Finally, the spring season had passed, and already Esarosa was much enjoying the change. The springtime muck had dried up around here, leaving the ground solid and the entire area abundant with life. Not to mention her hormones were finally returning to normal, after a season that just seemed to last way too long. So the change in season was more than welcome. Esa pranced through the dancing willow tendrils, enjoying the breeze that teased the leaves. The shade provided by the trees was delightful as well, since her ebony coat soaked up the sun's rays in the most dreadful way, causing her to overheat easily. How nice it was to be able to waste time and energy doing nothing. The summer was easy here. Still, there was a lingering frustration within her. Being tied down in one place was something quite new to her, and she wasn't sure what to do with herself. Things weren't really going the way she wanted, but then again, did she even know what she wanted? As she bounded around the willows, she began to grab at the vines, pulling off the leaves as she did so. Wondering how many tendrils she could grab at once, she crouched down, coiling the muscles in her legs as she prepared to leap. She sprung into the air, her paws splaying as her jaws reached for the willow tendrils - grabbing just 4 or 5, she snapped her teeth shut. A little disappointed, she bore down on the vines as her paws touched the ground. Tugging and shaking the vines, she growled a little, entertaining herself, since there was just nothing better to do right now. It felt good to thrash the willow tendrils and see the leaves go scattering, since it was kinda like killing something but without any of the effort or risk. Ah, what a way to spend the day on her own, relieving any lingering uncertainties and amusing herself all the same. "Speak" "Listen" Think

The boy wasn't sure why he was here, really. He was allowed to go if he wanted to, but there was something that was keeping him here. While he wasn't fond at all of this whole pack idea, for the first time since he was left alone by his parents he felt... safe. The giant colourful man had opened up his home to him, even offered him a rank that would place him as a family member. Itri wasn't sure how his actual kids felt about it, and he didn't really care at the moment. He had never had siblings, and didn't quite know how to interact with them. Letting out a huff, he leaned against the trunk of the willow. The golden marked boy hadn't gone so far to interact with others in the pack, and he wasn't going to go out of his way to do that. Maybe he was better off on his own... but no. That place was scary out there. Silver eyes glanced towards the borders, narrowing slightly. Itri had been told that as long as he stayed in the boundaries, no one could touch him. Well, as long as they weren't pack members. He sighed, head tipping backwards. He bumped in on the bark, and it was then that he heard the snapping of teeth. The boy blinked rapidly, pulling himself away from the willow. Ever so slowly he made his way around the trunk, watching as a black wolf jumped up and snapped at the tendrils. A single brow rose, head tilting to the side slightly. What on earth was she doing? Why were adults so messed up? The pup sat down then, silver eyes narrowing as he just stared at her. He never wanted to grow up, adults were weird. "Speech"

Pulling as hard as she could, she stripped the tendrils of their leaves and, losing her grip, she plunked backward onto her rump, her mouth full of little green leaves. She chuckled in amusement to herself as she licked her lips, trying to spit all of the leaves out. As she did so, it was then that she noticed a young wolf, black and flecked with gold, sitting by the trunk of one of the willows she'd been attacking. A sudden flush of embarrassment made her cheeks hot and her hackles prickle slightly. Who was he? How long had he been watching her? "W-what?" she spat questioningly, clearly flustered, "W-what are you looking at? And why are you just standing there?" She glared at him uncomfortably, her paws shifting - why did she have to be caught off-guard like this? She'd been having a good time until now. Trying to straighten herself up into something more respectable, like some sort of actual adult, she strut over to boy, holding her chin up as though trying to deny she'd been embarrassed. "Well? Don't you have any manners?" she continued, trying to draw attention away from her silly behavior, something she hadn't thought anyone would see her doing, "Speak up!" She hoped he wasn't going to give her any sass. She didn't know how to deal with pups. She hadn't dealt with pups since she'd been a pup herself. What was she supposed to do if he listen to her? "Speak" "Listen" Think

