this isn't in my job description

The day had been a long one so far.

Tallulah prowled the deeper recesses of Fate's Respite, perhaps half hoping to run into the man Amaranth mentioned as a skilled fighter. She honestly forgot his name. While she pondered and tried to recall, she spied Harper ahead of her. Despite their awkward first meeting, she thought nothing negative about the woman. First impressions could be fleeting and built upon anyway.

"Howdy, Harper" she began, snapping out of her thoughts. Tallulah wagged her tail in a friendly gesture, though kept it instinctively lower because of the other woman's rank in Elysium "what're ya up to? Can I help with an'thing?" She had hunted, she had patrolled... Now she was looking for something else to do. She eyed Harper expectantly; maybe she had an idea.

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^^The Divine woman of Elysium had just finished putting her children down for a nap and slowly tiptoe-ing out and away from her den, as though she were walking on thin ice; afraid that the smallest misstep would result in a tiny army of children racing after her, demanding her attention.

Tallie’s greeting caused Harper to arch a brow; immediately noticing how her sister was Ms. Valeska, and Harper was… Harper. Which was good, actually, she didn’t want to have to tell her to call her a Mrs. Harper, which would lead to unpleasant conversations about the dead.

“Tallie, darlin,” Harper called, a little more friendly this time around. She was like a neglected dog that needed constant reassurance and exposure to strangers in order for her friendlier slide to come out and play.

“That depends. Are we lookin’ for some actual work, or.. some fun?” Harper mused with a playful growl and a wink.

^^
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ooc; 20 HP - 1d10 roll - harper first
warrior skill
 

She stretched her toes, feeling the earth beneath them and between them. Harper acknowledged her requirement for 'fun', but Tallulah didn't know the woman very well. She could only guess by the playful growl and wink that she meant sparring. "If ya mean a friendly tussle, then aye!" she confirmed, taking a defensive stance quite easily "if ya up for it, that is?"

She didn't know the woman fought. According to Ms. Valeska's previous words, Harper was more in tune with the healing and spiritual side of Elysium. But she was also their beta, so it stood to reason she'd take an interest in the defensive. Tallulah pinned her ears, narrowing her eyes as she faced Harper properly. She wiggled her tail before she tucked it. I gotta keep goin' she thought I gotta do more, learn more. Be more.

What better way than to learn?

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^^

HP: 20; rolled 1

---

It was true, the two hadn’t really known each other very well. What was worse, was that they had gotten off on a rough footing — which was normal for Harper, but she was trying to become more friendly for the sake of her children.

And what better way to get to know someone than to have, as Tallie called it, a friendly tussle. Her eyes lingered on the cowgirl as she took her defense stance, and Harper moved to roll her shoulders back. Judging by Tallie’s movements, she expected Harper to roll out the first move.

“I’s always up for some fun,” Harper bellowed as she lunged forward with the snap of her teeth as she tripped over her own feet and came crashing down to the ground. Her ears flattened, and she grinned up at Tallie with the wag of her tail.

“I might be a little rusty.”

^^

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ooc; 19 HP - 1d10 roll - rolled 9
warrior skill
 

Harper fell, and it took a bit to hold herself back from checking on her. Rushing to her side, even. Before she was even near Tallulah, she tripped and probably smacked her jaws against the floor. But the rancher didn't do that in the end. She knew it was a bit disrespectful to do, draw attention to Harper's lack of finesse. So Tallulah hoped that by continuing the spar, she would display to the beta that she had the capacity to not get swept up in emotions. That she would defend Elysium despite her own personal feelings.

That she would protect them all.

So she lunged, probably as Harper was trying to rise. Tallulah tried to grab the other's scruff from the side of her body, angling herself as she lunged and circled. Back-to-back fights since she arrived in Elysium, and not once did Tallulah falter. Even if her muscles screamed at times for relaxation... She'd make the wolves here know they could rely on her. Respect her even. Maybe even trust her. She tried to gain a hold on Harper early — the woman was taller than her, and could use her strength to push her around.

She would try not to let that happen so easily.

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^^

hp 11, rolled 10. - lmk if this doesnt make sense and i can edit.

---

All of these things were good things to consider in the face of evil, or in the act of war. Tallulah had a good head on her shoulders, and was unable to be swept up in her emotions — but it was really too bad that Harper wasn’t the head of the war council.* All of these things that Tallulah was displaying would fall upon blind eyes.

