Let’s decorate a sky with a bouquet of flowers. Even now, nobody knows that flower’s

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Morning dawned, and Antares meandered on the fringes of doing nothing in particular just yet. Soon, he knew he would go further beyond, patrol proper and see what the day would bring them. Through the late night, he had ranged higher up the elevations, tangling into their mazes to his whims to hunt and range otherwise. Satisfied and refreshed with process there, he was content to move along; he could catch up on the happenings below now, make his way back to duty properly.

He blinked and came into a realization that slowed up his steps first, awareness prickling up his neck to know he was not alone. But, his ear tipped back and keen, he identified this as no worrying threat. Sachiko joined in beside him not long after he even noticed, hardly before he could face her. His greeting was a soft chuff, and she wasted no time comfortable where she found herself.

He would have to keep pace with this, suddenly sharper as he got himself up to speed with what brought her to him this morning. Tiger. Reasonable, fair. At this prospect, he felt an edge of a new frown. Maybe their peace was to be shortlived but two were better than one in case there was something lurking. He didn't want to find cats today, though would do what needed done and maybe be proactive before it could flourish into something worse. “Ah, yeah. Sure,” he agreed on a nod, beginning to seek that mindset needed with a flick to his tail. He stayed close to her. “Think it was any tigers we know?” Good or bad, he thought, and would let her lead to pick the heading to start on from there.

Word on Kuhn had been quiet, after all. He had to wonder when this would change.

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Well, he couldn't exactly argue.. tigerscent had a certain way about it, easy to label it all as offensive and nothing more. He hm-ed gently and stepped on. It was probably best she not involve herself deeply in such discerning details anyway. Safer that way, in the long run--he guessed.

All the same, he was reminded again how close she was, close enough for contact and close enough to draw a continual thread of his focus towards her. Antares didn't want to falter, but he was far out of practice when it came to anyone being, let alone staying, up in his very space like this. She was not a stranger to him though, so he had to give her that much and relax to her company by the second. He just took time, and he knew this about her, to a certain extent.. he thought. It was where he remained, pensively mulling the conversation's tigers, and Sachiko too, from the corner of his eye.

Since it was the topic he could more reasonably grasp at, he would angle at this potential cat for more information. Still.. new cats, he would rather not, no matter how good his nose was--his ears tipped back and he exhaled a slow sigh. “Maybe. Hopefully not new ones,” was the last thing any of them needed, really. They were too big of a gamble when any semblance of normalcy here was fleeting at best. “Where did you smell it last?” Or whereabouts? He gestured his muzzle vaguely and looked to her next for further details to build this picture with.

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It was the most familiar thought to stew in the direction of a lurking tiger, but coming to be not the easiest, most prevailing one to have--a realization that struck him as he watched her pass him by, blinking suddenly. He knew this about Sachiko, though, that she tended to press close and seemed very comfortable doing so. At home with such things, he was secretly, quietly, uncertain about how it made him feel--it wasn't bad, but only alive and following nose first.

Didn't help that she was easy on the eyes, lean muscle and pale furs. All radiating an easy warmth. He kept pace, only a half-step behind and reminded himself to keep a lookout for potential threats, or signs of anything.

If they were lucky, right. “Maybe if the thing truly has enough sense to care...” he groused, a bit belated on the topic of the foreign feline as he peered ahead, nose full of Sachiko instead. He found the cat-shaped sorts to be so hit or miss that he tended not to trust them. It was something to be painstakingly earned instead. But all the same... he was not finding anything to raise suspicions yet despite his efforts, and continued to follow--presumably to where the trees ended, based on her answer. Even with that, he did not have a marked heading in mind. Nothing exact, anyway.

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He recognized the signs of a dangerous game, or at least the very distinct possibility. It could fall neatly between lines, but he felt it have some tangibility when he measured his steps to following her back. Plus, there were still no traces of other predators to warrant that edge he was looking for there on that topic. None fresh enough to even halfway consider... That search was feeling fruitless and in place of it, she moved boldly--present, and very in front of his nose.

He eased up and refocused for a moment to take it in properly, noted the trees, other landmarks, and the rough area to try to remember it as a possibility. If there had been a cat roaming through here any time recently, he couldn't say anymore so going forward, would just have to keep lookout and hope that he could spot it before it could make trouble for the pack--somehow. Which didn't do much else for his here and now.

