Neverwinter Forest Bring me margaritas

If he's moved away from the spot near Aibreann's den then assume location is back at the old den I guess?? Can edit if anything should be edited.

Since Simmik had come back with news, it was clear that the dangers out there weren't gone. It would have been nice if they were gone, but well.. They weren't. At least it in the case of the other litters around, he was on good enough terms that he could just explain it to Miriam or Aibreann and there we go -- the pups weren't big enough to get into too much trouble. Caerus was older and had been keen to be adventurous, so he was more of a concern. He did hope that @Cupid would have a better sense of how to make sure that their son didn't end up in the teeth of the Saints.

At some point the dread of seeing Cupid had passed -- maybe Mal was just over cowing to the guy. Mal had continued to bring food, and to the start he'd had Aibreann do the last bit of delivery, he'd stopped that step and just delivered it without a fuss. Mal was keen to prove that really nothing had changed. The only thing that was odd was Cupid's reaction, and Mal still didn't know why he acted the way he did. Anyway, this day he brought the small hare directly to Cupid, and wasn't going to head off. After all. Stuff to discuss. He came over, set it down, and said calmly (regardless of any threats or what-have-you overreactions he might be given), Hey. Did you hear about the Saints? It probably sounded like a totally random question. Probably good wolves didn't have sportsball teams.

Cupid was regaining his strength day by day. As soon as he was able to walk he took his ass right on back to the den. He was tired of hearing Mal’s other kids 24/7.

The den just wasn’t the same anymore. He was content with wasting the days away with his son before. Now he couldn’t sit the fuck down. He was constantly moving around, always wanting to go here or there or any-fuckin’-where. Cupid was beginning to hate this place and everybody in it. Especially Mal. Fuck him. 

Speak of the devil.

Here comes the baby daddy with another unwelcome visit. He didn’t eagerly accept the hare like he used to. Barely even looked at the thing. He’d rather get down to business.

The who? he asked flatly. This was sounding like some bullshit he didn’t care about already.

Seriously, Mal had no idea why Cupid was still bent out of shape. Nothing had actually changed, so why be angry? But if he really wanted to be then fine. Whatever. And unsurprisingly, Cupid still wasn't big on keeping up on the news. So probably a good thing Mal was here. Saints of the Dying Light or some other pretentious name like that. They're the latest group of troublemakers to show up -- and not just the hit once and vanish type. They were trying to settle in Ravensblood forest. They've already kidnapped people, attacked others, trespassed on other packs more than once, and who knows what the hell else they've done or are planning. But they've pissed off basically every pack nearby from what I can tell. So no, not just Mal trying to make something up here. 

A group of us told them to buzz off, but turns out they haven't moved as far as we all wanted. Surprise! Sarcasm, obviously. But, back to normal now, Their leader seems to think whatever happened to him in the past excuses everything he's done since and it's us five other packs that are wrong, so he's just gonna keep doing whatever. He also seemed to be a smooth enough talker to trick people, so like.. I just want to make sure you and Caerus say safe and away from them. They aren't people to joke around about, so I figure you might have thoughts on how to make sure to get that point across? All in all, Mal was approaching this whole little meet neutrally, but tried to end here on a positive note. Cooperation and all that!

Ah fuck, this was actually important. Now he couldn’t tell Mal to fuck off for like... the sixteenth time.

Cupid groaned when the info dump was over. There’s never a dull moment here is there? As if there wasn’t enough on his plate already. Now there’s another dangerous group to protect his son from. Or was it the same one as last time? Who fucking knows.

I’ll talk to him. Cupid began to walk past him. He wanted a reason to get up and do something and here it is. He wasn’t going to spend another moment looking at Mal.

At his first comment, Mal shook his head. Nope. The world wasn't that nice. But as Cupid started to abruptly leave, Mal spoke up, Cupid, hey wait a sec. Maybe he just wanted to end the conversation, but wasn't this something that was better to actually talk about? He wasn't asking Cupid to suddenly forgive him or something (even if that might be nice), but safety and security wasn't some sort of randomly tiny thing. It was a big deal, he thought. Look. There's probably some planning going on by the packs that are closer. I don't think they really want to let these guys linger around -- I'll let you know what I hear. I don't want this to be something you have to worry about. It wasn't so much an olive branch as maybe an opportunity for Cupid to continue to keep that angry edge away. Mal, at least, was gonna continue to be open and even-tempered -- kind of hilarious given how angry he was as a kid. If you'd think it was a good idea, there's always the option for Simmik to teach Caerus self defense stuff, too. She better not mind getting volunteered for this! And Caerus was getting older. Was Cupid gonna hover over him forever? Probably couldn't. So next best thing to keep their son safe, right?

