a moment. "What if they tell us no?"

"Why would they' We're a matched set, they can't make me mate with anyone else, I won't do it, I won't, I'll run away first!" Just the thought of being denied what made her smile and perhaps forced to do what could frighten her back into her shell made Frankie's voice rise in panic.

Lying at his side, her arm laid out above his head, letting her fingertips play with his drying hair. "I never had a best friend before," she murmured, smiling warmly down at him. "I had friends, human friends, and my family pack, but ....I never felt so comfortable with anyone as I do with you, Tink. Even when your thingy jumps at me." Her smile turned teasing.

"Well he likes you, too." He grinned, with a roll of his eyes and a playful shrug of his shoulders. "But really, I've never had anybody before, Wisp. Always on my own. It's amazing how you got under my skin."

Her hand rested against his chest, one finger rubbing gently against his skin as she looked down thoughtfully. "Maybe you just never looked for a friend before," she said softly. "There must be some reason you came to the Glen that night, especially if you were spending most of your time in the city before then."

"I was chasing somebody." he smiled and nodded. "But you're right. Something bigger than both of us brought me here. Like some force said that we needed to meet or something."

She nodded for a moment, before that teasing grin alighted on her face once again. "You mean Scales came looking for you?" she gasped in feigned shock. "And you only said Miha wanted us to be friends, you never said we were set up!"

"If Scales came looking for me for the right reason, I'd be running as fast as I could the other way." He laughed and poked at the end of her nose. "Lady Geri said she wanted me to watch over you. She didn't play match maker."

"You tried to," she reminded him, pulling a face as he poked at her nose. "You tried to make me think about the Little Fox like he could be my mate. Remember?"

He laughed, thinking about Luke. "Yeah, I remember. You seemed so close to him that I thought you'd want him." he shrugged his shoulders and lifted his head to kiss her again.

She avoided his lips and kissed the tip of his nose instead, laughing. "He reminds me of my brother," she told him. "He was the one who got stuck as a lynx, but he was always playful and sweet. Luke's like him, like my little brother."

He rolled with her, tumbling a few feet. "Well it's a good thing I came along then." he grinned happily. "Wouldn't want you to be mated to your brother. That'd be just....ew."

"My mama did it," she snickered up at him, landing on her back as they rolled together. "S'why she only had two morphics." Her arms lifted and wrapped around his neck, pulling him down to kiss. "But yeah ....that is kinda eww."

He nodded his agreement, but didn't voice the little concern within the back of his head. He'd deal with it later, if it came down to it. Pulled into the kiss, he slipped his knee in between hers.

Her lips moved against his, hungry and soft at once, her hands moving against his back with restless affection. A soft gasp left her as she felt the skirt of her dress ride up her thigh at the push of his knee between hers, but she was too enthralled in him to bother trying to reclaim her modesty.

Clumsily, he lay atop of her, both knees between hers now. The kisses continued, though he was laboring his breathing to do it. It felt perfect, so right. But frustratingly wrong.

She, too, was breathless, clumsy as heat and unfamiliar passion rose within her. Her legs had opened wide for him, though she did not know why. As she moaned softly, flicking her tongue against his tentatively, her hands caressed innocently down his sides and up along his back.

At this point, animal instincts took a hold of him. His hips started thrusting, and he dry humped whatever was in his way. His breathing even more ragged as he looked up and around, then back down at her. His brow was furrowed in confusion, eyes littered with frustration at missing the mark.

Another gasp left her as his hips thrust hard against hers, her eyes snapping open in shock. Her hands left his back to press against his chest, her body wriggling unsuccessfully to escape. "Jared ....stop," she whimpered softly, brown eyes looking up at him and seeing the beast in his eyes. The last time she had seen that had marked the end of her life as she knew it, and it frightened her. "Jared!" Her fists bunched, and she thumped at his chest, struggling in fright. "Stop it! Stop!"

