[ P ] Cold Cash & Colder Hearts

His searching efforts had not all been in vain so far, after all... Crane walked with a distinctive distracted lilt in his steps, wavering this way and that as he walked up the precarious paths that suggested he had already partaken of his spoils. Little giggles bubbled up from his chest in waves as he stumbled several times, feeling his heart lurch as he nearly lost his footing. There was something about being so careless with his life that made him feel alive in ways few other sensations could - up to and including his much-loved hallucinogens.

"You lot certainly wouldn't be terribly upset if I were to take a tumble... Y'ever had wolf before?" Crane snickered at a raven watching nearby, which simply cooked its head and cawed loudly in return. In his mind altered state, however, the miniscule wolf took this as quite the string of back talk. He frowned, freezing in his path and loosing a shrill bark that sent the corvid scrambling for the air. "Yeah piss off dirty birdy..." he growled under his breath before fixing his unfocused gaze on the apex of the path he was on... His trademark smile crept slowly up his features again, and he hastened his pace once more until he could take in the whole of the landscape below him... and oh, how it danced for him.

@Mutt

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Mutt didn't like corvids. They were creepy things with beady black eyes and the ability to mimic lupine speech. Sometimes he had no choice other than to use their services. The old man who was letting him crash at his fancy house had set it as one of his ground rules. "If you're going to be late send a bird." Mutt had barely suppressed a snarky response and with gritted teeth nodded his head. Was this what it was like to have parents? If it was, he hated it already. If it wasn't for his grand plan to charm the old man into adopting him so he could enjoy his fancy lifestyle for the rest of his days he would have happily told him where to shove his bird.

His odd ears twitched at the sound of a familiar voice. Crane. It sounded like he'd got his paws on some good shit too. Distracted by his new acquaintance, Mutt veered away from his destination and headed over to Crane. "You're away with the faeries already? Or should I say birdies?" he snickered, wolfish grin stretching his lips wide.

"I'd be careful. I've heard corvids can hold grudges," Mutt told him, grinning wider. From anyone else it would have been a friendly warning, but from Mutt it was practically a dare.

Art by Ashon

@Veles

You're away with the faeries already? Crane's body tensed for a moment at the unexpected interruption, but relaxed quickly as recognition washed over his senses. He returned the snicker with a high, airy chuckle and turned to fix his gaze on the lopsided Visage of his only real contact in Rionnach so far. "Mutt, ol' chum... you should try it sometime. Life's more fun when you indulge a bit," he giggled, tongue lolling amusedly out one side of his pink lips. He perked in interest as his dual-toned pal mentioned the grudge-holding tendencies of corvids, and he frowned

"Well, then here I am making enemies already... not surprising given my track record. I've not exactly spent my life a popular man so far," he cackled, throwing his head back as the guttural sound reverberated off the cliffs around them. When his eyes fell back to meet Mutt's, they were glittering with a barely-present sort of ethereal mischief. Was he even really there? "What brings you to the edge of the world, my fine limp-eared friend? Come to join me in my quest to piss off the ravens, perhaps?

A sceptical brow raised at the suggestion that Mutt should indulge. He wasn't against a little indulgence, but to lose his awareness and sense of time seemed far too risky for those who lived in the shadows. They never knew when they might find themselves with a dagger sticking out of their backs. "I have plenty of fun. I'm not a boring old man like you who needs a buzz," he laughed along with Crane. Finding the oddball yearling to be acceptable company. His new guardian wouldn't be pleased that he was hanging around with degenerates. If only the old Lord Calyx realised that Mutt was a scoundrel himself, he might not be so keen to take him in.

"What? Really?," Mutt gasped in mock surprise as if Crane being unpopular was the most shocking thing he'd ever heard. "Good thing I took pity on you then," he snorted, giving the tiny wolf a friendly nudge with his side. Mutt didn't really have any friends. He had Odysseus he supposed and now he was learning that Crane wasn't so bad either. "I was going to send a message, but I've got a better idea," Mutt answered, lips baring his teeth in a wide grin. "Oi birds! Say fuck!" he commanded them, ears twitching in surprised delight when a chorus of croaky fucks echoed through the ayr.

Art by Ashon

@Veles