It was never that easy to get rid of the guy was it? Mal urged him to wait, and well he couldn't just keep on going (even if he really did). He'd already roped him in with some fresh-off-the-oven bullshit, might as well stay for the meal.

Cupid had always been the type of guy to keep out of everyone's business. Being nosy led to nothing but trouble. This whole 'pack plan' thing was concerning to say the least. So are we gonna throw ourselves into that? For the love of god say no. This place had enough drama to deal with. Just let the other guys handle it.

And then he went on about self defense training with Caerus. Good god. It was bound to happen soon, but why did it need to happen now?

Are they that much of a threat? Should he be concerned for his son's safety? Cupid let out a heavy sigh. If that's what's best then do it.

It wasn't like Mal was relishing the situation either. It was a mess on top of another mess. He was still afraid that Simmik was going to bear the brunt of whatever issues the pack had, and Mal still wasn't sure how to stop fix things. Hopefully it'd be clear over time. Hopefully Donovan just forgot about her.

The other packs sure seem to think so. On the one hand, I don't want to have to end up on the toothy end of things, but I sure as hell don't trust that a pack with a rep for kidnapping would keep ignoring us. I want to be ready just in case, not be surprised. A sigh, If we can just hang out and help all the nice people who really wanna go at it if they're hurt or need to rest or something, that might be our ideal level of involvement. It wasn't like they had gobs of warriors either. The ones they had were best served here unless every single damn pup turned out to be some epic fighter. And it wasn't like they were ready yet anyway.

If they're planning anything then we'll hear from them.. Sometime. Probably through Yuelong, because Mal really didn't know the other people, but that was beside the point.

Why should we help them? That’s his gut reaction to the whole thing. It just sounded like a big headache that could get them into trouble. Wasn’t worth it. If they wanna get into trouble they should deal with the consequences themselves.

We should be looking out for our own. There were children to care for (one too many if you asked him). They didn’t have time to be fooling around in other pack’s affairs.

He wasn't sure if Cupid just didn't see the big picture here or just liked avoiding stuff. He wish he knew him better, maybe it'd explain a few things. Sure, they might not have done anything to cause us blatant harm now, but would you really trust them? I sure as hell don't. I don't want those guys anywhere near us, being a danger to people. So if our allies want to get rid of them, we can at least offer some support. A pause, I don't think any of us are the sort to go out and fight.

We are looking out for our own. That's why I'm making sure everyone knows, why I'm here, why I want the Saints farther away. I'm not taking the chance that we'll stay ignored, everyone here is worth more than that chance. Of course, especially the children, but Cupid too, even if he still hated Mal's guts. How long before someone came back with a new wound from a Saints person? How long before Saints realized there was another pack to mess with?

Even with the explanation, Cupid didn’t see the point in any of it. Sure, it sounded like a good idea on paper, but it would lead to a downward spiral. More and more allies would come to them for aid, they’d use up all the forest’s supplies, and the pack would end up with nothing. 

If it were up to him, he’d have no part in this dilemma. And if these saint guys became a problem he’d up and move. But this wasn’t his pack, it’s Mal’s. At the end of the day Cupid would have to comply or leave.

If you think this is a good idea then go right on ahead. He shrugged his shoulders before walking forward again. I’m gonna go look for Caerus.

Okay. I'll keep you in the loop. And he watched Cupid go. Well, that could have gone worse, he supposed. He did wish they could have a conversation where Mal didn't feel like he was about to get chewed on. It shouldn't be like this, and he'd tried. So how had it ended up this way just the same? Maybe just not meant to be, but again, he tried.

He watched a moment longer, then with a sigh Mal picked up the hare again and tucked it over at the den mouth for him or Caerus to hopefully get to later. Another sigh, another look around and Mal trotted off to do whatever other business he should be doing.