The Hunt /Holden/

[HANNAH VULPINI]

December was biting. Especially when you were naked. She had found a fairly concealed area, where her cloths were now sitting in a neat pile, save for the boots on her feet. Hannah was shivering, goosebumps covering her curved body, waiting for the shift to come. It was strange, how this thing had just become an excepted part of her life. In fact, even while a human, she felt more fox than not. More and more she was wary of normal people, seeking the comfort of her apartment where she could do her art. And while she did make the change on purpose, while she sought out the sensory overload that was being her wild canine self: She knew it would hurt like hell. And it did:

She should be dead within thirty seconds.

Her heart shrinks by nearly half- foxes being much smaller than humans- when she turns. But in order to shrink, first it had to stop. In other words, Hannah has a heart attack. And has, once a month at least, since she was sixteen. All the internal organs are smaller, so while she's having his heart attack, her liver and kidneys are also giving out. She doesn't scream. Not because the pain has dulled: her throat, gullet and vocal chords are tearing and reforming. Her bones break, shrink, and rebuild themselves; her muscles stretch and shrink. Even the process of growing fur is hell on earth, as thick hairs shoot through her flesh like needles. She literally couldn't make a sound.

By now the pituitary gland should be working overtime, flooding her body with endorphins to attempt ease some of the pain. But her nerves have shut down to rebuild themselves, so the message of endorphins never reaches her. She should have died of shock long ago, but it won't let her. That's what's most remarkable about the process. It drags her through the fire and keeps her alive and even conscious to endure every second. Nothing like this could just evolve. It's so cruel it was...

Beautiful.

And the result after a mere minute and a half of pain? A large sized, red fox, with a thick winter tail. Hannah wasn't cold anymore, as she stepped out of the knit boots. Her paws were comfortable against the crunchy snow. As was customary, she stretched her slender body. The little furs that were so painful before, were now a source of comfort to her, thick and soft to the touch. It felt rather new, as she'd practically been birthed moments before. It didn't have the rough, bristly, quality real foxes had because it didn't have the wear and tear from forest living.

But, oh God, yes! The pain had been worth it! She could see! She could see the pattern on every snowflake, the vein in every dry leaf. She could hear a couple walking a mile away, and.... and... and a heart. And breathing. Her body grew tense, the ears atop her head laid flat. She could smell.... what was that? It was similar to her, but not quite. the most potent and familiar odor was the after smell of human. Her alert eyes stared right at the bush, certain that's where it was. Body crouched, she growled, demanding it show itself.

Three things were certain.

Someone had been watching her.

Someone knew her human face.

And she was not alone.

[HOLDEN MOORE]

Holden had never really been the patient sort of person that both of his parents had tried so desperately to make him. His curious nature and his need to understand things always plagued him in the sense of wandering that oftentimes lead down a path of trouble in one way or another. Tonight was no different. It had started out with him and his new roommate slash pack-mate, Ramona, making plans to meet up with their Alpha pal, Jamie, to enjoy the fruits of their wolfy nature with a romp in Central Park.

The first time shifting had been hell, quite literally. Holden had actually thought that he'd been poisoned and was going to exit the world in the woods of the park, afraid and in no company aside that of two stray wolves. There had been some voice in his head that had come from whatever that spirit had been residing in him, it explained he had not been dying when he had stopped fighting against the feeling. Beyond that though, he had been very confused by it all. Thankfully though, his new scent abilities gave him enough of a push into the direction of finding Ramona for whatever she could offer up in the way of an explanation.

Tonight though, tonight was reserved for the run. The moon's pull left Holden absolutely itching in his own skin, a deeper desire growing to tempt those laws of nature and do again the thing with the loss of humanity. In a way, the shift left him feeling a tad more human, if that made any sense, which it probably didn't. The fact that he'd spent his entire life trying to define himself had left him searching through a million different possibilities. Yet, now he had the answers, and it made no real sense to him, he had to understand it. It was less of a scare, knowing that the other two had been doing it longer than he without any real incidents or actual life-threatening mishaps.

It was bearable this time, the shift. No whimpering out of pain, though it ran through him just as hard as it had the first time and would every time he shifted. The voice that had come with the first shift hadn't reared its head this time, which was good, because had it happened again he might actually question his own sanity. Knowing what was going to happen offered a sense of courage that he needed to get through it; and with his pack-mates at his side, they provided him the support.

Once the sticky business was handled, their things hidden away, they were all free to run again. And run they did. Holden grew tired of trying to keep up with his alpha's after awhile though, watching Jamie and Ramona do their alpha bullshit that was all awkwardly endearing in some sense of the word. The wind had picked up another scent beyond that of the other wolves, the wildlife, the snow. It was.. sweet. Human-y, honey, and some sort of floral that he didn't quite recognize. Hadn't they wandered far enough into the woods to avoid humans?

Holden, in his glorious white wolf form that he was anxious to actually observe at some point in his life (maybe he could get Mona to piss him off enough at home to warrant a shift, as she mentioned that sometimes the strong emotions triggered something to that effect, so he could actually see the wolf he became), wandered off to investigate.

His discovery was, to say the least, fucking fantastic! There was another! They weren't all alone, and they weren't all wolves!? What the fuck!? Were all the people of the world secretly shifters? It sparked a curiosity that Holden had no reason to wander off from. This girl was hot. Really hot. And she was naked one minute and foxy the next. He tried his best to not stir in the snow, but here and there his tail did wag, and in all his creeping, he did end up caught.

