Larksong Grotto Wassup playa?

@Reek!

Skeet has been playing his cards right lately, it seemed he had made a friends, an acquaintance, and a potential lover. It was a pretty good social circle to him, though he still needed to meet the other leader. Hopefully his ties would be good with him. So, he called for him specifically, though he didn't know his name. All he said was "Alpha male, meet me over here!"

Skeet stayed silent as he waited, his posture slightly slouched and a normal look on his face. His scars seemed to be a bit more evident at the time, for his long scar on his face seemed pinker, while his scratched up nose seemed even more visible. He groaned, knowing that he probably looked like a trouble maker.

Hopefully the man didn't care what Skeet looked like.

Reek found himself on patrols more often than naught. Leading the wolves of the Grotto, he felt, was no different than leading in the maplewood— as in, it was characterized by long, yet fulfilling hours of work. He stayed busy, and while he tried to pencil in enough free time to keep himself sane, he typically spent the hours he wasn't marking his territory or collecting herbs with Tavi. Of course, he had spent a fair amount of time with the other members of the pack too... well, all but one.

There had been another— at the claiming howl. Reek had seen him once, and when their howls died away, he was gone.

Speak of the Devil, Reek thought after a howl from the most unfamiliar pack member cut his patrol short. Ears turning toward the direction of the sound, Reek's body soon followed and he set off in a lope in the direction of his subordinate. Reek arrived shortly and settled to his haunches a few meters away. "'Sup," said Reek, pulling his head upward in a nod. Unlike at the pack howl, where they were shrouded by darkness, Reek could finally get a good look at his subordinate in the light. He looked rough, scarred, and haggard, but appearances mattered little to the alpha male. Having been beaten by the ugly stick himself, the appearance of another was inconsequential.

Skeet's howl was met quickly, for there stood the dark male that the pack called 'Alpha'. Skeet gave him an innocent smirk at his greeting, only dipping his head in respect before returning to his normal stature. "Hey" he said, settling down too. The man looked much older than Skeet, a bit tired dashed into there too.

"You must be the big man, huh?" He asked, chuckling a bit. "Must be an honor." Skeet took another good look over the darker man, wondering about him. His aura was hard to read, he looked a bit haggled like Skeet himself.

The answer the unfamiliar subordinate received came in the form a brief and humble nod, thus confirming Reek's rule over the grotto and its surrounding territory. Of course, Reek was proud of his claim -- obviously so, simply by the way he held himself around his subordinates -- but, he was not one to lord his power over others; not unless his authority was directly challenged. Reek percieved no threat from the mystery man, who kept conversation jovial in his comfortable jesting. A smile spread across Reek's lips as Skeet's comment about being the big man in the grotto summoned forth a throaty chortle from the alpha male.

As Reek's dry laughter died away, he finally answered. "In your case... Yeah." Reek shook his head and raised his brow. "To call me for a private audience— Well, that's sort of a big deal." His shoulders rolled upwards in a shrug. In no way did Reek want the subordinate to actually take his comment seriously when it was meant in jest— he was always open to be called forth wether it be for important business or just to shoot the shit.

"Reek Redtail," he finally introduced after an awkward beat. "But, you can call me the Grand Poohbah if you'd rather."

The darker man smiled at Skeet's comment, his humor was evident at least. Skeet appreciated that, a good sense of humor and just being able to not be so serious all the time. It seemed that calling for the alpha specifically was a big deal, Skeet could agree with that. He wondered what it was like to be alpha, or at least have some power of ruling. Was it fun? Demanding?

He believed he could soon start his own pack, though he got bit in the ass because of that. His attention was brought back to the man in front, who introduced himself as Reek Redtail. He grinned towards him and nodded his head. His comment about wanting to be called the "Grand Poobah" made him laugh out, enjoying the conversation. Skeet wasn't awkward, a gift from the gods he believed.

