In the Middle of Summer

(A long overdue continuation to the August Event rp from last year, hurrhurr~ Bring me dat Wolfgang!)


A day meant to be spent enjoying the sunshine on the beach had most definitely taken a turn. The rain poured down in sheets and the sun was blotted out by dark clouds, heavy with the rain they now unleashed on the coastal city below. Many people were retreating indoors into shops or restaurants as the thunder bellowed overhead and lightning arced menacingly from the sky. The beach had been vacated quite quickly as gusts of wind blew over chairs and whipped the trees about.

Among those heading away from the beach and the boardwalk, a certain Klee Kai seemed to having more fun than some of the other people around her. She had been completely soaked in short order, plastering her red hair to her face and darkening the orange streak in her bangs. Her camera bounced against her front as she scurried along, giggling softly at this whole 'running through the rain' concept.

Granted, maybe her wolf companion, who was decidely not dressed to swim, might not be so casually amused by getting soaked...

The wolf had been walking along just behind the Klee Kai as they make their way away from the beach, heading towards shelter so that they can get out of the rain. Since the rain was falling fairly heavily, the wolf was soaked through in pretty short order. He hoped that all of his belongings in his bags were doing better than he was in that regard.

He wasn't really that worried about his current situation and how uncomfortable it seemed to be. There wasn't much chance of him avoiding the rain one way or another, so he was resolved to just deal with it.

His companion certainly wasn't letting the situation get to her at all, but she was also better dressed for the weather. He keeps an eye on her as she hurries along, enjoying the situation. He smiles a bit as well.

The hotel that the dog was staying at wasn't exactly one of those nearest to the beach and so the pair had a fair distance to cover. As they continued on, though, she glanced back towards the wolf.

"How you holdin' up, Wolf?" she asked him with a grin, "It's not too much farther from here!"

"I'll survive." Wolf replies, "It's only rain... Of course, I can't be sure how appreciative the people in charge of the place you're staying will be with me bringing all this rain in with me."

"What, you want me to wring you out on the front step?" the dog teased him, steadying her camera in front of her with one paw. "I'm sure we can shake off the worst of it before we get to the room," she assured him, "And we don't have to go through the lobby at this place!"

"You can't wring me out. I think there would need to be at least three of you to pull that off." Wolf replies.

He smiles slightly.

"But since we can go straight to your room, maybe being soaked won't be such an issue." he adds.

"Hey, now, if I did it little by little, I could manage!" she insisted, "It might just take a while." She continued to grin at him.
"But yeah, there's towels and stuff in there we can use. I can see how much you poof up if I use a hair dryer on you!"

"I don't have that much time." Wolf replies, "I'll just make due with towels once we get there."

He glances up towards the sky.

"Have to figure out what to do until the rain dies down too." he says.

"Well, we've got plenty of catching up to do," Reena suggested, "You've gotta tell me if you've been on any adventures since we last met and all kinds of stuff!"
She peered ahead, squinting through the torrent of rain falling around them. One paw was outstretched to point to a small hotel on a street corner that they were approaching. "We're almost there!"

Wolf tenses slightly as Reena mentions them discussing prior events since their last encounter a month or so ago. He didn't want to talk about them with anyone... They were very unpleasant and not something he wanted to revisit any time soon.

When Reena pointed out that they were getting close to their destination, Wolf focuses o that instead.

"Oh... that's good to hear." he replies.

"What?" Reena asked, glancing over her shoulder at him, "It's not as fancy as the last one you stayed at with me, but it's nice inside!"
She seemed to think some of the change in his tone was in response to seeing the hotel ahead.

"I'm sure it's fine." he says, "It'll have a floor for me to sleep on."

He smiles a little after that.

"Pffft, you know that won't fly with me," Reena pointed out, "And you'll be all cleaned up from this rain so that excuse won't work either to keep you from sleeping in a proper bed!"

"I can just lay a towel down there on the floor." he replies, "I'll be fine like that."

"You're gonna have to fight me again in that case," Reena warned playfully.
She glanced both ways before hurrying across a street to reach the proper sidewalk leading to their destination. A sudden rumble of thunder overhead made her jump in surprise, only to start laughing at herself a bit afterward.

"Y'see that?" she asked Wolf, glancing back at him, "It almost got me!"

"Oh? Eager to lose again?" he asks as he follows her across the street.

He snorts softly as she jumps at the rumbling from the storm.

"And nothing is out to get you. The storm just wants to make sure you're paying attention." he tells her.

"I might find a way!" Reena replied, "And obviously not literally almost got me."
It was a straight walk to the hotel and, with no real obstacles in front of her, the Klee Kai lifted her camera from around her neck. She turned it towards herself.
"Rainy day selfie!" she exclaimed with a grin before snapping a picture that she hoped would catch herself and Wolf behind her.  Photo taken, she lowered the camera down to look at the little screen and review the image there.

"To lose? Certainly." Wolf says, poking fun at her lightly.

He glances around, mostly up towards the clouds. The rumble of thunder had been a bit surprising to him as well. He must have missed the flash of lightning that would have preceded it. Since he was looking around, he didn't notice Reena had been taking a photo of herself and trying to get him in the background as well.

"Bah, you're so confident of yourself," Reena commented. She didn't mention the photo of them she now had and instead continued on up through the hotel parking lot.

They finally had some shelter upon passing through a doorway that led to the interior of what was basically a hollow rectangle of a building. From there, one could easily see a pool area and the fence surrounding it. On both the ground floor and three more floors above it, there was door after door leading to each individual hotel room.

Rather than heading straight to any particular place, Reena stopped now that they had cover from the rain. "Phew! What a downpour!" She steadied her camera with one paw, then proceeded to start shaking herself off, sending water flying from her soaked fur.

Wolf smiles slightly at Reena's reaction and follows her through the parking lot of the hotel. Once they paused in an archway that led to the hotel interior, he glances through taking note of the fact that the entire area is still open to the outside.

"And we're still going to have to deal with the rain to get to your room it seems... Even with some cover." he says as she starts to shake herself off.

He smirks at her a bit.

"You think that will make a difference?" he asks, "You're probably going to collect more... unless your room is close by."

"Well, at least the wind's not so bad in here," Reena pointed out, "And I'm just up on the second floor, so it shouldn't hurt to do a little shakin' off now."
She looked over at him as she started off for one of the nearby flights of stairs that were at each corner of the hotel. "You're not gonna shake in my room, are you?" she asked, flicking her tail at him to fling some water droplets in his general direction.

"Maybe I'll do that right next to your bed." he replies, "Then I can wring out my shirt on it and use the blankets to dry myself off with."

"Oh, Wolf, even you aren't that mean!" Reena pointed out with a laugh, waving one paw dismissively at him.
She turned her gaze in front of her again as she began to climb up the stairs quickly.

"For you, I could be." he replies as he follows her up the stairs, "Then you'll have to sleep on the floor as well."

"Well, you'll just have to be my new mattress, then," Reena warned.
She easily made it up to the second floor and turned the corner. As she did this, she also reached into her shorts pocket and withdrew a key card for the door. Her eyes glanced over the numbers on the doors, searching for the right one.