littlebrother-mowgli-blog

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

Avan Jogia as Ulysses in the new STARZ original series ‘Now Apocalypse’ trailer.

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

urchinxowens‌:

By this point, Urchin didn’t have much energy to complain about Mowgli’s lackluster excitement for skating because his arm and back already felt kind of worn out by the other’s weight. It’d be a relief to stop skating.

“That doesn’t sound like fun,” Urchin confessed as they inched closer to the edge of the lake. He stopped to allow a couple to pass in front of them, and then resumed his steps. “Fishing’s boring. You can just go in and catch the fish by swimming. Way more fun.“ It was easier that way for a seal, at least! “And I don’t think I’d have fun building a house, either.”

“Then it sounds like you don’t know how to have fun,” retorted Mowgli. 

Seriously, what wasn’t fun about building a fort? Mowgli had been building himself forts since he was a little kid. First, out of pillows. Then, from blankets, chairs, couches-- whatever he could find. Next, he pitched tents. Then he got his hands on wood planks and really started to get creative. 

A fort was a castle-- because you made it yourself. And every man should have a castle. 

“Skating around you just-- you go in a circle! That’s all you do. When you build, you are making something. And then you can play in it, or hide in it, or do whatever you want,” said Mowgli.

Ice To See You Again! || Sea Wolf Pup

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

urchinxowens‌:

littlebrother-mowgli‌:

Mowgli did not want Urchin to let go. 

Mowgli also did not want to keep clinging to the boy as his ankles shook and the rest of him wobbled too. Yes, he was not falling down, but he wasn’t really sure if he did like this– if it was fun. 

His wolf did not like him. His wolf wanted soil, not ice, leaf, not water. Enough of this, it growled inside him, though not really in those words of course. Still, he understood what it was trying to say. 

Mowgli scowled at him again. “Maybe I’m done–” he said and then nodded. “Yes. This is boring. I don’t know why anyone does this for hours! Take me back,” he commanded with a lift in his chin.

Because, er, he probably couldn’t get back alone. 

Urchin raised a brow. It wasn’t weird for Mowgli to change his mind all of a sudden, he’d found, so this wasn’t entirely unexpected or anything. “Aww, and we were having such a romantic moment,” he complained dramatically, then grinned at him. “Fine, party-pooper!”

With that, Urchin gave one last turn so that they’d start to, slowly and steadily, skate toward the edge they’d first been at. “It’s not that boring, considering you were having a grand old time until five seconds ago.”

Mowgli still clung, quite embarrassingly, to Urchin’s arm as they scooted their way back to the shore. Scooted here the best word really for what Mowgli was doing. Ach, how he missed his feet on the ground! Mowgli didn’t even like regular shoes when he could help it, no way did he like shoes with blades on them.

“Oh it’s just okay,” he said with a big eyeroll himself. “No reason to go around the circles for hours and hours! It is silly. There are better ways to spend your time, like-- building treehouses. And fishing.” 

Ice To See You Again! || Sea Wolf Pup

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

apennywasted‌:

Seamus was sick and good lord was he miserable. 

Usually, it didn’t last for long but when he got there, well, it was hell on earth. Right now he was pretty much good to go, except the cough hadn’t gone away and one of the boys had told him he’d sounded like he was trying to hack up a lung. 

When that happened he knew it was time to call it quits and make sure he was, ya know, dying. 

Or, at the very least, that he didn’t have the beginning stages of pneumonia. That would be all he’d need to be honest. 

The brunet was standing outside of the Snuggly Duckling, debating on going inside and taking up residence on Vinny’s couch until he stopped feeling like death warmed over or making his way to the hospital. On one hand, he didn’t want to get the other man sick but on the other, he really, really hated having to go to the hospital. His thoughts were cut off by a hacking cough, and he grimaced at the pain in his chest. 

Fucking winter. 

Mowgli was shirking work again. 