He almost smiled when the woman became clearly flustered, her words sputtering out of her black lips. A tiny smirk did cross his maw as she became angered with him. Boy, adults really were dumb. The black woman glared at her, and he just glared right back, his silver eyes cutting into her features with defiance. He was not breaking this facade at all, his tail flickering behind him slightly. When questioned why he was just standing there he just shrugged his shoulders, gaze relaxing somewhat as she came closer to him. Itri looked up at her, noticing a leaf still stuck to the side of her maw. Carefully he leaned up, trying to grasp the foliage in his teeth. Pulling back, he let out a small chuckle as he spat out the leaf, raising a single brow at her. On and on she went, asking if he had manners and telling her to speak up. Instead he just sat on his rump, looking at her in utter silence. Usually he was quiet for his own reasons, but he just knew that it would piss her off if he didn't say anything. So with sealed lips he just stared, gaze narrowing at her once more. He was stubborn for such a young boy, and pretty rude. Not that he cared, the world owed it to him for being so cruel. "Speech"

What was he smirking about? She was in disbelief as he just glared back at her - was that any way to act around someone older than himself? All she could do was lean in closer, emerald orbs glaring into his defiant silver gaze. As she did so, he leaned up to her, and she tried not to flinch. Her lips twitched, ready to flash her teeth if he tried anything funny. When he pulled back, there was a leaf grasped between his incisors. He spat it out with a chuckle, the look on his face a cheeky one. Her mouth gaped for a few seconds, an unimpressed, slightly offended look curling the edge of her lip and bringing her brows together. Then her mouth closed, lips pursed forward, green eyes narrowing to slits. She looked irritated, and she was, but there was also the tiniest smirk creeping upon her maw - something about this pup reminded her of her childhood friend. "Heh," she chuffed, tilting her head, "I guess you think you're pretty clever, huh?" She watched him as he seated himself, his lips sealed. It looked like he was refusing to say anything. She tried to refrain from growling, but a small, frustrated grumble escaped her. How rude! she thought, a little exasperated, Look at him, getting all comfy like nothing's wrong here! Now what was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to make him talk? She didn't even know if he was supposed to be here; had she seen him anywhere before? "Pretty sure I just asked you something," she muttered in annoyance, then raised a single brow at him, "Are you deaf? Or maybe you just can't talk. What kind of wolf doesn't learn to talk?" She eyed him testily, beginning to realize how difficult she and her friend Ajax must have been as pups. How was anyone supposed to deal with this without just bopping a pup on the head? "Speak" "Listen" Think

It was funny to watch the range of emotions on the adult's face, and it was pretty clear that Itri was enjoying himself. He was quite the cheeky devil, the tip of his tongue poking out at her words. He knew he was being a brat, but did that stop him? Nope. In his short life he had only known grown ups to leave, so it made his respect for them go out of the window. In truth, maybe he was just trying to protect himself from getting hurt again. If he pushed everyone away, he didn't have to worry about them stabbing him in the back. So he kept everyone at a distance, refusing to speak and engage with them. But being in this pack... for some reason it made him feel a touch safer. Not that he would ever mention that, though. But then when the woman spoke again, he leaped to his paws and let out a little puppy growl at her. And he was the rude one! No way, that wasn't fair at all! "I can talk fine!" he snapped, his voice hoarse from under use. Then, as if realizing what he had done, he took a few steps back and glared at the black woman. She had tricked him, hadn't she? She knew all along that he could talk, didn't she? And then she went and used her stupid adult voodoo to make him talk. Letting out a sharp snort he turned around, giving her the cold shoulder. His black tail fluffed up as his nose pointed towards the sky, silver eyes closing. Stupid grown ups with their magic word play. His tail thumped on the earth in a steady pattern, one eye peeking open as he glanced over his shoulder at the female. Quickly snapping it back closed, he looked back up to the sky. He was mad at her, she had made him talk. He didn't wanna talk, cause what if she wanted to get to know him or something? That was no okay with him. Nope. He was a stone wall! A big rock! A... a... a tree! Yeah! A tree. They were big and strong, and no one could move them. He preferred that other wolves thought that he was mute, cause then he could just sit in his loner corner and no one could touch him. Taking another little peek to see if the black woman was still there, his silver eyes flashed with his inner turmoil. He tried to make his face all stony so that she didn't see what he was feeling, but he was less in control of his eyes. Stupid things. "Speech"