Shit. Busted being a fucking creep! What a way to make a first impression. Oh well! The white wolf drew in a breath and wandered out of the bushes. No need to keep creeper-loving from afar when it seemed she had caught him red handed. He presented himself in a friendly fashion, though he kept his snout drawn down in what might possibly look like embarrassment from her end. He wasn't though! Just for the record. If she had the lady-balls to strip down in the park, he could hardly be faulted for oogling and oggling her from the shrubbery.

[HANNAH VULPINI]

Crouched low near the thin layer of snow, Hannah watched as a wolf come forth from the bush. The first thing that caught her eye was that he was so very white. Pure white, not even browning around the edges of his eyes from leaky tear ducts It was a strikingly ethereal look, mixed with the falling, fluffy, snow that fell around them. He was near double her size, medium sized as far as wolves went, and his winter coat was thick and plush. Like her, it had that gentle newness of monthly rebirth. Upon closer inspection- as her eyes in this form were sharp and analyzing, more so than in her human form- he had a strange look to him. Under that thick fur, he seemed thin. Almost languid. His limbs added the majority of his height, where his body was compact and sleep like a sports car. His paws were almost comically large for his thin body, and his large brown eyes had a soulfulness that clearly indicated human intelligence.

Though his head was dropped slightly, there was a petulance in those soulful eyes. They didn't leave her, for one. He wasn't ashamed of his peeking, which bristled the fur running down Hannah's narrow spine. As for herself, despite his friendly stance, she stayed crouched low, thick-but-sleek tail curled around her to make herself more compact, taking in his every movement. For someone who had a secret wish to be rather normal, Hannah was of course relieved. Even if she was a freak, she was not the only freak. But, still, there was a slight indignation that contradicted this comfort, that he had just taken from her one of the few things that made her special. Rising slowly, she approached, sniffing him investigated, her brown paws crunching against the snow.

He smelled interesting. If nothing else, she could commit the wolf odor to memory to be sure not to allow this sort of incident to occur again. After all, transforming was such an intimate experience. The idea that he could relate to it- the pain, and the relief once it was all over. Perhaps that was a gift from the body, the building up of endorphins that had no home to retreat to during the transformation. Once it was all said and done, and the nerve ways reopened, it was like a rush. Indescribably. Like a first orgasm, but to a person who had constant memory loss. Certainly it had it's practical reasons: The rage shifts happened because you had to leave the situation. You couldn't leave a situation if you were whimpering in pain, could you? Still, this- oh, he's a male, good (and bad) to know- guy understood that. More so than anyone ever could by a word of mouth explanation.

She circled him, appraising him as one would do a fine (or what appeared to be) piece of jewelry. His long legs certainly would be good for running, but Hannah had agility on her side. Not to mention five years worth of fox formed knowledge of Central park. And she could jump out in front of people- normal people, that is. A fox in the city is rare, but not unheard of. He couldn't, least he started a wave of panic. She could see the headlines now: The Wolf of Central Park. So scary, right? On the other hand, he had just watched her transform. And before that, he had gotten very close to a person who he could assume was normal. Apparently common sense was not something he was in great supply of.

Her slender body weaved between his two front legs, almost in a flirtatious manner, her tail brushing against the bottom of his jaw. Whether he was special or a freak, it wasn't of the obstinately lone Hannah's concern, was it? The point was he was a human, and Hannah had found herself quite wary of humanity a long time ago. Thus, when she pushed up on her front paws, using all of her strength from her back to knock him over before leaping forward, she did not feel guilty for misleading him. Shame on him for trusting a stranger. Looking back with a imperious gaze for only a moment, Hannah raced forward through the trees, eager to be free of this unplanned imposition on a night she had chosen to seek out her fleeting muse.

[HOLDEN MOORE]

This had certainly been an interesting change in events. Holden had been set on the idea of learning more wolf-like traits from his pair of alpha -for lack of a better word- teachers. In the wolf form, he understood that he was the newbie to the group in more than one way. The way that the pair of them jostled about displayed a clear sense of 'been there, done that, more than once' to Holden, who was okay mostly with just watching and joining in when he could. Their first night as a pack had been fun mostly, though Mona did manage to teach him a bit in the way of surviving in the park. Be quick, be precise, and above all else, avoid the humans. It wasn't the fact that she'd been a hot, naked, lady in the woods that had caught his attention; though at this point, it was a lot more appealing than seeing Mona in the nude, which he had, a handful of times. Whatever. He was coming to terms with it, and actually, it didn't really bother him so much. While the naked lady form was typically appealing to him, they'd established early on that he had no intentions on trying to get up in her jello, also, after drawing nude ladies in figure class for some time, the artist in him saw only lines, and not the naked flesh itself if he needed to. But this one! Oh! She was delightful in all her nude glory. From the way her long hair fell on her back to the form of her figure itself.

There was a moment's pause before the red foxy lady-fox approached. His tail gave a happy wag, though he pushed aside the desire to demonstrate his friendliness in the lick he'd so freely given to his other wolves. Afraid to scare her off completely, Holden made it a point to keep his wolf nature at bay for a moment. Yes. Sniff. Please. Learn that I'm not a threat. He just wanted to play.

As the fox circled him, he took the moment to sniff out her scent a little better for the sake of keeping it in his records of who and what she was. It was how he'd managed to track down Mona after they shifted back into human form, after all. Otherwise, Holden might have considered really checking himself into a mental facility given the fuckery that had occurred that night. Sniffing now, he caught the scent of something he'd missed before - paint? Or so he assumed it to be. Damn. Did everyone smell so awesome? He'd have to try and remember to ask the others about that later. Right now though, the only people/things he was worried about was this new play-pal who, though she wasn't one of his pack, seemed all sorts of interesting.