"I'm gonna stick with Reek" he joked. "I'm Nathan Skeet Afred, though I go by Skeet." Skeet looked towards Reek, wondering if he was the mate to the woman who accepted Skeet. "Hey, do you know the lady who's got whitish grey fur? I think others call her Tavi?" He asked, wondering.

In all honesty, she had this bitchy aura, though that was what Skeet felt. She was probably nice though, just wanting entertainment. She wanted a show and Skeet to prove himself. He would, sooner or later.

Despite Skeet's laughter, it came as a slight dissapointment to see that his self-given moniker of Grand Poohbah wouldn't stick, however it came as no surprise. The only other wolf to reciprocate Reek's silly mannerisms to a tee was Smash, and she was long gone by now— probably back at Shiprock with her oddball sister. Perhaps it was time to hang his wonky-esq title up on the shelf and just be a regular old, boring ass alpha male. Reek shrugged in response to his internal thought process and thought to himself; nah fam, fuck that. If Skeet got a cool-ass nickname in place of Nathan, Reek felt he deserved the same.

Raising a brow at the meantion of Tavi, Reek's suspicions were confirmed. It seemed she had done some recruiting on her own. He smiled. "Of course I do!"  Reek exclaimed. After all, how could a wolf not know his co-alpha? If not, running the pack would be a total logistical headache. "She's, uh— She's sort of my partner." In more ways than one, he thought. Their relationship was one Reek found difficult to label. Of course, after engaging each other in a physical manner, Reek felt he had some sort of a claim over his co-alpha... Even if it went unspoken. Like a girlfriend, but not.

His question was answered by Reek, Tavi was quite known by him. Skeet wondered for a second before Reek's explanation went on. Tavi was his partner, or at least the co-alpha of the grotto pack. It seemed pretty fitting since she was the one who recruited him, though she wasn't his favorite person. 

He still needed to put on a show for her and prove his skills. However, that would come later. "She's your partner?" He asked, before giving Reek a smile. "She wanted me to put on a show for her" he said, chuckling. Of coarse, he meant it in a jest. Tavi just wanted a skill assessment, nothing else.

"But of coarse, I had to turn her down" he finished off, laughing more. Reek was humorous, he would take the joke, right?

While Reek knew Skeet's comment was meant in jest and that no implication between him and Tavi stood behind it, little could stop the creeping sense of jealousy the wormed it's way into Reek's gut. It started like a whisper— a cold wind that spread over his body and through his extremities. Against Reek's conscious will, his playful expression faltered and he stared back at Skeet, features like stone. Much like the land he had claimed, Reek felt (perhaps wrongly) that his claim over Tavi was comparable. After all, he was the alpha male and she his alpha female. Like Jhala's comment from a previous encounter, that was simply how things worked.

After a moment of stone-face weakness, Reek regained his composure and forced himself to laugh from behind an awkward grimace. "You're gonna have to impress me too Skeet," he jabbed playfully, but in a way he was completely serious. "I ain't one for giving no free rides."

Then, putting the awkwardness he felt behind him, Reek dipped down into a play bow to test his subordinates skill in a spar.

So the old man wanted to have a little rough and tumble huh? Well, Skeet could play and put on a show! Reek wanted to be impressed, he didn't give free rides. Okay, Skeet could do that. Reek's awkwardness about the talk of Tavi didn't fly over his head, but he didn't speak up. He wasn't awkward, he was chill. Well, at least when females weren't in heat.

Oh! Back to the spar! "Okay, I can do that" he replied, thinking impressing him wouldn't be too hard. Reek's head bowed in a playful manner. Skeet happily returned it, lowering his head towards the ground in an attempt to protect his living throat from clashing ivory teeth. Muscles ripped beneath his fur in flexion, his heart was pounding.

This was going to be fun...

