Preferably someone he hasn't met yet, except for the pups since he finds it a little disrespectful and forbidden to see them yet, but for the rest is anyone welcome :)
@Fox or
@Sassafras , perhaps? :o
Finally the man had gotten down to exploring, and had come to the realization that this place was a LOT bigger than the Keep. He had yet to find a place to sleep, living more like a nomad at night than anything, but he would never ask for help. Any other wolf would've been settled now, but not the perfectionist Trick. He needed the perfect spot to lie and sleep, preferable near a hole or tree to stuff some herbs and tools in. It was at times like these he missed his place at the Keep- his own cave filled to the brim with plants and cobwebs. But never would he return- no. The Caldera was his home now, and he would work himself to death if it meant recognition. He was made for the show, he was made to be a try-hard.
His eyes trailed the the crags of the southern side of the bowl-like structure, not knowing what to expect if he kept circling forever. He hated the thought of climbing it every time he wanted to go outside, not knowing there was a small space he could go through easily. He had yet to discover many secrets about the Caldera, but his thoughts of what it could be were disrupted by the sound of water. great. He thought sarcastically as he turned around to go back the way he had come. He felt kind of trapped here, especially with the body of water in the middle of the bowl.
Fox hadn't been particularly involved in things as of late. She'd been focusing on the children, especially Jackrabbit, and making sure that they were coping well after the passing of little Peter. To be fair, Fox hadn't really been herself since the death—no, murder—of her smallest, sweetest little boy. In her head, Jackrabbit had always been hers, and if asked, she would have sworn up and down that he was her own flesh and blood.
Nevertheless, she wasn't a complete hermit, and she was meandering about the caldera today with little on her mind. "Sup?" she asked, casually as could be. "We haven't met yet. I'm Fox." Maybe the direct approach would pay off.
His petite paws were hurting from wandering, highly unusual for Trick who had traveled half his life. Perhaps the Caldera was truly a new start for him, and this was just one of the many changes. He was tired, but he wouldn't show it nor even think about resting. He carried his head low, looking quite shady like this to say the least, but that all changed at the sound of a voice. He was usually more alert than this, but the female had caught him off-guard.
M'lady, good day to you.
He said as he shot his head up, carrying his tail and ears low with a small smile on his face. Fox, what an interesting name. He used to hunt foxes, who would name their child after food? I'm doing quite well, thank you. May I ask the same, Fox?
He asked, surprised to see anyone interested in the wandering, little, green-eyed Trick guy. Trick, they call me, by the way.
Fox rolled her eyes at the way he spoke. Why did he feel the need to show off? At least, that was how she interpreted his speech patterns. It all seemed over-the-top and unnecessary. "Ask the same what?" she asked, clearly not understanding what exactly he was getting at. Why couldn't he just talk like a normal? "Listen, Trick, you don't have to show off with fancy words or whatever. I'm not fancy, and you shouldn't be, either." It threw off the balance of things, and it made her look like an idiot. She was one, but she didn't want to look like one.
"What brought you to Redhawk Caldera?" Fox asked, wondering if he'd come here because of some tragic event. If there was one thing she loved, it was a good sob story. Not because she loved it when others got hurt, but because the stories were enthralling and dramatic.
Trick raised an eyebrow at her eyes rolling. What? Had he said something stupid? He did believe his sentences were structured correctly. Ask if you were okay.
He answered a little unsure. He thought that had been quite obvious. "sup" meant; "what"s up?", right? He was confused by the female's confusion, hmm. Soon it became quite clear for him though. No one here seemed very fond of his intellect, it seemed. But it was something he had done for the day he could talk- it was a part of him now. His silver tongue was everything that he needed to become anything he wanted to be.
Do excuse me then, but it is the way I was raised. I don't think it can be unlearned in the blink of an eye.
He said, his ears drooping in sadness. The next question was alright to answer though, he supposed.
Well, me and my lady friend, Grace, had sworn loyalty to the Keep. Soon our alpha went missing, and he was replaced by a lady who had just so happened to be in the right place at the right time. She let in this bunch of imbeciles, and we felt sort of underappreciated.
He explained, not going into any grim details of how he had wanted to kill Tavi and take Tam with him. We found the Caldera to be a fitting place for us, and we're quite happy to be working again- be useful again.
Fox squinted at his question, still not quite understanding what he was getting at. Of course she was okay. Was he blind? Not only that, but he seemed to get all huffy when she dissed his speaking style. "No need to pout. Just dumb it down for me a little." If he was really as well-spoken as he seemed to think he was, surely he was smart enough to know how to bring it down to her level. And if not, this was going to make communication pretty damn difficult.
He explained how he had gotten here, though Fox hardly recognized any of the proper nouns he was mentioned. The Keep? Grace? The latter sounded vaguely familiar, perhaps she'd heard the name in passing. "Welp, glad you found your way here. We're an odd bunch, but somehow we manage." Redhawk Caldera had been a solid mark on the map for close to two years now. "So when are you gonna lock it down with your lady friend?" she asked, assuming they were a thing.
Only when she squinted did he notice her cloudy eye. It looked alright, but it did made him wonder what or who had done this to her. She did not answer, and to be honest Trick didn't care anymore. He had tried to ask out of politeness anyway. He sighed softly, almost soundlessly. I guess I could.
He gave in. He had never dumb-ned something down before for anyone- not even for little pups. But, he supposed, not everyone could be a bright Christmas light in that tree.
