Bearclaw Valley dancing with the devil

For @Merrick - set for the 23rd. 

            Truth be told, Evien hadn't thought much after leaving the territory the day before. His mind made up the moment he saw the disappointment on Taylor's face and the words I hope I see you again. Perhaps he had some impulsiveness about him after all. 

             The figurehead - he hadn't learned his name, he recalled belatedly - was someone he was curious to meet face-to-face and privately before he pledged himself to the other boy. Something about the one-eyed wolf seemed dangerous, intriguing, like a venomous water snake. There was something calculating about his behavior, and Evien only recognized it because it was also a part of himself. It just manifested in different ways. 

             Decisively, the brown boy limped up to the borders of Ursus and tipped his head back. His howl was rusty at best, bell-like and rising in pitch in certain areas. A song he hadn't made use of in a long time.

another call. fancy evien kastner, and he called for merrick. the boy was idly toying with one of astara's ears, comforted by her presence, but dragged himself away eventually. if the shadow followed, he would be warmed through. if not, merrick had confidence in his own ability to handle such. 
"evien," the mad boy greeted with a flick of his plume, tone familiar despite the fact that he had only met the chocolate medic once before. so he had come back. that counted for something, though merrick was jealously aware of the connection evien had with fields.
single eye burned upon the careful visage of the other, and he was silent.

Evien didn't have to wait long for the dark-pelted boy to arrive, orange eye boring a hole into his flesh. Like an ant under a magnifying glass in the sun, both scrutinized and burning alive. There certainly was danger in this boy's gaze, and Evien wasn't certain whether he was nervous or excited by it.

            Still, he offered the leader of the little group a small smile and wave of his tail, carefully set around his hocks. Careful, careful, careful. Evien Kastner was always careful.

            Perhaps now was the time to change that. Perhaps he would regret it.

         "I never did learn your name," he said calmly, forest green eyes meeting the singular orange of the wolf before him.

"merrick," he said promptly, lopsided gaze interested. he inclined his head, inviting evien to walk along the border with him. the wolves of ursus were close at hand, and he was not worried over the potential of sudden attack. evien was too cautious for that, gleaned simply from what merrick already knew of him.
"where did you come from, before this?" the bedlamite asked, putting his nose to the earth. the scent of foxes were still here, but less present than before. good. that meant his attack with skoll had been effective.

No, there would be no chance of sudden attack. Not from Evien, at least - the boy was a healer, not a fighter. Perhaps he had the potential to be a defender of sorts, but never an outright attacker. 

         Merrick seemed to fit the boy in front of him. It was rare to find someone smaller than he was, but there were subtle things about his appearance that suggested he might not be all wolf. That pointed muzzle looked almost coyote-like. Evien followed him, matching his pace. Their walk was leisurely, nonhurried and not urgent. This was what Evien had wanted - time to speak with him. 

         "I lived with my family," he responded, thinking back to them. His father's lithe figure - half red wolf. His mother's fat physique and gray eyes. His grandfather, willowy but strong. "A few month's travel, down south. We lived on the banks of a large river." He missed it there, regardless of how fucked up things had gotten during their last months together. 

         Green eyes flicked back to the other boy, scanning him over. "Where are you from?" he questioned in turn, genuinely curious.

a good, suburban upbringing. two parent household, he supposed, burying a laugh deep down inside of his lungs. casual. evien opening only as much as was good, was polite. merrick had his paw within the crack now, holding, holding for a moment before he began to level it open.
"i was born here, in this valley. i've come home," he declared, tipping a wink to evien, followed by an unblinking stare that caressed the slim shoulders and unwarring demeanour of the man. "a medic, huh," the boy went on, pausing to scrape a passing tree with his claws. 
"plants don't interest me. however," and here merrick stopped dead, tonguetip caught thoughtfully between his teeth, single eye lanternlit and glinting with something diamond-hard and coalblack,
"you do."

Merrick was right on a few things - a suburban upbringing, two parent household, yes, but it had not been good. Walking on eggshells during every conversation, trapped in a little bubble, and listen, don't take any food your mother offers you, Evien. There were reasons for the Kastner to be cautious as he was. 

          Born here with all the bear scent. It lingered on Merrick's fur in a way that was unsettling, but Evien was getting used to the smell. The other boy was quick to turn the conversation back to him, but Evien didn't mind. "I could never go back where I came from," he said calmly, offering just a little glimpse into his feelings of where he might've once called home. 