He had encountered foxes before, having spent a lot of his time in the woods when he was younger, though beyond the peek of them here and there, he'd never been able to get terribly close to one. This one was all up in his jello. Maybe she wanted to play too? That'd be cool by him. It'd be nice to have someone to run around with in the woods when Mona and Jamie were doing alpha things that alpha's did. The white wolf let out a rather pleased sound from his throat, almost as if he were 'coo-ing' at the feel of her foxy tail in his face. So far, so good. She seemed okay with him. If he was paying any attention - which of course he wasn't - the white wolf might have caught the flirty innuendo of her ducking around him, sizing him up. The feel of her tail against his chin though, was for the moment distracting him. As if out of instinct, he playfully tried to nip at her tail, but she'd retreated quick enough that his movement was directed at the air and no where even near the foxy fox-lady in question. Boo. No fun.

He was caught off guard at the push she dealt him, and his lanky limbs, however strong they might be when he was paying attention to the situation, faltered and failed him in all sorts of ways. The white wolf let out a short whine as he fell back -- oh, but the feel of snow on his back. So fluffy and cool in comparison to the warmth he felt from his coat of fur. He could roll around for awhile like that, completely oblivious. But the fox! She was new and shiny and groovy!! Holden forced the simple part of his head to stop being a fucking retard and look up at the fox lady. She wasn't planning on joining him!? What?!

Actually, she was high-tailing it (GEDDIT, GEDDIT, CAUSE SHE HAS A TAIL. LAWL.) out of Dodge -- er, wait!

The white wolf fumbled, turning off its back and standing again. With a gentle shake, letting the bits of snow that had clung to his fur fall aside, Holden decided that maybe the fox didn't want to frolic. Maybe she wanted to run? That was okay by him. Kinda like they'd be playing tag.. Or something to that extent. He let out a short yelp and took off after his foxy lady-friend. Tag could be fun, right?!

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuure.

[HANNAH VULPINI]

Well, now that that was taken care of, Hannah was free to do as she pleased. Where would she go first? Deeper into the woods? She had already been so deep in there, ironically in hope of not running into anyone. Perhaps she'd go look at the caves? Or watch couples walk through the park. Surprisingly, as she was an antisocial little twit, she loved to paint couples. However, it could be some strange, deep rooted, psychological, desire to have companionship. On the other hand, if it was deep rooted, it was DEEP rooted and she was not really interested in rummaging through that psyche closet.

Her white furred friend (friend loosely stated anyway) seemed to want this however, much to her dismay. Checking her flank, she saw the white figure gain on her, his long legs carrying his lanky body with great strides. She stopped momentarily, shocked by his gall. really? Really? Wasn't being shoved over and ditched enough of a hint for this guy? Did he think the persistence was cute? Well, he was wrong. And she certainly wasn't going to let him catch her.

Quick as... well... a fox, Hannah darted through the woods thicket, feet barely touching the ground beneath her. She was like an orange smear through the trees, weaving through them gracefully. It was like a dance, the forest was her stage. After gaining a fair lead on him, she paused, panting deeply. Damn, she missed sweat glands. Looking around at the trees surrounding the little clearing she had formed, a tactical idea came to mind. After all, she couldn't keep out running him. But she was INCREDIBLY confident that she could out wit the fuck out of him. Moving delicately through the trees, she made sure to rub against each. It would seem like she was wasting time. But no, it was the perfect move. When she moved back to the center of the clearing, her smell was everywhere.

If she could grin, she would. Hearing his big paws bumble toward her, she darted for a bush, this time being the spy instead of the spy. Her acute eyes watched for him, smelling his approaching odor, hearing his nearing scent.

[HOLDEN MOORE]

It never occurred to Holden that the mystery fox-lady might be, as was typical of foxes, a loner. He didn't have the mental capacity to back of from creeping the shit out of her when she transformed, so what would make anyone think it was smart of him to back off for the sake of appeasing her? There was no logic involved in his thinking at this point. The wolf in him had found someone aside from his alpha wolves to play with, and he wasn't stopping until she gave in and would play also.

Running through the woods was an adventure in itself, nevermind the search for his new found friend. Each sound was new to him, it only being the second time he'd shifted. The strange new world would have been rather disorienting had his brain not adapted to the change also; while Holden held no knowledge of how to use the information that the world around him was piling on, the wolf instinct kept him from fumbling over his own paws. Under that thick, winter coat, was a lanky wolf who was still running with the excitement of getting out of his human skin. Each stride brought with it more confidence than the last, his muscles burning from the lack of exercise. That would change though, he'd start running, as Mona had insisted. No point in wasting the time as a wolf if he couldn't properly enjoy it and keep up with the rest of his pack. He should consider quitting smoking, but that was probably a wasted effort. Actually, he'd probably need to pick the habit up more regularly than before, the curb the irritations of his life to keep away the desire to just fucking shift and escape shit.

She was quick! Too quick for Holden and his out of shape self. Maybe, in time, he'd manage to keep up. But for now he could only rely on the fact that her scent was so embedded in his nostrils that there was no way she was getting away that easy! Pffft! Slow or not, he'd caught the scent and was oh so proud of his little snout!

