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She had, perhaps, woken up too late.

While there were no strict rules in Elysium, and she felt the traveling had done her in, Tallulah felt unnaturally tired. Valeska, Amaranth, and Harper did not employ a schedule to follow, but she felt a bit of downtime did her good. Leaning against the wall of her den, she stretches, yawns, and exits. Unaware of her condition - and perhaps she would for some time - the woman turns away from the border and heads further in.

Her paws take her to the cache. Her nose wrinkles at the aging prey pile. At least there was something to do while she waited for Nick to be done with his duties. She'd catch up later. The man liked to work, and Tallulah liked to do that as well. Settling before the cache, she began to pluck old prey out. Thankfully, none of it was rotting. Just a few days old, but Elysium held such rich hunting grounds that she could stand to drag out half-eaten meals and old food.

With plans to bury the old, she craned her neck toward another after making a small pile. A wolf of Elysium, no doubt, considering it was too far from the neutral border. "Afternoon," she comments to them, pup or adult.

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The little pumpkin of Elysium was an absent minded type of lad; often walking to places without remembering it, or forgetting why he’d gone to the places he’d gone. Once he walked into the den to play with his brother, and totally forgot why he had gone there. Sometimes he forgot where he buried his favorite rock, or a cool feather he’d found.

He really liked rocks and feathers. Anything bright, colorful, and shiny.

He found a cool feather, today, too, going to his own cache of sorts when he spotted the pretty lady by the food. Curious, and with a feather still in his mouth, he went over to see what she was doing. Looked like she was either hiding something in the food, or… maybe she was looking for a particular type of meat.

His ears perk towards her greeting, and he grinned at her, wagging his tail and tilting his head. He stared at her for many moments, though turning to tuck the feather into his shoulder, so he doesn’t drop it to talk to her, —

“Good после полудня — afternoon,” Orel cooed at her. Like his brother, Rigby, Orel struggles with knowing when to use the proper language, often using both, especially since his sister refuses to speak the common tongue.

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There was no doubt in her mind that Harper was this one's mother. She had seen the pale, gold, and even red child of Amaranth and Valeska around. This boy was red, true, but he was different marking-wise compared to Alder. Still, she did smile down kindly at this one as she would any other. Tallulah just hoped he could make heads or tails out of her accented words. And that she could... well, socialize with a pup in a successful way. Dimitri was proper, a right little adult. 

This one could be totally different. So she chose to focus on the item he had so carefully tucked away. Amaranth wore feathers too. "That's a pretty feather" she remarked to the pumpkin-colored boy "where did ya git it?" It seemed he had been carrying it around for awhile because she didn't see him pick it up. Though, he could have... She had been rather invested in her work. As if remembering this, she turned halfway to the cache again. So she could halfway talk to the boy.

Another half-eaten squirrel was placed to the side. "M' Tallulah" she introduced herself "Tallie works, or Lulu" Though only one seemed to have called her 'Lulu' in the past, and he was not (to her knowledge) here. Goliath had also been remembered, along with her Pa, Walter. The others back on the ranch too. "what's yer name?"

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The boy wore his mother’s markings on the colorful coat of his father well, blending in with the colors of fall and autumn as the leaves changed colors. And while his coat was still the same shade of red as his cousin’s, his coat - like the fall leaves - would come to change color, becoming a deeper shade of red.

His eyes traveled over her face and towards what she was doing for a moment. He smiled right back at her, as she smiled at him. He giggled softly, looking at his feather, then back at her. By the —” his little brows came to frown, turning around in a circle to look around, for a moment.

“Big water.” He knew the word for lake, he just had trouble remembering certain things. “What’s it called again? Ma tells me, but I lost... the word.” He would ask, politely, tilting his head to look up at her.

“Привет — Hello Tallie-Lulu! I is Orel, the boy greeted, lowering his head to show respect, in a sort of ‘bowing’ fashion, as he looked up at her and wagged his tail.

“What doing?”

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Big water.

She knew that. Tallulah nods. "Lake" she informs him, saying the word slowly and properly pronounced. Trying to discard her thick accent for the sake of teaching the little lad. Thankfully, little Orel wanted to know the word. He stared up at her in silent question, almost like a plea. Tallie-Lulu though... That earned an amused grin, and she made a point to tell Nick later about her new nickname. "s' nice to meet ya, Orel." 

He proceeds to ask what she is doing. Tallulah glances back at him briefly before her eyes flicker to the pile. "Sortin' through t' cache" she informs the boy with a confirming nod "there's some old food needin' to be thrown out" She gestures to the smaller pile "n' I'll start to organize more hunts to refill, as one o' the hunters in t' pack." She didn't know much about puppies, so she could only guess he was young. Too young to participate in those hunts.

Perhaps Valeska and Amaranth's kids could? Again, she didn't keep track of puppy ages. "Ya wanna help, Orel?" She asked the boy again, smiling down at him.

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Tallie-Lulu is a kind teacher, for a stranger, and he found that he liked to make the pretty girl smile. She told him it was nice to meet him, and butterflies found their way into his tummy. He smiled and wagged his tail.

