[FIN] Story of my Life [Jenn]

[Lucca]

Arkady panted a bit, bouncing along with his sister, too caught up to even make sure his bounces were lined up with hers. His eyes never left the food, though he sat obediently, ears tilted forward hopefully. "ThankyouMissBetsy," the little Coyote managed to get out in his quiet voice before stuffing his face into the food inelegantly. It was warm, and good, and he could hear his sister eating next to him...this was how meals should always be. He always felt more comfortable being himself when he was just with her, or at least just with his family. And part of him hoped that Laika felt safe around him. He knew he would protect her, no matter what. He'd never let her starve or get hurt.

They were twins, and twins were supposed to stick together. They'd been born within seconds of each other. Though he'd never actually been told this directly, he just had a sense of it. His tail was wagging and he licked up the last bit of gravy and turned to see if Laika was done, too, muzzle turned in a happy smile.

[The Jenn]

Wagging her tail like mad as she devoured the meal, which had been worth the wait now that she was full and not hungry anymore, Laika licked the last few smears of food off of the plate before looking up. Her brother was done already, good.

Because that meant treats sooner! She grinned back at him, leaning over to bump him with a shoulder affectionately. They were a team. No one could resist their faces when it was both of them! They might be able to say no to just one, but two sets of eyes pleading with them? Puppy eyes? So similar except for their hair? It worked like a charm. She wasn't dumb.

"So Betsy's gonna give us treats. And they're gonna be good. But then what should we do? We're out now, so it would be silly to go back before bedtime. And maybe if we do something somewhere quiet, they won't find us until after bedtime. And then we'd get to stay up late!" Ever her goal, the elusive prize of 'up past bedtime'.

[Lucca]

Arkady made a small, happy noise in the back of his throat at the shoulder bump, pushing back lightly and feeling his tail start to wag harder. That had been a good meal, and now that they'd both had their fill, he knew he had energy to burn. He gave a happy little hop-prance, subdued when compared with most small puppies but a very excited action from him. He was sure looking forward to the treat...he hoped it was cookies! Or maybe...hmm, had he smelled that lovely heavy cake cooking while they'd been in the kitchen earlier?

He nodded happily to Laika's words, but then tilted his head. Part of him didn't like the thought of not being there at the normal time to get in bed...what if he didn't get the same spot, right at the very edge of the bed near the faded rose on the blanket?...and the idea of being late made part of him feel squozzy and weird. But if he was with his twin, it would be okay, right? As long as the two of them were together...

"Well, whatever you wanna do, Lai," he replied dutifully. After all, it was his duty as her twin brother to protect her, and to go along with what she wanted (unless it was dangerous). Still, in the interest of being a good brother, he tilted his head in thought to try and settle on a suggestion. "We could play out in the garden." It might take the adults a while to find them there...

[The Jenn]

"The gardens... are a great idea!" Laika enthused, hop-prancing in a much more springy fashion than he had just done. She continued to dance from foot to foot in excitement, wondering where in the gardens they could get to this time. There were so many twists and turns around the rose bushes that it made a perfect play maze

"Thanks, Ark!" she yipped before running back into the kitchen. Somebody would find and pick up their plates later.

Betsy delivered on the promise of treats and made sure both of them had good-sized portions of the heavy cake that had been baking in the oven. It had only just come out ten minutes ago and was juuuuust cool enough to cut, or so she whispered to them. Before adding that maybe it was a little too hot to cut still, but that she could handle a little fussing from the cook for a pair of cute faces like theirs. Then she shooed them out of the kitchen, grinning as they scooted. Horace would fuss that she'd left a messy edge while cutting, but she could distract him just fine.

Full of food and cake and energy - at least for a little while, until she crashed from a full stomach - Laika raced her brother to the gardens.

[Lucca]

Arkady perked right up as Laika liked his idea! His tail started wagging fast and furious, setting nearly his entire lower half to shaking as he danced a bit on his paws. "Anytime!" he replied happily, dashing forward to give her face an affectionate lick before falling into his normal pace behind her, tail still wagging hard enough to practically lift him in the air.

The cake was lovely, and he repaid Betsy with several sloppy kisses and puppy grins, so very glad that they'd been able to find her and that she was always so generous! They'd never go hungry as long as she worked in the kitchens, he knew it! Panting with exhilaration, he dashed off with Laika, and if he'd been a noisier child he would have been barking loudly. As it was, he merely ran as fast as he could, tongue lolling out of his mouth and large puppy feet miraculously not tripping him. He hadn't quite figured out use of his Spade ability for speed, yet, so it was at a normal high energy puppy pace that he pounded down the corridors. He was usually a more reserved child, but at four years old, and full of food and sugar, even the quietest puppy has energy to spare!

Of course, Laika still beat him to the gardens, but that was okay. Nice brothers didn't mind if their sisters could beat them in a race. Especially since he usually did win...wrestling! With almost no warning, he moved to tackle his sister into the grass as soon as he saw sunshine.

