Hushed Willows i won't let you fall tonight

Banner didn't hold off in greeting him, nosing against his shoulder and Stark leaned into the touch, tugging briefly at a lock of her fur. It was just sweet and familiar. Stark listened when she started to talk to him, his focus shifting as he was given the males name. At least he was respectful, totally silent. Which. It was weird, but, not everyone talked like he did. "Buchanan?" He repeated, addressing the male. "So are you planning on making hunting your priority?" Stark asked curiously - and he was hopeful. 

"We have an apprentice, Silas, who could use another tutor. What other things interest you?"  He asked - not that he'd missed Banner's little addition. Which just left him more questions - but ones he'd ask them when they were alone. Banner was precious to him, of course, but what he was wondering was why the male was in his pack lands, near his sister - and he wanted to know more about him. 

Buchanan glimpsed up and then away when Banner moved forward to greet the swarthy Alpha that appeared upon the scene, to give them that moment of privacy where he was left feeling out of place witnessing such an affectionate gesture. He'd never given nor received anything like that and so it simply made him feel awkward. Banner made the introductions, however, and introduced the leader as her brother, Stark. A respectful nod was given — like a soldier would give his commanding officer — a silent acknowledgment of not only rank but name as well. Banner glimpsed back at him and for a moment his silvern gaze met her green one where it lingered until Banner's attention returned to her brother.

She told Stark that he was a hunter — which was true in many ways — and let in that he'd added to her feather collection. Stark addressed him, and the assassin's ears perked forth, attentive, his gaze rising to Stark, but remaining low in submission. “Yes,” Buchanan replied simply, salmon pink tongue swiping across his jowls. By agreeing to make Hunting a priority it would allow him to add to Banner's collection more freely, if Stark saw fit to accept him into their fold. For the first time in his life, Buchanan hoped that Stark did accept him. There were benefits to pack life but also it would give him excuse to be closer to Banner without presenting the issue of pack boundaries.

“If you accepted into your ranks, sir, I will gladly aid in tutoring him,” Buchanan gave a pause as he considered Stark's question. “Warrior, perhaps? I can hold my own in a fight.” Not all of his targets had went down without a fight. The Officer certainly hadn't. Whether those skills worked in his favor or not Buchanan didn't know but they were all he knew, as they were the only things that The Officer had ever cared about: that his peon could survive a fight and that he could kill the targets that he sent Buchanan towards.

Things seemed to be going well.  Banner was pleased to be able to take a back seat in the conversation while her brother assessed Buchanan.  She also noted with a bit of relief that he wasn't being overly critical or snarky.  Not that she'd expected the blue-eyed Alpha to be outwardly rude, but she knew how he could be.  Sometimes.  Sort of like he knew how she could be.  Sometimes.

Doing her very best to maintain a neutral look about her, Banner paid close attention to Buchanan when he spoke.  His offer to assist in tutoring Silas warmed her heart.  It didn't seem like he had a ton of experience with children - that would be rectified.  The ratio of pups to adults in Marauder's Keep was a little .. alarming at the moment.  And clearly the warrior or guardian specialty suited him.  The scars on his body and the way he held himself in general would attest to that.  A small smile meant to be comforting was cast in Buchanan's direction before she looked back to her dear brother for his judgement.

Especially because of Banner being involved Stark had no problem letting Buchanan take a spin. He needed strong bodies - able bodies. He needed someone willing to try, too, and that was his biggest hope. He wasn't a tyrant by any means, the Keep didn't need that anyways. They needed someone fairly even and steady, a feat the sable  male would try anyways. He gave a nod when Buchanan said he'd be willing to help tutor Silas and that alone gave him some relief. He didn't want the boy to become too complacent - not that Silas was, by any stretch of the imagination. He wanted to help keep the boy occupied. 

