The confusion on her face is clear as day as her eyes meet his. Had the tables finally turned? One of his brows raise in question at her words, his head tilting slightly with his own confusion. How had she not put the puzzle pieces together?

"I was injured too, ya know," he turns his shoulder to show her the scars that she would already know were there. "I needed the exercise as much as you do," it was a mutual benefit that would ensure she did get babysat and they both got to stretch their muscles. "I ain' no one's babysitter. Yeah, I'm an Apprentice so I gotta do what Oleander asks, but I only came by to help take ya for a walk. I didn' have ta help ya with the medicine or stick aroun," his own nose wrinkles this time, but more in confusion as himself than anything.

"Like I said earlier, I'm jus' tryin' to be nice," Wilder adds on, an exhausted sigh leaving him.

WILDER

She hadn’t really thought about his own injuries, or what he might be needing because of it. That was why he had walked her? Hmm. She sat up a little more on her coat, her wound still open from where Wilder had pulled back the bandages. But she didn’t let it enter her mind. Didn’t want it to. Instead, she concentrated on Wilder, and the weird things he was saying.

He had been here by choice, not orders. Hanging around her smart mouth, and she had tried to make it as unpleasant as possible for him this whole time. She had thought she was getting under the skin of her newest prison guard. She didn’t find his words easy to believe. The truth as she knew it was simpler, easier.

I’m just trying to be nice. She didn’t understand why. Maybe she never would. “I liked it.” She admitted, voice whisper soft at the weak admittance. Even while she was shoving it back in his face, there had been something oddly… nice about it.


"Speech"

He's surprised to see her sit up further onto the cot. Did that not irritate her wounds that were still out in the open? Deep down, he does feel bad for leaving them out like that, but part of him felt like she deserved it a little bit. She'd done nothing but been a total brat to him the entire time, but maybe now she was realizing how bad she'd been. Could he really see it on her face? The way she admitted to him, a soft, meek whisper that maybe was for the first time Vesper showing him her true self.

It confused him even more, but he wasn't going to risk ruining the moment of this little breakthrough with her. By far, it was no apology, but he would take it. Giving her a nod and a grumbly sort of noise, Wilder steps closer to the cot, still feeling a tad uncomfortable. "Well, let me help ya with the bandages at least," he nods his nose toward the open wounds on her back. "Least I can do," his own voice awkward and quiet, shifting his weight on his paws before taking a seat to try and rid of the weird feeling inside.

WILDER

Wilder wasn’t an authoritative wolf in this pack, he was barely a few steps above her in the apprentice rank he held. Perhaps that was why his attitude was so different from everyone else she knew. It was why she hadn’t tried to tuck a title of respect across from his name. The idea that he was here because he was choosing to spend time with her was about an alien a concept as they came.

“Alright.” She agreed. He had thrown her for a loop strongly enough to keep the sass away for a moment as she tried to untangle what kind of crazy wolf Wilder was. He took a seat beside her, and she looked at the bedding. It was easier than trying to meet his eyes. After a moment, she couldn’t stand her own confusion anymore. “Why?” She asked. “Why spend time with me, getting to know me isn’t going to do your career any good. I’m not your slave, and you clearly aren’t comfortable bossing me around.”

"Speech"

Once she's agreed to his help, he leans over her toward her back. Averting his own gaze to focus on rewrapping her bandages as neatly as they had been originally, he's surprised when she speaks up. His ears move forward to an alert position, but keeps his attention on the bandages. Her words aren't wrong and it's not something he's given much thought to. At first, Wilder doesn't answer. Instead, he finishes rebandaging her back, tucking the end piece under so it won't come undone until at least Oleander has come by to fix it. Then he leans back, thinks for a moment, and then sighs before turning his gaze toward her.

"Cause I ain' know really anyone 'ere," he explains first. Well, he knew Spider and Tethys before he joined and now he had met a few others like Wynter and Wylan, but they were... above him? It felt different. Words couldn't really explain how he felt. He wasn't used to pack life. Wasn't used to the ranks and the titles and the political wishy washy bull shit feelings that came with it all. "I guess it's cause I'm not from round 'ere so I still got lots to learn. Plus, I don' really understan' the whole slave nonsense yet so ta me, yer just another wolf," he shrugs, not really understanding the seriousness of it all.

WILDER