How long had he spent here? It seemed as though it had been nearly a week, though surely it had only been a couple of days. There had been that encounter with that other wolf and then nothing more than leisurely hours spent rolling in the wake of red. It was a different red then he was used to. And while it didn’t contain the excitement of his past antics, it was replaced by a relaxtion that he parralleled with the other. It was softer, slower, and rather enjoyable, even if it carried no dramatic turn of events. Already his chosen spot amidst the flowers had worn a patch at the corner of the field. Flowers lay flattened and the green hollow of stems was folded into the landscape. Upon approach, it would have been obvious that a larger creature had spent time there. What with the small tufts of hair here and there and a faint trail through the flowers that ended abruply at the edge of the field.

It wouldn’t do to spend much longer here, however; while he hadn’t made any great attempt to hide his presence the those of his own species, the consequence was that the creatures of prey were all too well aware of him as well. They stayed away from the corner of the field where he had set up camp, and should he stay for much longer, hunting was going to become unnecessarily difficult. Besides, he could feel the slow creep of restlessness in his bones and he was willing to to nip it before it developed much further. Still… one more stroll through the pretty little meadow couldn’t hurt… right?

His shifted himself and began to rise from his small hollow of stems when a wrenching call broke out over the clearing. He started in such away that he jerked slightly and then was immediately still, eyes snapping forward as he sought out the sound of the noise amidst his half reclined half rising position.

He stood, jaws raised to the air at the end of his call, on the other side of the field. He was still quite a distance from where Artuo was. While Artuo was curious of the nature of the call, which was obviously not one of an open nature from what he could sense from the tone, he wasn’t interested in inturrupting the moment for the wolf.

Curiosity had always burned in Artuo. It was something in his nature that he hadn’t ever learned to control and the gauge of his interest increased with the less information he had. He shifted his position now, sliding back down into a laying position so that the wolf could have a moment to recover himself and even more so to give Artuo a moment to collect just how to handle the situation. And so he waited for the other to make a move, whether that be wandering over in discovery of Artuo’s location, continuing his cries, or moving off into another location that was much more private. All the while, he kept his eyes slightly averted from the scene as to not be seen as an unecessary eavesdropper, though close enough on the figure that it would keep the wolf within sight.

He lay there, cradled in the blades of grass, watching the other male as he all too soon became aware of Artuo’s presence. He wasn’t adverse to his enlightenment, but Artuo had hoped for a bit more time before the male had come wandering over to him. It seemed things happened much to fast these days. Artuo was all for the slow, succulent moments in life. The ones you were able to sit back and relish. Well, at least when it came to enjoyment of his own. He had those moments only when they were not approved of, and now, those moments were sidled into a different kind of track. Attention temporarily diverted, he refocused on the approaching male, head now fully towards the other as they were now both aware of each other’s presence.

He shifted his weight once more, pushing himself to his feet as the other came close enough to see the hollow that he had created, merely by laying down throughout the week. At the sound of the other clearing his throat, Artuo tilted his head in way of greeting, acknowledging both the fact that he had witnessed a the restraint breaking in the other through his cry as well as his greeting.

He had a brief moment of awareness where their voices were concerned. As they were both male, it was fairly understandable that they would both have deep voices. But for an instant, Artuo pictured the two of them from above, both slightly reserved in their greetings and both carrying deep voices that would carry easily across any distance. He smirked slightly at the thought, pondering the waywardness of testosterone.

"Well, hello." He glanced around him, gaze taking in the flattened grass and small trail leading away into the field. "What brings you to my humble abode?" A smile lifted his lips in light tones. Obviously it wasn’t a permanent home and he didn’t call the territory his own, but it was humor in a lighter sense, and Artuo was willing to throw it out there.

He watched the other's brow rise and he couldn't help but be amused by the gesture. It could mean anything from skepticism to, well, Artuo viewed it as mostly a quaint gesture of one doubting another's words, whether it be in humor or distaste. Rather than being offended by it, it drew Artuo in more to the conversation that seemed to be bubbling on the edges of their meeting. This was indeed not any kind of permanent home for him, and he took it as nothing more than that. No borders, no pack, any wolf of basic instinct would see this as free land and they would be correct in seeing it as such. It would only be in a show of dominance from either of them that question of who belonged would be settled. And Artuo wasn't to be bothered with such trivialities as those, as least for now. That came along with being in a pack, and sure, base greetings from one wolf to another, but those were played out in subtle signals that would either be interpreted as dominance or not. And it didn't seem that either of them were here for that particular game.

"No, not at all. Conversation is very rarely a bad thing. It's communication that gets you. Or rather, lack thereof.

"My name is Artuo Valde." His gaze shifted to the field that surrounded them, watching the distant edge of the meadow as the flowers shifted. "I haven't been here for long. Mostly, I just settled here to gain my bearings." And that was certainly true. Where to go from here, he would discover that as the time came. "And what of you? The scenery is pleasant, certainly, but what's your story?"

The stories of others always interested him. It was a way of discovering the boundaries of another's mind. No matter how well or how little he knew of someone else, it was their background and the way they interacted with the world now that made them who they were. What their responses where to certain stimuli, or how they reacted when emotionally involved. He could see the base instincts of most in many different avenues, but it was what branched out from there that fascinated him. The fortunate thing about this fascination was that it was never-ending. There would always be another wolf to encounter and each time, something would change, no matter how minute. They were each complex creatures, and finding himself among them, he knew that the more he discovered about others, the more he would discover of himself.