Neverwinter Forest i am not here to demolish, but to complete

02/17 -- that works, right?

Mathieu was bored. He had hunted all morning with nothing to show, sniffed at abrasive grasses and found his nose forever scarred; what else was there to do? He strolled through the territory with eyes and ears open for @Mal.

Thanks for starting! I think that works... My brain turned into goo about the time I got 100% caught up last night.

Even from a distance, Mal didn't seem as happy as he had been when Matty had last run into him. But given everything that had gone on in the last week, could you really blame him? Well, at least nobody had ended up dead, but that was minor consolation. He'd just recently returned with Phillip, and that was a whole scenario where he didn't know what to do too. He wanted to help but didn't want to push and at times it seemed like those two things were directly counter to each other, so it left with him feeling particularly useless. He hoped he'd made it abundantly clear that he was around if Phillip wanted to talk or needed anything, at least.

So now he was wandering slightly aimlessly through the forest, trying to figure out what he should actually be doing at this point. And that's when he spotted Matty -- whether or not he was the first to do so, who knew, but he slightly veered his path to his fellow speckled wolf. Had he caught on to the chaos that had happened or had he been oblivious? There had been howls when it came to Zephyr and Kratos, after all. Well maybe it'd be a good distraction either, he'd put on a bit of a positive air, calling out, Hey, how you settling in?

you're good!

Mathieu walked up to the leader and bumped shoulders. What's up? he asked, tail wagging enthusiastically behind him, I met someone, so pretty good. Simmik, the pretty girl with the bad attitude. Matty couldn't wait until their next chance meeting.

He noticed that Mal didn't seem as bright as before. You okay? His concern was light, but audible in his voice. If there was something that he could do to help then he ought to try, right?

Mal tilted his head slightly, giving Matty a sort of playful look that emphasized what he asked, Someone, huh? Here or elsewhere? If he was out meeting people worth noting outside the pack, Mal kinda hoped he'd bring them back so they could be added to the ranks. Would be nice, at least, but that was probably getting ahead of everything.

His response was... Muddled. Sort of a shrug, sort of a nod. He wasn't really sure how much detail to go into when it came to Phillip. It wasn't like he had a ton of details either. Yeah, just a rough week. Dunno if you heard the commotion, some of the guys ran into some not-so-nice types out there. But not any of the usual suspects. So be careful if you wander, yeah? It was a brief serious moment and even then he tried to make it not too grimdark. Things already could be dark enough without him helping.

Matty turned away so that Mal might not see his budding grin. Simmik, he replied, She's, I don't know...sorta nice? The description wasn't exactly fitting, but his mind seemed to have gone blank. No biggie, though. He shook out his pelt and with it, the bulk of his butterflies.

News of conflict was just that: news. He hadn't heard anything about the events Mal described, but figured that it was just because of how new to the game he was. Matty drew his face into a concerned frown and nodded his head, We gonna beat these guys up? He drew in a deep breath and pushed out his chest in an attempt to accentuate his muscles.

Mal wasn't immediately dropping the act, keeping the sort of playfully inquisitive expression, She's one of our best, I think. At this point she's one of the ones who's been here the longest. So if you need to know all the little hideaways, she'd be another to check with. It wasn't like he needed to lie or anything to note he'd been pretty impressed with her. She was quiet, sure, but a good wolf for sure.

He gave a short nod. Gotta figure out where these dudes went -- if either comes back here, hell yeah though. I'm totally done with this whole people trying to screw with my pack thing. Either of them. Kratos would probably want to go a second round with the one who messed with Zeph, but Mal would totally go after the one who messed with Phillip -- at some point he'd have to go out and make sure that guy wasn't coming anywhere nearby.

Looking for hideaways with his secret crush sounded like a great idea. He wasn't what Simmik thought about him, but wondered if he could change her mind— if need be. I'll have to ask her about 'em, Matty agreed. He was glad to move on from this topic, since it had the potential to quickly become embarassing.

I'm down for a fight. The muscles that he bore were mostly for show. They'd been inherited from his mother, developing naturally and with little help. Matty often used his semi-intimidating stature to his advantage; there's no need to fight if everyone is afraid to approach. Anyway, Mal didn't have to know this secret. Pack's got to have each other's backs, right?

Mal was pretty much the same -- except he just bluffed by being an aggressive little twerp. He usually didn't push it too far because he didn't want to fight. Yeah. I'm gonna make sure everyone knows -- just going to take a few days to get everything sorted out in my head and then I'll be calling everyone over to let them know to be careful. And at some point I guess we can see about getting people able to fight and stuff, but everyone has to heal up first. And maybe not everyone... He couldn't see Phillip fighting anyone, but maybe Mal would be surprised.