With Harlyn still recovering, Mordecai out tracking Pippin (or becoming fishbait who knew), Stark wanted more able bodies than just himself and Banner and Rhodes. "Banner will be the first to tell you, I'm not into the whole rigid formality thing - but we're in need of wolves willing to pull their own weight, of immersing themselves. There's been some... Chaos, you could say, but I'm working on changing things." Stark explained as smoothly as he could. "I'd be happy to give you a go, let you see how you fit in and settle - and I gotta say, this was the last thing I expected Banner to call me for." He gave a little laugh, coming forward to rub his shoulder against Buchanan's to mark him a Marauder. 

"Did you have any questions or anything, or did Banner fill you in already on things?"  

Buchanan had noted that Banner had fallen silent, but he caught her small smile sent his way. In the end, the process was wholly rather painless. Banner, like Phiipa, had done most of the talking, which the assassin didn't mind. He wasn't a man of very many words and while he was definitely more talkative around Banner he didn't often feel very comfortable giving more than single syllable answers to strangers. Stark spoke that he wasn't into rigid formalities and that there'd been unrest within the Keep — though surprising to Buchanan he did not say as such. As long as Stark was working on changes then that was all that Buchanan wanted to focus upon. There was little sense on dwelling on what had been — the path was forward.

Stark admitted that it was the last thing he'd expected his sister to call him for with a chuckle and Buchanan was at a loss at what to say. The truth was that when he'd came to seek Banner it hadn't been with the thought of joining a pack in his mind. Buchanan watched Stark's approach, his ears slicking back against his skull in submission as the alpha brushed his shoulder against Buchanan's own. Though there was little resemblance between Stark and The Officer it took willpower not to flinch away from the touch. Stark's gesture was one of welcome — not punishment. Yet, the weight of The Officer's “punishment” and “lessons” taught Buchanan little else.

“I don't think I have any questions right now,” Buchanan admitted after a moment of contemplation. “but Banner and I didn't talk much about the Keep, in all honesty.” In fact Buchanan was pretty sure this meeting was the most he'd ever spoken to Banner, and possibly vice versa.

Banner wrinkled her nose playfully in Stark's direction.  She hadn't expected to call upon him with a new recruit for the Keep, either, but here they were.  It did feel good to help out the pack in a tangible way like this.  She noted proudly that her brother had slipped into his Alpha role seamlessly - she didn't see a trace of the uncertainty from the previous weeks, though she supposed that he simply had his "game face" on.

Buchanan admitted that they hadn't discussed the Keep much and Banner, being awkward as ever, coughed just a bit while she fixed Stark with a wide-eyed stare.  It hadn't really occured to her what he must have thought about the pair of them alone in her personal space and she suddenly realized it may have looked .. suspect?  No.  Compromising?  "Er.." she began, ducking her head just a bit.  ".. we were busy with.. other things."  She paused and frowned.  That didn't come out right!  ".. talking about other things!" she added hastily.  The higher pitch of her voice was embarassing, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

Stark did notice that the other male didn't seem overly excited to be touched - which, yeah, they'd just met and that was weird but he also knew that @Rhodes would be on high alert as would Harlyn. They couldn't take any chances on just letting anyone find Buchanan and get aggressive with him. He wouldn't leave the man high and dry in that regard and so he stepped back to listen to Buchanan explain that he hadn't really been told much and Banner was quick to provide that they hadn't been doing anything but talking. An eyebrow arched as he looked his sister over - oh yeah they'd be talking about something. Something all dark and burly and broody with his perfect looking jaw. 

"So I'll be honest - it seems only fair. Which maybe I should have done this before you signed on to the Keep, but ...well. Too late." Already off to a great start. "I took the pack over recently and Banner and my friend Rhodes are helping get things back in order. We've got some members that are missing and some cowards that ran off. I wouldn't care if they'd talked to me, but, no one knows why some people do what they do." Octavia came to mind then and he couldn't even touch on that matter, not now. 

"I hope she warned you about the little anklebiter, too." Stark said with a small smile. "My -" not son? charge? responsibility? "his name is Tambourine, he's fairly loud, so I'll apologize for that now." He gave a small wag of his tail. "He'll probably run into you at some point - and probably be uncouth in asking about your tail. Again, sorry." Because manners had definitely not happened in the child's days. "I'll let Banner fill in the blanks and show you around. But if you need something, or just want some company, give me a call." He gave a nod, bumping his head against Banner's briefly before he let the two continue on with their....whatever this was. He'd catch Rhodey and maybe do some hunting and try not to wonder if there was something going on between Banner and Buchanan.