Well! Technically, he was working now and just taking his own time when it came to the deliveries on behalf of Chippamunka. This last one had brought him to the Snuggly Duckling’s door but it had not gone well. Mowgli had taken it all the way up to the room of the snooty tourist, only to have the tourist sniff it, pick up a puff, and declare it cold and a waste of their money. 

That wasn’t true at all. It was still plenty warm in Mowgli’s opinion, the awful woman was just looking for a reason to complain. But ah well. Mowgli spat at the door and then started to mosey on down, chomping down on the rejected spinach puffs as he did. No reason for such food to go to waste. 

So yes, he had planned to relax, eat the whole meal, and then go back to work. 

But then he saw a dying man and figured it was his duty to help him. 

“Hey--” Mowgli greeted the old man as he scurried forward and cocked his head. “You do not sound so good, you know. Spinach puff?” And he reached in to offer the man this delicacy. 

Run Down Run In || Open

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

urchinxowens‌:

“Of course it’s working!” Urchin replied as soon as the turn was successful. “You know how to turn, just like you said before.”

The boy’s focus moved from the ice to what was in front of them, as he slightly directed the two to avoid another ocuple of skaters that were in the way. They were doing pretty well so far, he felt.

“So, want me to let go now?” Urchin inquired as soon as they were off on a straight line. “I can still, y’know, skate next to you even if I do. Not that you need help or anything,” he smirked.

Mowgli did not want Urchin to let go. 

Mowgli also did not want to keep clinging to the boy as his ankles shook and the rest of him wobbled too. Yes, he was not falling down, but he wasn’t really sure if he did like this-- if it was fun. 

His wolf did not like him. His wolf wanted soil, not ice, leaf, not water. Enough of this, it growled inside him, though not really in those words of course. Still, he understood what it was trying to say. 

Mowgli scowled at him again. “Maybe I’m done--” he said and then nodded. “Yes. This is boring. I don’t know why anyone does this for hours! Take me back,” he commanded with a lift in his chin.

Because, er, he probably couldn’t get back alone. 

Ice To See You Again! || Sea Wolf Pup

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

urchinxowens‌:

“Bigger? No. Prettier? Definitely,” Urchin teased back, winking at Mowgli for good measure.

It was good that he was getting used to skating again. This time around, Urchin had decided to not let go so fast, and instead slowly upped the speed, so that they were soon skating at a faster rate.

“Now we’re going to try and turn,” he announced, and began to slow down a little bit. “It’s more or less the same, just… aim a little to the side if that makes sense,” the boy explained, before doing so, all the while watching Mowgli’s feet instead of his own.

“I know how to turn!” exclaimed Mowgli, again all mock-offended at Urchin’s tone.

But he did not know how to turn and so his eyes went to his feet, and Urchin’s feet, and as Urchin leaned, Mowgli leaned too, mirroring the boy as best he could. 

“Um, like this?” Mowgli said. All that mock offense was gone, like it had never been there.

And they did begin to turn. “Ah! It’s working!” 

Ice To See You Again! || Sea Wolf Pup

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

urchinxowens‌:

Urchin felt like Mowgli was maybe squeezing a bit too much, but he figured he was simply too scared to fall once more and let it go. Once he was confident that Mowgli had been placed on his feet and balanced enough, the boy took one of his hands away and passed Mowgli’s other arm around his own shoulders to serve as his support again.

“We’re ready!” Urchin promptly declared, grinning at Mowgli. “Okay, let’s do this,” he added, before starting to move, slowly, as he had been doing before, hoping Mowgli would once again copy him.

“Having fun again? i know it’s always fun when you’re hanging out with Urchin, but… still,” he joked, still grinning widely, as he attempted to move along the frozen surface taking care of his own balance and Mowgli’s weight.

Mowgli clung. He clung and he shivered and slowly started moving his feet again. His ass still hurt, both cold and sore. He wanted to sit down in front of a fire or curl up in a pile of leaves in his wolf fur, which always kept him so much warmer than his human skin. He didn’t know how he’d gone so long in his life without the wolf-- it felt exactly like himself, but more. 

