Alpine Lake Call Home

For @Chase @Jem and @Everfree @Pritmor (and anyone else that wants to join, of course!) :) You can all jump in whenever, or if you'd rather a private thread you can message me!

Charley was feeling really good this morning, and after howling to @Aspen letting her know she was alone for a few hours, he set off. He usually didn't like others leaving the borders alone, but he was King and he was a warrior and he had a damn loud voice to call should he need it. As he walked, he thought about the Court. The borders were strong, and their scents were mingling to create the scent of the pack. Their cache just inside the tunnels was full, and who knows about the other ones across the Glade. Shalon and Darsal had done well in stocking them, plus whoever else had helped. Skeet and Darsal had been rare of late: they were still here, right? Perhaps Charley just hadn't seen them.... He hoped. In the mean time, his thoughts were on Ayla. She was recovering well, he assumed, and had a place within the tunnels. He suspected that Shalon might be next, and dearly hoped so. She was perhaps the only one who'd caught his eye in thinking about their Duke or Duchess. She was a strong woman, respectful and obedient, as well as becoming a good friend. He made a note to talk to Aspen about the posibility when he got home. After all, they were still in the process of settling. 
Charley went decently far, reaching a large body of water and laying himself next to it for a drink come sunhigh. He still refused to look at his eye opened, and the gashes healing along his face were all but ignored. He was still just as handsome as before, of that he was confident. The hearing on one side, the same side he no longer had sight, was hard to focus on. 
Tipping up his head, the King called for loners and those in need of a home. Might as well recruit while he was out, right? Who knows, maybe he'd get lucky.

A scrawny wolf was nipping at buzzing flies at his coat. Pritmor would normally feel they shamed and labeled him of a lowlife, expect he was smiling and wagging his tail. Excited tingling in the digits of his paws explained his change of luck with meetings of strong looking wolves. The whitish male was not near importance but a little eye contact and less harsh words made his day.

He perks his ears to a distant howling and thought it included him in some way. Leaving the flies to nestle in his pelt, he fast walked to the summonging voice. He didn't have a pack yet so he was a loner. Pritmor slows to the crystalling lake, his morals shortening to see a battle scarred wolf. "I heard something?" He sighs, not getting closer to the big wolf.

An almost pathetic looking creature came to him as he drank, and Charley lifted his scarred face to turn and look at the grey creature. Before Larksong, before Aspen, before the Court he would have scoffed, stood, and walked away. Maybe he might've spat a few insults. But today, he didn't see a fly ridden beast with days to live and no purpose: he saw someone to strengthen the Court. Surely, the man had some skill to add to the pack. 
                     "If you're a loner in need of a home, yes. Are you?"
He wagged his tail, gave a charming smile to the younger man in hopes he would come closer, say he was indeed looking for a home. Of course there was always a chance he'd say no, but perhaps someone to talk to and share possible knowledge with was just as helpful.

"A home might be too much. But I've been looking for a place to stay still in." Pritmor carefully corrects the male. "Any length of time and any inch of land you can give me would be great."   He grins, sluggishly moving to Charley. The last wolves the runt talked to, would deny him in no doubt. Pritmor would respect this and would not be frustrated if Charley did turned him down as well.

The male corrects him, but does not seem to be finished there. He isn't looking for a home, but a place to stay. Admittedly, it is confusing for the King. As the little thing moves closer, Charley motions for Pritmor to sit with him.
           "The names Charley Pryor. What kind of a place are you looking for, and what do you mean a place to stay still? Should I offer you a place in my ranks, are you going to just up and leave one day? Would you serve the pack while there, even if you intended on leaving?"
Charley wasn't sure what to do with this one. He needed the recruits, the strength, but not someone who held no loyalty or sense of duty. Freeloaders were of no interest to the Pryor.

He plants his bony frame beside the healthy man. "My name is Pritmor. Be it as it may, I have never held other weights except to pull my own. I could try to help someone if they need it." Pritmor rubs his neck, he should just say yes to make this simpler. "Any rank I would take." He inhales and puffs his chest out. "What would be the first thing I do, Mr. Pyror? How would I address you?"

The stranger never does say if he plans to stay or not, or for how long, but he's willing. Is he able? Based off of his frame alone, he knew that he clearly wasn't a warrior of sorts. That was okay, though. Everyone had a use.
Charley fixes his one blue eye on him, the one beneath raw pink scars was still closed, and the next time he speaks maybe a bit too sharply than he meant. It softens after the first inital scolding, warms up until he is beaming in pride and wagging his tail.
                               "I can't blame you if you've never been in a pack, but the alpha's questions should be adressed if you plan on allowance within his home. I'm the King of Golden Glade, and I rule the Royal Fire Court with my Queen, Aspen. We have few numbers and we're still settling, but in honestly we can use all the help we can get for now. We expect full loyalty and devotion in turn for providing the needs of a wolf and take them into our family and treat them like royalty. It will be a good life, I assure you, as long as you are mindful of the rank you have. We'd be glad to give you a chance, as long as you think it'd be the place for you."

The scavenger jumped in to respond, almost talking over the last sentence Charley finished. “I think it’s a place for me, your majesty” Pritmor dips his head. “I hesitate and stutter a lot but I am saying yes this time. You don’t have to worry about me not being mindful in my ranking. I wouldn’t envy the others in theirs and I will give full loyalty. I mean it, every word!” He whines and rolls to his back, exposing his heart behind the twig like ribs and the windpipe of his throat. “I want your offer. Yes, I can’t say no to my King.” Adding a little buttering up to the Alpha, the wolf convinces himself that pack life will not be destructive to his little life.

Pritmor was more than willing, and suddenly enthusiastic, not to mention submission. It all happened pretty fast, and Charley had to say it was more amusing than anything except maybe a little guilt. As the little male flips over, a little smile spreads across his inky maw, and the King reaches out. Even as he was sucking up, the brute man nudges the paler male back over. With a chuckle, he spoke again, but it was far warmer and more welcoming than the last time.
                    "I'm willing to give you a chance, and I think my Queen, Aspen, will like you as well. Come, I'll take you home."
Standing, and rising far above the bony creature the patched male just recruited, Charley waited and looked over his shoulder with a charming grin wrought upon his face.
                              "I'll tell you about Golden Glade on the way."