Wolf pack

A Walk in the Park

"Anyone want to play Go Fish?"
Fay sat there on the floor, pulling out the card game she discovered by chance.
Nimera walked and sat on the bed, crossing her legs and moving into a meditative pose. "No thank you." Another moment she faded from view as shields went up.
Fay then looked to Nate and Melody, holding up cards for them.
Nate politely took Melody's hand. "Sorry Fay, we didn't get to finish our date. I would love to another time though." He didn't mention he had no idea how to play.
"Oh." Fay looked sad for a moment, but then put the other hands of cards on the ground in front of her. "No problem, I'll just play Go Fish with myself!"
Before they could respond, she was already intently looking at her own cards.
Melody walked at Nate's side as they exited the door and started down the hallway.
"Sorry it ended so abruptly Melody. I wanted our date to be longer."
"Don't worry, I enjoyed it anyway. Besides, we have more time now."
"We do."
As they walked down the hall Nate noticed flowers on a table set out for decoration. He reached out and removed one, realizing it was plastic the moment he did. "Oh. It's fake."
He paused a moment, then handed it over to her. "Well, I am glad in this crazy world, you are real."
She smiled, and took the flower.
They reached the end of the hall, looking into the falling snow on the other end of the glass door.
"Mind joining me for a walk?"
"Of course."
Melody felt the cool air rushing inside as they opened the door. She held back a shiver, following at Nate's side down a familiar sidewalk. It was the same one they had taken before when they were first scouting out the area. This one led to a park not far away. She was sure that was where they were going. It was close to nature as they could get at the moment.
They walked in silence. At first it was uncomfortable, as they both wondered if the other had something to say. Another moment and they may have thought something was wrong. However, as their walk continued the silence grew friendlier. Nothing was wrong with the silence. No words needed to be said, it was simply enough to be with each other.
They walked through the snow, and found themselves at the park, right as Melody had expected.
"It is pretty outside." Nate remarked.
"Yeah, it's pretty cold too."
That's when Nate noticed Melody's shiver.
"Oh." He blinked. "Want my jacket?"
"Sure."
Nate removed his heavy jacket and placed it around her shoulders, letting his arm rest around her for just a moment. The cool air surrounded him, but he didn't mind it.
Melody was surprised at the warmth that filled her. The black leather smelt like him. The soft black fur on the inside held her gently.
She smiled at him. "Thank you."
He took her hand again, and they continued on their walk on the path.
The air was refreshing, and light snow dusted the ground and trees. The snow clung gently to her new boots, threatening to freeze her toes. Melody was relieved they were spending the winter in civilization. It was far too cold to live in the wilderness.
She was happy to be alone with Nate again, but realized she had no idea what to say to him. Social skills were lacking.
"Oh look, a park bench." She remarked, grasping for conversation.
Nate only nodded as the walked on, passing the wooden seat. A moment later he stopped walking. Melody stopped in turn and looked at him.
"Want to sit down?"
"That would be nice."
They found themselves headed back to the park bench and sitting down.
Nate sighed, looking across the frozen grass. The trees the pack had talked under with the pack earlier was visible across the other side of the park. A playground sat right in the middle of the park, appearing blurry in the snow. Only a short distance away from it was another bench facing a duck pond where Anu had proposed.
Nate couldn't help but think about them. Anu and Cleo seemed so natural at everything, working as a team so well. His charm possibly the only thing Nate could envy Anu for.
His mind shifted back to Melody, who was sitting silently at his side, hands in the oversized jacket.
He sighed to himself. "Sorry, I am not very good at this."
She knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Don't worry, me either." She carefully slipped one cold hand into his. "We can figure it out together."
Nate smiled at her, squeezing her hand and gazing back out over the park. He looked at her from the corner of his eye.
Her blonde hair was curled slightly with the white snow resting within it. Blue eyes were shining ever so slightly, reflecting the scene before them. The jacket nearly drowned her. She was beautiful.
Nate gently leaned over, closing his eyes and offering her a kiss. He frowned a moment later to find he had only managed to hit her nose.
Melody started laughing, then even harder as she saw his expression of defeat.
He managed to crack a smile, then laugh along with her.
She let go of his hand, moving it to rest on his cheek. "Ok, that was pretty bad."
"Yeah... sorry."
Melody softly shook her head, still holding in laughter.
"Lets try that again."
With that, Nate wrapped his arms around her and relaxed as the kiss he wanted embraced him.