         "Plants are very interesting. There are ones that heal and ones that poison. I've learned the difference." The hard way went unspoken. But he did find, as he turned to face the young leader, that he was interesting in the same way as those toxic plants might be. Oftentimes, they were wrapped up in pretty packages as well. "You interest me, too," the boy responded truthfully. Merrick was like a puzzle, and Evien wanted to put all the pieces together. "I wanted to get to speak with you face-to-face before I asked to join your group."

two things here: evien was cut off, and evien was a scholar of the green things, not only someone who knew their basic uses. merrick's torn ears thrust forward; all his attention was given the other. he enjoyed to talk about himself; he delighted more in discovering someone else, and found that evien was vulnerable below the caution.
but the earthchild's words were chosen too carefully, as if he were leading merrick to a source of groundwater. calculated, like himself. honesty giving way to looser soil. "you sound like you have questions," the coywolf murmured gently, a smirk alighting upon his mouth.
what did fields see in this boy, aside from the clear beauty of green eyes and the loamy hue of a pretty pelt? merrick thought he was beginning to spot it too; a thorn gleaming here and there, enough to draw the sort of blood he wanted. "tell me why you won't go home." no time for secrets; merrick had little taste for polite cobwebs.

It was only fair of him to share a bit with his potential future leader. What Merrick chose to do with that information was up to him, but Evien wasn't sure he was willing to tell the black wolf the difference between the good and bad herbs just yet. 

           "I always have questions," he said with a soft huff of laughter, tail swaying more genuinely behind him. But those questions could wait - Merrick had his own, first. Demands would probably be the better word for them, but Evien didn't mind. 

          As it always did, his throat went a bit dry when he thought of his mother. He swallowed to wet it again before he could respond. "My mother poisoned me. Just enough to keep me sick, so I couldn't leave." The words were precise, to the point. No emotion attached. "Eventually, I found out and left. Couldn't stay with her after I learned the truth." 
 
        His attention flicked back to the boy before him instead of his memory, and he angled his ears forward. "You deserve my honesty if I hope to stay here," he said simply. "I hope I can receive the same from you." A beat of silence, and then: "What would you expect from me, if I were to join you?"

evien took him in stride. merrick enjoyed that, but most of all the tidbit about poisonous mothers — his mouth watered at the savory feel of the image in his head. "was that why you went into plants?" he ventured, pressing the boy for more of the sudden, heavy spike to his ever-muttering brain.
"i like your honesty," merrick murmured, but then for a long time was silent, considering the question. he knew what he wanted, of course, but evien's canniness was like a heavy victorian gown swathing the other from ankles to throat.
he wanted to cut through it, rip it away, leave the medic naked and shivering. "loyalty," his teeth glimmered. "i want to know you will do what i say when i say to do it." no need to lie. this was evien's final test, and they both understood it.
he veered sideways somewhat, sought the brush of flank against flank, even as he circled his scarred face 'round. the boy of toffee and jade, begging a press of lips to thoughtful face. "i need to know if you will kill."
he swung his hip in a sudden strike, aiming to knock evien off balance; he wanted to see that cautious veil fall from the pretty face, see the first nudity of a true response.

The boy shook his head. It might have been why he studied them further, but it wasn't why initially. His mother and grandfather had both been quite adept in the field. "I learned from my mother and grandfather, at the start. But that made me want to help others. To heal." It was the truth - Evien wasn't much for lies in the first place. 

           Merrick's strike was unexpected, just as the strike from a venomous water snake would be. And it was not difficult to knock Evien off balance - only three working legs would do that to a wolf. He tumbled onto his side, first surprised, and then pissed off. They'd been having a civil conversation up until this point - there'd been no need to be physical.

            I need to know if you will kill. A soft growl settled in Evien's chest and he got back up to his feet, shaking his fur off. "I just fucking might, if you knock me down like that again," he rumbled, bristling with indignation and embarrassment. It wasn't as though he actually would harm Merrick over something like this - or even that he could. His handicap wasn't something he thought of often, but he would never be good at fighting. But if he was correct, and this was a test, Merrick would want a true answer and not just his embarrassed one. 