Alas, foxy was a tad more in tune with his co-dependence of scent, so when he came to the clearing, he was torn as which way to continue. If he had any sense, he might have paid attention to the tracks in the snow, but he had been relying on his nose so much that he overlooked that tid-bit of detail completely. The white wolf wandered this way and that, though he never really left the clearing because every time he took a step beyond, the smell was gone.

Grumpy that he'd been outsmarted, Holden took a moment to sit his wolf ass down in the center of the clearing, his front paws stretching out in front of him as his throat let out a small whine of defeat. She was here! She had to be! But where? His tail swept the patch of snow he'd rested on. He just needed a moment to think. To figure things out.

[HANNAH VULPINI]

Hannah watched the hunting wolf with quite a bit of interest, watching as he followed the advice of the cereal toucan and followed his nose. Her body stayed still, concealed in the bush, watching as he passed by the paw prints she had been worried might give her away. It was becoming less likely though, with every pace he made around the clearing, as the fluffy white snow filled the grooves into the ground. Not even her tail moved, far more focused on remaining alert, than enjoying that her rouse worked. She could tell he was new. He was too unsure of these new senses he had, not trusting them. Hannah had been there five years before.

Instead of giving up, he laid in the center of the clearing, knowing she was nearby. Well, dang. He wasn't suppose to do that. He was suppose to just give up and leave. Oh God, he was one of those persistently flirtatious guys who thought if they kept trying in hopes that their stalking might be construed as charming or romantic, wasn't he? Her ears perks as she heard a whine admit from his throat, upset. At what? Not finding her? Well, that was ridiculous, wasn't it? He didn't know her. And she certainly didn't know him.

Ugh. Pack animals.

Still, she wasn't going to sneak away unseen, was she? By tricking him, she had trapped herself... had he planned that? No. No, he wasn't that good? Was he? Fucking hell, he had her all paranoid now! Genuinely annoyed- and perhaps a bit intrigued, though she would never admit it, even under threat of torture- Hannah lept from the bushes, landing far closer to him than she meant too. Instinctively, her front paws hitched up, as she backed away on her hind legs. When she replanted steadily on all fours, she stays low, tail curled around her, inching closer.

What did he look like as a human? She never stopped to wonder if her transformed self reflected her human looks. True, she was a natural red head, but she doubted that had anything to do with being a fox. After all, she could have been a red wolf, couldn't she? Approaching, her nose pressed to his face, feeling the new and soft fur. What a strange smell... Iron? Why did he smell like iron? She wanted so much to ask, and for the first time cursed the lack of ability to speak in this form. After all, she barely did it in her natural form.

Her front paw rested on his muzzle, pushing it down to sniff his face more. No blood, no poison, no gasoline. No odor that put on a red flag, she supposed. A very faint smell of sulfur, but that was so faint she'd easily blame it on cross contamination (from someone who blows shit up?), and an even fainter smell of food. If she didn't comply, he'd only follow her all night. So why fight it? She'd allow the pest to accompany her. It wasn't like he was going to know her in real life.

A strictly canine affair.

Trotting around him, she let her thick tail wag a moment, before a low chittering noise came from her throat. The technical term was gekkering. Rising her hind side in the air, the tail wagged again, attempting to initiate play. Attempting being the key word, given that she was horribly out of practice. Hopping forward, she nipped lightly at his ears, tugging them, not even slightly bothered by the height and weight difference between the two.

[HOLDEN MOORE]

It never occurred to Holden - be it his complete lack of attention span or the fact that the wolf trait led him to be a bit simpler minded - that the foxy lady wouldn't want to actually be found. He assumed that they were playing, she had pawed at him afterall, and been slightly flirty in her inspection of him, so it wasn't like she should have thought he wouldn't chase after. It confused him completely when he'd been able to deduce her whereabouts, but assumed that eventually she would come back, that, or the scent would wear off and he would wander back to find Jamie and Mona still frolicking about in all their alpha pent up rage slash sexual tension.

A very thankful Holden gave a friendly and rather excited wag of his tail when she reappeared. Shifting back a little at the sudden closeness of the fox, not wanting her to crash into him or to avoid attack. When she didn't immediately attack, he let out content breath, glad that she hadn't really run off on him. That would have sucked if he lost the only other new friend he'd found so quickly.

The white wolf reared his head so that he was sitting properly for the further inspection, as opposed to lounging in the snow as he had been. He made no fuss when she forced his head down, her muzzle sniffing away at the scent of him. What was she so curious about? He wasn't going to attack her. When she wasn't holding his snout down any longer, he gave the fox a good sniff of his own.

There were the other smells he'd come to distinguish her with, but now, closer, there were other things. Mostly it was just a faint smell of chemicals, something that he had encountered at some point or another in his life, but didn't particularly relate anything specific to at that moment. Maybe something in paint? No. It smelled more like the scent of a dark-room that photographers use. It was weird. He was curious to know more, but the lack of humanity in either of them at that point would provide no answers to any questions they might pose one another.

Hey, maybe when they were human formed again the pair could like, go get some coffee and talk? Maybe even exchange numbers to hang out sometimes, in either form was suitable as far as Holden was concerned for that moment. He didn't have many friends in the city, beyond his roommate and alpha, he hadn't the time to really make any friends, and he hadn't started classes just yet, so he couldn't really make school friends with the lack of schooling in his life. All of his friends were west of where he was, so there'd been a lot of 'hanging online' to catchup, but even Holden could only take so much of that before his lack of attention span wandered and he was off wielding something together, lost in the work as opposed to really caring about the lives of friends he had no intentions on seeing again.