But look, all that stuff is pretty dark. You gonna be up to anything a bit more fun? Oh hell if Mal knew what was fun any more. The last day or so had been kind of mentally exhausting -- well, the whole week. He tipped his head. Seriously, something not so dark would be great.

There were injured packmates, too? Mathieu figured that it made sense, considering what he'd just been told. It would be a good time for him to put his (non-existent) healing skills to the test. He nodded his head and turned to walk, assuming that the leader would follow.

I don't know about fun, Matty admitted with a shrug. His favorite leisure activities weren't appropriate when away from Grandfather's domain, and even if they were, he doubted that Mal would be interested. What do you normally get into?

Mal went with. And though his following words were sort of disappointed, the actual tone was still bemused. Aw hell, I was hoping you'd got a good scheme. I normally end up going and doing something boring and responsible -- I feel like my whole life has just been serious business, might have forgotten everything else.

He did, however, tilt his head slightly, mildly conspiratorially, Last time I went out and got myself into trouble -- well, it was fun, but let's say it didn't end the way I was expecting and leave it at that, which was about as euphemistic as he could possibly get regarding Cupid. It had kind of come with issues he hadn't been expecting. And then there was Zephyr, and now Mal was somehow a source of shame or something. In the end Mal wasn't even sure how he felt about any of it any more, nor was there anything he could do. To a certain point, he didn't care any more -- if they were all just going to leave him anyway, he'd just worry about himself until they said otherwise.

Mathieu's childhood had been exchanged for years of training. He'd spent most of his time ordering around subordinates and maintaining appearances before his elders. It wasn't difficult, but it wasn't fun either. He sighed and nodded his head, laughing to Mal, Me, too. He didn't know anyone here; without depending on their inferiority complex, Matty didn't really know how to interact with others.

If Mal seemed more willing to share, Matty might have asked for details. He pushed it to the back of his mind to save for another encounter. My brother and I, Yves, we used to get into all sorts of trouble. He remembered their antics and how upset Grandfather would get. It was fun until it wasn't, but that's another story. I'm trying to be all mature and stuff now.

Seriously? Here was Mal trying to reconnect a bit with the fun times he'd lost and Matty was trying to do the opposite or something? Seriously, being mature wasn't worth it. At least not for an all the time thing. And not a bit of it worth trying out here, hm? Just would be good for a break otherwise I'm just gonna end up patrolling or hunting again, such an exciting life I live. That right there was laced quite well with sarcasm. And I can't say I know any entertaining stories or whatnot -- my own history is rather grim, so that's right out. Mal wasn't going to take anything too seriously right now -- there'd been too much  serious for one month.

He stepped forward and wandered in sort of a slightly bent circle, thinking about it. Could always start walking and see what shows up, I suppose. Food, trouble, whatever. Could a wolf get cabin fever? Maybe that was his issue.

Mathieu shook his head and laughed. Maybe when I meet up with my brother again, we can show you our old tricks. He continued walking forward. The sound of distant chitter caught his attention: Racoons? Mischevious creatures, Matty had never been a fan. He turned an eye toward Mal to see if he had any ideas.

He tilted his head, So he's out here somewhere too? Which perplexed him, because Mal would have probably leashed one of his sisters to his side at this point. He was far too afraid they'd leave and not return, as had happened so many times before.

There was a pause, his ears tipped towards the sounds as well. Sounds like. Probably will go up a tree, but we can make it as unpleasant as possible for them. Let's go. His attitude had shifted. He was slinking forward towards the source. Hey, it was a nice little distraction at least. So, the thin layer of snow wasn't exactly the quietest thing to sneak on, but they'd probably get a better idea of what was going on the closer they got.

Probably. Mathieu slinked onward, eyes peered for the raccoons. He turned a slight corner and saw two of them (laughably plump) fighting over a fallen apple. He wondered where apples even grew this time of year, but figured that it didn't matter.

Turning a curious glance to Mal, he laughed, Get a load of this. Matty tried to be as quiet as possible while mocking the silly rat-battle.

Mal had expected whatever had been happening to have dispersed by the time they got there. And yet.. There they were. The hell were the damn things doing? Fighting sorta lamely? He looked over to Matty.

He kept his voice equally low, I was afraid maybe they were gonna dig up a cache. Everything must really be back to normal if they're fighting over that... Look, Mal didn't know what an apple was, shh. It didn't look too appetizing anyway. I'd go see if we could catch them but if they're just gonna keep doing that... He shook his head, sort of a look of confusion. Like this was so freakin' weird. He crept a little closer, then crouched down, watching around a treetrunk. Wanna get 'em? he hissed.