The stroll to the mountain might have shaken some of the budding tension loose from the boy but much had changed since he last stood on the borders of his mother's pack. He hadn't expected Celandine's scent to overpower even his uncles... or maybe he had? It didn't take a terribly perceptive wolf to pick up on the camaraderie between the women, that and it seemed that all the women were getting... more pungent. Not that the lad found it terribly offensive but it was... distracting.

Odin would pray to his grandmother's old gods that the same scent wouldn't come over Kip anytime soon. He had enough of a clue to know the possible ramifications those sort of scents signaled. But that didn't stop him from relieving himself right over one of the border markers though, a smirk on his lips as he imagined his mother's cross expression knowing he was in the area but hadn't called. Dragging the pads of his paws through the snow for good measure, mischief clearly on the young man's mind he headed back towards the meadow, wondering just who might think to come after him, knowing he was back in the area.

Odin's chin tipped up defiantly as @Celandine approached though there was nothing malicious in the movement, a crinkle at the edge of his eye and a smirk on his face, "Ah, jus' checkin' yer border security, wit' tha' many wolves I didn' expect it'd take long." His tail waved welcoming at his back as he moved in to embrace the Argyris with a wide stance and a playful nip to her shoulder. Not that he expected her to have the time to indulge him with a scuffle but he had come here looking for some sort of fight, a distraction to keep him from running back to fuss over @Lenae (he didn't want to scare her off), or hurt his head with worry about Kip and those sad, angry looks she kept throwing at him without actually opening her mouth to tell him what was wrong.

"Pester?" the boy joked with mock injury thick in his tone. "Actually yeah, yer know me, glutton fer punishment, I mighta been wantin' ter piss ma off a bit..." His crooked grin was toothy, Celandine's scent going straight to his head, despite his best attempts to ignore it, "But I reckon congratulations are in order anyway, if yer borders are anythin' ter go by?" It was a little puzzling to the boy, or maybe it wasn't. He always assumed it would happen eventually but he had always expected it would be his mother stepping aside, not because she had challenged the male half of the ranks. "I'm-ah, probably gonna head fer th' mountain. Mosta whats left o' the monadnock're settin' up over there."

The familiar closeness was nice, even if it was making it a little hard for him to keep track of his thoughts. He thought he could hear a smile in her voice when she threatened him with filling caches, but he wouldn't baulk away if that was the price he had to pay. The wolves here were family, and he wouldn't mean contributing to the pack even if it wasn't his own.

He found his body leaning into hers, teeth picking through the thick fur over the back of her neck, the mention of Piety hardly enough to make him stop for longer than it took to respond, "Yeah, her an' Lorc, Lenae, Cyril, Cheedo." All the old gang, even if the final name might sting his mother a little, the fact that she remained where Craw did not should have been enough to cut her some slack.

It was only when he resumed his grooming that he realised where this was headed and he stopped, his muscles growing a little tense. "Aah..." Not that he really understood it, but he also didn't want to piss Celandine off by pushing his luck.

Odin felt her pull away and he relaxed, her question bringing a crooked smile to his face, unable to resist the tease, "I-uh, dunno, is there?" he dared to step closer, to bump his shoulder against hers once more, then he stepped away again, What was he doing?

He was caught in a tug-o-war. He wanted to bury his face in her fur and just be but something in his gut also told him he was walking a dangerous path, this close to the pack, with the power she wielded... What was the right thing to do? "Do-uh... Should I... go?" He would leave it up to her, he managed far better when someone else was telling him what to do.