Jared bounded across the glen, in Lynx form, his little paws barely turning a blade of grass as he zipped through. He made soft snortling and growling noises, just to assure Wisp that he was still there. The pack was having their full moon ceremonial run soon and he wanted to be in shape for it.

For herself, Frankie was simply loving the feel of the grass beneath her paws, and the rush of the breeze through her fur. She meowed at Jared, just loud enough to warn him, before bunching muscles, and pouncing her full self into his side.

He heard the meow and then was plowed into. He flew to the side with a loud meow of his own, limbs and torso tumbling in the tall grass. Quickly he righted himself, shaking his head. That grin that only Jared could make, showed itself before he took off like a shot after her.

If she'd been human, Frankie would have been laughing so hard she couldn't stand. Instead, the smaller lynx had accelerated, settling into a smooth ground-eating stride that was sure to stretch Jared's muscles in his attempt to keep up with her.

She was quick, he'd give her that. He tried everything he knew how to do, leaping, springing, and even pouncing, but she continued to slip away from him. So he did the next best thing. Quickly coming to a stop, he sat on his haunches. Lifting his paw, he waggled it in front of himself with a soft whimper.

She heard the whimper, turning back with a soft mew of concern for him. Her paws padded her back to him, head leaning forward to nudge her nose at the paw he offered. It didn't smell hurt, and neither did he seem to be in any sort of pain. Her head tilted curiously as she licked her nose.

He let her sniff her out, then that grin appeared once more before he leapt forward, paws outstretched, towards her with a playful growl.

She reared back, startled, standing up on her hind legs in surprise as her forepaws batted towards him in retaliation. Behind the yellow of her feline eyes, the human in her was giggling again, enjoying the play at the most basic of levels.

Up on his hind legs, he swatted at her paws with his own. He growled and mewed, then lowered to nudge his nose into her belly. His tail flicked about in his excitement and smacked her on the leg.

As his nose nudged at her belly, she deliberately fell forward on top of him, catching his tail between her forepaws and gnawing on it carefully with a loud rumbling purr. Her back paw pressed on his nose, claws sheathed, holding him still as she batted at him with her tail this time.

His head flicked from side to side as her tail tapped first one side of his head then the other. Knocking her paw off of his nose, he grabbed her tail between his paws and brought it down for a good, long grooming.

It felt strange, being groomed by another lynx after all this time, but she couldn't deny she liked it. In response, Frankie began to groom him, running her tail along his flank in search of a rough spot she'd noticed before.

He moved so that he could groom her flank as well. It was nice, being groomed, doing it for somebody else. He lay there, purring and gently licking her fur into the appropriate direction. Snarls got a bit of a chewing to loosen them up before his head bobbed, tufted ears pointed forwards.

She crawled around, making a beeline to groom the one place most felines could only just reach to groom themselves, the back of his head and neck. Her paws held him down into place for her as she licked and chewed the fur there into some semblence of order with a low purr.

As she groomed the back of his head and neck, he closed his eyes and lowered his chin to his paws. Loud, very loud and content purring from Jared. A sigh of relief mixed in there somewhere. He hoped she would never stop.

But, of course, Frankie couldn't keep it up forever, and she had her own playful side still very much in control. Which is how Jared would find himself with her bodily on top of him, chewing on his ear like a kitten.

As he groomed, he slowly changed. Little red bumps covered his legs, rear end and waist. "Fire ants. Didn't you see them?" He took the blanket and pat himself dry. "Ooo it burns."

"Fire ants" I'm glad I didn't pounce you, then," Frankie giggled softly, watching him dry himself and wince. "It can't be that bad, surely?"

He pushed his feet out from under the blanket. The small red dots were forming blisters. "It hurts, Frankie." He nodded solemnly.

Her brow creased in concern, her laughter forgotten. "Well, I don't know what to do," she protested softly. "There aren't many fire ants in the Arctic Circle where I come from."

"Not much to be done." He shook his head. "It's ok, Wisp. It'll be gone in a few days." He smiled up at her and held out his arms. "Hug me, that'll make me feel better."

