@Ambrose
After catching whiff of both of his siblings in the neighbourhood, Bruges decided to play it cool and take his time. From what the scholar could tell, his sister had been in the area longer- he'd tailed her scent to the borders of a pack, where her scent was quite prevalent along the perimeter. He didn't stay- not certain just yet that he wanted to bump into her until he had established himself somewhere and had scouted the area. After all, he still felt it was his duty as her big brother to make sure his younger siblings were doing well, especially Niamh. Not that she was more vulnerable than Ambrose- but she was a female, and it was simply in his nature to want to nurture his younger sister.
Ambrose was around too- he'd crossed his brother's scent the day before but as he had with Niamh, he'd given his brother space, lest he wanted some time to himself. Still, he had to wonder what had become of his brother's little pack. He smirked to himself slightly as he drank from the river that flowed alongside the forest, before he straightened himself up, shook his coat out, and continued to meander along the riverbank in the long shadows of morning.
Ambrose was always hungry, but that made sense since he was a very large creature and there was still no telling how well his hunt went with Towhee or Elwood. Most remarkably, the roaming shadow had let the entire event fade from his mind. He'd discovered something bizarre when he'd been hunting and while the actual events weren't that important, this discovery was immensely. The two strangers he had encountered were of the same pack — but here was the kicker. So was Niamh. Her scent was all over them. He didn't think to broach the subject with either of his hunting partners so he'd eaten (or maybe he hadn't) and said a polite farewell.
But now that he was alone, roaming through the hinterlands as if he were possessed, he knew he had to track down his sister. It was too shocking to let it go. He might've been a skilled hunter and felt quite accomplished as a tracker, but he still overshot the path he thought would lead him straight to Niamh. Ambrose came upon a deep-set forest and soon was absorbed within its cooling shadows. It wasn't long before Ambrose realized why he'd deviated — he'd somehow gone from tracking his sister to tracking his brother.
This is ridiculous,
he murmurd to himself as he marched along.
There wasn't much in the forest to keep him interested, so he headed along a path that uncoiled like a snake, and soon departed the cover of the trees. It was here that he saw a startling sight, and as his pale gaze caught upon Bruges' silhouette he called out, Well speak of the devil! The hell are you doing here?
Ambrose had slipped easily in to a run and his long strides cut through the distance between himself and his brother, and upon reaching him and the little spit of river, he was grinning from ear to ear; but then he remembered what had transpired between the two of them, and for a moment his smile lost a bit of its usual shine.
The scent of his younger brother made Bruges' nostrils quiver. Ambrose was in the area, but Bruges continued along, knowing that his brother was drawing closer and closer, willing to give the impression that he hadn't noticed his brother's scent at all until he called out. He turned around, ears perked upon his handsome head, and he smiled, moving toward his brother with long, sweeping steps. He laughed, the tone of his voice as smoothe and beguiling as ever as he regarded his brother fondly.
"Look at you, sport," He said, affection seeping into his voice as he regarded his more muscled brother. He cast a glance over his brother, taking note of his healthy form, and nodded. "You look well. Junior's around here too, eh? You bumped into her yet?" He asked, not precisely answering Ambrose's question, but hoping that his brother would understand that he was simply implying he was checking in on the two of them. He wasn't sure exactly why Ambrose had left his little group of fiends- but he wasn't going to press the matter, either. Obviously, if Ambrose was here, he wasn't with his little fledgeling pack anymore. And though part of Bruges wanted to know exactly what had gone down, he did know better than to ask- lest he risk frustrating his brother even more. The faded smile had not been missed; but Bruges still continued shamelessly to regard his brother with utmost fondness.
Don't call me that, you sound like dad,
Ambrose scoffed, entirely honest in that assessment even if it sounded like teasing. His comment was spoken with a low enough tone to be missed though, as he did not want to start anything. Ambrose watched his brother for a moment as if studying a sheet of ice ready to crack beneath his feet, and when he was met with familial bolstering he decided everything was alright.
I thought I smelled her around here,
he remarked in response to Bruges.
I was hunting the other day and I ran in to a couple pack wolves. It was the weirdest thing, because they smelled a bit like Niamh. I think she's living with them now.
As he finished reporting this he shrugged and added, I assume that's why you're here, right? Looking for somewhere else to rest your head, mooch some food, or charm the locals?
