update from sparkleup

writing/post-self/motes/003.md

@@ -23,3 +23,43 @@ Her hunter was quick. Motes was not: she had stubby legs; she was soft; she was
 Her hunter was nimble. Motes was not: it was hard to maintain a tight turning radius with all of the above working against her.
 
 Her hunter was smart, but then, so was she. That was her strength. That was how she would win. That was how she would *survive.*
+
+Rebounding off a tree and wincing at a sudden spike of pain in her shoulder, she made a hard turn to the right once more and darted toward her hunter rather than away, pressing the attack — or at least aiming for surprise — rather than simply running and running.
+
+There, a flash of fur amid the trees. A flash of fur and sudden, wild laughter.
+
+She picked up the speed into an all out sprint. Her pursuer darted off at sharp angle and, as it did so, a brick wall spiraled into being before her, only a few feet on a side, and yet directly in her path, a few paces away. She had just enough time to fork mid-stride and let the new instance continue in her sprint while the old crashed into the wall with a thud, then quit.
+
+*"Attaaaaack!"* she hollered.
+
+"Oh! Oh oh oh!" came a voice from out the trees and her prey skidded to a halt, quickly reversing direction and racing toward her instead.
+
+*A game of chicken, then!* she thought, grinning fiercely.
+
+The two ran directly at each other, weaving slightly to make their way around the occasional tree.
+
+It was Motes who caved first, ducking down onto paws and knees at the last second before the critter, who deftly leapfrogged over her with a dopplered giggle.
+
+"Gotcha!" ey cried, scampering off to the forest.
+
+Motes galloped after her, giggling.
+
+A few more rounds of leapfrog and both Motes and Warmth collapsed in the clearing in the woods, panting and laughing. They shoved at each other for a few seconds, rolling about in the grass and wildflowers before sprawling out on their backs, looking up into the cloud-dotted sky.
+
+"You know," Warmth said reaching over to poke Motes in the belly. "If you were not such a fatty, you could probably outrun me!"
+
+"But I like being a fatty!" Motes countered. "If you were not such a string bean, you...you would...uh...."
+
+"Uh huh?" the other skunk prompted, grinning. "What would I do, my dear? Pray tell!"
+
+Motes laughed and tore up a pawful of grass, tossing it ineffectually at her cocladist, who merely returned the gesture.
+
+Which Offers Heat And Warmth In Fire was a skunk like her, small like her, but had wound up wiry and lithe, perpetually untameable fur stained here and there with green or yellow as if ey had been caught rolling in the grass and dandelions and run off before bothering to wash. It was her friend of friends, a superlative acquaintance that had led to a bond unbreakable.
+
+They elbow-crawled over to drape unceremoniously over Motes's front, sighing now that it had caught eir breath. "You are a nerd," they said. "But I guess I like you all the same."
+
+"Pff, call me a nerd," Motes scoffed, petting Warmth's fur up backwards to muss it all the more. "At least I am a cute nerd!"
+
+"You are that," the other skunk admitted. "So am I, mind. Probably cuter than you."
+
+"Mmhm mmhm mmhm." She grinned over at Warmth. "What have you been working on, anyway?"

writing/post-self/motes/index.md

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ Story about Hammered Silver losing her shit and cutting out the fifth stanza for
 
 * [o] [Intro](001) --- About Motes; Motes paints; Beholden and boss are heading out; Dry Grass comes over.
 * [o] [Sasha speaks](002) --- Motes gets fucked (and fucked up); talks with Sasha about what happened.
-* [ ] [Warmth speaks](003) --- Collab: visiting Warmth and Rye; The Warmth/Motes Dynamic™; discussing the nature of being an outcast (viz both Dear being a shit as well as Hammered Silver cutting off part of the ninth). Good option for Slow Hours/talking about her, too, so that the next bit makes sense.
+* [.] [Warmth speaks](003) --- Collab: visiting Warmth and Rye; The Warmth/Motes Dynamic™; discussing the nature of being an outcast (viz both Dear being a shit as well as Hammered Silver cutting off part of the ninth). Good option for Slow Hours/talking about her, too, so that the next bit makes sense.
 * [.] [A nightmare](004) --- Motes has a nightmare; Motes joins Beholden and A Finger Pointing to calm down.
 * [ ] [A letter from Hammered Silver](005) --- The letter; going for a walk as big Motes; staying that way for a week; pulled aside to talk about it.
 * [ ] [A Finger Pointing and Hammered Silver](006) --- Collab: A Finger Pointing gets a letter, too; discussing what to do about it; risk assessment with Waking World and Sasha; message to Hammered Silver.