Not ready to discredit her entirely but still aware this was seeming to have two sides, he exhaled slowly. His tail swayed slow as he watched her too easily look back to him, indicating the mischief starting to shift into his tone too if she was going to lead like that. “Hm.” he breathed, ears just starting to splay faintly. “Maybe it moved on through already,” he supposed, though he still sniffed to nothing. Nothing except Sachiko, really, so her distraction outweighed considerably. He still went striding closer to her, head low and gait easy. Close, but not quite to touch, and almost playful in his last steps. “We have nothing here for it,” he groused because he was tired of cats. Some were fine, they had enough to deal with.

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Sensations light, but so poignant... he drew back his head, canting it slightly as he listened. Antares tried to imagine himself furious, especially over this and came up with nothing that felt right. This left him supposing not.

When she's comfortably warm beside him, fury was a far-away thought, though he recognized the very delicate line this was. While a guarded secret or two of his, he's not exactly a stranger to the notions. But so close to home, it isn't his usual.

He was just as much to blame, if he looked at it right. There was no urgency in him to make distance from something of the sort. “Furious, no..” he answered slowly. “If so, you'd have fooled me,” he chuffed as he conceded, tail flickering back as he let more of himself lean towards her touch. “Was this always the intent..?” Just him? He had taken the bait, only left to wonder where she intended to lead him to, if not to this moment now. So wrapped up in the possibility of a tiger, a threat to the pack that he wouldn't be late for this time, not again--he'd be reeled in elsewhere easily.

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She confirmed, he exhaled slowly, honest enough and able to lean into her contact. Would he have come to such a call? It might depend. He could stay true to a simpler thought, if it struck. Everything got easier each time he did. He also didn't have a lot of reason not to, free to his whims and even his own lonelier tendencies should have an end sometimes. Besides the looming sense that kept him tempered, dutybound on his best of days, he couldn't say no entirely. “I don't know,” he supposed, eyes narrowed as he reflected. As inviting as she might be able to make it, who would he be not to listen?

But he chuffed a soft laugh, able to agree wholeheartedly with that piece and forge ahead on that note. “Definitely more eventful than expected,” he agreed easily, for not every day could he be snared like this--or so he had liked to think. She was close, so he tried to nudge her neck and cheek with his nose. “I should expect the unexpected more..” he drew off and shook his head low, ears tilting back. He knew just what it all sounded like and so did she, but he was finally able to better accept the flow, then breath deep the company.

He glanced ahead of them, to the twisting routes of the pass that lie beyond, trying to gauge what he knew and what he didn't already. It was no easy place, though this already gave it a sense that it could keep a secret--the opportunist was willing to notice.

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Before Antares could even get anywhere ahead of himself, she checked him swiftly by interrupting his line of sight. Evidently to remind him, bringing his focus back down to what was at his nose now, and telling that she read him well enough to see. His ears angled backwards first though, the rest of him drawing closer to Sachiko's pull still as he peered back. Afraid? “What? No,” he exhaled, face warmed, a touch sorry that that was her assumption for his horizon-skimming. “I do appreciate the privacy here, sure,” for he was a little bolder, able to focus better. But if he was seen with her, then so be it. She must not mind being seen with him. “Unless you have.. different plans,” he offered with a sly head tilt, as the sleek swan had already largely guided the course so far.

If anything, she had the family ties here--he just worked for their clan, lived in their claim, watched their offspring grow, of course. He was not royalty-related in these mountains, but he did trust his job security well enough. She was a fascinating beauty, while he considered his own looks much simpler when they were borrowed right from his mother, so mere appearances were not really the issue in his head. He didn't want to complicate anything bigger than just himself, though he could reason that he should loosen the grip sometimes, and just let it be--enjoy. She had singled him out like this, so...

Antares reached low to swipe a lick on her chin, and if she would let him, nosing towards her cheek to deepen the nearness. She had been unapologetically close to him before, so he didn't feel like a complete stranger with the motion. Though, new. He drew back slowly, clicking his teeth mischievously while carefully watching her to see what she would do with the new space.

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