His voice had turned a bit too sharp as he mentioned the locals; again, he had to hold back on saying things that he meant outright. Bruges had really screwed him over with his last stunt and no amount of time would heal that wound of his (or so he told himself). If Bruges was here, and he knew of Niamh, then it was only a matter of time before he made her life implode. He might've claimed to be looking out for her — but that was Ambrose's job, and always had been.
His baby blues narrowed after a few moments, and he sniped as casually as he could, Why are you really here, Bruges?
Bruges knew he'd struck a nerve- but it was so easy to do with Ambrose, and Niamh too; as confident as they both were, Bruges knew there was a certain amount of insecurity that lingered there too- and that Ambrose had never enjoyed growing up in his shadow. It was delightful, getting to ruffle his brother's fur a bit- but only ever to a certain extent. He knew fully well that now Ambrose was completely grown, he posed a physical threat- and Bruges wasn't interested in getting into a scrap with his bulkier brother. And he did care for Ambrose, though picking on him every now and again was too tempting to resist.
He raised an eyebrow when Ambrose mentioned Niamh running with a pack. He'd assumed as much, and nodded briefly. "Found her own band of ruffians to run with, then," He said, with a small smirk- a mild jab at the ragtag bunch of yearlings Ambrose had tried to lead as well. He rolled his shoulders, as though to shrug off any hostility his brother might have gleaned from that statement.
Ambrose interrogated him, but any ire he implied rolled off Bruges' shoulders like water would slide off a duck's back. While his younger siblings were tempermental, Bruges had a relatively even keel, and couldn't really be bothered to be offended by anything his younger siblings said. Instead, he leaned into it a bit. "Something along those lines, yes" He admitted. "Have you found anything worth sticking around here for?" He asked. Naturally, if his brother managed to find it, Bruges would want it- simply because taking anything from Ambrose was fiendishly simple and entertaining.
Found her own band of ruffians to run with, then.
That would've hurt if Ambrose took anything his brother said very seriously, and he could tell he was trying to get under his skin. It might've worked a little bit too but he wasn't going to show it. Besides, he wanted to know what the hell his brother was doing over here—and if he really was trying to find a place to crash, Ambrose would make sure it was as far away from their sister as possible. He loved his siblings, really, but if Niamh had found an ounce of happiness here then Ambrose wasn't about to let their brother ruin it the way he had with Red Rock.
No,
responded the boy to the question. Even if he had, would he have told Bruges? Not likely. I haven't been here very long. And those wolves I ran in to—the ones that might be living with Niamh—they seem pretty capable. I don't think your kind of charm would work on them.
He couldn't help his tone from becoming a little condescending, but it didn't matter. He was starting to make his way again, striding along the river's edge and away from Bruges as his interest in his brother waned.
It was still amusing to Bruges that Ambrose held some amount of disdain toward him. If anything, it was kind of cute that he liked to set himself between Bruges and Niamh- especially when Niamh had always been more game for a bet, tease or a challenge than Ambrose was. He figured his younger brother was either jealous, or simply wanted to avoid having Bruges get Niamh in real trouble. And while Bruges did like to stir the pot- he never meant any real harm.
Still...It sounded a lot like Ambrose was trying to deter Bruges from checking in on Niamh- perhaps because Ambrose intended to try and join Niamh’s pack, and he didn’t want Bruges to do the same. It caused Bruges to crack a smile. ”You wanna make that a bet?”
He stopped when he heard his brother issue his typical challenge, and for a split second Ambrose was very tempted to tell him to piss off or something—but he shot the boy a sharp look instead. You really want to play this game?
That was rhetorical; he knew that once Bruges chose to play his little games there was no backing out. It was safer for everyone if Ambrose gave in from the start. At least then, maybe, Bruges would be so distracted by the game that he wouldn't screw around with whatever their sister had going on.
I'll bite,
he murmured as he turned around, squaring off against his older brother. What're your terms?
OMG LOOK HOW HANDSOME AMBROSE ISSSSSSSSS!!!! <3!
Finally. It seemed like he'd managed to crack through his anal-retentive brother's ice, and made it through to the playful side of him. This was the side of Ambrose that Bruges liked- it reminded of him when he'd been a yearling, and Ambrose and Niamh had just been pups, more or less willing to do anything that Bruges suggested they do. Of course, Bruges didn't always make the best calls in those situations- and that had likely been the place where Ambrose had decided he needed to protect Niamh. But whatever- they'd just been lame puppies that grew up to be reasonably lame adults. But it was good to see, at least, that Ambrose was still willing to make bets every now and again.
