Kingdom of Knuffel

Dog? Not dog! Silly human! But! Good!!!
The wolf's tail swiped through the air excitedly, its entire body wiggling with barely contained happiness. Human called it good! It jumped back a little, backside high in the air while it's front dropped low, a classic ready-to-play position. It let out a little "wuf!" just to make sure the human understood it wanted to play.

Tony has never seen, not that he's seen any, wolves act like this....nor has he heard of it beyond maybe ones that have been socialized with humans. He can't help the snort that escapes him when the wolf wiggles. It's adorable.

"You want to play?" That much is obvious, but he's thinking of what to play. He definitely does not want to wrestle a wolf. "Do you know fetch?" There are plenty of sticks.

Fetch? Fetch! Throw game! throw play chase game play play play!!!
The wolf did an excited shuffle, sort of jumping in place and landing back in its play position. Its tail was a blur. Another "wruf!" confirmed that it did, in fact, know fetch.

Tony laughs a bit due to how excited and adorable the wolf is being. He couldn't stop the reaction even if he wanted to. "Alrighty, fetch it is then." He says simply, before picking a stick. He picks a fairly big one, not sure of how far he can throw it, but he can't pick a small stick for a big dog either. "Ready? Fetch." He says , chucking the stick and...by his standards it goes pretty far.

The wolf's eyes latched onto the stick the moment it was picked up. It waited, perfectly still, and then bolted off like lightening as soon as the stick was thrown. It came galloping back in moments, proudly carrying the correct stick. It's tail wagged as is dropped the stick at the human's feet. Again!

If Tony ad thoughts of running, even vague ones, they're gone the second he sees how fast the wolf is. No way to outrun and the wolf can smell him. He can't help but show a bit of surprise on his face about how quickly the wolf comes back. He's glad to oblige and picks up the stick and throws it again. A happy wolf is a wolf not attacking him.

Off like a shot, the wolf went again after its illusive prey: the stick. It took just a second longer this time, as the stick had gotten caught in a tangle of thorns. But it triumphed, and returned with its prize proudly- if a little bit scratched up. It dropped the stick on the ground. Again!

Tony just watches the wolf dart off after the stick. "You alright?" He asks as he picks up the stick again. His subconscious has noticed something is different, but it isn't like the wolf is obviously injured.

The wolf tilted its head, not seeming to understand the question. It looked around, sniffing the air, suddenly distracted from the stick. Perhaps it was hungry? Had it not been playing, it would normally have been hunting. Its ears perked, and instantly it was on alert, staring through the underbrush at something- whether food or threat, it was hard to tell. It circled the human once, as if to tell him "stay here," and then pounced into the forest.

If the wolf is hurt, Tony doesn't want the playing to cause him to get hurt more. Then the wolf starts sniffing. "What...." He doesn't know if he should be afraid or not. He watches the wolf, circling before he takes off. He's curious, but just watches in the direction the wolf ran off into.