“I'd love to head over. It'd be nice for a swim,.”

Leo smiled and waited for her to catch up before leading the way down the path. He would be lying if he said he was disappointed that she chose to tag along. His unique pair of gems did not stray from her any more than he needed to make sure they were going down the correct path. He didn’t like long silences when he was with others so he kept the chat going while they traveled through the land towards their goal.

“So, raised in Blossom, right? Are you in a pack or are you living out in the wilds?”

The continued to talk, just keeping the conversation light and flowing all the way to the lake. On the way there he realized that he really liked her voice. The more time he spent with her, the more he was finding out that he liked about her. Her appearance was what had immediately caught his attention out in the field. Shallow but at least he was honest about it. Her reserved, almost shy aura with a touch of genuine sweetness was the second thing he noticed. He liked that she knew the origin of her name and that she was from Blossom Forest. Now it was her voice. Only time would uncover everything else about her that he might come to love as well.

It wasn’t like she was the first she-wolf to catch his attention… there were several flings and even a couple long-term relationships under his belt. None of those relationships were ended by the other party. What was it? Why couldn’t he commit? For one thing, he always saw himself as too young to settle down. And it just… never worked out. No matter how genuine or strong or serious the girl was, they always ended up as a disappointment. As someone that he would have to carry through life and support on his shoulders until he died. He wasn’t looking for that. Both of them would have weaknesses and strengths but he somehow only found females with strengths that didn’t live up to his own expectations of what he needed in a partner.

All that wasn’t really on his mind right now, though. He never went into a relationship thinking of how or why it might end. He and Kaili weren’t even in a relationship for fenris sake. It was just casual companionship and anything that might come from it would happen in its own time. The ground shifted from packed dirt of the worn down path to soft sand between his scarlet paws and the sound of water gently rolling onto the beach played against his ears. It was comforting. The glassy water reflected the sapphire sky and as they approached the water he nudged her shoulder with his and beamed a grin at her. Leo began picking up speed and once they both reached the edge of the water, he stopped and lifted his paw, gesturing at the water.

“Ladies first.”