It was nice, though, that Tallulah hadn’t laughed at Harper for falling, or making her feel worse. Their ‘friendly tussle’ would continue, with Tallulah going in for the side of her scruff in an attempt to get the upper paw as quick as possible as Harper was getting up from her fall.

She came in from the side, and Harper allowed the girl to grab at her scruff and for a moment she looked (or attempted) at the place where Tallie had grabbed, and then back at Tallie herself, as a slow grin inched its way across her dark features, and a slow arch of her brow.

Game on, girl scout.

And then, like the ballerina that Harper was not, the beta twirled into the opposite direct with a playful growl. This would serve two purposes: breaking free of Tallie’s grasp on her scruff, while also smacking her in the face/chest with her booty/tail.

^^
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ooc; 9/20 HP - 1d10 roll - rolled 10
warrior skill
 

She wasn't about to get beaten by a booty shake!

Tallulah huffed as air escaped from her chest, smacked by Harper's sturdier rear in the process of trying to grab her scruff. The beta wasn't playing anymore, and it was just respectful to give all she could back to the other woman. She dove again when the air returned to her body. This time, she crashed her paws directly onto Harper's back, her neck snaking out to try and grab the side of the back of her neck.

She hoped her legs would hold the older woman in place, while her teeth grazed flesh and tried to hold onto the thick fur. Tallulah would begin to fill in a thicker coat before winter as well, but Harper had the displeasure (possibly) of a year-round denser pelt. It meant more to hold onto, and more to shield as well. No blood was going to be drawn, even if her attempted hold was firm and strong. If she lost, well, that was that. She didn't care in the end.

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^^

1 hp left / rolled 10

---

The beta was, by all rights, a force to be reckoned with — sort of in the same fashion that Mordecai was: both lovable creatures that turned into savage fighting machines when loved ones were in danger. The only difference was that Harper loved plants, whereas Mordecai loved food. He loved strawberries, most of all, which was also a plant, technically speaking.

Paws found themselves on Harper’s backside, as teeth followed suit. The goal had been to weigh her down while Tallie went in for a nibble. On Harper’s neck, and Harper smiled.

A nice, healthy smile.

She turned to face the cowgirl, lunging forward; paws in the air to wrap them around Tallie’s smaller neck to bring her to the ground in for the finale.

To which Harper would come to sit on her, with a paw on her head, as she lifted her head into the sky and let out a victory howl.

^^
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ooc; 0/20 left - LOSS (thank gods) 
 

Nice healthy smile - Tallulah would doubt this. With humor, of course. It felt good to lose, despite her ego being somewhat bruised. She gave a startled yelp, not expecting Harper to move so fast. The beta wasn't hefty, but she was also stocky. The piebald expected her to be slower, but she was patient and waited for an opening. Not bad.

With Harper's paws wrapped around her neck, the beta used her weight to more or less slam her to the ground. A paw was placed on Tallulah's head, holding her down and the woman lifted her own head in order to howl in triumphant. In her humble opinion, it was a bit of 'overkill'. Bragging never was a strong suit in her morality. She smarted more in embarrassment.

— Deep inside, the friendly part of the spar didn't seem to be so friendly anymore.

At least she felt Harper was being a bit of a sore winner about it. Tallulah didn't lord it over Ms. Valeska and Ms. Amaranth when she won against them. She wouldn't have displayed it in such a manner if she won against Harper. "Okay, okay" she rumbled against the ground "ya won. Can I get up now?" She kept her civil tone. Tallulah just assumed she was sore about losing, not about Harper's actions.

She'd give the beta the benefit of the doubt. It seemed to be a language barrier, along with a cultural difference.

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^^To Harper, it hadn’t felt like a friendly little tussle to begin with, but she hadn’t let that stop her. It was good to practice the art of combat from time to time, should another sudden war be at their door, or should the war of the west come calling for soldiers — not that Valeska was the type to sacrifice pack folk for problems that weren’t their own.

If Tallie had felt any way about her loss, it was lost to Harper. “That was fun,” Harper cooed, nodding her head and getting up off the smaller girl, who probably hadn’t realized that sitting on folks was Harper’s go-to move.

“Do you’s need any help? I can treat you’s in me den.” She’d nod to her den a moment, then back at Tallie.

“What do you like to do for fun, aside from the tussle?”

^^

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