As for terms...Bruges pondered for a moment, sitting down as he considered his options. Simply getting into the pack was too easy.
"I mean, obviously, joining the pack is child's play." He said.
"And actually-nah." He said, reconsidering what he was about to say, when a spark came into his bright, silver eyes.
"I could do this in a heartbeat. But you," He said, leaning toward his brother, and flattening his ears against his silky head.
"I wanna see you try and pull this off. I want you to join the pack, charm a girl into a relationship- and outrank Niamh." He said.
"Knock that one into the park, and you'll definitely have bragging rights."[/b]
ISNT HE THOUGH??? <3 King did an amazing job!
There was a limit to what Ambrose would put up with from his older brother, and Bruges knew it. But for the time being he was giving him a chance to prove he was better than fate otherwise indicated. Plus, heck, he could be fun too! Sometimes! It was just that fun didn't lend itself very well to the studious work ethic that made Ambrose feel so damn good about himself. Bruges might've enjoyed dipping his stick into various gene pools for the rush of it all, but Ambrose wasn't like that.
So, on to those terms. The more that Bruges spoke of this bet the less and less Ambrose felt inclined to participate. He was, essentially, telling Ambrose to be more like Bruges, which was everything that he did not want. The boy scoffed at the very mention of charming a girl. Of course you'd start there,
he murmured, more to himself than anything, but his expression turned in to something of subtle disdain for his hedonistic elder brother. Then, the mention of Niamh—and they both knew as soon as rank became a factor in this bet, that Bruges had Ambrose right where he wanted him.
He had always been competitive with his sister. Plus, if this put them together in the same pack, then Ambrose could keep an eye on her and keep Bruges from screwing anything up. Still, he felt like he was being played just a little bit, and the way he huffed and glared at Bruges made that obvious.
Okay, fine. I get in, I charm someone—what about you? If I can do that then you'll be happy enough to leave Niamh alone? I don't believe you.
It was more likely that Bruges would find a way to circumvent the rules of the game. How about this—I try to do all that stuff, but you try to join up with another pack and earn yourself a trade. Something, hmm, something like caretaker or botanist, to keep you rooted to one place. We'll see who succeeds first. If we're both unsuccessful in—one month, its a tie. We can meet back here in thirty days.
As if Bruges could survive in one place for long without screwing up (or screwing someone). To make it harder, he'd have to keep to a trade that would limit his roaming behavior. Ambrose was grinning as he watched his brother's expression, but he finally, boldly, stepped towards him and said, Deal?
And there it was- what Ambrose said was enough for Bruges to know that he'd definitely messed his younger brother's flow up when he'd left Red Rock. He relished the fact that it had been so easy for him to waltz in and throw a metaphorical stick in the spokes of Ambrose's perfect plan of leading a pack. He'd foiled the group, and had gotten the girl- ith hardly any effort. And now, all Ambrose wanted him to do was join a pack and get some stupidly simple trade? Bruges could handle plants and babies- but there was no way Ambrose could infiltrate a pack and score a girl.
Nevertheless, he was willing to take the bet. Or, in the very least- he was willing to make Ambrose try. He gave his brother a coy smile, sauntered forward and held out one of his svelte black paws. Staring his brother in the eye, he nodded. "Deal."
There wasn't a single moment of hesitation. Bruges lifted his paw and Ambrose knew what was coming next; as soon as he heard his brother agree to the terms, he took a deep breath to fortify his own spirit, and then swatted his brother's knuckles with his own. A little fist-bump of agreement.
I'd say good luck, but your problem is that you have too much,
luck, that is. He was always getting lucky and Bruges really didn't need any help with that. He needed some lessons in how to tone it down and be responsible — he needed to join a convent, or something. Maybe this would lead to something good for Bruges.
Ambrose sneered as he turned away from his brother, and as he sauntered off he called out, See you in a month, dude!
If they could both last that long.
Too much luck? Indeed. It was almost ridiculous how often Bruges found himself lathered in good fortune, so his brother's comment made him chuckle darkly. Ambrose and Niamh seemed to attract misfortune, now and again, but Bruges liked to think he managed to avoid it simply because he was half lucky, but also because he had a good mind in his skull. His brother went off, hoping to win the bet Bruges had proposed, but Bruges simply shrugged. "In a month," Bruges said.
He sauntered off- wondering, then, what he should do. Seek out a girl to spend some time with? Seek out a pack? The world was his oyster...And he was damned if he was ever going to let some little bet with his wee brother dictate what he did.