Melita had told him she'd keep his scent. Baptiste knew his daughter well enough to trust she'd stick around and to force a yearling to hang around was to basically shove them away, so he'd allowed her to stray. It gave him the time to root for the curve pointed leaves and white flowers that he ached for. The plant had been consumed some undetermined amount of time ago and now the merle furred man wandered with pupils the size of boulders peering in awe at the land he'd thus far failed to notice reeked of the smell of others. The Jimson weed gave everything life and energy around him the red canyons behind and ahead of him beckoned him further. It was as if the land were telling him to stay and he was more than happy to oblige releasing a deep laugh, his rich baritone echoing and drawing attention his way to anyone nearby enough to hear. The plants whispered to him, telling him their uses and inviting him to use them for it was he who knew how and if heard he responded that he needn't take their life for nobody was ill. The breeze hummed in his ears like music that he hummed along with occasional tossing a word out as memories flitted by inside of his mind, Semele's gypsy stories of myth and monsters shaping the song inside his mind "Poisonous....lovely....deadly" he murmured as he spotted Nightshade growing along the limestone and redsand walls of the canyons a cold smile playing on his maw "Dangerous this....jack of hearts. With his kiss, the riot starts...Only one thing to be done...." he leaned in jaws parting as if to take one of the berries before he caught himself in the deadly act and pulled away, joyous expression now dark as he wandered deeper into the claimed territory the world's light and energy fading around him as he only saw Semele and the bear, only smelled the overwhelming scent of the blood pouring from her throat and ripped off face. The gurgle of the stream water beneath his paws became the gurgle of her dying breaths as her head lolled about in agony. "he fell in love with a beautiful lady, who walks up above" looking into the sky he cleared his throat and sucked in a breath looking around him and blinking as if suddenly realising where he was and what he was doing.

Blink.

There was a giant standing in front of him. Giants had gone extinct long ago according to Semele.
He wished she could have seen him...she'd have really wanted to bring him back to the den.

The Giant was pleasant to the eyes and Baptiste stared expressionlessly except for the slow blinks for a long moment before finally his brain clicked into gear and he plummeted down from the high just enough to start grasping that he was asked who he was.

 but the intimidating and attractive giant was smiling at him. 

no the wolfdog was certain that it was in fact a grin. 

It was distracting and he was more focused on that than his name.



"If you're gonna eat me, I recommend the rump meat..could use some tenderizing" he slurred his eyes roamed unabashedly over the musculature of the Giant as he internally mused that he could think of worse ways to go. The reality of where he was and what he had done still sailed over his head as he inched closer eyeballing the stranger with open interest despite still being convinced he was in the presence of a being from mythical stories he remembered the actual question "Baptiste" he was pretty sure that he'd been smooth but the dopey grin tossed after the hallucination driven flirtation was surely something that would prove embarrassing in the future.

"Donovan.." He murmured lips quirking upward. It was different than the greek names he was used to or the fancy ones used in the Consortium. It had a strong ring to it but rolled smoothly off his tongue which was especially pleasant considering when drugged speaking was a task to do coherently in general. It was his turn to be studied and he stood still lifting his head and flagging his tail out with a wag unafraid to flaunt his body to someone wanting to see it. There was a warning about Mountain Lions and he looked around quickly before staring at the man  "I don't usually wander when..fucked up but this place is so beautiful" he said rather sheepishly glancing away though he wasn't lost to the way he was being stared at. The idea of him being wiped out by a Mountain Lion to leave Melita and Aletheia alone in the world was a rough one and he tried not to focus on it, not to slip away again into an illucid panic in front of the first appealing and interesting wolf he'd come across in some time.  Luckily Donovan asked what had brought him here and he looked over his shoulder motioning toward the fields of cacti, herbs, and flowers before returning his gaze to the man's beaming with a wide grin  " So much medicine....and life. Then there's the Nightshade growing along the walls. A deadly poison. I could hear them calling to me" he sounded as enthusiastic about the floral growth as a kid getting their first game console, momentarily losing focus on the fact that he was being eyed up too as he thought he almost heard the plants again. Damn...was the Jimsom Weed going to be more distracting than handsome man eyeing him up?  "You like herbs too or are you passing through?" there it was...the revelation that he'd had no idea about the wolves who'd recently arrived in the canyon asked in the nerdiest fashion possible. 

