Cancer and Risaela departure still left a bitter taste in Askan's mouth. He didn't care that Pete had tended to their wounds, made sure they wouldn't rot to death, at the very least they deserved that. It was more... how heated it had all become, how they'd somehow managed to worm their way under his armour and hit him where it hurt. That was his issue, even now he cared too much.

He hated this place, not the Falls, but the little glade he'd found himself in after a brief stomp into the forest. This was their place. Ugh. The thought made him scowl in disdain as his stomach curdled. If it wasn't so close to the Shallows he likely wouldn't have cared, would have forgotten about this place and what it once stood for. But now? His eyes narrowed into a typical Selwyn squint as he glanced about the place, his lips taut, ears turned to the side just so. Well, he was honestly glad that snow once again coated the ground, deep enough to touch his ankles. The flowers would die, smothered in the dark and cold. Hopefully they'd stay gone, one less reminder of his gloomier days.

Askan was alone...then he wasn't. As per usual he wasn't really in the mood for company, least of all here. But since when did the world give two shits about what he wanted? When things went well something always came along and rained on his parade, things tended to bounce back a little, but it was never the same. Absences didn't make his heart grow fonder, it just hurt.

His ears flicked back as his tongue curled, preparing to spit some sort of crass phrase when he paused, the words shoving against the back of his lips. She-whoever she was- seemed irritatingly jovial, an annoying if not sunny contrast to his stormy mood. Even stranger was her appearance. For the most part there was little, if anything to marvel at. He was very familiar with brown, brown and a hint of black, but that weird mark on her forehead? His first thought was that a bird had shat on her...or that a bit of snow remained. The former was funnier though, if not a bit gross. He opened his mouth to ask- or rather demand that she tell him what was wrong with her spot but he quickly decided he didn't care and instead went down another route.

"Hardly." His response was dry, coarse, small talk was not his forte. "What's it to you?"

Ahh, as blunt as ever.

Askan didn't want her apologies, he brushed it away with a flick of his tail as he rolled his shoulders in an indifferent shrug. It didn't matter, not really, but to her credit it seemed as though she meant it. Her voice had lost it's chipper, cheery tone and her gaze was averted, mournful. as though she hadn't wished to offend. Had he been in a better mood-or a more social man, for the matter- he might have backtracked a little, but as things stood he left it at that. Wasn't in the mood to coddle anyway, as far as he was concerned no real harm was done.

"It is silly." He agreed, humourless.

She was looking at him again, a little more intently than before. What? Did he have something on his face? Blood on his snout? He wrinkled his nose then licked his lips but tasted nothing, no blood, or traces of his breakfast. His Selwyn yellow eyes narrowed into a squint as she rose to her feet and began to move away, likely making a quick retreat before she annoyed him further. Not that he was overly pissed, this was the norm as of late, Askan would always be a grumpy git, that's just who he was.

"Tell me your name." He then instructed, though his tone was a hint softer than before. Like comparing tree bark to stone.

Unless it was Reyes, Askan was godawful at reading social cues. The subtleties and finesse of interpersonal relationships always tended to fly right over his head, not because he was stupid-Askan was hardly that- but, he supposed his mind was wired a little differently. That said, even he could sense the abrupt shift in the loner's mood. Her sunny disposition shifted to spring showers, damp, soggy and kinda sad. He rolled his eyes. In a way she reminded him of his sister, Lenae, she was gentle too, quick to wilt if he didn't play nice.

To her credit she offered her name up easily enough. It was yet another one of those flowery, unique names, the sort that made his lips turn down in a slight, if not disapproving frown. He was sort of stepping on thin ice wasn't he though? His name was hardly...it was rather pretentious wasn't it? The sort of name that practically screeched he was of blue blood, higher than the general rabble.

"Askan Selwyn." He told her, then with a slight tip of his head he decided to continue. He allowed his shoulders to dip a little, not so taught, like he was going to take off into a gallop, or bite her nose. Either or. "I lead the pack in these woods, Shallows Edge. We're not far from my borders." He imagined she could smell that so he didn't bother mentioning which direction.

A flicker of moment in the distance caught his eye, a squirrel scrambling up a tree. If his attention hadn't been dragged away he would have no doubt noticed the flash of recognition in her eyes at the mention of his last name. As things stood he looked back at her and as expected she seemed a little flighty when he mentioned they were somewhat close to his borders. This was the desired effect of his words, he wanted other's to know they couldn't scamper about as they liked. Excuses wouldn't cut it with Askan, trespassers would be punished and rightly so.

Not that it was an issue with Starhale, nor did he imagine it would be.

"It's fine." He shrugged his hefty shoulders. "Takes a little more than that to offend me." Not too much, mind you but his point still stood. Wasn't as if she was stealing his potential prey, now was she? "So...did you come to Relic Lore to sleep? Bit of a  wasted journey." He muttered.