She smiled a little, dropping down to sit beside him. "Anything for a hug, huh?" she teased softly, tucking herself under his arms and squeezing him gently.

He held her close and smiled. "Well there is something that can be done. But you're going to say eww." He kissed her cheek softly.

She lifted her head, blinking up at him curiously. "You can't just say there's something I can do and then not tell me," she complained lightly, poking his chest with one small finger.

"You can, umm.." he looked up into her eyes. "Wee on me." He put his finger to her lips before she could object. "There's something in pee that makes the sting go away."

"Uh, okay. Ew." She leaned back further from him, making a slightly disgusted face. "Are you serious?"

"Told ya you'd say ew." he frowned and nodded. "Yeah. Saw a guy get stung by a jelly fish. Another sailer peed on him and he was all better."

Frankie stared at him for a long moment, but she couldn't see anything really all that wrong with the proposition. "Alright, fine," she agreed finally. "But I'm Changing to do it, and you're going to get back in that lake to wash it off straight after, okay?"

Was she being real. "Oh no, you don't have to do that, Frankie. I'll be ok. It just stings right now. It'll be gone by morning." He waved his hands at her. "Really, it's ok."

"No, if you think it'll stop it from stinging now, I'll do it," she insisted, scooting away and loosening her dress. "Step away from the blanket." She concentrated and Changed slowly, whimpering softly with the pain of the transition, becoming for a moment a lynx in in a bright turquoise dress before the material dropped and released her.

"Frankie.." He pulled the blanket off and tossed it to the side. He sighed sadly when she whimpered. He didn't want to cause her pain to relieve his own. "Please, Frankie, don't..." But the deed was already done. He stretched out and the rash was from waist to toes.

Well, it was an uncomfortable process, especially for a female, to spray all over her best friend's waist, legs, and rear end, but he said it would help. Frankie's tail twitched as she finished, and she backed away from him, her feline nose crinkling at the smell of her urine mixing with his sweat and the blisters covering his skin.

He lay there and covered his eyes. As hard as it was for her, he couldn't bear to look at what was being done. It was humiliating, through and through. And what made matters worse was that she put herself through pain to take care of him. He was supposed to be taking care of her! Soon as the job was done, he raced towards the water and dove in.

She padded up and down the shore line anxiously, watching him splash about. Her voice lifted in an enquiring mew of concern, wondering if she would have to do that again.

"Why shouldn't we be?" she asked, her hands sliding from him as her face took on an expression of faint hurt. "I've told you everything about me, you've told me everything about you. I hope. We don't have anything to get in the way of being friends, do we?"

He hugged her tightly, sad that he'd brought even a tiny bit of hurt to her face. "You're right, Frankie. I just hope that what happened to Miha and Tyler, whatever badness got into Tyler never gets into me. He wasn't bad all of the time, but when he was, it was scary."

"He was a bit wild," she murmured softly. "You're not anything like him, Jared, and I'm not anything like Miha. We're different, so we can't expect the same thing to happen. Can we?"

"You're right." He already felt so much better. "We talk about everything and I trust you more than I have ever trusted anybody, ever. "

She nodded with a smile, lowering her hand to clutch a length of the blanket over her chest and legs. "Best friends, see?"

"Exactly." He smiled and nodded. His arms around her tightly and the blanket pulled around the both of them. "You make me feel all tingly inside, Frankie." He laughed, a little embarassed.

Pulled that little bit closer by the firmness of his hug, Frankie found herself nose to nose with him and slightly short of breath as a tingle of her own decided to take a trip down her spine. "Y-you do the same to me," she whispered with a smile.

"I think it's because we marked each other. That means we're mates." he smiled as he continued to hold her. "But we're going to have to teach each other what to do. Because I don't want to be touched by anybody else."

"Neither do I," she agreed with a small nod. "But I don't want to disappoint you and be awful at it, and Little Mother hasn't given her consent to us yet." She sighed softly, sagging a little. "It all seems so complicated."