Ecstatic at the playful response from the foxy ladyfox, Holden got to his feet, using the closeness of the fox to lick at her chin when she drew in to nip at him. How much fun they would have! He and his newfound friend! They would be friends! Holden needed friends, and this foxy lady was stuck with him now, because if he had to suffer another night of boring ole Jamie and Mona being all cute and alphy-like while Holden got left out of the playtime, then he was gonna bite them, and that would end well for him on every account.

[HANNAH VULPINI]

What a strange wolf. His nose pressed against her fur, and she cocked her head, as if curious as to why he'd be curious about her, when it had been she who had been so curious moments before. When he stood, Hannah was once more reminded what an oddly proportioned creature he was. And the striking soft, purity, of his fur. Hand she been in her human form, Hannah would have wanted to run her fingers through it. He was strikingly friendly, far more than Hannah had anticipated. He licked her with familiarity that took her aback for a moment, though she did not pull away. Maybe it was the sudden fact that she had a companion in her usually lonely shift, but he smelled good. Familiar. Like something she had smelled before and had never taken the time to consider. It was weird.

So she played with him for the night, romping around the forest with her nameless friend. It was almost like she was leading him around, showing him her favorite areas. She'd give little growls as to where not to go- the skunk den, or different paths the normal humans used- and happy yips when she liked a place- the creek, which was half frozen and special trees where she liked to burrow into little hutches of safety. It was so strange, sharing her private world with someone. But, at the same time, it was refreshing. She felt lighter, more playful for the moment, and almost puppy-ish.

When it was all said and done, Hannah found herself exhausted. Sniffing low to the ground, she sought out one of her caches of clothing. It was easy enough to find, deep in the bowels of a shallow cave. She lead her friend down there, pleased that the bats that housed there often were gone for the night. She curled up in a little ball, and felt his lank body form next to her. Pleased with her fun for the night, and seeing pictures of snowy whimsy in the future for her paintings in the future, she tugged affectionately at his ear before giving him a short lick against his muzzle in good night.

Sleep took her quickly, as she laid against the leaves and brush cushion of the cave, snuggled against the warm wolf. When the shift came to her in night, the pain had shocked her awake, feeling her body snap and twist and straighten back to it's natural shape. The needle like fur shot back in her skin, and she laid there panting as the rush of endorphins rushed through her body. He was still a wolf, his plush fur radiating enough heat that her sleepy mind could ease back to dream land comfortable, clutching the softness like a child would a blanket. It was as if she hadn't woken up at all, at that point. The pain had simply been a bad dream.

When she awoke again, it was for real. She was shivering a little, and her head was on the chest of a man she did not know. As her blue eyes started to open, the sun peered through the mouth of the cave, she watched a spider crawl against his chest in search of warmth. Same as Hannah. Carefully, not wanting to wake the sleeping stranger, she flicked the creature away and rose slowly from her place. Leaves tangled in her long, dark, hair and dirt smeared her fair tinted body. Which, mind you, was naked. Against another naked, dirty, male stranger.

For what it was worth, he was not bad on the eyes. His hair was blotchy blond and had the carelessness of being cut with kitchen shears to keep off his neck. His chin was solid and strong, with good lines that would be glorious to draw. Which, she most certainly would draw. A part of her wanted to know his eye color, simply for the sake of knowing. Like in his wolf form, he was oddly proportioned. His body was long and lean, with large hand and tapering fingers, and long slender feet. And that myth about big feet. Apparently applicable to this situation, despite the draft. Good for him.

But that was enough of an examination. She had to get dressed. Being naked in Central Park was quite the invitation for the locally perverted to come a prowling. With nimble feet, she went to the bag stashed away in the cave, and began pulling her cloths out. First she wiped herself down with wet naps, which unfortunately did not assist in her current state of cold. Then their was the process of picking leaves out of her hair, while pulling a pair of panties up her body, trying to make quick business of this whole ordeal.

[HOLDEN MOORE]

The friendly romping through the woods of central park was a mixture of completely awesome and also informative. Having only shifted a handful of times, Holden didn't understand completely that he was a fucking wolf as opposed to some friendly stray dog someone might just happen to come across in their own wanderings, so it was important that he pay attention to the foxy lady as she pointed out all the do's and don't of the park that would be his play-place for the coming years. Better to learn it now, without problem and in the company of a seemingly friendly fox, rather than suffer the hardships of living through the mishaps that he more than certain she probably had already.

Somewhere during all this show-and-tell business, the time passed on until it was late evening. Holden paid no mind to the howls of his other pack mates as they called for them. Fuck that shit! He wasn't ready to go. Besides, they didn't need him to chaperone. At least they'd been cool enough to call after him, having not completely forgotten about him in their badassery of being Alpha and whatnot. Didn't matter! He found his own playmate and had no intention on letting her wander off on her own. The pair managed to wander not far from Holden's initial shift-site, which meant if he happened to drift off to sleep that his clothes weren't that far off if he woke up not a wolf anymore.

Following along with the foxy lady, Holden waited until she curl up on the ground before he stood there, on all fours, for a moment. Was this safe? Shouldn't they go home? He'd never actually stayed out, overnight, in central park. Still, if the fox was doing it, he was damn sure not leaving her on her own. Nope. No sir. That was just a creepy rape story ready for the papers. At least if someone stumbled on the pair of them in the nude, they could write it off as a pair of kids on drugs or something. They might have to out-run some cops, but it wouldn't be the first or last time Holden would do that sort of thing. He settled in close, ready for that long and cozy winter nap, nuzzling in close and letting out a tired yawn at her lick.

