empathicfault | IC Inbox

[Malcolm’s tail wags and as Will stands up, he butts his leg gently with his head. He would love to.]

[ Will smiles in response and lightly scratches between Malcolm's shoulder blades before they get moving. They disembark and there's some navigation and more time in the inter-ring elevators than either of them would care for. But it's kind of worth it to make it as far out from everything as possible.

As they finally step out, the enormity of the outer ring hits Will, as does the lower gravity. The forest is more normal-looking than he expected, even with the occasional too-big salamander noticeable on a tree.

Will takes in a deep breath and lets it out. ]

...wow.

[Malcolm looks up at Will and tippy-taps restlessly. Running time? Time to run?]

[ At the sight of Malcolm bouncing, Will lets out a happy gutteral yell that could sound like a 'yeah,' if one was attempting to put a word to it.

Before he's even stopped yelling, he's taken off from their spot next to the elevator, onto a mostly-cleared path. Malcolm will surely be faster than he is, he won't mind if Will gets a bit of a head start, right? ]

[He loves it in fact. He races after Will, nipping playfully at his heels as he catches up.]

[ Will should probably be more concerned about a wolf- even one that's a friend in shifted form- nipping at his heels.

But he isn't. It's Malcolm, after all. They're only having fun. And maybe there isn't a sun above them, but there are sun-like lights, and the forest itself is very real. And Will feels almost like he's floating with this gravity. He laughs as Malcolm easily catches up and keeps pace with him. ]

Go on, I know you wanna...

[ He's nearly breathless as he says it, but he knows Malcolm can speed ahead. Will wants to see it. ]

[Malcolm likes running with Will, too. Being near him. Smelling his presence. He looks up, sidelong, tilting his head a little. But he only sees exhilaration in Will’s eyes. Encouragement. Excitement. He headbutts Will’s leg - though not hard enough to throw him off his stride - then takes off ahead, jumping over branches and dodging around trees like a grey blur.]

[ Will actually lets out a real whoop as Malcolm takes off. He runs a little further ahead. But he eventually slows down to lean, hands on his knees, as he watches the grey blur zoom in between trees and through the rough.

They'll have plenty of time to run together soon, but seeing Malcolm use his energy and power to its fullest extent is all sorts of satisfying, too. His dogs are fast, but this is something else. He laughs happily as he walks in the vague direction of Malcolm, ready to get sideswiped or approached again at any time. ]

[Malcolm does, indeed, lose him, then has to double back and pick up his scent again. Then he spies him and dashes out of the brush to jump straight at his chest with the aim of tackling him onto his back.]

[ Malcolm surprises him and Will lets out a noise somewhere between a laugh and a yelp as he indeed falls backwards. He hits the dirt without too much trouble, and- wow, wolves are quite large, aren't they? He notices as Malcolm's paws seem to engulf his shoulders entirely.

He grins. ]

You got me.

[Malcolm hunkers down on him, shifting back so he can rest his chin on Will’s chest and look up at his face.]

[ Will smiles back at him, looking slightly shy. And he reaches up as much as he can to encompass Malcolm in a hug. ]

Just remember, you're not always going to have such an easy time of it...

[ He says it fondly, as he rubs at what he can reach of Malcolm's chest and back. ]

You really are beautiful in both your forms, you know.

[In what is both a very Wolf and Man Malcolm gesture, he tilts his head before leaning it into one of those scritches. A little rest for a moment. The best kind before he carefully - almost gingerly - lifts himself off of Will and headbutts his leg.

Come on. He wants to show you something.]

[ Will can see the wolf and the human in Malcolm at all times, it feels, but he always loves it when he sees some sort of tic or behavior on both versions. The scritches continue happily until Malcolm moves.

He's sitting up by the time Malcolm headbutts his leg- and being well-versed in the language, Will smiles and starts pushing himself up to his feet. ]

All right, all right. What's up?

[Malcolm dashes off in the direction he’d come from, but not so quickly that Will can’t keep up.

He leads him through the forest until the space ahead of them opens up into a pond and Malcolm wades right, watching the water, then ducking his head in before running back to Will with a fish in his mouth, not clutched tightly enough to kill it. Its tail flicks. He sets it down at Will’s feet and then looks up at him, pleased with himself. Look! Fishing!]

[ Will follows until they find the pond. Just as he's realizing there's signs of fish in it, Malcolm grabs one out of the water like he's at a grocery store. Will stares at the flopping fish with an almost disbelieving chuckle. ]

That- that was amazing! Perfect form, and it's... [ It's still flopping around on the ground. ] Oh, we're gonna have a good time here.

You mind if I throw it back in? I assume that's why you were so careful.

[Malcolm looks at him, then points his snoot towards the pond. Yes. Put it back in. Please.]

[ Will wouldn't have minded making a trophy dinner out of it, but he knows that's not really how Malcolm thinks about these things. So he nods and scoops up the fish, sliding it back into the water with a practiced hand at these things.

It's nice to watch them slip away back into the darkness of the water, too. ]

I would've figured the fish would be more...farmed, here. Nice to know there's some wild ones.

[Malcolm tippy taps a little. He's excited. He made a good find, right? Will's happy.]

Yeah, this is great.

[ Will is very happy. It's the sort of place he'd imagine if he needed an escape. He finds a flat rock close by and stands on it, looking over the pond. ]

I'll mark this place down. We can come back and fish. And I could get your help with catch-and-release...we could collect some of these in our Barge pond, too.

[ After Will's fishing lesson, it's been in slight need of restocking. ]

[Malcolm dances to the edge of the pond and back. He agrees. He might have to be a human again for that, though. He looks up at Will. What does he want to do now?]

[ Will stares at the pond for a long moment before looking over to see Malcolm staring at him. He chuckles. ]

I was drifting again, huh? Let's see what else we can find. C'mon?

[ It's phrased as a question, but Will kicks off the rock and starts running again. This is more the pace he'd take with his dogs, not the flat-out run-for-your-life dash he tried before, but he has to go slower to avoid rocks and twigs.

There's a whole lot of open woods here. They could run through the whole port and still not see it all. If feels freeing. ]

[Malcolm dashes after him, to run alongside Will, at his pace, tongue hanging out.]

[ They run for a long while, coming across a stream and another pond along the way, a couple of small hills and- this is a lot more like real nature than Will expected. Maybe not all of it is the nature he's used to, but he loves it.

He finally stops in a little clearing, after having to fight his way through a blackberry bush that he didn't see. He breathes heavily as he leans down, hands on his knees, then rolls to a seat on the grass. ]

Damn...it just keeps going! [ He says it with a laugh in his breathless voice. ] Should've packed a lunch...

[As soon as Will sits, Malcolm flops down beside him and rests his head in Will's lap. When Will mentions lunch Malcolm lifts his head and tilts it back towards the last stream with a faint questioning whine: want him to get you a fish?]

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