Stone Circle Tomorrow, open the door

@Ezra sorry for the wait! :)

As per usual, the male had taken to a patrol during the rather early hours of the morning. It was perhaps a little later than most days, but early nonetheless. His mind had primarily been focused on the whereabouts of his three children - Rowana he had found, Cyron had returned, and Burr was sure to be home relatively soon. The pure joy, relief, that his kids were okay, as well as his mate, was perhaps the most comforting thought he could imagine. They were growing, his first and only litter - much bigger they had grown already, and their voices had deepened. All three were rather tall like himself, a fact which he was rather proud of. Strong, they were, that he was certain of - and Cyron was included in this. The man was proud his youngest had managed to survive such a feat, and he despised the Blackfeather wolves for the kidnapping of the boy. At least, he supposed, Cyron was home. That was what mattered most.

His black-tipped paws moved swiftly across the snow, fiery amber eyes scanning the land as he went along, marking and re-burying catches where necessary.

Ezra had been vigorously digging at a groundhog’s hole when a calm breeze revealed the whereabouts of Mawk. The boy paused what he was doing and turned to take after the zeta’s trail, his nose low to the ground as he worked his way closer to the older male. The grayscale child had never really communicated or tried to bond with anyone other than family, but as he got older and slowly began to realize the fundamentals of what packs were built on, Ezra had been trying to become a bit more social. Whether he was succeeding or failing in this endeavor had yet to be seen, but so far he was happy with the progress he’d made.

As he spotted the parchment furred man in the distance, Ezra hurried his steps and let out a soft woof towards the male. His tail swished behind him in a friendly manner, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth as he stopped a few feet from the wolfdog.

The soft woof broke him from his typical working trance, head turning so his gaze landed upon the small, grey furred boy. Mawk allowed a little smile to break out across his features as he peered at the youngster, nodding in greeting. "Hello," He barked, watching as the male padded closer so they were at talking distance.

"I don't think we've spoken. I'm Mawk, what's your name?" Indeed, he remembered being present when Valette introduced them, but unfortunately the boy's name had slipped his mind. Besides, he was sure the younger wolf would not recognise his own.

The face was familiar, the scent was familiar, the name was not. Ezra didn’t return the male’s greeting, at least not with words. He smiled and swished his tail a bit, but words did not form in his mouth and as per usual he remained silent. However when questioned about his name, a quiet “Ezra” fell from his lips. It was one of the few questions he would answer verbally, if only because needed to. 

When things went silent again, Ezra awkwardly shuffled a bit closer and leaned in towards Mawk as if he was about to share a secret. “Can you fight me?” he asked with bright eyes, quickly adding on a “please” to try and persuade the male to follow through with the request. Poor word choice could cause a bit of confusion but Ezra meant nothing more than a friendly spar which was clearly hinted in his playful tone and lack of hostility.

Sorry for yuck post

The boy smiled and swished his tail, and Mawk's own smile grew a bit. He was quiet, but it mattered little - he seemed sweet. "Ezra..." He repeated the name upon his own tongue, comitting it to memory for future knowledge. "It's lovely to properly meet you." 

The youth leaned closer after a few moments of silence, and Mawk's brow quirked upward at his words. Can you fight me? The bright sparkle in his eyes signalled his want to spar, excitement perhaps, and the man only nodded with a grin. "Of course."

A smile etched itself onto Ezra’s face when his request was accepted, tail swishing excitedly behind him while his butt wiggled along with it. He bounced a few paces away and dropped his front half low to the ground, a playful growl rumbling in his chest while he waited for Mawk to get into whatever position he wished to start in.

Ezra had absolutely no idea what he was doing or what he should be doing, but at the moment just experiencing the feel of a spar seemed like a good place to start. So he watched with observant eyes, ready to take anything of use from this opportunity so that he could practice again sometime in the future.

Mawk's own grin grew upon his maw at the sight of the youth's smile accompanied with the excited wag of his tail,  pleased he could entertain the boy for a while. A playful growl fell from his maw to match the one released by Ezra, beginning to circle a little around him with a teasing glint in his gaze, observing his movements. At one point he stopped, ducked into a play-bow, and then rushed forward (though not with much force for he had no desire to hurt him) to see if he could land a pretend blow.