Ankyra Sound if i told you what i was, would you turn your back on me

Born in the wrong body?  Reek shot the flustered wolf a quizzical glance.  Surely, being a male in the company of the Nereides was less than ideal, but to make a statement like that would require a serious lack of self worth, an absence of pride. Pride was a trait the bastard held near and dear to his heart, and to see the other male so broken spurned a rare sense of compassion out of the thick-skinned wolf.  "No Pants," objected Reek softly. "Be proud of who you are.  I mean, shit — there are things we just can't change.  This is the hand we're dealt, friend... all you can do is play it or fold."  The bastard cracked a thin, toothy smile toward the other consort in hopes that it would help quell the flustered male's underlying grief.  "They can't take that from you... dignity.  That's something that's yours and yours alone."


Pantaleimon's question about the bastard's decision to stay didn't come as a surprise; it was only a matter of time before it was asked.  Reek had put a lot of thought into the notion of staying.  "I think i'm going to stick around, for a good while at least," Reek began.  "I'm a grown-ass man and it's time for me to settle down and put down roots.  I know it ain't perfect, but I know where my bread is buttered, and staying here beats the shit out of starving."  Staying, seemed the only rational choice for the slight wolf.  The road was unforgiving, and Reek had no intentions of going back to living on his own.