Quaking Vale Rose Colored Glasses

For @Kino
Backdated sometime before this thread

Before Larkspur had come to Relic Lore, he had faced things a little more head-on. But then he'd been a little more in charge, and any consequences before him were easily pushed aside with a shrug. Now he had to look before he leapt, which had never suited him too well. Lately, though, Larkspur had been forced to do or say (or not say) things that didn't suit him. He tried to do good and he tried to pretend that he liked to do good, but in the end he still missed being in a position where his word was law. 

Not to say that he wasn't in a good position. Larkspur was Quaking Vale's second, but in the end second was still just... second. He had to bite his tongue and do what was good for the pack, which mostly meant that he was doing what was good for him. He wasn't at the top, but he was close to it. He was surrounded by wolves that cared about him enough to let him stick around, and cared about him enough to still let him get away with being himself. Or, well, there was at least one wolf that cared, and in the end Sahalie was the only one that mattered. He couldn't speak for Alastor, and didn't believe that Castel liked having him around. Niles maybe liked it less, though he had not seen the wolf in quite some time.  

That morning he had gotten up to patrol and now was heading back to check one of the caches. He had his little routine and barely broke it, and more or less thought he was happy with it. Patrol, look for something to hunt, maybe eat if he was hungry, nap for the rest of the day. Some days he traveled beyond Quaking Vale's borders, but mostly he kept close. He had to keep himself useful, if not for the benefit of Quaking Vale, then for the benefit of himself. 

Spring had arrived a little late but as it had each year, it did arrive. It wasn't what he was used to and even then he wondered if he'd ever be used to the springs or the summers or the falls or the winters of Relic Lore. Time healed all wounds, but would his homesickness ever go away? 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      He jumped, jaws snapping around a dove just as it attempted to flee. Larkspur gave it a good shake, sending a flurry of white feathers everywhere. 

If I ever leave I could learn to miss you

It had been a bit of time since he had had a real conversation with Larkspur. It wasn’t that he really wanted to seek him out, but rather that he felt like he should. The man was the pack’s second after all. He was Alastor’s second, which meant there had to be some form of communication, right? They couldn’t just go about running a pack without talking to each other, which meant that their unspoken truce of “you leave me alone and I leave you alone” needed to be abandoned. A bad taste was at the back of his tongue, though not nearly as acidic as it had once been. Perhaps he was growing more used to the presence of the other, but he would never acknowledge the thought.

Much like Alastor, it seemed that Larkspur had settled into a routine. His scent could be gathered in the same general pattern, which was what led the silver man to the other this day. He came upon the other, watching as he leapt to snatch an unfortunate dove from the air. He showered feathers and blood in all directions and the display wasn’t something that he found surprising. It seemed appropriate to him, in fact. “If you shake it any harder there won’t be anything left,” he commented with a slight smirk.

With sentimental boy as my nom de plume

Larkspur, on the other hand, felt more comfortable in avoiding the silvery alpha. They both did their job, they both helped run Quaking Vale, and in the older man's mind, that suited them both well enough. The white man didn't notice the boy's presence, too wrapped up to consider that someone might witness the violent act. He froze when he heard his alpha's voice, dropping the dove and turning to face the larger boy. "Better a bird than someone else," he was joking, but a lot of the time Larkspur joked in the way that didn't seem like he was one hundred percent joking. He licked at the blood on his maw, chewing and spitting out the soft feathers from the bird.

It was rare that @Kino sought him out. Lark had called on the boy once or twice, but usually to introduce him to someone else. Kuwindwa, for example, and that annoying girl — Iyes. In those instances Larkspur was formal, and the two could pretend to get along for a little bit. Dealing with others in small bursts was his strong suit, and it probably worked the same the other way around. Larkspur wasn't blind to his generally unlikable presence.

In fact, mostly it seemed that Lark went a little bit out of his way to be disliked.

After he'd chewed and spat out most of the feathers and cleaned off most of the blood, Alastor was still there. This was unusual, and already he could feel annoyance creep up on his neck. With no one else around, Larkspur felt little need to censor himself and was a little comfortable breaking from the forced formality that went on between the alpha and his second. "What do you want?"

If I ever leave I could learn to miss you

“Better a bird than someone else,” the older male commented and Alastor allowed a shrug as if to say “fair enough”. He hoped that Larkspur wouldn’t be stupid enough to risk the good life he could have in the Vale by doing something unnecessary. No matter how much Hal might like him, if he came to do something that would endanger anyone in the pack the silver male wouldn’t hesitate to put him in his place. Out in the world, alone.

“What do you want?” The second asked, not beating around the bush and the man’s grin got a little wider. “What? Can’t a guy talk to an old friend,” he said, placing a special lilt on the last word as he was under no delusion that the pair were anything of the sort. They were more partners in business and even if Alastor was convinced that they would need to communicate a bit more if they wanted this business to work, he didn’t plan on making a habit of playing nice. It was a two way road and they both knew how to stay on their side. “Just wanted to check in, make sure everything’s going good on your end,” he added.