As he had all his life, Holden slept like the dead. Even as the foxy lady turned back into, well, a foxy lady, he didn't budge, though the wolfy shifted closer as she clung to him. It was nice to be snuggled up with; it'd been far too long since he'd shared sleep with someone, be it in a bed or a patch of dirty ground, and it was glorious. When his own shift came, it wasn't until daybreak, and not even the pain of it stirred him from his sleep, though instead of pawing at the lady he lay next to, Holden shifted a little and pulled her in close to conserve what heat was lost when the fur was gone.

With a groggy head, slightly pounding as he woke from the albeit mostly comfortable sleep -a pillow would have been nice in the hours he'd slept in his human form- Holden sat up. He blinked, for the moment thinking maybe this was some fucked up dream or something. Had he really stayed out all night? Shit. Where'd the foxy lady go? How the fuck was he going to dodge across the way to the tree he'd buried his bag in. This was fucking awkward.

Holden drew in a breath. Wait. That smell. The lavender. His eyes moved around the cave and settled on the woman he'd shamelessly peeped on in the woods. So it wasn't a dream. At least he wasn't completely bat-shit crazy. Being a fucking werewolf was crazy enough, but to have imagined a fucking friend for himself. That shit he'd 3-0-2 himself for. She was..

Sneaking off? The fuck!? Really?!

"Holden." The wolf boy offered up, not really knowing what to say in this situation. He'd never romped around the park with a complete stranger before, let alone spend the night with them in a cave. Maybe she'd be nice enough to help in getting his clothes? Maybe she'd want a cup of coffee? He had a million and ten questions. Hopefully she wasn't going to be a raging bitch... That would suck. "My name's Holden." He called out again, trying to get her attention from the task of dressing. Bringing a hand up to the back of his head, he scratched at the spot between his ear and scull, tilting his head further to the side as he did so. At her lack of reply, he drew in another breath. "Do you think you could maybe grab my bag? It's under the tree out there, buried a little behind a bush over there, to keep it from sticking out like a sore thumb.. I'd appreciate it.. Really.."

[HANNAH VULPINI]

OUTFIT OF A HUMAN HANNAH!

And here she thought she was being sneaky. Hannah had had her occasional one night stand- true this one was certainly unique, but that was basically what it was- and so she kept up the business as usual. To no avail, as he reintroduced himself. Holden. Holden the lanky, white, wolf. Was he always such a morning person. As he made his request, Hannah finally spared a glance, her startling blue eyes meeting his hazel ones. She had lead him down here, of that she was fairly sure, and it would be rather awkward for him to walk out naked. The other option was for him to shift and go out to get it, but if someone hiking by happened upon a white wolf, it wasn't like he was going to be mistaken for a malamute.

With a heavy sigh, she nodded, not wanting to make too much conversation. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and took the plunge into the painful shift for the third time in the past twenty-four hours. Her body shrinking, she shook out her fur as she gained her barrings quickly. Just get the bag, bring it back, get dressed, go home, paint. It wasn't rocket science. There was a plan. With nimble little steps, she approached the stranger, putting her front paws up against his chest and taking in his smell. Petrichor, sweat, and dirt filled her nose.

With a quick hop across his lap, she darted out of the cave, nose pressed to the ground. There was a faint trail of his stink (albeit, a kind of pleasant stink) nearby. It took a moment to catch the actual odor, but the tell tail long and narrow foot prints and freshly turned earth made the find easy enough. With her front paw, she dug out the bag as quick as she could. It wasn't hard. Her paws were far more adapt to it than his human hands, shovel like as they may be.

Carrying the bag in her teeth- being so short that it dragged against the ground- she returned to the cave, and to Holden the lanky, white, wolf-man. With a human sense of impatience, the medium sized fox used her body's weight to toss him the bag, before darting gracefully over him and back to her cloths. Holden had seen her shift before, which she still held indignation about, and so she allowed the shift to happen once more in front of him. Despite it being, in her opinion, to be a very intimate and private process. Again her body screamed in pain, again the fur returned to wherever it hid beneath her skin, and her bones and heart and organs grew.

He better fucking say thank you, dammit.

She dressed quickly, wearing her layers of knits and crochets and a few store bought things. Her bra and underwear matched, but didn't. Her jeans were beaten and worn, and her tank shirt was so thin you would think it was made of paper, complete with specks of paint. A sweater- long, with blacks and whites and yellows- and gloves, a scarf, and boots. Shaking out her long hair, Hannah gave Holden an awkward, walk-of-shame, smile. "Well, it was fun. Catch you later." And with that, Hannah exited the cave, pleased to have that finally behind her.

Because, definitely, that would be that.

Wouldn't it?

[HOLDEN MOORE]

HOLDEN'S OUTFIT ONCE HE DRESSES

The fact that she wasn't as interested in learning about him as maybe he initially was with her was something that Holden didn't quite understand. It'd been crazy to even stumble upon Jamie and Ramona, but he'd never encountered a shifting fox. How was this shit even possible? People didn't just turn into animals when they reached a certain age... And if they did, then his fucking parents had skipped that 'talk' with him, which was complete and utter bullshit on all accounts.

