Sex: Male The pack had worked on moving the pups into the main den, and it seemed his children were settling in fine. He could only hope that his children would forge strong bonds with each other, but also the rest of the pack. After all, family was the core of Secret Woodlands. As his thoughts drifted to his pups’ actions the other night, the dark alpha walked past a full cache. The scent that lingered the most around it was Duckweed’s, Bella’s son. For a long time, the alpha had known about Duck’s silent contributions towards the pack and maybe it was finally time to verbally thank the man. Miccah wondered if Duckweed even wanted to make his full time hobby an official role in the pack. As the dark king continued to think about it, the more he liked the idea. There was no official hunter within the pack, although everyone pulled their weight and brought back prey to keep the caches full. It would be nice though, to have a full time hunter. It was definitely time to talk to Bella’s son. Not wanting to make the boy anxious with a summoning call, the alpha left the borders to find him. It didn’t take him long to the track the quiet man and the king silently broke through the dense thickets and rumbled a brief greeting. "Duck.” Knowing that Duckweed was always a ball of nerves, he vowed to make this quick. "speech" |
The arrival of puppies, before they'd been born, had been a rather anxiety-inducing notion. Duck had no idea what babies needed or how to look after them or what was expected of someone who wasn't family. He'd noticed how Aideen, merely through being in heat, had been snappy and irritable, and though the pregnancy seemed to have gone well for the normally-mellow woman, he had been determined to avoid the den she'd given birth in. There was no way he was risking that kind of ire, and nor did he want to step on Miccah's toes, especially considering each of those toes were probably bigger than his whole paw... or that's how it felt, whenever he crossed paths with the huge, dark-furred man.
The pale wolf was sat by a dense knot of brambles, a wall which hid him from one side of the world, a pile of three fish by his side, because of course. Over the last few weeks following Aideen's successful birthing of three little Athesilas, Duck had learned that his initial panic had been completely misplaced. If anything, the puppies were a blessing; everybody was far too busy with them to pay him any attention, which meant that he seemed to slip under the radar now more than ever. It was quite wonderful, even if he was growing to somewhat enjoy hanging out with @Rose and @Nios whenever either of them decided to impose their company upon him. He didn't even pretend to complain about it anymore.
Calm and content, he swiped his tongue down the length of the long, silver-scaled fish, cleaning the blood and water and dirt from it. He had gotten good at catching them while doing as little damage to them as possible, and the less blood there was, the longer they seemed to keep before going bad. Maybe the lack of open wounds made it harder for the flies to get in? Pondering this curiosity, his concentration was broken by the sound of somebody approaching - and, expecting them to just pass by without noticing him, to Duck's surprise the wolf did nothing of the sort. From the way Miccah looked at him and spoke his name, it was pretty clear that he hadn't just stumbled across the young Calor.
"M-m-m-miccah," he squeaked, though by now the stammer was more of a natural reflex than a true reflection of his fear; he knew, intellectually, that his leader was a good wolf who meant him no harm, but damn was he big and intimidating despite that. Quickly he stood, so as not to be rude and greet his leader sat on his butt, his tail tucked instinctively as his gaze dropped, the submission coming more naturally than the sun rising. Please say that nothing's wrong. Had he made a mistake? Miccah had never sought him out before like this, so specifically. They'd only really spoken in the presence of Bella. Please say I've not done something wrong. "C-c-c-can, can I h-help you?"
![[Image: SWpride5.png]](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j320/alleybomber/SWpride5.png)
| The small man almost jumped out of his skin, and if Miccah was as comfortable with Duckweed as he was with his wife in showing his emotions, the stoic man’s maw would’ve quirked slightly upwards in amusement at his actions. Yet, he knew the man was anxious around others. Almost like a fear, really. But over time, Miccah had noticed that Bella’s son had slowly begun to grow comfortable within the thickets, and the dark king was glad for it. He took in Duck’s obvious submission with slight warmth in his gaze, but that was not what he wanted of the man now. "Look at me," he rumbled, softening his baritone slightly. He didn’t want to give the grey man a heart attack, so he waited a few moments before speaking again, his blue gaze briefly flicking at the fish beside Duckweed. "I wanted to thank you for keeping the caches full. Good job." Miccah had never been a man of many words, and always made it a point to get straight to the matter at hand whenever he did speak. There was no point in fluff, and unless it was his mate, he abhorred ramblers. He looked down at the small man, waiting to hear what he thought of his words before he continued with his goal. "speech" |
And as such, Miccah's next words only strengthened his smile. Good job. The words bounced around inside his head, knocking everything over, and he felt like he wanted to burst. In a happy way. Good job! Miccah was far less talkative than his mate, far more to-the-point, and Duck found that he appreciated that somewhat; it was easier to feel okay about saying less when not a lot was spoken to you in the first place. "Y-y-you're wuh, w-welcome," he said quietly, pleasure almost making him quiver, feeling self-conscious and bashful and proud all at once. Good job. See, I am good for something. "I w-w-wuh, w-want to help."