He would prefer his wolf paws now. And to not be on the ice but...

He didn’t fall down. He skated a little more, a little faster, and the smile slipped over his face again, quite against his will. Mowgli then rolled his eyes at Urchin, even though that smile did not falter.

“Aw, come off it. You have a bigger head than me,” Mowgli taunted. This was saying something too. “It’s okay.” 

Ice To See You Again! || Sea Wolf Pup

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

amoderngorgon‌:

It was difficult for Celia to steady herself. Once her heart rate picked up she got even more scared, and the cycle continued from there honestly. It was a vicious cycle, and she kept her eyes shut tight as she tried to catch her breath. 

Mowgli was young. He was a kid and he was just trying to flirt with someone he thought looked nice. It wasn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world…he had just picked the worst person to attempt that on. Even ignoring the fact that she was his teacher, she really was most anxious when it came to dealing with men.

He certainly seemed apologetic. And she could feel her stomach twist a little with guilt. If she weren’t terrified that she could turn her own student to stone, she might have tried again. She would have kept her distance, but she would have tried to get him to learn the compass and see how he did it.

“Oh Mowgli…I believe you. I do. I’m sure that you are sorry. And I promise you, this won’t mean the end of lessons if you truly want to continue learning.” Celia would never refuse to offer someone an education. Not even if she was uneasy. “And I would never punish someone with violence. I don’t do that.” She shook her head, taking a breath until she could feel her heartbeat starting to slow down again.

“You can’t have known this, but for me these types of advances are...frightening. And while I know you are sorry, I just need some time to myself. Alright? I promise I’m not mad at you, and I will continue to teach you if it really is what you want. I just need a few hours to steady myself. Is that fair? We can continue the compass next time if you’d like.”

Mowgli didn’t understand. Or, he did a little-- because he was thinking of his mother again and how she stiffened at tall, strange, stern-faced men and she never looked any man in the eye, either, shielding her whole body by hunching down, when his mother too was a beautiful woman.

But those men...he was not like those men. He was scrawny and sweet and funny, wasn’t he? He hadn’t been scary, he had not said anything mean.

But still, she was scared. He’d said something scary and he wasn’t making it better. Finally defeated, Mowgli gathered up the different parts of the compass, figuring it was best that he just go. 

But he did the best he could to still be-- well, Mowgli. He popped up from the chair and smiled bright, tossing some of his unruly locks of hair as he did. 

“Of course, Miss Celia! You will see. I will come back with the best of all compasses, mm?” he said. With that grin still fixated in place, he shoved the parts in his pocket and grabbed at his books too. 

Teach A Wolf New Tricks || Celia&Mowgli

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

urchinxowens‌:

“You liked it five seconds ago,” Urchin observed. “What I’m thinking is, if you let yourself calm down, you’d be able to keep doing it correctly and enjoy it! Come on, calm down before getting up again. Give me your hands.”

Urchin, once again, offered his hands, this time not grabbing at Mowgli but instead leaving them there for the taking. He figured Mowgli would simply not risk losing balance on his own again.

“When you get up, you can move like you were earlier, and I won’t let go unless you tell me to do it. Does that sound good to you?”

You liked it five seconds ago, Urchin said, which made Mowgli want to scoff yet again. If this boy wanted to be his friend-- or his sidekick or his love interest, if they were going along with the Bollywood thing-- then he must learn quickly that Mowgli was apt to like something one second and dislike it the next. Sometimes it was an act, but more than likely, it was genuine in that moment. He was like a pup in that way. 

Mowgli just huffed for now, but he accepted Urchin’s hands. His own fingers felt like icicles in his gloves. He shivered and squeezed Urchin’s hands harder than he needed to, mostly because he missed being warm. 