Curiosity was getting to him, just like the proverbial cat, and it made him want to spew a thousand and ten questions at the woman who just glared at him. Whatever. At least she was pretty on the eyes; as if he'd really noticed when he was peeping the night previously, get real, he was a guy, he was looking. Holden wasn't sure what the hell her problem was though, with the lack of response and the not so friendly demeanor; she'd allowed him to tag along and they'd even shared a bit of playtime in their evening romp through the woods, so it wasn't like she could claim to be completely anti-social. At her sigh, he almost wanted to speak up and tell her nevermind, to fuck off and he'd get his own damn bag, it wasn't that serious - but then the woman went and shifted into a fox again, leaving him rather speechless on the matter.

Holden had never really paid much attention to shifting; he'd only done it a total of maybe three times now, and it wasn't like he was cozy at home situated in front of a mirror. The times he'd done it with Jamie and Ramona, he was too worried about the whole feeling like he was dying to pay any mind to what it looked like. It was why he'd initially been so interested in keeping up with the fox once she'd shifted. She gave him a peak into what he never got to see. As the shifted fox approached, Holden held his breath a moment, letting her sniff at him. This was... confusing, to say the least. Why didn't she just trot out there as a human and dig it up? Whatever. At least she was nice enough to do as he'd asked. Kudos to her for not being a total bitch.

Watching her for as long as she was in sight, Holden admired the way she darted across the big lawn, apparently using her almighty nose to sniff out the bag he'd thought to have pointed out plainly enough. He hadn't hid it very well, at all really, just a few clumps of dirt and foliage to cover the army green and brown satchel slash man bag he kept at his side as religiously as his phone.

The foxy lady tossed the bag, which he caught with an under-the-breath "thanks" before pawing -no and all pun intended- at the straps. He hadn't really noticed how cold it was given the higher than normal body temperature he possessed, but despite that, it was February and it was bitter out. Holden made a quick task of getting dressed, not bothering to turn his socks right side out before putting them on, or brushing off the stray bits of dead grass and leaves from his back as he pulled on his shirt.

As quick as he was with the task of dressing, the mystery woman was faster, and it wasn't long before she was bidding him a farewell. Holden stumbled to his feet, shoving his feet into the shoes he didn't have the time to properly put on. "Really? That's it?" He called after her, shaking his leg that had fallen asleep as he slung the bag over his shoulder and followed after.

Damn she was fast!

"You're just - running off? No introduction. No 'hey that was cool, wanna hang' or nothing?" Holden took a few long strides to make up the distance. Thank god he'd gotten the chance to oogle that ass prior to this, otherwise he might have lost her in a crowd or something. "I'm Holden." He went on, multitasking the process of following as he dug in his bag for his phone. "I just moved here a week ago. My favorite color is rust orange, I have a fondness for palindromes, and am apparently not the only fucking human being in the world with the capability to shift into a fucking animal, which is, pretty fucking weird.." So he was rambling. He did that sometimes. No, a lot of times.

Whatever. If she wasn't talking, he would. She'd eventually get mad and yell back, if nothing else.

[HANNAH VULPINI]

It wasn't anything personal. Hannah really wished he'd stop acting like it was.

Hannah was sure he was a nice boy, certainly. But she was not one to deal in tact, and she was wary of his eagerness to talk with her. Certainly he wanted something, there was no other reason he'd be so determined! Of course, the thought that he wanted merely to talk to her was completely ridiculous. There was some game. This was New York for goodness sake, people didn't just talk to each other! Still, he seemed to lack the New York twange, that little nasally inflection that New Yorkers were famed for. Maybe he was from out of town? Still, it was a big, bad, city. Hadn't it occurred to him that she could be dangerous? Almost insulted, she was sure he had not.

She wasn't sure if it was the fox that made her so wary of people, or if it was her own suspicious nature eating away at her. Hannah was well aware her thoughts were paranoid, were poorly fitting for the situation. She had no money, so he wasn't bound to black mail her. And besides, apparently he had the same affliction, so it wasn't like he could, even if he wanted too. He could be a serial killer, but it would have made more sense to kill her while they were animals. Her speed was impressive, but quick feet were of little use to a powerful jaws. Besides, she didn't get a dangerous sense from him. He seemed to have a swagger about him, enough to be shocked by her reaction, but otherwise what remained was an eager haplessness.

It was kind of cute.

As she moved out of the cave, watching for people with a cautious eye, she heard him call after her with great indignation. Yes, that was it. It couldn't be that difficult to put together. Yet, he persisted, coming after her. Holden, what a strange name. But nice. Not something ridiculous like Uniquea or Boomquesha, but something interesting to the ear. It suited his wiry frame and interesting face. Looking over at him as he followed, Hannah noted that his eyes were an autumn mossy hazel. Well, she had wanted to know, and now she did. at least she'd have a name when she painted him later. "Hi." She said, not offering her name. He didn't quite know her like that yet.

Bum rushing her with personal information of himself, Hannah tried to press on, hugging the sweater close to her frame. Rust orange? Was he sincere? What a random thing to just enjoy, though she wondered if he was biased by her fox self's rusty fur coat. He commented on the shifting, and Hannah couldn't help but agree. A heavy sigh escaped her, as she stopped suddenly, offering him an appraising glance. After all, it didn't seem he was going to let up, and she had been in New York for nearly five years. An acquaintance might not be totally awful. After a moment of staring with her sharply colored eyes, Hannah's eyebrow rose. "What is a palindrome?" Yes, that's right. She had another shifter, and what she wanted to know was vocabulary.

