Redhawk Caldera Beefin' over turf

His leg was back to aching, due to his own stupidity. That left Peregrine to lollygag around the rendezvous site with his equally invalid mate, the two of them moaning and groaning as they recovered from their respective ailments. It might have been funny, if not for the looming threat of famine hanging over their heads. Peregrine knew he couldn't afford to lay around for very long, no matter the state of his leg. Soon enough, he would have to go out and find something to hunt. If he couldn't, they would have to consider his backup plan (much as he absolutely loathed the idea): relocating.

He hadn't brought it up with Fox yet. He hoped to really explore the options around here before broaching it. Presently, he bit his lip as he looked at her where she slept beneath a bare bush. Peregrine knew she would likely fight him on it, no matter how dire the circumstances, but he knew both of them would do whatever it took to keep their children not just safe but alive. They would go to the ends of the earth, if that's what it took to find some green again.

He turned away. He didn't want to think about it right now. Peregrine forced himself to contemplate something else instead. But what? He plumbed his mind for something, anything, to distract him. And up popped @Panther's face for some godforsaken reason. Even as the Alpha felt a swoop low in his belly, his jade eyes squinted and he blinked guiltily at the slumbering Fox. Was he really about to crush on his wife's brother? Seriously?

Though being terrified of the locusts in the beginning, Peter had soon learned that they did not bite, neither did they try to eat little puppies like him. Ferret was a prime example for that and, since a considerable amount of the runt's time was occupied by following the rowdiest of the boys around, he had also learned that you could actually play with them and - the most fun - make them dead. 

So, unaware of the problems that were gathering above his head like a big black cloud, he was leaping towards the place, where his parents resided, with a dead locust, grasped firmly between his jaws. He let out a muffled squeal of delight, when he caught sight of Peregrine and Fox nearby, accelerated and came to a halt few feet away from his father. He sat straight, looked daddy proudly in the eyes and spat the slobbered remnants of the locust by his paws.

Fate (or whatever) served up another, better distraction in the form of his youngest son. Peregrine welcomed this and grinned down at the little tot as he presented the Alpha with a dead locust. "You did this?" he asked rhetorically, sounding impressed and pleased. "You killed it good and dead, didn't you, Stinky Pete?" he said fondly, reaching down to give young Peter's head a proud lick.

"Your mom's resting," he added in the next beat, having noticed the pup glancing in Fox's direction. "We'll show her later." He paused, turning his back on the slumbering Alpha female and bending down and motioning to his son in a very conspiratorial fashion. "Will you show me? How you killed it? So I can do it too?"

Panther thought himself an adept hunter, but talent did not make him infallible, and after a quick chase with a hare, he found this to be very true when he turned up unsuccessful in the endeavor. He felt bad approaching the rendezvous site without anything to offer the kids but an old deer shin, but he thought he could at least occupy them if he could not feed them. The leg dangled from the black cat's long muzzle as he paused several feet from the den entrance, and made soft chuffing noises to gently attract out anyone who might be awake.

He dropped the lengthy bone at his feet and sat down in a gentlemanly fashion.

Peter stared at his father, beaming like a sunshine and not understanding a single word he said. Peregrine could have sworn in a cooing-voice and his youngest son would still be the happy, little fool he was, proud and delighted beyond reason. 

His only response was the two words he knew for sure and he did not hesitate to use them, once the opportunity presented itself. And without doubt they were... "Ma-ter-fe-king sheeet!" he announced loudly. 

Then another wolf entered the scene and Peter's face from being happy, became one of confusion. He scrutinized the dark stranger, then looked back at his dark-furred father, then back at the stranger. "Ow!" he exclaimed and tilted his head to the side, still unable to solve the mystery. Was the other one his father too?

Young Peter spouted the same two words he had been repeating ever since the day Ferret had broken his father's leg. Peregrine rolled his eyes at the boy and said, "Pete." He paused, wondering if the puppy was paying him any attention. "You need to learn some new words. I don't care what they are. Any other words. Mom. Dad. Redhawk. Caldera. Octopus. Trapezoid. Vagina. Assbutt. Fuckhole. And the list goes on."

The arrival of another wolf effectively sidelined that conversation, as well as the pup's focus. The Alpha male glanced up at Fox's brother, briefly wondering if his earlier thoughts had somehow summoned the subordinate. That sent a flush of heat across his cheeks and a strange dip in his belly. Peter's loud "Ow!" caused him to blink downward at the top of the boy's head, brow furrowed.