"Does Mother Coyote need to give permission?" He reached up to scratch his head and then returned to hugging her. "I want everything to be just right." He nodded. "So we should ask, just in case."

"I don't know if she needs to give her permission," Frankie admitted, frowning thoughtfully as she wrapped her arms around him once again. "I don't really know how this pack works. It's nothing like the pack I knew."

"Well, just in case. I like it here, I really do. I met you here." He grinned happily, eyes lighting up. "So let's not take any chances, ok" We'll ask and see what Mother Coyote has to say about all of it."

She nodded slowly in agreement. "Does that mean we shouldn't be sitting together like this, just in case she says no?" she asked suddenly, her face stricken by that thought.

"I don't think they'd mind if we sat together. I mean, we're not doing anything." He laughed softly, his dark eyes twinkling. "Not that I don't want to."

"What if we started doing something and we couldn't stop?" Frankie asked softly, her own eyes warm. "Would we get in real bad trouble for it?"

"I don't know." he shook his head, uncertain. "I don't think anybody would mind, really. Maybe it's just a formality." he gave her a confused look. "It shouldn't be this hard."

Her eyes widened worriedly, inadvertantly flickering down between them to the blanket covering them. "Should I move, would that make it easier?"

"I mean, it shouldn't be this difficult. They all know I love you, Wisp. They know you love me. And nobody's said anything against it so far. I think they expect it."

"So why does it feel like we're doing something that's bad?" she asked softly, stroking her thumb along his jaw. "Not that it doesn't make it even more exciting, or anything ..."

She smiled faintly, lifting her lips to meet his tenderly. Her hand slid up and about his shoulder as she purred softly against his lips.

His chest swelled as he took a deep breath into his nose. The kiss lasted, lingered, neither of them wanting to move for fear of breaking that spell that had them bound together.

It was another kiss she could have wished to last forever, warm and safe and loved in his arms as her lips moved softly against his. How odd that she'd never felt like this about anyone, and then almost the moment she arrived here, she fell in love. With another lynx, of all things.

Ever so slowly, he lowered her to the ground and simply lay beside her. Still connected at the lips. He was amazed at the amount of love he could feel for one person. Wisp had turned his life upside down.

Laid gently on her back, Frankie's purrs grew louder as she curled her arms about him, tilting her head to tenderly deepen the kiss they shared, without a care for the further knotting of her hair as she did so. After all, he could always comb it for her.

His body had a mind of it's own at this point. Sliding on top of her, he continued to hold her in his arms, kissing her. The kisses grew more urgent as his feline instincts were kicking in, once again.

This time she felt it, that slow switch from man to beast as he kissed her. Her hands slid between them, pressing gently against his chest as she broke the kiss softly. "Shhh, Tink, not so fast," she whispered, gazing up at him. "Please?"

The kiss broken, he stared down at her and sighed heavily. She was right. He moved off of her and lay on his back. His hand searched for and found hers. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." She rolled to face him, brushing a soft kiss against his lips. Her fingers laced with his as she looked into his eyes lovingly. "Just be gentle."

He smiled when he looked at her. "I don't know how else to be with you, Wisp." he sighed softly, not knowing if she was giving permission right now, or in the future. He played it safe and bargained for the latter.

She smiled softly, leaning in to kiss him again, slow, gentle, forgiving. "It's not about having me," she murmured tenderly. "You've got me, Jared, I'm not going anywhere. But you let the beast out so easily, and it frightens me." She glanced down at their entwined fingers. "I don't want to hurt you for looking at me like that, not the way I did ....not like my brother."

"I don't mean to frighten you, Wisp." Soft kisses returned as he held her cheek in his palm, thumb gently smoothing the skin under her eyes. "I just don't know how to stop that from happening sometimes. It just...takes over."

"But you stopped it this time," she reminded him quietly. "I don't mean you should always stop it, but ....just this once ....can you try' I'm nervous enough without thinking I could kill you for being in the moment."