“Don’t let go,” he said-- though literally, Urchin had just said he wouldn’t. “Seriously, if I fall again, I am done.” 

Ice To See You Again! || Sea Wolf Pup

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

urchinxowens‌:

In a turn of events that nobody could ever have foreseen, considering it was most definitely not an overused trope, Urchin wound up holding himself right above Mowgli, with his hands against the ice to hold himself in position and not immediately knock down into the other.

“Well this is fun!” he exclaimed, grinning mischievously at the other. He mostly referred to how they’d ended up, obviously, because if it hadn’t happened Urchin’d have probably engineered something like it eventually anyway. He decided to wait a few seconds just to try and torment the other before speaking up again. “Though I guess your butt is freezing way too much for you to want to stay in this position much longer, hm? Ready to try again?”

Yes, his butt was freezing. Mowgli blinked up at Urchin, his face much too close again. His cheeky smile just made Mowgli frown. He tried to flail up, kicked up his legs, but Urchin’s fat butt was still on top of him!

“I would if you would get off me!” Mowgli snarled, wiggled and tried to give Urchin another shove.

When he finally rolled off, Mowgli scrambled up onto his feet, only to fall again, this time on his palms. 

“Ach! This is such a stupid hobby, who likes this?” complained Mowgli as he tried a third time to get up without falling.

Ice To See You Again! || Sea Wolf Pup

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

amoderngorgon‌:

“Stop. Please just…stop,” Celia pleaded, putting her hands to her ears as if she could block out all compliments. Any kind of praise. It was uncomfortable. It made her heart pound so hard she wasn’t even sure she could trust herself around him.

She took a breath and let it out again, closing her eyes and turning her head away. “I think we need to….I need to stop for…for today.” God…what if she ended up turning her student to stone here? That was the last thing she could ever want. All she had wanted was to help him learn something new. To do something amazing with his brilliant mind.

Celia shook her head, keeping her eyes glued shut as much as she possibly could. “If you really…intend to learn…then I suggest you put together that compass and I’ll check to see how well you did it next time we meet.” She had to get away for a while and think this over.

His apology did not smooth things over as Mowgli had hoped it would. He didn’t understand why not and so his face screwed up again and his stomach dropped. What had he said? Didn’t women like being called beautiful? He had apologized! He didn’t want to stop! He was excited to make the little compass and show Celia how smart he was. 

But he’d made a fool of himself and Celia mad at him too!

Maybe he really was not meant for school. He’d been right all along when he used to snip at Ami. He should have never have tried!

And Mowgli wanted to feel very indignant about this, but instead he just slumped in his chair, looking hurt-- like a scolded puppy, which, in fact, he was.

“Yes, Miss Celia,” he uttered with a thick bottom lip. He fiddled with the string, eyes cast down, that shame of his much bigger than, at the moment, his ego.

“If--if you say so. I-- I really am sorry though! You can smack me in the back of the head if you like!” He turned his head so she could reach it much easier, tapping it. “My mother used to do that when she said I was being a brat. So-- very often.” He tried for this light joke, hoping maybe Celia would at least... roll her eyes at him.

And not look so upset. 

Teach A Wolf New Tricks || Celia&Mowgli

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

urchinxowens‌:

“You’re doing it, yes!” Urchin exclaimed with excitement as he saw Mowgli slowly getting the hang of it. Sure, he still looked like a child learning how to walk, but he was doing well. From his own experience, ice skating was a fast thing to learn, anyway.

And then, Mowgli’s arms flailed around and he wound up falling on his butt. Surprised, Urchin approached him and leaned on his own knees to look down at the other boy. “You’re okay, right?” the selkie asked. 

“You’re doing well so far, come on,” he continued, and offered both his hands to help get the other up, doing his best to keep his balance and hoping he wouldn’t drop as well. The last thing Mowgli needed was to drop again with the added weight of Urchin to top it all off, after all. “Get up and try it again!”

Ow. 

