Don't have to wear a smile much colder than ice

What was with the weather? Mal had traveled northwest into the valleys between the mountains in hopes of finding out if things changed farther off. Didn't seem like it. He felt safe at the bluffs, but at the same time he was worried that something would happen he wasn't expecting. He'd seen enough to know that they were unlikely to have problems with wet weather, and had places to hide from wind, but was there anything he was missing? He wasn't sure. Hm.

He'd followed another one of the branches off the creek that made part of the border, following along its shores as trees and mountains alike started to grow up on either side of him. The water itself was allowing him to check the sky, albeit in patches where larger trees tried to reach from bank to bank. He was moving at a pretty good clip, wanting to figure this out and head home again without being gone too long. In the back of his mind he also hoped that one of these days he'd find where his sister went... He'd been so close and yet so far, and now he felt like she was one of those that was just going to be forever lost to time. It was unfortunate. Unfortunate, but that wasn't the focus of this trip to begin with.
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The woman moved as she sniffed the air, taking in the scents of the area. This wasn't the first time she was in the mountains, but she had been moving between the mountains and plains lately. For the most part though, she tended to favor the mountains. They were rather peaceful and quiet. At least the places where she had been so far. This place was filled with wildlife but also quite calm at the same time. It was something she enjoyed. 

Moving through, she spotted the male, cocking her head to the side as she approached him, watching him move through the area quickly. "Are you alright, handsome?" She raised an eyebrow at him, calling out to the man who seemed to be in a rush somewhere. "You seem like you're in a rush, why don't you relax a little?" She would move closer to him, trying to get within a few feet from him, wondering if he would stop for a moment in his travels to speak with her.

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Sorry, he's being a bit of a derp. XD

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He wasn't expecting to run into anyone, or at least to run into anyone super friendly. Usually conversations took a bit of teasing the personality out of whoever it was he ran into. Needless to say, Mal was caught a little off guard, though he did stutter-step to a stop, blinking owlishly at the woman -- who happened to be taller than him, so the brief flash of some past person he'd known was quickly erased because though they might have had some vaguely similar appearances they were very different in size.

With the shoe on the other foot than normal, it was taking a second for his brain to reengage. Blink. “Uh -- I'm sorry. Lot on my mind. Did you need help with something?” Which didn't entirely make sense given what she said, but again, she'd managed to cross a few wires just by doing something other than saying hello or something equally bland. He tried to shake off the mental weirdness and give her a bit of a smile in return, attempting to get back on track.
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The woman watched him with amusement, seeing how he skidded to a halt. Though she had originally called him handsome because of his appearance alone, she was now seeing that even his personality was rather cute. She had to suppress her desire to giggle as he stumbled over his words. Moving closer, she had a mysterious glint in her eye, wanting to see just how fluster she could get him. 

"You alright hun? Is that smart brain of yours working at its full potential?" She didn't bother to answer his question and instead moved forward, sitting down in front of him. Leaning forward, she would attempt to nip lightly as his cheek, not trying to hurt him but simply trying to mess with him a little. "You seem a little flustered." She was certainly having fun with his and depending on how he reacted with her light nibble, she might go even further.

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Thing was, though, he wasn't really so easy to pushed around. Even if he couldn't remember everything, especially not with clarity, between having been a father and an alpha, he was pretty good at saying no. He pulled his head back, up, lips parting slightly to show just enough teeth to politely but firmly say to back up without growling yet. A subtle but meaningful shift, squaring his shoulders, but it wasn't like Mal was some aggressive dude or something. He was still a nice guy, but making sure to state his limits, “No -- lady, no.” He otherwise hadn't stepped back or anything, if only because status said he should hold his ground and she should be the one to back up if anything. 

Fun was fun, but in his own terms, and these were certainly hers, not his. Gotta shift that balance of power a little, and despite his own likes, . as he returned to his own sense of self a little more. It was Mal after all. It was just exceptionally unusual for someone to be flirting with him, especially without him starting off. Made things a little weird. Wasn't like she was in heat or anything either unless his nose was really screwed up right now, so it's not like that was an excuse. “You like risking your nose like that?” Humor but also restrained. He probably would have been more jovial about that, but not while she was all up in his business.
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She saw his demeanor change and found herself chuckling softly to herself. He was rather sweet about it still, though she had a feeling she was annoying him. It was just something she enjoy to keep her entertained every now and than. Still, she knew when to stop and wasn't made or embarrassed in the slightest. She would move to stand up, stretching as she did so though moving away from him. After walking a couple of feet away, she would lay herself down under a tree, her bright brown eyes watching her. "You honestly can't blame me, your stutter earlier was rather cute." She was toning down her flirting into just being sweet, but she did still find him relatively attractive. 

