Peregrine parked his butt on the caldera's frosted rim, then lifted his muzzle into the bitterly cold air and called
@Raissa and
@Prima by name. Yes, he smelled bad and it wasn't the best timing but the Alpha always took it upon himself to make sure he was acquainted with each and every pack mate. He had only met Prima that once and he didn't know Raissa at all, save for what he had learned from her (hopefully) future mate.
"Deal with it," he mumbled under his breath as he waited for them to arrive, preparing himself for the inevitable,
"Oh god, you stink!" It really was getting
so old.
*rolls in* hi!
It wasn't long before she heard the howl that called for herself and someone else— someone who Prima didn't know, but again, she'd hadn't really met anyone inside pack territory yet, though she'd met Peregrine and Theseus and Ashton at the lake that day.
The call was specific to a single male, her Alpha, Peregrine. Well, Peregrine, the guy who had accidentally got himself smelling like rotten socks and had fully drenched himself in cold lakewater in a futile attempt to get it off his pelt. With a shrug of her slim shoulder she was up and rolling, her small paws carrying her swiftly through the air, towards where his voice came from. It originated from the actual caldera Elwood had mentioned and brought her up to a day or two ago, hence the pack's title.
She braced herself for the stench, for it only had been a few days since she'd saw him that day at the lake, reeking of skunk spray. It hit her nostrils head-first as she approached the dark-furred male before lowering herself in a position of subordination before him, her tail dipping low, her ears tipping back. ”Heyo, Peregrine. Well, I'm now a dudette of the dera, like how Ashton'd said.” She paused for a second, a smile descending upon her lips as she playfully wrinkled her nose at his skunk-tainted scent. ”Are the tomatoes working, or nah? The scent's still pretty... strong.”
I accidentally deleted my whole, giant post, so this is a crappy replacement cuz im lazy
Having only moved to the caldera, the little tri-colored she-wolf hadn't really met anyone, so when she heard her name being called, her ears pricked in surprise. She heaved herself off the warm rock she had been resting on, careful to keep her injured ankle off the ground.
Trotting along at the fastest pace she could go at the moment, she picked her way towards the call. When she finally arrived, she was disappointed to see that the wolf who claimed the other name called had arrived first.
As she approached the black and white pair, a horrid stench swirled in the air before her and she felt bile rise in the back of her throat. She noticed the grumpy look on the male's face and realized that it must be him that had been cursed by the skunk.
When she reached them, Raissa quickly copied the other she's slightly submissive posture. Well as quickly as one could with an immobile leg, that is. Judging by the way the other girl submitted to him, she realized that the male in front of her must be Peregrine, their alpha.
Raissa's blaze colored iris' twinkled happily as she greeted the two.
"Hi. Nice perfume you got there." she joked, her nose wrinkling a bit to emphasize it.
They came promptly, which pleased him, and both made remarks about his stench, which did not. Peregrine rolled his eyes emphatically. "Blah, blah, blah... as if I haven't heard it before," he replied sarcastically. Just in case the two might take him seriously, he cracked a grin, though his eyes remained impish. "Thanks for coming so quickly, both of you. You can make yourselves comfortable."
As they settled, he looked from Raissa to Prima, then back again. He only lingered on the former because she was Duty's betrothed or whatever, and because Fox had mentioned her too. It was his responsibility to make sure she was worthy of such attention, of course. Peregrine decided she wasn't his type, though he could see what had caught his Theta's (and his mate's) eye. Meanwhile, Prima struck him as the prettier of the two, not that it mattered at all. He was a happily married man with babies on the way (!) and zero deigns on members of the opposite sex (or the same, for that matter).
"I make it a point to get to know my pack mates, particularly the ones I didn't accept myself. We are going to play a game. I'm going to start with a fact about myself—an interesting one, if I can manage it—and then Prima will do the same, then you, Raissa. Then we start the cycle over again until each of us has shared ten facts. When we're done, we'll all know each other ten times better. Get it?"
Without further adieu, he started. "I'm named after my Aunt Peregrine, who I've never met, though almost everyone calls me Perry." As soon as he finished speaking, he looked at Prima expectantly.
Prima cracked a sideways smile right back at the Alpha as he rolled his eyes and commented on the comments they'd given him, before thanking them as they'd arrived fast. The petite, light-furred girl settled back on her haunches, waiting for what Peregrine would have to say. Later on did she decide to properly acknowledge the fellow packmate beside her with a brief, yet friendly hi.