         "There are wolves who would deserve to die. I don't like the thought of it, but I would kill, if I needed to," he answered, shaking out his bristling fur to save face.

aha, there it was. the flaring of briars around evien's neat little appearance. a speck of dust on an already spotless wall. "oh?" merrick challenged, tongue lolling mockingly as singular eye watched the other scramble back to his feet, indignant, scruffed, disgruntled. 
"you're too pretty for ursus," merrick declared, though he ached for a challenge. it shone in every facet of his being
hit me —
" — too dolled up. too nice. too proper." head cocked; wan smile curled into a savage mass of teeth, a glasgow grin cutting across merrick's half-cocked features. "let me dirty you up a little. then —"
i know what you want
then maybe fields will fuck you
shh shh shh shh
"— maybe," an inhale, "maybe you will be ready to do some screaming."
three legs or no, limp or no; only holy men and elders garnered respect after their bodies could not be used for war. evien too could not be a berserker upon the front lines of the bear, but he knew other ways. merrick wished the knowledge, but wished more, in this moment, to see another gleam of the rage that lay banked beneath evien's surface.
"my mom was a bitch too. wanna know what i did?" 
he trembled, swerved in to snap at the brown boy's forepaws, not intending to harm but intending to show evien that jump meant jump.

Maybe this was what his caution was warning him against. He'd been fully aware that Merrick was a snake - coiled and ready. Too pretty. Was Evien too pretty for anything? He'd never been called that before. 

          He'd also never been called a bitch before. Had called his mother one, sure, but he'd never been called that, himself. 

          Evien liked to pride himself on his self-control, but his temper was fiery and he couldn't restrain it forever. Not when he was being tested like this. He snarled when Merrick lunged in again, a wince when the black coywolf's teeth sliced into the flesh of a foot not quick enough to move. But Evie handled pain well - the chronic ache in his leg where it hadn't developed properly was a constant undercurrent throughout his day. 

         "I don't really give a shit what you did to your mom," he snapped, fur bristling as he stepped back, green eyes fixated on the young leader. His heart pounded - adrenaline, excitement, fury. "I'm not pretty. I will not scream." Fear was not one of the reasons his pulse was racing. He just needed one more push, and then he'd be ready to fight. If that's what Merrick truly wanted. "You don't know me at all. Yet." There was a challenge there - a type of come and get me that Evien didn't know he was capable of. This influx of emotions that he wasn't used to was invigorating.

a spate of giggles poured from merrick as evien snapped, and snapped again. he was transformed from a careful traveling doctor beneath a fake veneer, a faulty passport that had given him access to merrick's border. the coywolf doubted the other had been tested a day in his life since departing. but there was good rich clay here, ready for the molding of fang and of blood.
"i think i do know you, beautiful," merrick crooned, keeping out of reach of the jaws that were beginning to champ for the plundering, the tense body chafing beneath a self-imposed rein. "you're a coward who tells yourself you want to heal, when really you want to see what it's like for someone else to choke on their vomit."
eyebrow arched; he teased, biting the air with tongue extended to taste the new air wafting in angry waves from evien. "i'll tell you anyway," he guffawed conversationally. "i killed her. snuffed her out. boom, gone."
i'll do the same to you, pretty cunt, pretty pretty pretty cunt
throat closed; merrick no longer wanted to do more talking. his ears were ready for the scream or the submission, and he lunged forward in silent attack to take it, take whatever he wanted while evien huffed and burned and began to catch fire.

Evien had never met anyone who frustrated him like this. Assumptions and mocking and insanity that was driving the brown wolf wild with need. But need for what? To fight, to argue? Something else? Rage and excitement and apprehension swelled in his chest at Merrick's laughter, and he wanted to wipe the smile from his face. 

          Beautiful. Was he flirting, in a time like this? Was Evien flirting? The words made his ears hot, and he flattened them to his skull. "I've spent enough time choking on my own vomit to wish for it to happen to someone else," he contradicted - and it was true. But he did currently wish to see Merrick's blood splash on the ground. Not enough to kill, but enough that he might not be so cocky anymore. 

         He let Merrick slam into him, but this time did not back away. Instead, he scrabbled for purchase with paws and teeth - looking to grab hold and fight. Merrick could outrun him, for sure, but not if Evien had hold of him.

the desired scarlet flickered to life in merrick's red nape as evien slashed him, holding fast despite his leg. he was delighted beneath the surge of pain, yanking backward and spinning to cut into the other's cheek. their little dance was equal parts amusement and anger, for merrick did not enjoy bleeding, and evien had not cared for his teasing nature.
the hidden bite of rage blossomed beautifully into shades of carmine, as merrick struck again and bore the brunt of the doctor's chastising teeth.
he found himself shoulder-torn and bristling with red droplets, and on and on and on went his maddened spiraling laughter, for even if evien would not admit it, he had won. merrick had already won the battle he wished to fight, and all pain thereafter was secondary.