"My nose is the least of my worries hun, but messing with you was kind of fun." She would begin to lick her paws, not looking at him as she did so. Her ears were pushed forward though as she listened out for any movements. For the most part, she assumed he would get scarred off and leave, running to where he was headed before the encounter. So, for now at least, she paid him little mind, not having much hope he would stick around for any more of her fun.

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She was a bit of an odd duck, but at least she backed off, which was good, Mal wasn't exactly the best with things that approached being a conflict. As she backed up, he also relaxed a little, not needing to be quite so staunchly formal. Which was also good, he wasn't good at that either. The world was better when he could be casual. At her reply, he did scoff a little, but his answer was more amused, getting back in stride with himself, “You've kind of been a bit out of the ordinary, wasn't expecting that. Now whether that says more about you or the other wolves around here, I'll leave that up to you to decide.” Bit more of a smirk there.

Moving on... Though she'd moved away, he hadn't moved from his spot more than leaning forward a little bit, for now at least.“For real though, is there something you needed help or...?” He trailed off with a bit of a head tilt. Why did she pester him in the first place, out of all wolves? It wasn't like the mountains were super uninhabited or something. Surely she'd had other people wander by, so what made him special? Maybe Mal had just been through enough stuff that he expected everyone to have very clear, blatant motives and she just wasn't being that way so it made her harder to figure out. He was probably too much of a sucker in that he wanted to help people. Probably a bad habit he should get out of one of these days, it'd get him into trouble.
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She had had her fun, now it was time to act like a normal wolf. From her spot, she would lick her fur, smoothing it down as it was clear she cared heavily about her looks. It was something that seemed to run through her family after all. His words made her chuckle as she shrugged slightly, a small smile on her lips. "I'd like to believe that says something about me. I don't particularly like being like everyone else in case that isn't already obvious." She smiled as she cocked her head to the side.

"Oh no, I don't need anything. I just saw you and wanted to mess with you. I apologize for stopping your travels. You can keep going if you like." She didn't move to get up though, seemingly content where she was. It the man wanted to get back to wherever he was rushing to, than he could.

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He tilted his head the other way, brows raised at her reply, a thoughtful 'hmm' but not much more than that because it was interesting to hear her thoughts on it but he didn't need to continue babbling about it. On the other hand, that plus her next words left things kind of awkward. She hadn't left a good place for him to pick up the conversation. It almost seemed like yeah, she really did expect him to leave. Ok, he did feel like he needed to find answers to his questions but detours were kind of expected.

So he was a little stumped, “Well, uh, okay. Just be careful out there with how the weather's been. At some point that's gonna break. If you need a place to stay, I've got the bluffs to the southeast of here. Just call for Mal.” Because that was about all he could offer. She seemed to be perfectly fine by herself out here but Mal had to offer just in case. Better safe than sorry, and other than her being kind of weird, she seemed nice enough. Then again, maybe he'd be wrong.
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She watched him with amusement, her tail flicking gently behind her. It seemed she had confused him which was something she rather enjoyed. However, she was done torturing him for now, so she figured she would let him get back home. "Well, it was nice to meet you Mal, the name is Serenity. I might come by and see you one of these day." She wasn't sure if she really would, but she liked to keep her options open to say the least. 

Standing up, she would stretch her body out, shaking her fur for a moment before yawning. "Perhaps we should both be getting home. See you around?" She chuckled as she gave him a wink before turning to leave, her tail swaying as she walked. 

-exits if not stopped

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“One of these days,” he echoed, bemused. Yeah. That pretty much seemed to be the speed everything operated at as far as he could tell. It felt like nothing was ever immediate and important, but he was kind of ok with that. It was just more of an issue when something went wrong and they needed to backtrack to find it later... That's where he was with a couple of things.

Still, her suggestion wasn't bad. “Just about, I think. I'll see you when I see you.” Timelines were vague, after all. He dipped his head politely and started back on his track. He didn't think he'd find any reasonable answers out here, but he wasn't quite ready to give up and head home. Soon, though.
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