Tallie-Lulu is going through the food to take the bad stuff out, she told him. He nodded his head, telling him she’d organize more hunts to put fresh food back. Organizing hunts sounded neat as hell, or was it because the pretty girl did it? Orel would be interested in anything she had to say.

He found that not even his pretty feather would compete against her food sorting skills. He glanced to his shoulder, to the pretty feather, and then over to her as she asked if he wanted to help. He grinned, giving her a goofy smile and nod of his head as he slowly approached her.

When he got close to her, he took the feather from his shoulder and tried to tuck it into her fur, but ended up dropping it at her feet, instead.

He nosed it to her with the wag of his tail.

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Work was often methodical and a lull, especially if she did not have anyone to work with. Elysium was not a slacking community, but she and Nick were probably among the hardest-working canines in it. She thumps her tail against the ground as Orel decided to join her, the boy shuffling closer to her body. "Don't touch anythin' that has bugs" she cautioned him "just leave that t' me." He was a pup, and disease could spread easier among his young system. She wouldn't want the boy to catch anything.

Proceeding to do more, she only paused when he shuffled the feather toward her. A bright, slightly embarrassed smile crossed her face. Tallulah hadn't done anything when he tried to put it into her fur, though she personally thought his diluted russet fur suited the feather more than her piebald coat. "Thank ya, Orel" she chuckles, accepting it after he prompts her to take it "yer a nice lil lad, ain't ya?" She places a careful paw on the feather and gathered it under her (free) back leg. She plants it there so it doesn't blow away. 

She thought the boy was a sweetie, honestly. It was so different than interacting with Harper. The second in command obviously took her job seriously and tried to desperately interact to sometimes failed results. Though, in the end, they were both sweet in a sense. Harper with her awkward stumbles, and Orel with his actions. Tallulah threw another piece of prey over to the pile of old bodies. "Yer mama is Harper, aye?" She had to double check "I've met her a few times. How she doin'?"

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Orel quite liked this pretty lady. She was both pretty AND super nice! He beamed up at her with the biggest grin he had to give, as he scooted closer to her, nodding his head along as Miss Tallie-Lulu told him all about how to separate the nasty old food from the newer things.

"Buggies, bad-bad. On the meat. They good for flowers! Didja know that?" Orel asked, scooting back a bit, to be a little behind her, so that the bad bad buggies wouldn’t be anywhere near him. He watched her, mostly, though picking though some of the smaller pieces that looked small enough for him to carry.

Though he bounced in place as she took his offering of friendship, thus making her his bestest friend ever! That’s what it meant to accept gifts from Orel. "Oh! You’a welcome, Miss Tallie-Lulu!" Orel would beam, tongue hanging sideways, out of his mouth.

He would smile at the mention of his mother, though, nodding his head some more. Looking like a goof, with his tongue still hanging out. “Eye? You like eyes?” Orel looked up at her, tilting his head, but grinning either way.

“Yeah, Harper is my Muma!” It was a word he had created for Mother. A nice mixture of Mum and Mama. He had the desire to call her Mum, but she had taught them all to call her Mama, thus, Muma. He tilted his head, brows arching forward in a way that his mother might have done.

“Miss Tallie-Lulu, how do you meet someone more than once?” He asked, politely, with the smallest wag of his tail.

“Muma is preparing for her trip to the red forest, but is good! How… how are you doin’, Miss Tallie-Lulu?”

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She nods, recalling a very important part of ranch work. Making things. "Honeybees' important fer makin' honey" she agrees with the lad "though I don't rightly pay much attention to others" She scrunched her face dramatically, meant to make Orel laugh in the end "they kinda gross me out." She admits freely, not good with any sort of insect near her. She didn't like them, or their many legs and wings. Butterflies and dragonflies were probably the only ones she could tolerate.

But if she saw one up close, she'd mentally freak out.

She chuckles as he does. "Aye means 'right' or 'yes'. It's... sorta a saying. Like yer mum or Ms. Valeska's Russian - yer language" Tallulah tried to explain "I don't know another language, but they have sayings even in Common Tongue. Me accent comes with sayings" He surely could pick up on that the more they talked, as she began to not be conscious about her accent the more familiar and comfortable she was "so if ye don't know what I said, just ask. Even yer mum and Ms. Valeska have trouble understandin' me at times."

Harper was going on a trip, leaving Elysium without its beta for a bit. She would remember this, and try to pick up the work Harper left behind naturally. Tallulah liked working and she didn't mind picking any slack up. "Yer mum is going on a trip? To the, ah red forest?" She asked, before focusing on what Orel had asked "ye meet someone... sorta randomly, unless they live in the same place. Most pack wolves are wolves that joined to be with friends" As in Nikolai's case "or that they wanted t' live near those they know and trust." How does one explain?

And where was this red forest?

"Ya could meet someone once and never again, aye. That's true" She admits with a frown "it's easier to make a plan ahead of time if ya wanna meet again" But "but right now? Ye'll see others in Elysium around, and it'll be easier to see them again. We all live in the same place" She lightly shrugged. Next Orel asked how she was. Apart from being a little sickly in the mornings and right now as she continued to sort the food... Why was she so squeamish all of a sudden? "m' fine. Just got back from a big journey" How else would she explain the Trial? "a bit tired but m' glad to be back."

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