Sorry for the delay!!! We could do a dice roll to see who wins or whatevs

Rolled a 1 out of 10... I think you pretty much win by default. :P

With a mind still riffed with jealousy, Reek had no qualms with making the first move. As soon as his play bow was reciprocated, Reek sprung forward with all the energy he had. Forepaws leaving the ground and jaws parted wide, Reek reached out to grab hold of his subordinates scruff in a fervent attempt to shake him to the ground. His teeth however, sought not to puncture flesh, but to simply grasp and shake the loose skin until the other saw fit to submit. Their fight was all in good fun, after all.

Though a guardian by trade, Reek didn't see himself as much of a fighter. He could hold his own, of course, but this was mostly a test to gauge the abilities of his somewhat unknown subordinate. With their game finally on, perhaps Reek's observant mind was working harder than his body.

Sorry for the delay, I rolled a 9! 

With Skeet's bow in joining the spar, Reek wasted no time trying to latch upon Skeet. He was quick, his paws launched forward as his jaws were parted to seek the scruff between his teeth. The young man could only smile at the spar, it was already fun for him. The adrenaline rush for him was quite enough, for he sprung out of the way into safety.

Seeing that Reek would land after his failed grab, Skeet wanted to pin his alpha as soon as possible. His weight could help no doubt, but he wanted to keep the spar at a healthy pace. Pivoting from his hind paw, he turned to simply grab Reek's tail and tug him closer. Hopefully the older man wasn't flexible and not able to nip at Skeet's scarred muzzle. He sought not to break skin but to just tug Reek back so Skeet could grab his scruff.

His teeth scraped against skin, but Skeet was far too quick for Reek to grasp proper at his scruff. Immediately, Reek tried to pull away in an attempt to use his own speed as an advantage. Skeet was a much larger beast than he, sporting a much higher level of strength than Reek had to muster. Reek thought, perhaps if he could outpace the other wolf in his assault, he could turn the tides in his favor.

However, before Reek could rocket himself back, Skeet pulled at Reek's tail. It was almost teasing. Reek whipped his body around in an attempt to counter. Teeth barred and aimed at Skeet's flank, Reek lunged forward in retaliation. However, blinded by the fervor of the fight, Reek unknowingly left his neck exposed.

His little tug on the tail seemed to grab the older man's attention, Skeet grinned as Reek turned round to snap at the scarred boy. He seemed to have aimed towards the end of Skeet. His power pushed him forward to lunge for Skeet, for he had released Reek's tail quickly. However, Reek had made a crucial mistake while he leapt. His neck was entirely open for a pin.

Skeet saw his chance, taking a sharp turn to avoid Reek's lunge. He turned round to grab the scruff of the superior, soft enough to not pierce skin, but strong enough to not be thrown off. Skeet was quick to try to bring him down, using his weight to hold the darker man under. Hopefully he could pin him long enough to get Reek to surrender.

It was already too late when Reek realized he had left himself open to Skeet's final attack. Had this been a real fight and not some light-hearted, playtime spar, it would have been enough to be a killing blow. Skeet's jaws gripped tightly around Reek's neck, and with the force of the obvious winner's weight, Reek's wire thin frame was swept from his stance: his legs buckled and bent, and soon, he found himself on the ground. Pinned.

"Goddamn," he said, panting beneath the victor. "You're good." Wether it was Skeet's technique or his observations skills that one the fight, one thing was certain, he was a force to be reckoned with -- and with that, he was a valuable asset to the pack.

Reek writhed and wriggled until he was finally free from Skeet's hold. "I'm a bit rusty," said Reek, rolling his shoulders forward as he offered an excuse for his poor performance. "We should do this again sometime, but until then, I should probably get going." After all, there were borders to tend to and caches to fill. The life of the alpha male was always busy, but it was nice to get a little testosterone fueled reprive from it all.

"See you 'round Skeet," said Reek, turning away to resume his duties around the grotto.

Seeing that he had won, Skeet was quick to remove his weight and smile towards Reek. He offered some nice words before taking his leave, and Skeet could only watch him leave. For some weird reason, Reek looked a lot like the old alpha. And that was not a good thing.

Taking his time to roll around in some dirt, Skeet began to head home towards his large den.