Trespassers in the Pridelands were nothing new. King Simba, by now, was known far and wide for his story — and many wanted either to meet him or antagonize him. Though Kopa was told strictly not to talk to strangers, it didn't exactly stop him.
What's wrong with their face...s?
The cub knew better than to say it out loud, but he was certainly caught off guard. He had never seen anything like it before.
It wasn't the first time she'd gotten in trouble for biting, and it wouldn't be the last. Now, she was settled with sitting on the porch during the late evening. He hoped he hadn't bitten Darling too hard.
He shuddered at the nipping cold as a shadow was cast upon the sidewalk outside of the yard's perimeter.
"...Who's there?" She called out to the vaguely dog-shaped figure.
A sweltering, windy evening had, as everyone knew, brought a loud thunderstorm. Luckily, most of the storm itself had passed, and now it was pouring; the occasional silent flash of lightning in the far distance, miles from Wolfpoint, was only just visible from where he sat at his desk.
Max’s ears lifted. Someone was approaching the office. But it was late, and he was momentarily puzzled.
The steps got closer, and the wolfdog was rising from his seat when the door opened up. His deputy, Teddy stood there; he was soaking wet from the pouring rain, head to toe.
“Teddy!” Max half-exclaimed and half-huffed in surprise as he hurried up to his mutt friend. “I knew you were gonna be back late, but not this late! Wherever you were, you should’ve been back to town sooner.” His tone was stern, but had a clear worried undertone. “Get in here, Ted, I’ll grab you some diff’rent clothes. Why in the hell didn’t you have a raincoat?”
"Heh - Max, the hell r' you wearin'?" Teddy could barely speak through his chuckling, acting as if this was the funniest thing in the world. "Where'd you even get that, huh?" Still, he leaned in to wrap his arms around the wolfdog. "Cmere' you big lug!"
The gray-and-silver canine furrowed his brows, very puzzled. “What’re you talkin’ abo-…”
Suddenly his deputy’s arms were around Max, and he stiffened, his tail bristling in shock. “Teddy, what- what’s… what am I wearing?”
Carefully, the wolfdog pulled away and looked down.
The first thing he noticed was the print on his shirt.
Immediately, Max startled and tugged his vest tighter around himself, ears flattening and burning at the tips. “I don’t know,” he muttered through gritted fangs, glancing around nervously. “I didn’t see the lettering on this or what it said. How the hell did it get into my office?!” he whisper-snarled; he inhaled, calming himself down, and let out a sigh.
“…I’m going back to the office and changing, Ted. You can have this shirt, if you want- you’re more of a hugger than I am, anyway. Just keep it away from me!”
[ 🫀 ]ㅤ.ㅤwho taught them what love is ? did it hurt ?
melody’s understanding of love is that someone who shows up for you again and again and gives you their positive attention and helps you meet your needs is someone who loves you. that came once she was concious enough to form a connection to her father; before that, as a larva, she could at least rudimentally put together ‘this giant moving thing (dad) = good’ and show a responsiveness to him because his presence meant she would be warm and fed. basic needs developed into ‘he’s my dad and he takes care of me!’
and the love did hurt because one day he just vanished with no hint of when he would come back! it isn’t so bad since melody has faith that he’s ok and things will return to normal so long as she goes home, but after living out a routine with her sole loved one and single other living being in her life at that time for so long the hurt still lingers in the form of separation anxiety, fear of solitude, and some sleepless nights.
I've mostly just been lurking but DJDKSK do I loove Melody, she scratches that little cute-xenofiction-with-slightly-dark-undertones spot in my brain. I want to put her in a pot and lovingly feed her warm soup.
I know sometimes writing can be kind of scary and shit but !! you keep trucking fuck yeah !!! 2026 year of the fly
let's say goodbye to 2025 and greet 2026 with open arms. / @stonesreef
thank you stone!!! i am always happy to see you pop in and that melody can scratch a xenofiction spot at all means so much to me, like that is what i aspire to achieve 😭 you would become her new favorite person, she would happily live in that pot forever
2026 year of the fly i believe it and i will be soo brave about it!!! 🪰❤️
(🐺) One of Max’s traumatic experiences was when he was jumped by a few boys in his class on his way home from the schoolhouse. He was ten years old at the time.
TW for physical and verbal bullying, humiliation, animal injury, and blood.
The three boys were triplets, bloodhound pups; they were in the woods and far enough from the school that nobody could hear Max yelling for help.
After the brothers decided to stop beating him, one of them gave him a last kick to the back and snickered, “it ain’t worth beatin’ him no more. This is gonna hurt worse than that.”
He pressed his nose against Max’s after gripping his muzzle to force his head towards him, stared into his eyes, and grinned. “You’re never gonna be nobody. Y’hear me, half-breed? You gon’ end up all beat up one day, jus’ like now, an’ nobody’ll help ya. Ain’t no way somebody’d help a wolfdog.”
When they left, Max lay there for at least an hour, too scared to get up, until his father, who’d grown worried, found him and carried him home.
…
“What happened, son?” Silver asked as he sat his boy down on the front steps of their house. “Who did this to you?”
Max wiped at his nose with his sleeve. A little smear of blood stained the fabric. “…a couple kids snuck up on me,” he murmured. “Said I wouldn’t be anybody when I grow up ‘cause I’m a half-breed.”
Silver pressed his forehead against the pup’s, as he always did for him and his little sister when they were upset.
“You will prove them wrong, Max. Don’t try to think of a way to get back at them. It won’t make you feel better. All you have to do, my son, is keep your head up. They don’t know better because their parents have told them wolves are evil and dangerous. Not to be trusted.”
He put a massive, but gentle paw on the child’s shoulder. “You are stronger than they are because you are half wolf. All canines are strong, but wolves are the strongest. We are bonded as one- as a family.”
“You will be a great beacon one day. That I can promise you.”