He slid his hand down to hold her hand against his chest. "I was able to stop because you asked me to stop it. If you can help me, I know I can do it for you, Wisp."

She nodded shyly, a small smile on her lips. "I know you can," she murmured, full of confidence in him. Her head turned, glancing around the Glen. "But not here ....what if someone from the pack comes out here while we're ....you know ..."

He lifted his head when she turned hers and he glanced around. "Where, then?" He watched her with wide, dark eyes. Hard to tell where pupil started and iris ended. "Neither of us really has a place or money."

"What about that little glade?" she asked suddenly. "Where we marked each other, you remember. We could go there."

"Yeah, the glade!" He grinned and sat up quickly. "Come on!" He reached for her hand, eager to get them over there. Thing is, when a guy's as excited as he is, that quick of a movement can case some discomfort. He hid it well though, behind that pained smile.

His arms tightened around her, pulling her close and closing the gap between them. "I love you, so much." he whispered as he lay her down, once again. "You tell me no, if it's scary or hurts." He sighed softly and pressed his mouth to hers in a hungry kiss. His body shook with the amount of effort it took to keep that lynx at bay.

"I will," she promised breathlessly, before surrendering control of anything but herself to him in the first touch of that hungry, demanding kiss that she was all too willing to echo. Her back arched, bring her up against him as her hands smoothed over his skin fondly.

He let his body do what came naturally. What felt good, he did. What looked like it'd feel good, he tried. He knew his body well enough to know just how to touch.

She sighed pleasureably beneath him, as much an explorer as he. Where he used his lips, she used her hands, touching and caressing her way across his body, learning what made him respond and what did not. When he made her body thrill, she encouraged him with soft moans. Her lips sought his once again, still eager and hungry.

As he drew closer to that sweet objective, his heart raced and he could feel the lynx, clawing to be released. Fear swept over him like a cold sweat. He couldn't stop now, and gave her an apologetic look as the Beast tore through, fur replacing skin, as his body rocked from the intense orgasm that triggered the loss of virginity, loss of boyhood and was the final step into manhood. A loud, feral cry of joy, pleasure and pain echoed through the small glade. And when he was done, he stood over her, ashamed.

There was no need for him to be ashamed. Frankie had never expected that her own beast could be so eager for release as his and yet, as he moved within her, every stroke building her body to greater heights of pleasure, she could suddenly feel it there, clamouring for release. She never saw his look of apology, caught up in her own transformation as the intensity of feeling gave way to the final step into womanhood for her, lifting her from the ground with a howl of delight. She fell back, just Frankie once again, and breathless as she looked up at him.

His transformation back to human was much slower and less dramatic. A slow, shy smile curved his lips. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop it." he whispered and curled up beside her. "I didn't mean to scare you or hurt you. Did I hurt you, Wisp?"

With her chest heaving and her eyes glowing with pleasure, you'd be forgiven for thinking Frankie was entirely used to this sort of enjoyment. She curled into Jared's side, kissing his cheek tenderly. "You hurt me as much as I hurt you," she murmured, running her fingertip over the scratches her claws had left on him, feeling the ache of his claws' mark on her hips. And you didn't scare me," she added softly. "Not much."

In the heat of the moment, he hadn't even noticed that she'd clawed him, or vice versa. And now that it was over, and she still smiled at him and looked at him the same, Jared was relieved. Sighing softly, he held her close and gently kissed her mouth. "I love you, Wisp."

"Love you back," she whispered against his lips, curling her arms around him warmly. Should she feel different, now she was truly mated" She didn't know. But she was fairly certain if anyone else tried to do that to her, they'd be recieving a very clumsy emasculation by claw.

Suddenly, surprisingly to him, he yawned. His body felt drained and completely content. They had a blanket and he pulled it up and over them as he curled his body more around Frankie. Tonight was special and they'd share it alone. No sharing a pile of pelts with the evergrowing pack that they called family. Tonight, it was just Frankie and Jared. And he was quite happy with that.

((Adapted from Live Play with Jared and Frankie Torres.))