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For Princess Fairytale for Ancestral Day!

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First he'd wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

All the wolves of Tianlong had seemed to gather in one place this morning, an ornately-decorated alcove off to the side and away from the general riffraff. They were busy placing flowers and piling up stores of succulent meats, speaking in hushed murmurs as they wove between each other with a practiced rhythm; they were preparing for something, but what, he couldn't tell.

Right now, he was wholly focused on a tender cut of deer-thigh someone had just left behind.

Nikolai licked his lips and crept forward on the paws of a petty thief to try and get away with it.

... Hopefully no one would spot him...

If he'd been a slightly less shitty, child, Nik would have immediately succumbed to his baser instincts and echoed the stranger's play-bow with vibrant enthusiasm.

But this was Nikolai.

He did like to play, mind - that wasn't the issue - but there was something far more enticing and far less readily available than another tussle just out of arm's reach. Anyway, he was so small, he almost never won! What was the point of playing if you couldn't win?

The pup licked his lips. Despite his current goal, his little tail still wagged, and every paw twitched with the effort of not mimicking the stranger's posture as she enticed him to join in on the fun she promised.

Unfortunately he as yet lacked the verbosity to express his innermost desires and the dastardly plan formulating within to execute them.

Play... there? he said slyly, lifting a paw and pointing toward the succulent cut of meat nearby. Hungry. If you help, I share?

Not a lot, of course, but he needed a bargaining chip.

To demonstrate his willingness, Nik abruptly dropped into his own play-stance and wiggled in a way that suggested he wanted her to chase him toward the snack... where they might be able to discreetly swipe it away from the festivities.