(ooc: After he tells her what palindromes are, and offers a few examples, she'll be more talkative. Sorry for short post being so freaking short. )

[HOLDEN MOORE]

Oblivious to the irritation that he was providing his company, Holden continued to follow slash walk along with the stranger lady he'd just spent the night romping around Central Park with, greedy for the conversation and companionship of another. Ramona and Jamie were cool, but Holden had always been a creature that desired the want of multiple friendships in order to stay off the nerves of those he had. There was no doubt that he could get annoying with his incisive questioning, as he was told often by his ex girlfriend and several friends, but could they blame him? Holden blamed it on the artist in him, wanting to devour the world and the many others in it by knowing all that he could.

Maybe New York City wasn't the smartest of places to implicate his talkative nature, but he couldn't help it; the foxy lady he was accompanying across the park was new, exciting, and shared a thing he'd only known two others in the world to also be plagued with. How refreshing to know that he wasn't completely crazy. The more he learned about the others, the less crazy he felt at night, in bed; there had been many a nights he'd stayed up until the break of dawn wondering what kind of travesty he'd bestowed upon the world to warrant such a strange gift.

While she didn't exactly start gushing with a returned interest in him, Holden was thankful he wasn't completely getting the silent treatment. Not that he thought he deserved it, because beyond the whole creeper status he'd attained earlier that night, he hadn't really offended her, at least not to his knowledge. The wolf boy didn't want to hurt her, because that would be stupid - his aim in life wasn't to scare people off, but to collect them for his own little posse of friends and acquaintances. Since he'd come to the city about a month ago, there were only a handful of people he'd encountered, and of them, only half were worth hanging out with beyond an hour or so. Shit, he lived with one of them already, and as badass as his roommate was, Holden could use more than just a hardass lady friend and some stressed out wolfdude who had the most retarded issues known to mankind.

Holden kept up rather well, sprouting off at the mouth with his likes and dislikes. Suddenly, when he looked to the side for a peek at the foxy lady, she wasn't there; Holden stopped and turned around, moving to close a bit of the distance between them. Maybe he should have been paying more attention to her and less to rambling. Yeah. Maybe. Whatever. She wasn't hightailing it the other way yet and that was a good thing!

"Pp-alindromes?" Holden was confused for a moment, though even more amused at the idea that her first inquiry was about such a silly topic. Whatever. He'd roll with it. "They're words and phrases that read the same backwards and forward.. Like.. 'Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?' or.. racecar, pap, ma'am.. My parent's are teachers.. It's just one of those things I picked up from them.." The wolf boy offered up a grin at his foxy lady companion -- whose name he still didn't know.

Holden drew in a breath, not exactly sure how to continue with the conversation. If she was gonna just blow him off, then she might as well get it over with and tell him to fuck off, because the more time he stood there, looking her over, the more interested in her he became, which was a recipe for fucking disaster. "You wanna get a cup of coffee or something?" It didn't hurt to offer the hand of friendship, she seemed cool enough by his standards, pretty too.

[HANNAH VULPINI]

pal·in·drome/ˈpalinˌdrōm/
Noun: A word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same backward as forward, e.g., madam or nurses run.

Hannah stared at this Holden in shock as he explained himself, offering examples to the seemingly nonsequitor like that he enjoyed. Of course his random like would be something like that. A little dazed by the coincidence, she added to the list of examples. "Like Hannah..."

Shaking off her thoughtful eyes, Hannah help the charmed grin. He was charming, after all. The swagger in which he was approaching this situation seemed to indicate full on charm. Was that just his nature, or was it for her benefit. Where had this suave charm been last night? Then he had been this hapless and clumsy wolf, not Fabio VonLovemeister. "Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era... that's sort of clever. Holden. Though it's not really yours, is it? I mean, your parents being teachers... you probably heard it from one of them. Or read it in a book. Or something." His name had a tone of being an afterthought, as she took a few steps forward on her way.

Coffee?

She was still fairly cold from sleeping naked, on the ground, during fucking January. And, though she loved her knitwear, it wasn't the greatest for insulation. It made her miss her rusty red fur coat. Fingers tugging at the loose yawn of her sweater, she nodded slowly. She was not giving in per se. She was making a strategical choice. One: He didn't seem to be the type to be dissuaded by a little thing like the females disinterest. Two: He smelled familiar, which means at some point they had crossed each other before and hadn't noticed each other. She would not be so luck. Three: Coffee was fucking expensive. Four: He smelled nice. She liked it. Not too bad on the eyes either. So, by losing, she was winning.

Rationalization, for the win.

"Sure. You buy?" She asked, leading the way, a faint smile on her lips. Though, for Hannah, she might as well be doing back flips for what that was worth. "How are we doing this? Casually ignore that tiny little thing we have in common, or discuss it in awkward length with many weird pauses?" Hannah inquired, trying to rub her arms warm. "There isn't really much to say about it, is there? I mean, it's a self explanatory condition. Every new moon I change, I get furrier, six to twelve hours later I change back, I get less furry. Obviously I can change when I want now. Can you do that yet? You've been doing this long enough to figure out you need a cache of cloths." She tugged his sleeve, as if to prove that he had figured out this necessity. But Jesus H. Crossoint, when was the last time Hannah got to speak to someone? Well, that didn't involve her saying 'Sign here. Annnd here. Thank you.'

Maybe she wanted to talk about this condition a tiny bit more than she was trying to let on. Probably not, but.... you know...

de·ni·al/diˈnīəl/
Noun: 1.)The action of declaring something to be untrue. 2.)The refusal of something requested or desired.