Every little bit counts

There was a lot going on for the little Viking boy. His mother was crying sometimes, and he didn’t know what to do, and it was usually when his dad wasn’t around, and they bothered him even more. Because after all his dad was the protector, he was supposed to take care of mom, but he didn’t. Granted his dad probably didn’t know about his mother’s moments. Now that they had begun to move, his mother was a little bit better now.

He charged across the ground his small pudgy legs going as quick as he could make them. He wanted to play, he wasn’t sure where his brother and sister were, but he wanted one of them or someone really to come play! As he rambled across the ground his nose to the ground, he saw a caterpillar. Bending even further to the ground he looked at it and chased after it, as it crawled across the ground.

Since their arrival at Stavanger Bay, Verrine had almost obsessively patrolled the outlands of their territory, strengthening marks (a.k.a. pissing everywhere lol) and otherwise doing everything necessary to make it obvious that there were wolves here, and any not of their group were unwelcome. In a rare break from his usual routine, though, he was spending today in the interior of their new home, getting to know the lay of the land, learning where some commonly-traveled game trails were, and (though he wouldn't admit it to anyone but himself) daydreaming about Julooke and floating on the euphoric high in the wake of their newly-established mateship.

He was abruptly jerked out of his amorous reverie by the sound of a small commotion nearby. Suddenly realizing he wasn't far from the Alphas' den, he looked around and spied a young warrior carefully harassing a caterpillar on the ground. A wide grin broke over his face as he recognized young Gunnar, one of Ragnar's little hellions. Tail wagging, he woofed a soft greeting to the boy. "Hey there, Guns!"

Tveir was still getting used to the name that his mother had accidentally whispered as she worked. His name she told him it meant bold warrior and he was okay with this. He didn't really know what a bold warrior was. Ein still was searching for his name, Gunnar knew this, he didn't understand exactly why they hadn't had names to begin with, after all he was still pretty young. He still answered to Tveir though, and now Guns, he liked that nickname.

He looked up from his stalking chase, and quietly Whooo yo? Whaaa dooong? He knew the bigger male from when they came over from the other home, but he couldn't think of his name. Yoo sm...a...ll...lak....Jooloo! He smelled Julooke on the other one, his forever friend he felt anyway.

Omg he's so cute <3

Verrine smiled at the kid, charmed by how cute and curious he was. He also couldn't help grinning at the mention of smelling like Julooke, not only because it was awesome that Ragnar's children knew Julooke so well, but also because it was just freaking awesome to smell like Julooke. He himself hadn't spent much time around the Alpha's children, as his duties to the pack kept him on the outskirts of their territory most of the time, but they still had at least a passing familiarity with each other.

"I'm Verrine!" he told the boy, and added, "Julooke is my friend. That's why I smell like her." He knew the youngster probably wouldn't understand the whole mate thing, so he just settled for "friend" for now. "I was just passing by, doing some exploring. What are you doing, big guy?"

Thanks :D
Tveir looked at the older wolf and hear his name he decided to try it out for size. Verrr….iiii….n, He sighed his name was far to hard, You jus Ver….yes Ver…. So he gave him a nickname. His small tail wagged so much at the mention of Julooke, that his pudgy little body vibrated with suppressed joy. Guns Like Jooloo! You frands like mamama and DADDAD? The only friends he knew were like his mom and dad, they had puppies and gave each other goo goo eyes.

Guns esplorin…esplor! Buggy buggy…guns chase… He tried his hardest to get his point across but his words were still way unrefined and guttural…he was fast realizing that not all spoke the same language his dad and Julook did and his mom, so he had to learn both types of words, and sometimes it drove him crazy, but he was slowly learning when each was needed. When his daddy was teaching him it was norse, when he was talking to others it was common.

He was becoming increasingly charmed by this little dude. Verrine had never had much experience at all with kids. His only real experience had been in his early days with Sterrenvuur, when Liyano's last litter of pups had been young. He'd always liked children, though, and the more he interacted with them, the greater his affection for them grew.

An abrupt and bizarre idea struck him -- he and Julooke were mates now. That meant they could have kids of their own at some point. The thought would've made him go bug-eyed if he hadn't been occupied with a child.

"Yeah, we're friends like your mom and dad," Verrine affirmed with a smile as the pup asked, deciding that was probably the best route to go for now. It wasn't his place to explain mateships and whatnot to the boy, and surely Ragnar already had plans for that anyway. Everything that happened in life had some weird holy meaning or something behind it. Julooke was interested in that stuff, but it mostly just confused Verrine. "So you like to chase bugs," he commented a moment later, settling down into a sphinx-like laying position near the little warrior. "Can I watch?" Kids almost always liked to show off -- at least he'd liked it when he was a pup himself -- so he figured having an audience would delight little Guns.

Tveir looked at him and gave him a smile and spoke in a small voice I love Jooloo. She my frand! He really did have a real affection for Julooke, more as a younger brother would have for an older sister, and he liked that he could talk to her in Norse, he preferred that language, it was easier for him to catch onto, but he had to learn both, his father told him so.

Tveir looked at him and shook his head Neinn you don’t watch you halp! You halp Guns? Teachame? he looked at the older male with pleading puppy eyes, he wanted to learn to be the best at everything he could, and this wolf could help him get there. He wanted to best everyone, he was an ambitious lad even for a young guy.

He grinned as Gunnar asserted that he loved Julooke. Beric had been right when he had said that everyone fell in love with her. It was impossible not to love her, even for a young pup. Little things like this reminded Verrine of why he was the luckiest guy in the universe to have the unique privilege of calling her his.