I'll duck out here and *totally not* have Stark lurk behind some bushes hoping not to see them makin' eyes at each other!

hehe!

Buchanan had been honest to Stark — he didn't ask questions that weren't his business; an old habit of The Officer's “teachings” — and this whole thing had came up suddenly. He hadn't came here looking for a pack but he was glad that he'd agreed to Banner's suggestion. Nervous in that he had never done anything without The Officer's voice in his ear. His purpose was ...his own, finally. For whatever it was worth. Banner explained to Stark that they had been busy with other things. It took Buchanan a second to understand what implication her words could have and as Banner hastily corrected herself in a high pitched tone, Buchanan glimpsed away, his cheeks hot beneath the fur that covered them. The thought had never crossed his mind ...before his mind had followed everyone else's into the gutter, that was.

The conversation moved in a serious direction once more and Buchanan's eyes slid back to Stark as the alpha male gave him the run down. It appeared the Keep was in an upset. Stark had taken power and there were missing members and those that had fled. The conversation shifted again as Stark mentioned an “anklebiter” further explaining that this “anklebiter” was a child named Tambourine. Stark warned him that he was loud and that he would probably ask him about his tail. This made Buchanan's muscles tense involuntarily. “It's not something I -” enjoy? want to? all of the above? “-I should tell a kid about, so I'll probably make something up.” Something that wouldn't trigger a flashback like Phiipa had scar the child for life. Maybe he could say a dragon ate it or something. Kids liked fantasy things like that, right?

“Thank you, Stark,” Buchanan gave a nod to the alpha as he bid his farewell to Banner and then the two of them were alone again, and Buchanan's eyes rested back upon Banner.

:D  wrap up?

Oh, lovely.  Stark wouldn't be letting that one go anytime soon!  Banner allowed herself to scowl at her brother for just a moment.  It was so quick that she half hoped he'd miss it.  But he probably hadn't.  No matter.  She listened as he explained the current state of Marauder's Keep to Buchanan.  All drama, all the time.  Not overt drama, though, just.. a lot of passive aggressive bullshit.  Banner frowned.  Most of the time she kept herself controlled, but when she let it out, her aggression was anything but passive. 

She didn't bother hiding the smile that spread across her maw at the mention of Tambourine.  Stark spoke of the boy in a more serious fashion and Banner was quietly glad that he thought to point out his rambunctious behavior to Buchanan.  She'd been on the business end of some of his more colorful questions before.  Hell, at least he kept it interesting.  Banner's green gaze shifted from her brother to Buchanan and back again.  Stark bid them both farwell and she woofed affectionately at his departure.  They'd catch up later.  They always did.

"Well," she began, her attention focused solely on the newest Marauder once more.  ".. welcome."  Banner laughed at herself before gesturing away from her lovely little tree.  "I can show you around if you're up to it.  I'll start with the Crook - it's a large communal den.  We all sleep there," she offered in her quiet voice.  She took a few steps in the direction of their pack sleeping space, a contented sigh escaping her as she passed beneath the weeping branches of her tree.

Yep! I'd love another Banner x Buchanan thread sometime soon, though! :D

A soft laugh rumbled within the confines of Buchanan's chest when she welcomed him. He accepted it with a dip of his head and a glint of amusement in mercurial depths of his eyes. In hindsight of the unrest within the pack Buchanan couldn't help but think that getting a tour of the place was a good idea. The last thing he wanted was to step some where he shouldn't have within the territory. She offered the starting point, a place she called “The Crook” and explained that it was a communal sleeping den. The idea was a very strange one as Buchanan was not used to sleeping in the presence of others. There had always been distance between The Officer and him when they had slept — though not not enough distance for Buchanan to be out of hearing range. Silently, Buchanan communicated that she should lead the way with a gesture of his muzzle, following after her as she gave the tour.