The swarthy leader began to explain about how he wanted to get to know his subordinates, and with that he told them about a game, Ten Facts or something. Yeah. Prima grinned, as she loved games, whatever, wherever and whenever. Her blue eyes bright, she said, ”Well, starting off with names. My best friend used to call me by her nickname for me, Prima the Dreamah,” She paused, her ebullient grin fading into a sad little smile. Lena had left, wherever she was. ”Her way of pronouncing dreamer so that it'll, well, rhyme. I don't think she would mind if y'all shared her nickname for me.”
Raissa let out a little laugh at his comment as she settled more comfortably on the ground. When the petite female next to her, Prima, greeted her with a friendly hi she returned it along with a smile.
As a pup, she hadn't really gotten to play games, so the concept of playing one seemed a bit exciting, no matter how old she was. Both of their facts had been about nicknames, but she had never had a significant one, only little ones here and there. While they both were sharing, she tried to come up with something that was interesting, but not interesting enough to scare them away. Right before Prima ended her fact, she thought of it.
She generally hadn't had a very good childhood, so she was surprised she had thought of this. "Well, since we're on a nickname streak, my grandpa used to call me Fire eyes. But please, don't use that, it's kinda embarrassing" she spoke, the laughter in her eyes only resulting in a smile on her mouth.
The Alpha male listened attentively as the she-wolves spoke in turn, following his theme. Once they finished, he bobbed his head to acknowledge them and said, "Okay, Prima the Dreamah and Fire Eyes, I'll be sure to call you by those names from now on." His deep jade eyes twinkled with mischief. He did like screwing with his pack mates, a lesson they would get to learn without him having to tell them so.
"Okay, round two... I have four children from a previous marriage and another dozen currently in the oven." He smiled, his eyes shining. He was proud of his four older children, even if half of them hated his guts, and he was more than a little excited about the others on the way. It showed. "The four older kids don't live here but their names are Tytonidae, Osprey Jr., Saena and Pura—three girls and a boy."
sorry for the delay!
Her Alpha almost immediately used the nickname she'd informed the two of, which allowed Prima a simple smile and a shrug of her shoulders. ”'Kay, Perry.” She chose not to call Raissa Fire Eyes, though, as she'd said that she wouldn't like it much if she used it.
The swarthy leader continued towards his next fact, round two, and told them of how he had four kids and another litter coming up. Fox. Well, she was pregnant, Prima guessed. ”Well, I guess you've certainly made you mark around these lands,” She said jokingly. ”Let me see. Well, I was born in a French-ish pack that practically lived life in monochrome.” The argent wolfess was flooded with a wave of sudden memories. ”Life in black and white. Kinda glad I don't live there anymore.”
Sorry it's so short, my muse kind of left me :'(
She glared playfully at Peregrine as he used the name that she had specifically said not to use before listening quietly to what the two had to say about their lives. It was cool that Prima was 'French-ish' even though she said she was glad she didn't live there any more. The same was true about the pack Raissa had just left herself.
"Well, before Fitz brought me here, I lived in Blackfeather Woods, which by the way, is a totally psycho pack." she assured them, remembering the last meeting she had with her former pack members.
2/12: Since this has been sitting for 2-3 weeks, I'm going to edit a conclusion and archive it. If either one of you wants to continue it, hit me up. :)
After Prima shared her next round of facts, Peregrine could only look at her slightly quizzically. Monochrome? French-
ish? He wanted to ask but he would have to wait 'til later. He did not want to disrupt the flow of their game and, anyway, Raissa had already begun her turn.
Her personal fact gave way to a big of political information. The Alpha male gave her a speculative
oh, really? look, then filed away that information. The neighboring packs didn't much interest him. He remembered that one male's (he couldn't recall his name) visit long ago, when the caldera had been brand new. He wondered if they might come calling, searching for Raissa. He would have to consult with Fox about this...
But he didn't want to spoil the intended purpose of today's get-together, so he started up the third round by saying,
"When I first met my wife, Fox, I wanted to kill her." Beat that! he thought, although his expression gave away nothing of his thoughts as his eyes shifted to Prima.
By the time they finished all the rounds an hour or two later, Peregrine felt he had a good grasp of their personalities and backgrounds.
"Thanks for playing, ladies. I'll catch you both later," were the Alpha's words of parting.
"Hopefully I'll smell a bit better next time around," he added with a wink before prowling away, probably to patrol.