"Hey Panther," Peregrine greeted, his voice smoother than he felt. "What's that you've got there?" he added in a slightly singsong-y voice, mostly for Peter's benefit.

An easy smile curved across Panther's mouth, and his tail beat on the ground as he looked from father to son with an equally brimming expression. "Oh y'know, just something for the tykes to grow their teeth on," he introduced the shin bone, pushing it as far forward as his politely seated position would allow. "Figured you'd be tired of lending your own limbs to the task," the dark mimic related, knowing the woes of growing pups not because he'd had his own, but because of own his parents constant breeding and the bucket of younger siblings they seemed to churn out. "And who's this lit'le guy?" Panther lilted in his own singy tone, scooting back so that he could lie on his belly without getting any closer, but resume a height more level to his nephew. "D'you speak yet, huh? Can you say Paaanther, darling? Can you?"

Peter payed only half-attention to, what his father was telling him. Only once did he gave him a look and almost a pitiful smile, as if implying that his poor old fool of a dad didn't understand the full depth of those two words his youngest son knew. They had worked for him on every single occasion, acquairing the desirable effect called attention. Therefore the boy didn't see a reason, why should he learn anything else of the complex speech. 

The other dad, however, seemed quite friendly and, once he lied down, Peter did not hesitate to leap towards him, squealing a high-pitched: "M-a-a-aterfateing sheeet!" And pouncing at the black wolf's muzzle with all fours.

The other male's quip caused Peregrine's eyes to narrow suspiciously. Was he trying to be a smartass? Either way, there was no actual irritation behind the look. It soon softened as Panther offered up the plaything, then spoke directly to the little boy. The Alpha male couldn't stifle a sigh when Peter responded predictably. He really didn't mind that his littlest was going around cussing at people (obviously), he just really wished he would pick up on some new words, any new words.

He waited to see if Peter would miraculously take the bait and repeat Panther's name, yet when he didn't, Peregrine rolled his eyes fondly and informed Panther, "I think he might be a peabrain." He huffed a laugh, jade eyes twinkling, when several realizations suddenly struck him at once. Panther was Fox's brother, which made him the pups' uncle. Also, his name could easily be shorted to Pan. Peregrine felt a small pang in his chest, then one corner of his lip twitched at the coincidence.

"His name is Peter Pan, actually," the swarthy wolf marveled aloud before speaking directly to the whelp. "Peter, this is your Uncle Panther. Maybe he wouldn't mind if you called him Uncle Pan, so you can share a name. What do you think?" He doubted the cub would respond, yet Peregrine would never stop making it a point to speak to his kids like he would any other wolf.

As it often happened, no one praised Peter for his use of two words he knew for sure. And while his father contemplated about the size of his son's brain, the same brains were in the process of connecting the dots and forming a shocking conclusion for a child so young - the adults simply did not understand him. This however made him thinking that, perhaps, those sound the others so lavishly applied to every case and situation, was not a tool he could make others know his needs. Neither was it a tool that got him, what he wanted - praise, love and cuddles. And food, of course.

He sighed and studied his father's face carefully, when he addressed him a moment later, the boy's brows were creased in concentration and his mouth was forming a little "o". Peter was searching for any signs that would indicate, what his father wanted from him. There were none, he even looked behind him and saw nothing. Therefore he gave the most adorable smile and wagged his tail - the universal "words" that tell you - I don't understand a thing, but I will pretend that I get you.

Fading due to @Panther's removal.

Although young Peter didn't offer a verbal reply, he looked to his father beseechingly, clearly eager to communicate and please. Peregrine sighed and smiled despite himself, then glanced at Panther again. He noted how similar they looked (Panther and himself, that was); did that make him narcissistic, if he found him handsome? And what would Fox think, if he told her?

Perhaps in other circumstances, he might have actually been interested in pursuing the answers to these questions. But with the famine always in the back of his mind, Peregrine didn't have any time for dalliances. And between his achy leg and his empty stomach, he didn't even have much energy for harmless flirting, if he was perfectly honest.

"Think I'm gonna take Peabrain Pete here and go nap with your sister," Peregrine said apologetically before looking to the runt. "C'mon, Peter, let's go lay down with your mom. Say goodbye to Uncle Pan." That nickname made his heart flutter a little as the swarthy Alpha bent down to pluck at the pup's scruff, then carried him over and deposited him beside the snoring Fox. He pinned the youngster down with one broad paw as he made himself comfortable beside his mate and closed his eyes.