“Ok.” he replied, watching the fire closely as she left. He may be a guy but he wasn't going to peek at his friend while she shifted. He respected her too much for that… Though it didn't help him from wondering. Frankie quickly shook his head as if to physically derail that train of thought and placed another piece of wood on the fire. Since he considered himself a more responsible camper, he knew he would have to wait until the fire burned out before falling asleep. He smiled welcomingly as he saw Selina’s wolf form sit beside him again.
"Here are these," She said, once again her voice sounding like a low growl if they weren't listening for words in it. Selina set the clothes by him and then turned to get comfortable, laying down in almost a half-moon shape, with her head closest to the fire and her body curled towards him. As she laid her head down on her front paws, she realized how tired she actually was from the day, even if it wasn't much more activity than she was used to.
”Thank you.” he smiled at her as he took the clothes and set them near his backpack, in case she needed them or wanted them in the morning. Frankie stretched his arms over his head and fought back a yawn as he was suddenly feeling more tired than he thought he was. His fingers twitched a little as he looked at Selina, almost wanting to reach out and touch her soft silver fur but he held back. He didn't want to overstep their friendship.
Her eyes flicked around as she rested and tried to get comfortable, the only other movement being her tail as it occasionally twitched or swished. "Feel free to move closer if you get cold, I'm basically a living portable heater with decently soft fur," She said in a gentle growl as she decided she would only fall asleep once Frankie was sleeping and protected.
”Are you sure?” he asked a little surprised by the offer. He would admit that the idea did sound nice but… He didn't want to impose on her. ”I gotta stay up for a while longer to make sure the fire burns out safely first.” he pointed out.
Selina let out a small breath and the corners of her mouth tugged up in an attempt at a smile, "I can watch it Frankie, you need to get some sleep, and yes, I'm sure." She turned her focus to the fire and blinked a few times to try to push away the sleep tugging at her eyelids. It would be difficult to stay awake but she could manage, she was used to late-night patrols and this wasn't much different.
”Ok.” he agreed, a little shyly as he scooted a little closer so he could lay comfortably with her. Frankie had a bit of a blush on his face at the situation even though he hadn't even touched her yet. ”I can stay up with you longer.” he told her, almost feeling like a little kid who was trying to avoid bedtime. ”At least until the fire dies down.”
Her eyes flicked to him and she stopped her tail from swishing back and forth as much so she didn't accidentally hit him with it. "Get some sleep, Frankie," She said, though it was accompanied by her attempt at a smile that made it easy to see that the choice to stay up was completely up to him. A soft breeze started up and made the night almost prettier, with the starry sky and glow from the fire.
He rolled his eyes with a smile before carefully laying down against her. ”Alright.” he finally yawning. ”You weren't kidding, were you. You're really warm.” he commented, still fighting to keep his eyes open a bit longer. Very warm and very soft. he sighed softly.
Selina made a noise similar to a laugh, swishing him with her tail gently and pulling her focus away from the fire for a second to look over at him, "I wasn't kidding at all, fur is really really warm." She rested her head back on her front paws and looked up at the sky, hearing the fire crackle and burn softly in its rock ring. Hopefully it would burn out soon since she once again felt the tug of sleep at her eyelids and even as she pushed the feeling away, she wasn't sure how long she could keep her eyes open.
”Hey!” Frankie laughed as her tail whacked his side. Honestly, he was a little ticklish but so far only his family really knew that. He gave Selina a bright smile before yawning again and looking up at the starry sky. The moment was so serene, it would have been so easy to fall asleep right now… ”What’s an owl’s favorite music band?”
"I don't know, what is it?" She answered, curious and enjoying the conversation breaking up the quiet. A soft hoot from an owl came from in the valley after he asked his question, almost in a response of its own. "Sounds like they want to hear too," She said gently, a large yawn coming over her for a moment before she settled back in next to her friend.
”No. They’re answering.” Frankie smiled a small dorky smile. ”The Who is their favorite band.” he chuckled at the bad joke. ”One of that band's most popular songs literally has the word ”who” in the chorus five… no wait, ten times.” he amended.
