GOD KILLS INDISCRIMINATELY AND SO SHALL WE

Bitch ass Vermier was on a date. He didn't know if @Lycaonia knew it was a date. Maybe he'd tell her later. It could be a surprise. Like if things weren't going well. Especially if things weren't going well. He could pop out of a bush and yell Surprise!

She'd half invited him, but he'd retrospectively decided it was his idea. He swaggered across the sands, his head high and his rump jauntily raised to flourish his phantom tail. Maybe he was Amara's bitch but he was gonna OWN IT cause nobody was going to bring him down on his first date especially himself. This was gonna be fun. He was clearly in a great mood (he'd thought of several pranks to pull) like clear skies at morning.

He'd aimed to range ahead and now spotted a divot in the sand on the high edge of the surf. First target. Looked like buried food. Maybe food that was served in a shell. He didn't know where the beautiful shells she'd collected had come from but he was sure this one would be better because it came from him.

If it was even a shell and not a partially submerged platypus-sponge monstrosity.

He chuffed for her attention and fearlessly began to dig.

Unlike her burly and surly counterpart she wasn't wholly in on the idea of dating @Vermier. Of course, after having spent some time with him there had been found another layer of the beast, one that was tolerable. Yet she had come when he'd chuffed for her, as she had said they could go to the beach together, and so they had.

Pale form crossed the sand, leaving soft indentations in the damp grains. Here the shore was cold as the temperature dropped closer to the water. Had they not been pelted it would feel much colder. Stubbed tail raised behind her as she trotted, sunset eyes finding the man's form moving not far away. The strong musk of Vermier was harder to capture here as the brine and sea-smell overpowered many things like nothing else she had smelled before.

Closer to Vermier's burly form came a spray of sand. She had no earthly idea what he was digging for but surely the beast had his mind made up. If she'd learned anything it was that this lion was more stubborn than any lion she'd met. "Are we making a sand kingdom?" Innocence plastered the blonde face as she peered intently at the hole forming rapidly in the sand. Who knew, maybe Vermier had an inner child afterall.

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GOD KILLS INDISCRIMINATELY AND SO SHALL WE

He was sure @Lycaonia would follow. She was not Dieudonne and therefore she served despite all femininity. His rumpled ears pitched forward intently and several wrinkles on his scarred forehead that retained their mobility also arrayed their signs of focus. He dug and expected to hit pandit soon. Whatever had made this burrow was just... deeper than he thought. And he'd lost track of it. He seemed to just be digging a hole. He frowned as she sidled up. "No!" he grumbled. Sand. He hated it. It was itchy and got everywhere. "Eez... hiding." Literally how could a crab or scallop or whatever hide on sand? He dug more and didn't notice the crabby target of his frenzy flying out.

Spray from the sea seemed to drift up the beach to them, speckling her face now and again. From off to one side and a little behind the stout form of @Vermier interested eyes appeared captivated by the rather large hole the lion was creating. What a spectacle it was to see such a large divet into the soggy ground. Buttery face tilted slightly, as if to question what the beast was doing while at the same time trying to discern if she should help or not.

Disappointment touched lightly at the dismissal of a sand kingdom. Too cubbish for the overly serious lion she was certain of it. Trouble with adults were they never wanted to have fun. Most especially the brutal ones such as Vermier, who only saw his place in the world as the brawn for a family bloodline that she wasn't all that fond of. Of course she lived among them, toying with their pride lands as she scattered shells about the bluffs and freshened the herbs within every few days to help aid in the energy of the lions there. Something she had found was not easily understood.

Head tilted further at the man's words. "What's hiding?" A few seconds would have clarified why the dark brown lion dug so deep. Bright, angry, a discus shaped thing had flown out of the pit in a spray of sand. While she hadn't been the aggressor on its home she was the nearest to the disgruntled crustacean, putting her in the line of fire for something she didn't do. "Ouch!" Above the din of water came her surprised cry as one of the crab's pincers found itself wrapped around one of her buttery toes. Out of surprise and the initial stab of pain she thrust he foreleg out, tossing the crab back into the air to land, even more angry, near the hole. Part of her hoped it pinched Vermier for disturbing it and causing it to pinch her.

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GOD KILLS INDISCRIMINATELY AND SO SHALL WE

He saw nothing in his frenzy. Something of his goal was hidden beneath the earth. The sand, itchy and obnoxious, was pleasurable to terrorize. Although it did not bleed, it had a resistance and moistness that reminded his claws of killing, and also showed his work without flinching away. His ears pitched forward and he frowned as his shoulders worked, churning as his front limbs piled up and down. He found a methodical flow and went with it. To her question he gave a grunt. Dismissive. A slantly, slightly irritated half-growl from his midchest. He was sure when he found treasure it would speak for itself. Must females always hassle him about his methods and his doings? But he did not even see the pinchy thing he dug up or her reaction.

