Allies with benefits

Alastor did so love having guests over to Elysium! He loved it even more when he was hosting wolves he actually enjoyed the company of too! In this case, it was the lovely Briar, the esteemed Queen of the Hallows he and Manea had visited a couple of seasons ago and had attended the wedding of shortly after. She and her now husband had come to their island home for a visit themselves, and the Mendacium couple had received them with open arms and warm smiles. After all, they'd had such a good time with the pair during their vacation! While Manea was off discussing alpha matters with Artorias and attempting to broker an alliance between the two packs, the Mendacium patriarch had led Briar around Alias Island to show off their home to her. The tour ended with the fluffy-furred dire wolf leading the Austral queen up the mountainous paths to show her the views they had from their home, as well as their home itself where they could relax and chat while they waited for their respective partners to return from their walk.

"And here we are! Home sweet home!" Alastor declared when they rounded a bend in the path and the large mountain cave came into view. He turned a wide, toothy grin to Briar and with a wave of his paw, he gestured her inside. "Please, come in! Make yourself at home!" Alastor meandered into the den, crossing the large common living space to grab a few of the plushest furs they had on hand and spreading them out for the two to get comfortable on. "You know, I've been meaning to ask you something, Briar. How do you manage to keep all your fur so pristine and well kept?" The behemoth of a wolf slid down onto the spread of furs, gesturing to his own long flowing ebony and ruby fur while he waited for Briar to join him. "As you can see, I'm not very good at maintaining it myself."

After a moment of chitchat, an expression of realization crossed Alastor's face, his obsidian eyes shooting wide with alert. "Oh, I nearly forgot! You had mentioned you'd brought some of your new wines for us to try. Well, we'll need some things for that!" Shooting Briar a casual smile, Alastor stood once more and padded over to the shelves the family kept their everyday wares on and grabbed a couple of small stone bowls more akin to larger cups that his daughter had crafted and carried them over, setting them down between himself and his guest. "Ordinarily, I'd offer you the liquor as our guests, but I do remember how much you take pride in your winemaking. Are these more of your own creation?" he asked with a curious raise to his brow while he watched Briar prepare their drinks for them.

"Alastor Mendacium"