| It was clear that Miccah’s praise had made the young man happy, and it seemed Duckweed was not used to such compliments. Miccah would have to rectify that – Duck needed to know how much his silent contributions were truly appreciated. As the young fisher continued, Miccah’s muzzle twitched slightly in the beginnings of a rare smile. There were few that could coax out such a response from the stoic man, and even fewer that were given the chance to completely see the genuine show of emotion. Yet, Duckweed was proving to be…good company and the dark king had the young man exactly where he wanted him. His deep blue gaze never wavering from Duck’s, the large alpha rumbled a simple question. "Do you want to help more?” Miccah only needed to plant the seed of thought into Duck’s head. Roles were essential in every pack, and only few within the Woodlands had shown interest in specializing in a role. Bane and Korrin wished to be guardians, Inali wished to be a teacher, and now hopefully he could coax the young man before him to hone his talents even more and become the official hunter of the pack. And maybe this could help Duck grow in confidence not only within himself but also in interacting with others. "speech" |
The simple but loaded question wriggled in through one ear and soaked into the corners of his brain. Duck quivered as he licked his lips, hesitant but not sure why. The answer was obviously yes, but he was so afraid of letting down this man who had thanked him for his efforts, gone out of his way to do so, and he was already reaching his skill ceiling - Duck knew he wasn't really good at anything else other than fishing. It was his way of making use of what little he'd been given. And, damnit, if Miccah wanted more, then he would just have to find the capacity to give it.
He lifted his head, just a little, just as if to try on this 'confidence' thing for size. It fit awkwardly, but he could make adjustments. Setting his jaw, the skinny wolf nodded once, making sure it was once, because that implied sureness of resolve and determination. Just bobbing his head up and down wildly might have been more in line with how he felt, but he couldn't let that be how he presented himself. "Of c-c-course."
| Where once the small man before him quivered at every word that he managed to utter, now Miccah saw that Duckweed was trying. His eye contact, the minuscule lift of his head...yes, this was good. Duck was finding his place in the pack, slowly but surely, and Miccah was happy to see growth in his subordinate. The pale man spoke up, giving Miccah the exact answer he had wanted to hear. Never a man to beat around the bush, the dark king nodded his head, pleased. "Good. Because I want you to become the official hunter of the pack." More specifically, the fisherman. Yet, he wanted to see Duck's reaction when he tacked on the term 'official' to what he was already doing for the pack. Would this type of responsibility want to make the boy retreat back into his shell, or rise up and become as confident in himself as he was in his abilities? Only time would tell. So, the dark beast patiently kept his blue gaze on Duck and waited for his response. Hopefully Duck kept saying what Miccah wanted to hear, because though Duckweed may not think so, Miccah thought the man was the perfect fit for the role. "speech" |
Still, the declaration took him utterly by surprise, something which he failed to hide entirely. Mouth falling open, he spluttered for a split second before snapping it shut again with a sharp inhale of breath, telling himself that it wasn't a joke, it was serious, and that meant that... that he had to live up to it. Somehow. Setting his jaw, he took another breath, longer, steadying himself, telling himself that he could do it. Miccah thought he could, so he'd just have to make it be true. He couldn't risk messing this up.
"Y-y-y-yessir," he said, managing to suppress the 'are you sure?!' which he desperately wanted to say, but a confident wolf didn't question his superiors' belief in them. They just followed through. "I'll m-muh-m-may... you p-pr-proud."
| The dark king received the answer he and been hoping for, and another of his rare smiles appeared for a brief moment before it disappeared. He was so proud of the young man before him. From the anxious kid that constantly hid behind his mother, the pale wolf before him had become a man, a loyal subordinate to the former guardian...and a trusted friend. Few had ever managed to have that label when it came to Miccah, but Duckweed had somehow wormed himself into his heart and into the short list he considered allies. Did the man before him not think he had made him proud already? The way Duckweed contributed to the pack, and how he forced himself out of his shell, and how he had spent time with his children and cared for them: Duck had made him proud time and time again. But maybe...maybe it was actually time to voice it. The boy clearly needed to hear it. So, the dark king stared strongly at Duckweed before taking a step back to take his leave. He had finished what he had come to do, but had one more thing to say. "You already have, Duck," Miccah rumbled as he gave the pale man one final nod and took his leave. {Miccah exit} "speech" |