His ears sputtered, half-crippled, toward her anxious cry. His neck whipped around immediately. His head was level, perfectly on point. His mane settled belatedly and raggedly. He stared at her face. Pain. Surprise. Wonderful. He did not know what he had done to elicit it, but he liked it anyway. He didn't notice her leg jutted toward him (it was not a hostile gesture; he ignored it) nor the small, retaliatory lobbed object. It landed by his paw, by the majestic furrow he had dug. He felt ripples in the sand. Reverberations. Reminded him of dancing with war, of the patter of other paws near his as he waged battle on the shore. Against Turrek, against Ulla. Why? He half-grinned, scarred lips tight. "Ah! Zat, I intend." He meant to do that. Whatever that was. He had intended it, orchestrated it; and even if he hadn't intended to dig up the hidden object in quite that manner, he would take credit. "This... thing...." he looked down at it. How trifling it seemed compared to him. "In shell? Very scary! No herb in shell... but--" he extended a paw, claws in and out (jazz hands) to mimic the scared pinched scurrying of the crab. It had gone back into the hole but its burrow was collapsed; it lay on wet, water-logged sand at the base of the pit, still for the moment. "Scary pain! Surprise!" Vermier did have creative and religious capability. For example, whatever she had been doing with shells could be made more interesting by adding crabs.

@Lycaonia

@Vermier would always be a captivating individual if only for his ability to be single-mindedly keep his attention on the task at hand; whereas, someone like Lycaonia lacked the ability to maintain a steady stream of concentration on a task for too long. Eyes were focused on the crab that she'd flung out of surprise towards her date, intent on watching it clamp onto the stout leg rather than her own tender paws. Whatever the creature was she wasn't fond of it, nor of this date so far. Especially when the dark brown face of the brutish man turned to her with a look of satisfaction.

Unlike those of the bluffs she wasn't one to rile easily, thus she allowed the moment to pass without comment. Then, annoyingly, the man she'd accompanied to the beach worked to remind her of why she found him a tad more irritating than she wanted. The uncanny ability of the Dieudonné to twist every chance happening to whatever he desired it to be made her want to roll her eyes, though she resisted out of fear for consequences. Neck craned forth, better view of the crustacean at this angle as sunset eyes peered into Vermier's pit.

They most certainly did not have the same humor. Nutmeg lashes danced over pastel eyes for a few seconds before she looked back to the man. Just as the man had played along with her shell ritual she would play along with his strange humor. "You will fight it?" Sly lips spread, facial expression lightened as buttery toes flexed against the sand, rather impressed by the jazz hands. "You must protect me, no?" Now lashes fluttered coyly, expression feigning drastic innocence as she sidled closer to the burly cocoa form.

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GOD KILLS INDISCRIMINATELY AND SO SHALL WE

She paid less attention to his wit and prowess than he would like. Yet she was careful not to draw his ire. He was therefore frustrated without knowing why, effectively allured, though he was not an innocent young man. The treasure he had dug up seemed to impress her. Perhaps she was afraid. Indeed. He smirked. He knew he was a big manly man. "Absoluement. I bite!" Look she had given him opportunity to impress her and he was Going For It. And without further ceremony he threw himself bared jaws first back into the hole, intent on shaking it out as though it was a gopher.

Maybe she was a bit dense with Vermier's prowess but she was learning that the man was one who took great pride in his strength. There was a softer side somewhere in there; the poetry he'd spoke of on their last encounter had been something that piqued her interest yet she'd cut him off abruptly, too upset about the smashed shell and crushed herbs to want to linger in his presence for too long, lest she say something snarky that would evoke the beast.

Yet today they were here, digging holes on the beach, and her beau was now fighting a crab. Their life together was nothing but interesting considering each time they met felt like some grand adventure even in the smallest moments. "Oh!" Sand sprayed in her face and she had side-stepped to avoid a second rain. Eyes were too intent on the hole, to see if @Vermier actually captured the crab in his jaws. Perhaps it could be a delicacy for them to enjoy together?

"Did you... get it Vermier?" With all the commotion and the ferocity in which the large beast threw himself around there was no telling if the crab met its death or not. All she could see was a bunch of brown hair and lots of sand getting thrown around. Kind of a romantic view of his backside since he was protecting her and all.

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GOD KILLS INDISCRIMINATELY AND SO SHALL WE

He tousled about quite grandly. She murmured in surprise - surely admiring - and he redoubled his efforts so as to appear even more impressive. One thing that could be said for Dieudonne males: they were raised to please the ladies. He made sure to churn the muscles in his shoulders, shrugging his fully grown and (in his opinion) quite sexy mane around the great slabs of bone. He was sexy all right. He could feel her eyes on him. Approving. Yes, and her approval would please Amara too. Get the old hag off his back for a bit. He finally felt that he was done - or rather, she interrupted him, and he took the opportunity to bound up and swirl majestically around, landing back to face her with broad limbs spread and chest heaving. A vanquisher. Between his teeth was only a grin. He had quite forgotten the object of his search in all the digging. "Oui!" which is to say he was sure he had succeeded in doing something, or at least making a very impressive attempt, enough that he thought he could get away with nothing but a smile.

@Lycaonia

Indeed, the backside of her brutish date was quite something to admire. The rump especially, as it was all she could really see besides his thick mane as he flung around sand. Likely the crab had scuttled off in all the tumult, for the brown beast had created quite the mound of sand in his efforts to unearth the pinchy creature. Sunset eyes watched as the beast dug with fervor, a true knight-in-shining armor trying to save her from the evil crustacean that had attempted to injure her. How brave the fierce soul was! Onward she looked as the mane shifted, flowing with the efforts of the man ensuring their safety on the beach. After some minutes and quite the extensive hole on the beach @Vermier had paused his digging, looking to her with delight on his rugged face. "You did good, we're safe now!" Buttery paws carried her forward to try and brush lightly against the thick form of the male, content to offer him a small display of affection in gratitude of his efforts. "Now we should find the best shells to take home."

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