Gunnar was quick to chide him, insisting that Verrine help him rather than watch him. Clearly the boy wanted to learn, which impressed Verrine a great deal. He wasn't used to that; he'd had very little experience with puppies, but the few times he had spent time around them, they certainly hadn't been interested in learning. It was all play, fun, and adventure. Ragnar was certainly a no-nonsense dad, for his boy to be clamoring for knowledge already. "Okay," Verrine agreed readily, though he wasn't sure what exactly what Gunnar wanted to learn. "What would you like me to teach you?"

Tveir saw the goofy look come over his older playmates face, just like his mother and father would get sometimes and he snorted softly. Yep they were friends like his mama and daddy. He shook his head, girls were all like his sister at this point, and he wasn’t exactly close with his sister yet.

Tveir thought long and hard about the question. What did he want to learn, maybe he wanted to catch the caterpillar, or be brave like his dad or maybe he wanted to heal like his mom. He shook his head trying to rid it off all the thoughts that were crowding and over loading his mind. You’se teacha Guns ta catcher da cattypill? He motioned to the caterpillar and then looked for it frantically having lost it while he talked. where et go Ver?

Of course he wanted to catch the caterpillar. It only made sense for a brave little warrior boy to want to catch and kill something. But Verrine thought the caterpillar might be too easy a target. It was tiny and slow-moving. The poor thing would be squashed dead just by Guns's paws before the boy had a chance to enact any sort of crazy Viking warfare on the insect. Fortunately that wouldn't be an issue though, for the little bug had seemingly made a stealthy getaway while the two were chit-chatting. "Hm," Verrine said, looking around. "Looks like he got away. A caterpillar's too easy anyway. Wanna try something tougher? How 'bout I teach you a little bit about fighting and wrestling?" If he knew Ragnar as well as he thought he did, then this would be right up his son's alley.

Tveir looked for the caterpillar but he couldn't find it so he gave up and sat down with his tongue lolling out, and listened to Verrine. He tilted his head and smiled up at him. Guns wanna wrassle! Tveir stood swiftly and thought he wasn't sure what he was to do, he did know that it was customary t offer a play bow, so he bent his front head down, eyes up, and legs bunches with his pudgy little backside in the air.

Teachame ta Wrassle Ver! He wagged his tail so hard his entire body wiggled and squiggled and he squirmed.

Omg I'm SO sorry for the long wait. <3 Also, there's a tiny bit of powerplay here (where Verrine knocks Tveir over) -- if you would like me to change it, just let me know and I'll gladly do so. :)

As expected, the boy latched right onto the idea of wrestling and rough-housing. Verrine grinned, feeling that this at least was one area where he could truly teach the child something. Tveir was eager and, in his excitement, demanded to be taught, so Verrine introduced him to his first lesson in the same way he himself had been initially taught to fight -- with one of his large paws, Verrine bowled the fuzzy pup over off his feet and then (gently) held him down where he lay. "C'mon," he encouraged the boy with a grin. "Fight back!"

Goodness sorry about that.

Tveir was hit with a soft wump and his breath came out in a gasp, mostly of surprise and he rolled across the ground. Smiling he realized he was made for this, and with a small puppy growl he scrambled to his feet and launched himself at the poor unexpecting footpaw that had bowled him over.He batted at the larger paw and bit hard at it, intent to win this battle.

Small growls and grunts came forth from deep in his chest as he fought ot gain some ground. Entire body was forward as he tore his head side to side jerking trying to kill that paw dead.

Holy crap. Could I possibly be any lamer? Lol. I'm sorry for making you wait again. College started two weeks ago and I've been slammed with homework ever since. We can wrap this up anytime.

The boy was only momentarily shocked by Verrine's surprise attack, but he quickly recovered and return the attack with vigor. Tiny teeth latched onto Verrine's large paw and tugged, his muffled growls coming out entirely too cute to be intimidating. Cute as he was, though, he was fierce. "Holy crap!" Verrine exclaimed with a laugh and a wide grin, totally surprised by the kid's fiery ferociousness. He realized a moment later how silly it was for him to not expect a Viking's son to love to fight. Tveir ravaged Verrine's paw with some particularly aggressive side-to-side jerking of his head, and Verrine allowed himself to be pulled over, toppling onto his side and rolling onto his back. Reaching over with his other paw, he bopped the kid in the shoulder and invited him to come wrestle around some.

it's okay i'm on the lame train too school is kicking my arse too

Tveir was thrown off balance when the other male flopped over, but he kept his footing. His legs splayed and slid only a little bit. He giggled as Verrine flopped over and he jumped on top of the older males chest. Placing both paws around his neck he nipped at his shoulders and sides while moving his legs side to side trying to wrestle with the older male, but it was hard for him to get his littler legs and paws around the larger body of his new playmate. He growled and giggled his tail wagging so ferociously that his entire body wiggled.

Ugh, I forgot you were in school too. You know my pain! lol

Verrine laughed as the boy wildly launched himself at his much larger packmate. He had to hand it to Ragnar -- the guy had some fearless kids. Tveir clambered up onto Verrine's chest and proceeded to buffet him with his teeth and paws, which of course didn't hurt (with the exception of the occasional tiny fang that found a tender spot). Verrine tousled him right back, but it was hard to put up much of a fight because the pup's movements on his chest tickled so much he could only squirm and laugh for the most part.

Tveir giggled over and over again as Verrine laughed. He was having a fun time with the older wolf and he couldn't help but laugh harder everytime he tickled him. Occasionally a blow would land and it would buffet Tveir a little bit, which would just make his onslaught so much worse. Eventually he fell into a heap on top of the older males chest and lay there panting with a puppy grin on his face Dat was fine Ver!