With sentimental boy as my nom de plume

His throat grumbled in annoyance at the boy, doing little to hide it. Lark wished he hadn't devoured the bird so quickly, it would have at least given him a valid excuse to ignore the boy. Alastor's grin only made the annoyance that bubbled within him worse. He could do little but sit and take it, not really in the mood for having a nice chat with his leader. He had much more important things on his mind, and pretending that he was just fine was probably the last thing he wanted to do.

His stomach made an uncomfortable flip. Second to last. Or maybe third, because it wasn't exactly like he could just run off without telling anyone.

As @Kino spoke of just wanting to check in, Larkspur visibly rolled his eyes. "Sahalie isn't here, Alastor," he reminded the boy. He hadn't thought the boy needed to be reminded, but apparently he did. "And, honestly, I'm not really interested in playing with you right now," usually Lark had a little bit of spark in him, at least enough to be snarky with his leader. Now his tone was dead serious and borderline I don't want to deal with your shit right now, Alastor. "So tell me what you really want or leave me alone."

so tell me what you want, what you really really want

If I ever leave I could learn to miss you

Alastor hadn’t expected the conversation to be pleasant, but he also hadn’t expected it to go south so fast. It was as if Larkspur had instantly turned to ice and the male was tempted to reach forward and shatter the facade. It had been clear from the beginning that his second was not good with others, but to not be able to hold a simple conversation? Unbelievable! He found himself becoming frustrated but he forced it down, refusing to allow the other to get a rise out of him at that moment. Whether he chose to believe him or not was his prerogative. “No, Hal’s not here but a pack is. One that I’m the alpha of and you’re the second of. I get that I’m new to this whole thing and I won’t like it just as much as you won’t, but there needs to be some sort of communication here. Just every so often a word of “Yeah, I’m doing my best to not kill anyone and no one’s died today so we’re all good here” is probably a good idea. Then we can get out of each other’s fur,” he said, his tail giving a sharp swish behind his frame.

With sentimental boy as my nom de plume

(This post was last modified: Jul 14, 2017, 06:09 PM by Kino.)

After @Kino spoke, Larkspur felt a twinge of guilt and looked away from the boy. His face was wrinkled in an almost-snarl, though directed more at himself. He took a breath, licked his nose, and straightened up before finally allowing himself to look at the boy. "I apologize," he slowly said, "I have had a lot on my mind lately." It wasn't a lot of information, but as a wolf who rarely told anyone much of anything, the small statement was a step in the right direction. He cleared his throat, half to get on with it, and half to let Alastor know that he did not intend on offering any more details. A part of him knew that he could count on his alpha, but another part — perhaps the part that saw Alastor the same now as he had when they'd first met last year — was unwilling to yield.

"The caches are full and I've been tracking a small heard that's passing through," he told his alpha. "I don't believe anyone has died, and you have my word that under my watch, no one will," he offered the boy a hopefully reassuring smile. He did not get along with many of Quaking Vale's members, but Larkspur thought he'd proven himself enough to be a worthy member of the pack. He worked hard and despite the rough exterior, he did want to do good for his new home. For his sake above anyone else's, which if anything was good for the newly formed pack.

"For what it's worth, Alastor, you are doing a good job. You and Sahalie make a good team, I think."

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

If I ever leave I could learn to miss you

Larkspur looked away and Alastor’s fur bristled slightly at the snarl that showed the older man’s yellowed teeth. He was just trying to do his damn job, why was his second making it so hard for him? He was about to give him a real piece of his mind when, suddenly, an apology slipped through the teeth of the other with the reasoning that he’d had a lot on his mind. Really? Larkspur had a lot on his mind? The silver man was running a freaking pack after just entering adulthood for pete's sake! A sigh left his jaws and he gave a simple nod. He certainly wasn’t going to try to pry into what was going on in the other’s mind. If something was off about him he was sure that the other would have been snuffed out by Sahalie anyhow. It wasn’t his business if it didn’t have to deal with himself or the pack. Of course, much later he would come to find out just how much it had to do with both.

The Ritter male began to relay to him what he’d been asking for and Alastor listened quietly, head tilting to the side as he took in the information. He was glad to know the caches were being kept up on and the herd was even more valuable. The pack, hopefully, would only continue to grow and he wanted to make sure their food source was abundant. “Thanks for telling me about the herd. Keep tracking it and tell me if they move. That’s a good find,” he complimented, his tail giving a swish behind his large frame. Auds swiveled forward to catch Larkspur’s other words, a feeling of discomfort settling in his chest. Even if it hadn’t been the pale man, Alastor had never been one for coddling. Yes, perhaps it was nice to be told you were doing something right but it was never something that he relied on. He didn’t need the praise of others because he was always determined to be able to stand on his own. “Ah, thanks. It’s been working out fairly well. Hal’s doing a great job, I’m lucky that she likes talking. I can put out the muscle but when it comes to words...well they’re not my strong suit,” he said sheepishly. Of course, that would be no secret to his second.

With sentimental boy as my nom de plume