That had in fact hurt-- hurt as much as Mowgli had been fearing. He winced there on the ice and found himself slightly panicked again. Only this time, alongside the panic stirred something else, something that made very little sense considering Mowgli had just fallen...

He did want to try again. It had been almost fun. Almost. And Mowgli wanted to get better so he could ice skate circles around Urchin and all the other people here on this frozen lake. 

Still, he made a face as Urchin came over and took his arm. “I can do it, I can do it!” said Mowgli. He tried to get up, wobbling a little, still trying to wiggle out of Urchin’s grasp--

The ice slipped under him again. Mowgli yelped, grabbed Urchin, and brought him down with him. 

Ice To See You Again! || Sea Wolf Pup

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

urchinxowens‌:

It was a little bit adorable to see Mowgli try and be his smug self at the same time he tried to learn a skill in the speed of light. It was also pretty satisfying. Not that Urchin had any intention to say that.

“Right, I shouldn’t have doubted you,” he replied with a nod. He moved forward once again. “I should’ve known you’d be pretty good immediately. Turning is also super easy, so I’m sure you’ve got it handled. And I’m sure you know you can stop if you lean on your knees a little bit, too.”

And with that, Urchin let go and turned around to look at Mowgli and see if he’d skate on his own. “You’re a natural!”

“Wait, where are you-- what are you-- whoa, whoa--!”

Before Mowgli could catch Urchin, he’d pulled away, leaving Mowgli to flap his arms about for a second as he tried to keep balance. He managed to not fall right that second. In fact, he managed to even out and there he was, all on his own, slowly inching his way across the inch. 

And you know what? It...wasn’t...terrible.

Mowgli slid one foot more, then the next. He leaned a little on his knees like Urchin suggested. And hey, that helped! “Oh, I’m doing it!” Mowgli said excitedly. He looked from his skates up to Urchin’s face and then down to his skates again--

And then his ankles began to wiggle...

And he flailed out his arms--

WHAM! Onto his ass. 

Ice To See You Again! || Sea Wolf Pup

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

amoderngorgon‌:

Celia had figured she might be able to motivate him to take the project a little more seriously. At the least, maybe the offer of a baked good as a reward might be more fun than just a ‘good job’ from her. That had been her line of thinking, but she soon found herself regretting the offer.

Her stomach twisted in knots, and she hated how quickly she was brought out of her comfort by him. This was supposed to be about him learning. It was not something where this boy could mess around or tease her or…or say something so frankly inappropriate.

Celia could feel her cheeks heat, and she had to take a breath and let it out again. “That is highly inappropriate,” She managed to say, quickly shifting that she wasn’t leaning his direction at all. She wasn’t going to be so dramatic as to move her chair back as well, but she really wished that she could. Was that the only reason that Mowgli had agreed to this? Was Celia really just some pretty thing he wanted to flirt with?

If that was the case then he wasn’t too different from the men back home. It made her sick. It made her mad. “If you…if you try that again you can consider our lessons over. I’m not the next thing to flirt with, I’m your teacher. If you don’t want that then you may as well tell me that now.”

Uh-oh. 

Mowgli knew when he was in trouble, and the way that Celia looked at him meant that he was in real big trouble. His shoulders squeezed in, Mowgli looking sheepish the more that she lectured him. If it had been someone like Akela, he would’ve puffed out instead but-- 

But he thought of his mother and Raksha and even Mahika, how they’d pinch his ear and scold him for being a brat. 

But he didn’t want to stop learning. Er well-- not-- not really! He wanted to be good at school for his mother. He knew that Ami was watching. He had to succeed for her. 

“No, I--I do! I do, I promise. I just-- you are so beautiful, Miss Celia. I forgot we are not peers,” said Mowgli. “I won’t say it again, I swear. I will make you proud of me.” 

