“It didn't sound like a joke,” Sumayl told Jace bluntly, even after hearing Vienna's brother stumble over the words he wanted to say. “It sounded like an accusation.” Tone was important, especially when communicating with other wolves, imperative even especially when the wolves you were speaking to did not know you all that well. Sumayl didn't know Jace enough to understand that he was kidding, especially without a playful tone. It wasn't that Sumayl took offense to everything, it was largely the lack of communication skills that Sumayl could see. That was a huge part of the problem Sumayl had with Jace being in leadership — he was not welcoming, neither did he know how to communicate with anyone aside from his close friends and family. Sumayl hated to tell Ame but most of Sunspire did not know Jace that well and would never understand that he was joking when he definitely made it sound otherwise. “See, that's the problem I have with you being in the leadership,” Sumayl was agitated and understood he was poking at a hornet's nest with a stick but if someone didn't tell Jace what he was doing wrong then no one would. It seemed everyone else wanted to sweep the issues under the rug but Sumayl wasn't everyone else, and if Jace couldn't handle it then he could kick Sumayl out. If he went and tattled to Amekaze about what Sumayl was about to say and she decided to kick Sumayl out than so fucking be it. It wasn't like Sumayl couldn't court Vienna from afar though, admittedly, it would make things extremely difficult.
Sumayl wanted to like Jace, wanted Jace to be apart of the future he was planning on with Vienna, he truly did; but every time he tried he felt, whether it was intentional on Jace's side or not, that Jace was verbally attacking him. What was Sumayl supposed to do? Sit down, shut up and be a good boy, he supposed but that wasn't Sumayl. He was confrontational and he much preferred to get his issues out in the open, without fear of hurting anyone's feelings. Sumayl Ostrega was not the type of man to hide behind silence, or ignore things. It was not who he was and never would be who he was. “Actually, it's a lot of the problem I have with you period. Whether you realize it or not, you always sound like you're verbally attacking everyone. Or at least me. I get that you probably don't mean too, but I don't know you well enough to know that you're joking especially when your tone implies something else entirely.” Sumayl paused, drew in a deep breath and continued, “And I bet you that majority of the Sunspire doesn't know you that well either. I'm not Vienna and I'm not Amekaze, and neither are they. To me you come off as unwelcome, and as I said you always sound like you're verbally attacking me. Your lack of facial expressions also makes it real fucking easy to think that you're always attacking everyone.” If Jace hadn't been Vienna's brother and would have interacted with her the way he did Sumayl, Suma would have, without a doubt, kicked his ass. Maybe Jace was different to everyone else and Sumayl was just the asshole of the pack that got this side of the Beta. Regardless, Sumayl was the asshole with big enough balls to confront him about it because it frustrated him, and for better or worse Sumayl was not afraid of Jace. He didn't find him intimidating he found him annoying acting like he had a stick up his ass all the time and that everyone was his enemy. In some ways, it made Sumayl regret that he'd protected Jace to that little Creek girl who had tried to get Sumayl to divulge on information regarding Jace.
“Has it ever once occurred to you that if you lightened up, and stopped treating everyone you don't know like your fucking enemy that more wolves might actually like you? Fuck man, I want to like you. I want you to be apart of the future I plan with your sister,” and he did even if he sought Jace out today solely for Vienna's benefit. As of right now, Sumayl didn't care if Jace wanted to be apart of it or not. As of right now, it wouldn't have hurt Sumayl's feelings any. “I don't know if your problem with me is because of your sister or because of who I am. I get I'm not perfect either. I know I'm confrontational. I know I'm an asshole,” But the difference was Sumayl wasn't a leader. The Ostrega liked to think if he would have ever became one — not that he had high hopes of it ever happening — he would make the adjustments and risen to the occasion. That he would be the kind of leader that others wanted to follow, that they could feel safe with. Sumayl didn't feel safe or well led under Jace's rule. He felt like he should be expecting a knife in the back. He didn't trust Jace and until Jace lightened up, Sumayl's trust would be hard to come by.
Their conversation, at Sumayl's inability to let his problems go unaired, had went very awry from Vienna, and Sumayl was not sure how to get it back on track. After a few seconds, he decided that perhaps it was better to let that part go for now and wait dutifully for the punishment he was sure was about to come slamming into him like a brick wall. After all, Sumayl wouldn't ever say anything he wasn't prepared to take the consequences for.