Hayley

[thisismybar]

Ric was... happy. Being able to sleep with Hayley -and really just sleep, god knew the sex wasn't lacking- even with Damon acting as a guard dog, had been good for him. No new bodies turning up, not missing chunks of time, those were pretty good, too. They weren't quite enough for him to let his guard completely down, but he didn't think there was going to be a whole lot of sleeping going on tonight, anyway.

And if there was, well, tonight Hayley would be even more equipped to play guard dog and take care of him. Elijah's reassurance helped keep that one metaphorical and mildly amusing.

He dumped the last load of camping gear onto the ground, and looked up at the sky to check the weather. "I don't think we're going to have to worry about being rained on tonight, but we should probably set up the tent." Who knew what tomorrow would bring,and it would be easier to relax somewhere enclosed. And limit bugs.

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[thisismybar]

Ric stayed a bit away from the fire, and well away from her, so she wouldn't associate him as part of the pain or see him as a threat, but crouched down and held his hands out to her. Very quiet, very seemingly calm, but dear god her distress almost hurt him. "It's okay."

[littlewolf_girl]

She turned at the sound of his voice, spun low and crouched down, more defensive than anything, but his scent hit right after his voice and she straightened, moving toward him warily to sniff at his outstretched hand with a little whine. It hurt and she was happy to see him, but it hurt.

Apparently familiarity meant he wasn't quite the immediate distraction he was before.

[thisismybar]

He waited for her to sniff at his hand before he settled back on one heel. He didn't try to pet her, just kept his position open so she could settle as she wanted, in his lap or beside him, or somewhere else entirely. Letting her recover without being manhandled seemed important. "I know. I'm sorry."

[littlewolf_girl]

In his lap sounded lovely, really, but she was a little too big for that. She did scoot closer and lay down against him with her head on his knee, though. Leaning into him, she licked lightly at his hand, just a nuzzling sort of greeting, before sighing. She'd be fine in a minute and ready to play, but she was apparently taking a second to snuggle first.

[thisismybar]

As far as Ric was concerned, this very much counted as her in his lap. He waited for her to settle, then responded to her nuzzling by lifting a hand to very lightly, gently, stroke his fingers over her fur. Trying to be soothing and reassuring, rather than anything else. Barely there, really, since she hurt.

[littlewolf_girl]

She followed his hand, working to get her head more against him, feeling better and wanting more pets. Still more quiet than last time, when it had been so exciting to have a human there. Not that she wasn't totally happy to see him again, but. Not so bouncy, yet. Give her time.

[thisismybar]

He didn't need her to be up and bouncing about. As she settled more, so did he, sitting flat on the ground rather than crouching. He gradually grew a bit heavier with his touch, but only a bit. He was still treating her gently, and carefully, and would likely continue to do so. He'd certainly pet and snuggle for as long as she wanted.

[littlewolf_girl]

She closed her eyes and let her healing finish up and make her feel better, while his touch was soothing and warm and made her feel safe. Eventually she pulled back and sat up a little, tilting her head to look at him, then leaned in and licked his cheek--tongue not quite so dry as that of a cat, but nowhere near as slobbery as a dog's either.

[thisismybar]

And just a little rough. It made him smile. "You're welcome," he said, quietly, and ran his hand over her fur, one more time. He got back into a crouch, from there. "You ready to go, or you want to hang out here and be quiet a little longer?" He was talking to the wolf just like Hayley - maybe a little more simply- but it was as much for his benefit as her's. Probably more for his, actually.

[littlewolf_girl]

She didn't mind him talking, even if she only understood a bit of it. He had a nice voice, especially when he kept it quiet like that. She bumped her head into his shoulder lightly, then stood up, shaking herself off with a little sound that was almost a growl, but mostly just expressing her discontent with having to spend any of her time healing.

[thisismybar]

He was getting pretty used to her vocalizations, and didn't really keep thinking every growl or grumble was an aggressive sound. He climbed to his feet when she stood and shook it off, pretty literally. "Give me a minute to stick a ball in my pocket," he said, even as he was ducking into the tent. "Then we can go do whatever you want."

[littlewolf_girl]

Her ears perked at "ball," some vestige of the girl's knowledge supplying an image enough to intrigue her. The tent, however, intrigued her more. Usually when they'd gone out with a pack and had a campsite, they'd turned away from it, and nothing had drawn the wolves back before turning back.

So...she followed him. Poking her head in, she sniffed, then--catching mostly his and the girl's scent, she pushed in behind him curiously.

[thisismybar]

Ric had a moment of... not fear, but concern, when she followed him in. He could only hope that she didn't decide everything in there was some sort of toy, but if she did... well, he supposed there were worse things. He fished the hard, rubber ball out of his pack and held it up. "This is what I came in for. Do you want to sniff around, first?"

[littlewolf_girl]

She completely ignored the ball for the moment--his pack was far more interesting and she nudged past him to bury her nose in it, sniffing and nosing through it to find out what was in there.

[thisismybar]

A change of clothes, mostly. Another ball or two. Flask with bourbon. Nothing unusual, he didn't think. "...What are you doing in there?" It was rhetorical. Like hell he was going to stop a wolf doing whatever the hell it wanted.

[littlewolf_girl]

She kept nosing around in the pack, grabbing a ball with her teeth and pulling it out, shaking her head a little from where the bag had caught on her fur here and there. The ball was...odd feeling between her teeth and she couldn't quite figure out what to do with it, finally shaking her head a little harder and sending it flying.

She promptly had her nose back down Ric's bag.

[thisismybar]

Ric tilted his head the other direction, wondering what in the world - "There's no food in there...."

No idea what she was after, at all, but still not willing to argue with her about it. Anything in there, she could have. Nothing was important or valuable. Except maybe the alcohol. That was at the very bottom, though, and regardless of his status of physical addiction, he wasn't going to wrestle a wolf for his fix.

[littlewolf_girl]

She continued to ignore him until finally wriggling back free of the bag...this time with his t-shirt. She promptly dashed back out if the tent with it, carrying it over to near the fire and dropping it on the ground, nosing it and pawing at it gently until it was securely settled there, not likely to get blown away by the wind.

[thisismybar]

Ric followed her back outside, ball still in hand, and stared. He blinked a few times, head tilted to the side. "If you want it, it's yours." Still not taking it away, but she'd clearly made herself a bed by the fire.

With his shirt.

It was adorable.

[littlewolf_girl]

She finally graced him with a look, then came loping back nudging impatiently at the hand holding the ball. Playtime! Now!

[thisismybar]

Ric stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Yes, your highness..." And flung the ball.

[littlewolf_girl]

She remembered the stick game well enough to go racing after it, sharp eyes tracking it easily. A regular wolf probably would have had to let it fall, just not quite that fast, but she had a vampire's speed like this. So, while she didn't quite blur after the ball, she did move fast enough and jump to catch it in the air.

[thisismybar]

He eyed her. "Does this mean I'm supposed to come chase you to get it back?" A wolf fetching, he had a hard time imagining. Of course, he also had a hard time catching her.

[littlewolf_girl]

She tilted her head, watching him, then loped easily back to him. Dropping the ball on the ground, she jumped up on him a bit, paws hitting his chest. She was careful not to do it too hard, but whether he kept hs feet or not wasn't clear.

[thisismybar]

He was starting to bend down when she jumped up, so he definitely hit his butt, but he did it without a lot of force, and laughing, and as the result of his own off balance position. He dug the fingers of both hands deep into her fur, and scratched briskly. "You're not at all shy about physical affection like this, are you...?"