Hushed Willows our time will come, too

Mali had treated the other pups with some disdain but was generally happy to just ignore them as long as he was left alone -- most of them seemed to have been okay doing so, but apparently Okeanos (though honestly Mali probably went out of his way to forget their names) missed the memo.  Olive and Seabreeze were a different issue: they were given the utmost contempt and every dagger-laced glare he could muster.  He saw them as so undeserving of praise or respect that it was why he pointedly was not gonna show up.  If it didn't cause problems now, it likely would in the near future, as Mali was no longer some easily ignored furball that could be dragged along by the scruff.

Though he heard someone approaching, he didn't move, staying in ball form even though his muscles tensed.  Maybe they'd just leave.  No such luck.  And he had the audacity to poke him!  As soon as he was touched, he uttered a sharp and sudden snarl which continued into a growl.  Mali coiled back and away like an angry snake, honestly tired of this one pup in particular.  If Okeanos really wanted to be his mothers' minion, Mali'd treat him like like the nosy snitch he was being.  He was tired of it and would be physical about it if he had to, as he was almost at that limit.

Mali was about to verbally go at him when Brilliance spoke and announced her presence.  Heck yeah, backup.  Now if this dumb kid tried anything, they could really teach him a lesson.  Mali spoke in a "wow aren't you dumb" kind of tone,  Calling you maybe.  Not us.  Hurry along, you're gonna be late.  How many times did he have to say some variant of "go away"?  His ears tilted forward and his lips stayed parted to let his teeth say the obvious threat.  He was lucky Mali didn't just jump right to attempting to extract his nose.