Evien had never truly been in a fight like this before, but he'd also never had someone lunge at him like Merrick did. His teeth connected with the other male's shoulder, and he felt teeth clip his cheek in return - just under his left eye, splitting the fur there. It stung, but he was too angry to truly notice. 

          Eventually, during the blur of the fight, Evien had found himself mimicking Merrick's laughter. This was... more fun than he'd initially anticipated it to be. Blood soaked his cheek, matting his fur down to his skin, and he was out of breath, but he was laughing. Genuine enjoyment. It was absolutely bizarre - beyond his comprehension.

          The boy found himself pinned beneath the other, breathless and dazed from the experience. Evien stopped fighting, instead fixing Merrick with a hazy green gaze, locked onto his singular orange. This didn't make any sense.

and then — humour. mirth. excitement, mingling with his own.
cut by a thousand blades, merrick lay across the defiant form of the other, matching his panting with that of evien. he grinned openly, joyously, down at the newcomer, blood dripping from his chin to lighten the other's pelt from ecru to sanguine.
hearts thudded against one another; merrick shifted himself more firmly against evien, uncaring of who might come upon them entangled such as this. "now," he breathed before sharp inhales, breath returning to him, "wasn't that great?" tongue plied across his own red-stained lips, and then he nosed lower, seeking to lick his own claret slowly from evien's mouth. 
"you could have a future here. with me. with fields," merrick purred roughly when he had finished. "are you ready to do what i say?"

Evien offered up a smile to the other, tail swishing back and forth on the grass. "I think I hate you," he whispered, breathless with laughter and voice tinged with a certain fondness, even as he allowed the other boy to lick blood from his lips and lay on him in quite possibly the most intimate thing Evie had ever done in his life. No matter what he might have said, that had been very fun. Would staying here mean more thrills like this?

         "It was fun," he responded, leaning his head over to lap gingerly at the wound he'd created on Merrick's shoulder. It wasn't too deep, but it would need tended to. Evien suddenly felt a fierce protectiveness wash over him - he was going to be the one to take care of Merrick, of Fields, of all of the other wolves here he had yet to meet. 

         A future. That wasn't something Evien had thought too hard on, ever. What would he do with his future? He didn't know what had come over him - this overwhelming rush of emotion that he'd never felt before - this devotion. And he certainly didn't know how long it would last, or how far he would go, but for now? "Yes," he crooned, still intoxicated by the feel and presence of Merrick. "As long as you let me dress the wound on your shoulder." Ah, there it was. Merrick was bleeding on him - blood had so many diseases and this was so bad. Still, he let it happen, somehow trusting that this would be okay. 

        This was, without a doubt, the craziest thing Evien Kastner had ever done.

"i hate you back," merrick laughed, beaming down at evien a moment longer before backing away to let the newest member of ursus rise. "done," he grunted, feeling the sting of it now. but the pain was good, was deep, radiating through him in a low wave of satisfaction.
the bloodstained wolves of ursus. 
and if merrick had his way, it would not be their own gore which splattered them in the time to come. 
he waited, affable, open, ready to be touched and play the part of biddable patient, as if their scuffle had never been and all there remained was the delectable tension between them, trioed when he thought of sunflower boy and what he would think.
there would be more insanity. he only hoped evien would rise to every challenge as he had done this one.

Fading here <3 thank you for the thread!

          Yeah, his cheek was stinging now, and he was feeling extremely uncomfortable with the congealed scarlet on his skin. It was not something he was willing to indulge in frequently, but with Merrick it could be fun. He'd never known he was capable of drawing blood from another wolf before, but the knowledge didn't frighten him. 

        Odd.

        A smile crept onto his lips as Merrick countered him and allowed him to rise. He shook out his fur - he'd clean it later - and gestured for the alpha - his alpha - to follow him. Evien had seen some rosehips down in the valley nearby, and they could wash off in the water before he used them. To fend off infections and hopefully prevent much scarring. 

        His body was tingling, and he wanted more than anything to run and find Fields to announce his joining. But it would have to wait until he was less bloody.