Selina thought for a minute and a soft growlish laugh came from her, "That's funny, though I've never heard that song. Maybe you can show me it sometime." She already could tell the fire was dying down, which made her happy mostly because it meant she could get to sleep faster. Even being used to this much activity all day, she was dog tired. (Pun very much intended)
Frankie sighed in relief that she liked the bad joke. He had heard that it was impossible to fall asleep when laughing so he figured he’d try it to help stay awake to keep an eye on the fire. ”Yeah. Maybe I can show you when we go to the city.” he offered, hiding a yawn. His eyes couldn't stay open any longer. ”Sleep well, Selina.”
"Goodnight Frankie." Her eyes flicked to where he laid for a moment, then back up to the starry mess in the sky while she admired it. The view was entrancing and even though it felt like minutes as she looked up at it, when she looked back down, the fire had sputtered out into only coals. It was almost as if a switch had flipped with the change in focus, a yawn and a need for sleep washing over her as she curled closer to Frankie and finally listened to what her body told her to do. Sleep came quickly, leaving no time for her imagination to even spark up before she was out cold.
Frankie slept peacefully through the night. Partly because of the soft sound of nature around them and partly because of Selina’s warmth.
It was early morning when he finally woke up, everything covered in a light mist of morning dew. The feeling of soft fur took him by surprise for the first few moments before his still sleep-addled brain remembered his friend and didn't move so he wouldn't wake her.
Selina was still fast asleep, her body rising and falling with every breath she took and with no other sign that she even noticed he had woken up, especially with only the little movement from him. She seemed peaceful as she slept, calm too, with no notice of how the early morning light reflected and shone on her silver-gray fur.
Frankie smiled softly as she stayed asleep, gently nuzzling against her and closing his eyes. He knew it was too early to be up. Even the sun hadn't quite peaked over their cliff yet, though the sky was definitely lightening.
It was almost instinctive as she curled around him more, providing an almost complete circle of warmth and fluffiness. She didn't stir though, even as the sun continued to come up and the birds began their slightly annoying but pretty early morning singing.
Frankie smiled as she wrapped around him, blushing slightly. He was so comfortable and tempted to fall back asleep… Maybe he did for a few minutes before the bird song brought him back to reality and made sure he stayed awake this time.
Selina woke up as the sun came further into the sky, a ray shining right on her face and making it very hard to stay sleeping. Slowly she cracked open an eye and yawned, stretching until she was sprawled out and no longer curled up. "Good morning," She said, lifting her head up sleepily and looking at Frankie as she slowly woke up.
Frankie slowly got up as she stretched so he was no longer on her. ”Good morning, Selina.” he smiled at her, sitting on his heels as he reached for his backpack. ”Did you sleep well?”
She nodded, resting her head back down on her paws again, "I slept like a rock. How about you?" In her head, she already debated changing back to her other form right away or staying as a wolf, not knowing which would be easier and less of a hassle.
”I slept great. You were surprisingly comfortable.” Frankie admitted with a faint blush. ”Thanks again for that.” he said, pulling out the small bag of trail mix. ”Found it. Hey, you want some? It may not be the best breakfast but it's a start until we get back to my camp.”
"No problem," She said, slowly getting to her feet and smiling. Selina turned and glanced at his food before nodding, already looking around for her clothes from before, "Sure, I'll go shift quick first though." It seemed rude to not shift back to eat, as well as the fact that she ate quite a lot more as a wolf than as a human, not surprisingly.
”Ok.” he nodded with a small smile as he picked up the clothes he let her borrow yesterday. ”Here. Where you looking for these?” Frankie asked, handing them over for her to take.
She nodded, smiling gently and taking the clothes from him before padding off silently. Once again she was trusting him to not look as she quickly shifted and slipped into the clothes again. "Thank you." She said gently once she walked back over, yawning once and sitting back in her spot she had just been laying.
Frankie didn't look back as she changed focusing on splitting the snack instead. He smiled at her as she came back and sat beside him. ”It’s no problem.” he assured her, holding out her half of the light breakfast for her. ”You hungry?”
"Famished," She said, accepting the food and starting to eat immediately. "So, do you want to head straight back to your camp this morning?" She asked between bites, trying to figure out when she would have to return to the pack and relay that there was nothing out of the ordinary on their far borders. At least nothing she had seen.