Teach A Wolf New Tricks || Celia&Mowgli

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

urchinxowens‌:

“It’s really not,” Urchin replied after regaining his balance with the added weight of Mowgli on his shoulders. “Though I guess girs can do it too, obviously, but that doesn’t make it girl stuff!”

Now, there were two ways to do things. Either laugh and call out Mowgli’s obvious lack of ice skating skills, or help him along and not be hated by him. So, the selkie smiled and reached for one of the hands that were on his shoulders. He raised it and spun around, leaving Mowgli’s hand on his opposite shoulder instead. That way, they’d both face the same way and he’d still work as support to Mowgli.

“It’s okay, I guess these ice skates are different to the ones you’re used to,” he lied, grinning. “You’ll remember in a second, I’m sure. Don’t forget: One foot and then the other, like walking but with a little more… sliding.” And with that, Urchin demonstrated by moving forward a little bit. “Remember now?”

Mowgli knew what Urchin was doing. He was not stupid, and so he could snap at Urchin with the wolf in his throat-- tell him that he did not need his pity and then skate off across the lake!

Only he would fall. 

And he did not want to fall. He was terrified of falling.

And so he-- scoffed. “Of course I do! It is the skates, you’re right.” Slowly he slid his foot out, mimicking Urchin. And he was good at that-- mimicking. Like a parrot in the jungles. 

“See?” He did it again, though he still moved very slow. His mouth twitched-- a smile appearing. 

Ice To See You Again! || Sea Wolf Pup

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

amoderngorgon‌:

Celia did feel that she had come up with something good. While it wouldn’t be easy to do an experiment or a hand’s on example for every section, she could at least try to do it as much as possible. That was what she really enjoyed. Seeing a student realize that they really understood what was being taught.

Her pleasure did not come from the ego or the distracted air that Mowgli had expressed thus far. But it was fine. He was just excited. Her lips drifted up into a small smile, shaking her head as she nudged the materials closer to him.

“That would certainly be a way to reward you. For not having completed it yet. That makes sense.” She shook her head, keeping that little smile on her face. “I might not have any gold stars, but I can see about treating you to some dessert I’ve made once you’ve completed that assignment.”

Celia promised him dessert. 

Now, tempting Mowgli’s stomach was always a good strategy. He was always hungry, even when he was just a boy and not a wolf. Now that he was a wolf, that hunger had doubled in size and he found himself never quite full, though at the same time, his belly never growled as he was always feeding it, never going too long without something to snack on.

Though he was still skinny and wiry like a bander monkey. Magic was funny, wasn’t it? 

“Ah, something sweet?” said Mowgli, with the brightness still in his eyes.

Then they sparked with mischief and Mowgli couldn’t help himself. He leaned a little forward. 

“Like maybe a kiss?” 

Teach A Wolf New Tricks || Celia&Mowgli

[littlebrother-mowgli-blog]

littlebrother-mowgli‌:

urchinxowens‌:

Urchin helped Mowgli get up and let go of him as soon as he appeared stable. Then, he smiled. “It’s fine,” he assured the other. “Like I said, I can help out if you’ve forgotten something.”

The selkie didn’t have much patience, so when he saw Mowgli standing around like that, he reached for his wrist and pulled on him to basically force him to move toward the natural ice rink.

“Come on, you’ll be fine!” he called out. “You’re the brave hero of your tale, right? So, come on. This is top-tier hero stuff.”

You’re the brave hero of your tale, right?

These words had the simultaneous effect of making Mowgli want to show Urchin just how amazing he was at ice skating-- making him like like a clumsy penguin indeed!-- and also growl like his wolf and tell him to shove off, already.

He did not know which impulse to listen to. He was much too nervous to really think one way or the other. 

“No it isn’t!” he exclaimed as he wobbled on the ice. His eyes darted. “This is-- this is girl stuff-- whoa!” Mowgli barked and nearly fell over, reaching out on instinct to clutch at Urchin’s shoulders. 

Ice To See You Again! || Sea Wolf Pup