[The Jenn]

Laika more than made up for her brother's quiet with little panting yips every few bounds, her strides as long as the little legs would let her run. She was stuffed, but not so stuffed that she couldn't run! The early evening sunshine slated down through the doorway and she tried to lengthen her already long strides, pretending that she was going faster. Maybe even flying!

Until Ark came up behind her and her face hit the grass! She let out a startled yipe! and rolled with it, legs flailing in uncoordinated retaliation as she tried to wiggle off her back and swing her neck at him. Mouth, mouth, mouth was grasping but he was keeping out of her way!

Playful puppy growls and grunts and squeals came from the pile of Solandrian fluff as the pair of them rolled on the grass like a pair of... well... puppies. The one gardener within earshot rolled her eyes and stayed away from whatever the children were doing. It was time for him to get some dinner and he didn't want to get caught in something disciplinary for hours if he didn't have to.

[Lucca]

Yessss! His little ploy had worked! Ark's tail kept up its wagging as best it could even while he rolled with his sister in the grass, trying with teeth (not too hard, of course!) and paws and legs and arms to grab and pull and pin. All that nice, thick fur meant they didn't have to worry too much about hurting each other. Even the quiet boy was growling playfully as he chomped on Laika's ear and tried to push her under him for that final pin.

He could almost smell victory! Well...if victory smelled like trampled grass and roses and Solandrian musk, at least. The pair had rolled right off the path almost immediately and were heading right for one of the rose bushes, covered in thorns and delicate, fragrant blossoms. Of course, Arkady didn't even notice, since his world was limited to just his sister and trying to pin her at the moment...

With a final roll, he thought he might have her right where he wanted her, and he grinned...not noticing they'd rolled right under the rose bush, since he could barely even feel the thorns through his fur.

[The Jenn]

Laika's wears were thin enough that the chomp made her squeal, but less in pain than indignation. The distraction worked its magic and Ark managed to roll both of them right under a rosebush. She barely noticed, too worried about squirming and kicking and writhing to get back up! There was a rock digging somewhere under her fur, near her hip, but it was just pressure against the fur.

He actually did win this one and she groaned, all at once relaxing into a boneless puppy sprawl of submission. Then she opened her eyes back up - and yelped when she saw a thorny branch less than two inches from her eye!

The boneless sprawl turned into a tense, confused flail, which only served to make her more aware that... yes... she might just be trapped. Her tail wouldn't pull all the way. One of her back legs felt likewise trapped. And her brother on top of her was fine, but she thought there might be thorns under her back and if she was pressing down on them then they were probably caught too.

She thrashed once, twice, and started a distressed, repetitive howling whine.

[Lucca]

Ark's tail wagged when she submitted to him, and he moved to get off of her. Or, well, that's what the young Coyote fully -intended- to have happen, but the reality was that his tail got caught on something and when he tried to move off his sister, he found himself tangled enough that he only awkwardly flopped to the side. He blinked around, confused, and caught his breath as he saw they were caught in a rosebush. Oh no...

His ears flattened as close to the side of his head as they could and he whimpered as his sister started HOWLING. And didn't he feel like the worst brother ever right now? He had to do something! Whimpering, he nuzzled Laika, touching noses with her in a helpless gesture of comfort, but that wouldn't be enough, not this time. He looked around (as much as he could in the cramped space) trying to see what it was that mostly had them trapped. He moved to try and gnaw on one of the branches trapping his sister, ignoring the nasty woody taste of the bush, and his sharp puppy teeth managed to finally snap the branch. "Okay, Laika? Try to move your--" his words trailed off into a sharp yelp as he tried to move his head and found that thorns had snared his Mohawk!

[The Jenn]

Sleeping comfortably in the palace garden, Fluffy's peaceful rest was disturbed by a sharp, alarmed noise from a short distance away. Dark purple eyes snapped open in confusion and she blinked, stretching her mussed limbs on the warm rock. That wasn't a good noise at all. Her ears flicked around before finally settling back at half-mast from the disturbance.

It sounded distinctly distressed, and very canine. Young. "Mrph," she grumbled sleepily, yawning and stretching again before she stood. Then she trotted in the direction of the noise.

Meanwhile, Laika found herself hyperventilating at all the thorns around her face and in her fur that she couldn't feel much of but nevertheless knew they were there because they wouldn't let her move! White-rimmed eyes stared Ark's way when he gave her a comforting lick and she whiiiiiiiined. "How do we get ooooout? We're trapped!"

Then something blue caught her eye on the side and she twisted her neck around to catch sight, but in vain. She couldn't move that much without getting her eyes way too close to the thorns. This was an old bush! The roots were huge! "Is someone there?" she asked pathetically.

Fluffy peeked her head down and through some of the leaves and flowers. There were definitely people in there. It sounded like two. "Meer."

"Fluffy!"