He was surprised to hear Fox was glad they had found their way here. He wondered if it was out of politeness or genuine, sort of not seeing someone who needed dumb speech to understand something capable of lying. He decided to not question her about it, not wanting to draw any sort of bad attention to himself. His ears perked up as something came out of Fox's mouth he did not expect. Lock it down? Huh? Ohhh... Ah, ahahaha.
He laughed nervously. She is, well, we are- we're just friends.
Haha, I love that he's picking up on her dubmness. Most toons pretend she's smart! Or they just don't realize what a dolt she is.
He managed to spit out words that she understood in shorter, easier sentences. That was a lot better, and Fox smiled and nodded in approval. Even if he was a bit odd (and who wasn't around here?), at least he could follow directions. Now
that was a quality that she wanted all of her pack mates to have. What good were they if they couldn't follow
orders directions.
Trick seemed downright baffled with her question. Flustered, even, which caused her to grin and knowing wink.
"Oh sure you are, buddy." They all started out as "just friends."
"Peregrine and I started out as enemies. Did you know that?" Probably not, but Fox loved to talk about herself more than anything else in the world, so he'd have to listen.
"I straight up pissed on his land when I first met him, and I'm not sure why he didn't kill me. He probably thought I was cute." Fox made a mock-gagging noise and rolled her eyes. Never mind the fact that he'd had a mate and children on the way at the time.
XD
If only he could read thoughts, he would've been flattered. Never had an alpha complimented him on his actions- only Warbone once or twice. He went unnoticed for the most part, even when he was trying hard to appeal to someone. Well, all for Teagan. He hadn't even tried with him- them having met when Trick (out of all wolves) was panicking about the locust. With Teagan it was natural, almost. He wasn't supposed to think like this though- he just had to survive the coming winter.
N-No, really.
He said in a higher pitched voice with only the hint of his sexy tones mixed in. The only relationship I ever had was one with a boy.
He said in a casual yet unsure voice. It was something personal- how was he supposed to say; "Well, I think I might have a preference for the male gender when it comes to romance." in a dumb, casual way?
The next thing she said turned him quiet though. How had this happened? How had the seemingly somewhat smart Perry ended up with someone as downright slow as Fox? Now, that was a story he'd like to hear. But perhaps he better not ask any questions that required actual thinking. He could better ask Uncle P sometime. Well, I guess we're all glad he didn't kill you.
Trick explained that he most certainly wasn't interested in the lady he'd brought along, then he tacked on an explanation as to why he had no plans to "lock it down" with her. Perhaps to some it would have been odd (and not that it wasn't to Fox), but considering Perry himself had dabbled in D, she didn't bat an eye. In fact... "You know, Perry likes that kinda thing, too. Well, he likes both kinds of things. Boys, girls, he doesn't discriminate." This, of course, got Fox wondering if the two would make a good pair. Pan had left them long ago, and Peregrine hadn't taken another lover since then.
"In fact," Fox continued, "I don't discriminate, either. Although Peregrine and I agreed not to take lovers of our opposite sexes to avoid making bastards." Their arrangement was non-traditional, but Fox preferred it. Starling was the only one she'd ever acted on, but she had been glad that she did. Idly, she wondered if the come-and-go woman was still around these parts somewhere.
Trick really wasn't sure what his dick liked- his mind told him that women were the way to go, but his heart was bound on getting fucked himself again. It was confusing, and he usually just tried to not think about it too much. He hadn't been normal for a very long time, and he guessed he could stay that way. Not everyone had to fit in, and the Caldera didn't seem to care what he wanted when it came to sexual needs anyway. He blushed under his obsidian black fur. Really? Is that normal too?
He asked, interested. He wasn't interested in anything romantic with either of his leaders, but he really was interested in what was deemed "normal" here. If he could do both- he would certainly do both.
Makes sense.
He nodded understandingly. Although he really liked bastards. Sometimes, he wondered if he had been one as well. His memory only made him see flashes of Thor's family every now and then if he tried to think of his past- never his real one. Of course, he had been told about it, but who his parents were exactly; he had no idea.
Fox shrugged at his question. "I'm not sure what's 'normal,' but it works for us." She wasn't about to impose her (sexual) ways on anybody else. If they weren't interested, her own interest died out quickly enough. "Anyway, I gotta... um... go do some border patrol or something." Actually, she didn't have to, but she felt like the conversation was coming to a close, and she'd never been great on ending these things more naturally. Then again...
"You're welcome to come along if you'd like to. Unless you've got better things to do." Like boning his lady friend that he didn't seem to be attracted to.
Well, I guess I'll just do me then.
He said in a surprised voice. It had been so different with Thor's family. There were very specific things that were stamped with the "approved for normality" stamper, but Teekon truly had no such rules. The Caldera in particular was very open, and Trick couldn't be more happy about it. Finally, his act was over and the stage-lights were dimming for him. He could almost feel the stress fall from his shoulders like liquid. He smiled at Fox.
Oh no- borders are not my favorite place to be. Besides, I promised to do my fair share of hunting.
He chipped in his buttery voice. Thank you for the offer though, it's not every day someone wants to take me along.
Trick declined the offer, and Fox shrugged. It wasn't as though she didn't want to hang out with him more, but she did occasionally like to do border patrol alone. "Good luck hunting!" she offered with a wag of her tail, then turned toward the outermost reaches of the caldera. While she'd never been overly concerned about the way she and Peregrine had handled things, it was always nice to know that there were others out there like them.