Not the brightest bulb when inebriated he still managed to let the comment about Donovan's pack. Or that they owned the area. What was more fascinating was the way the hulking brute cocked his head like a questioning child causing him to smile just a little more confirming his hallucination with a deep rumbled "Mhm" before his eyes rolled to the bushes narrowing "Th'bastards look tasty but they kill quick. If you want a good way to poison someone they're dead in one berry" the words fell from his maw casually as if this was not morbid conversation topic. It would have been too stupid for him to have missed the statement a third time and he instantly lifted a startled expression to Donovan searching with a suddenly lucid and sharp gaze for any sign of threat. Of course it only took a beat to realise he'd been offered shelter till he sobered up instead of being pounced upon and harmed for being an idiot. 

So he was a kind and handsome Giant...


Then came the lowering of black lids over golden eyes, the smooth voice laying on the charm and Baptiste darkly mused that this was what he must have done to those men and women in the Consortium when luring them home. Tail swaying lazily at his hind legs he considered the area peering around the redsand walls and then back at the herb rich fields and then back in time to catch the wink added to the already tempting words. Pride wasn't something Bapt was big on he felt drawing enough attention by flirting with such a magnificent looking wolf-beast earned him some. Especially when the man added that he wanted to see more of him specifically... "These plants..I can use them all, if you can find use in that. I'm trained in poisoning, drugging and healing..as well as fighting"  listing his skills you'd see not a hint of shame there, he knew the skills he held sounded sketchy but anyone who got to know him would know that he was...sketchy. 

Honored.

The word struck a chord. Since when was that ever a thing in his life? With a low chuckle and a flash of a grin he studied the other man for a moment before chuckling again and shaking his head. "Honored? A drugged out wolf with a head full of monsters and pain?" his eyes unfocused as he recalled that he'd travelled with his daughter and Aletheia. Aletheia....Beautiful...any man would be lucky for a nymph such as her to want them but he'd had Semele. Semele put the word beauty to shame....she was so near perfect aside from the fact that the pack was a bunch of drugged out generations only kept cleaned by bringing in newbloods like he had been. Except he'd won her heart and a place of high standing...he wasn't kept mindless and lost to the orgiastic crazy parties and wild hunts that were held. The drugs had always been an escape. Everything in life that brought happiness was an escape to him, Semele had been the longest escape he'd had.  Aletheia deserved someone not lost in the past and dwelling in things that were beyond normal undrugged comprehension. "My daughter and her caretaker. They travel with me they're just out doing their own thing right now. Would they be welcome? Melita is capable of work and Aletheia can..well she can hunt and tend basic wounds, she's helped me enough" the furrowing of his brow showed the concern, that it was only he who was wanted. Then again....it was more bulk to add to this man's pack, what Alpha would say no to two young and capable wolves, especially one who would be able to provide life within their ranks if chosen to one day. "If they can join me here then I'd be honored to stay and tend after whatever messes you get yourselves into" he was teasing his lips curving upward into that flashing grin again. 

If he had a thing for the fucked up then Baptiste was the guy. Emerald eyes dropped behind lashed as he looked away aware of the drop in Donovan's pitch as his family was welcomed. Before he could reply he saw the muscles flex as the man strode forward focusing on holding to the bright gold as long as he could before the stare was broken by the brushing of their shoulders, a flirtatious move accompanied by a polite confirmation that he was sold. A shiver running hopefully unoticed down his spine as he turned and nodded "You've got yourself a medic"  he said his voice low as the jimson faded away, putting the situation into more perspective which caused a stirring somewhere deep in his groin. Shit.....how long had it been since he'd felt that? Tongue sweeping out along his maw he lifted his chin and huffed out a slow sigh lips curling into a smirk as his eyes trailed slowly from his new Alpha's eyes to the curl of his tail and back again "If you still want me after i'm settled in you name the place" he could not believe he had turned down such a delicious looking man, he damn near pouted at himself his brows drawing together slightly "Rejecting the alpha. Not the smartest thing I could have done as a newcomer" his tone was regretful as he looked at the man with an honest experession. It wasn't for lack of want but rather the proximity of the ghosts inside his own mind at the present time. 

A low chuckle and a shake of his head were given...it was funny how everywhere he went there was someone to find use in him. He was fucked up on Jimson and yet he'd unintentionally landed himself a new home where there seemed to be high demand for someone knowledgeable in herbs. "Not a rapey giant then" he said even though the delusion was gone, it was now funny to consider the other wolf a mythical creature instead of a member of the same species towering over him by a few inches "You're already my favorite alpha" he followed behind him intentionally slow and with not a hint of shame fastened his eyes to Donovan's hindquarters watching the way his tail bounced a little with every few steps.