Another exasperated look crossed her face again as he stuck his tongue out at her, right when she'd finished speaking. Not knowing what else to do, she glared at him, and bending down to his level, stuck her tongue out, right back at him. Why did it feel like she was dealing with a younger sibling? This had to be worse than the days spent with her sister, or her adoptive brothers. This kid was just a little monster! Oh, but how amusing when jumped up and growled at her, quickly showing her how well he could talk. Her eyes narrowed with great amusement, a knowing smirk spread across her maw. She had made him talk, just like she'd hoped for. She'd tricked him. "Heh, gotcha!" she teased as he turned his back toward her, offering the cold shoulder. He was clearly not pleased that she'd forced him to say something, just to prove that he could talk. As much as he tried to keep a straight face, pointing his nose up and trying to ignore her, it was when he peeked back that his silver eyes gave away his inner turmoil. Esa couldn't help but to feel devilishly delighted that she'd caught the brat trying to be cheeky on purpose, and she bounded around him to come in front of him again, nudging his shoulder with her own as she did so. "So you can talk!" she taunted, trying to get right in his face, "I knew it! And I knew I could get you to say something. Might as well give up the silent treatment!" She eyed his facial expression, making it obvious that she was watching him - now things had turned around a little bit, and she was clearly irritating him instead now. She snickered to herself - she was sure she could get him to break. "Well, aren't you gonna tell me who you are?" she prodded, getting close enough to sniff at him, "I don't think I recognize you - are you even supposed to be here? If you're an intruder, I might have to beat you up. And I think I'd make you my servant. You'd have to do whatever I tell you." She snickered again, wondering what he was going to do, or if he'd say anything. "Speak" "Listen" Think

She teased him, which made his eyes narrow further at the woman. Stupid adult using her adult tricks to get him. She had been the first person here to hear him talk like that, and he didn't like it one bit! Huffing, he looked further up when she came before him, trying his best to ignore her shoulder bump. He could have played it off that she had really hurt him, but at the moment he was doing his best to ignore everything that she was doing. As Esa tried to get up in his face, he looked back down and growled his puppy growl. She was right though, there was no point trying to be quiet now. She already knew that he could talk. "Fine!" he snapped, eyes narrowing to slits so tiny it looked like his eyes were closed. "Stupid adults and their tricks, this is why I don't like them!" Itri growled. He picked up his left paw and slammed it back to the ground, throwing a grade a tantrum at being discovered. The woman sniffed at him, and his nose wrinkled up as her own scent hit him in the face. He was doing his best to try and not like this crazy black lady, but she was making it hard. She was just as twisted as he would, it seemed. Now that she had control of the situation she was really running with it. At the mention of him being her servant he gawked at her, jaw hanging slack at the very thought of it. "I am not a servant! And I will not listen to you, you're not my mom!" he said lowly, another little snarl leaving his maw. He wasn't an intruder either, he had already dealt with that once. Plus it wasn't like he had known anything about packs, his stupid parents hadn't taught him anything about that. They just left him by himself. Standing up he walked passed her, stomping his paws the whole way as he set up camp behind her, flopping to his rump and once again pointing his nose to the sky. She didn't deserve to know his name, she was a poopy adult who thought she could do whatever she wanted too, just cause she was old! He flicked his head around and stuck his tongue out at her before returning his nose to the sky. He was one stubborn creature, that was for sure. "Speech"

Esarosa chuckled again when she heard his puppy growl. He was clearly very annoyed, which tickled her pink inside. Raising a brow in amusement as he had his little outburst, stomping his paw, she could barely hold back a laugh, her lips pursed together as she snickered. "Ha! You think adults are bad?" she questioned, tossing her head dramatically with a roll of her emerald eyes, "Try having to deal with kids!" She eyed him then, feeling like she was dealing with a little brother. Somehow, she didn't think he was going to like being called a kid, even though he said he didn't like adults. Maybe he just didn't like anyone. An actual laugh escaped her at his gawking stare of disbelief as she suggested she'd turn him into a servant. He didn't seem to enjoy that idea very much, continuing to put up an attitude. "Well, I'm older than you and I'm bigger than you," she said with an exasperated sigh, "So actually, I can make you do whatever I want, unless you wanna get squished. Besides, it doesn't look like your mom's around to do anything about it." Okay, so she was definitely not good baby-sitter material, and probably wasn't the best role model to teach a pup about respect. But she was sure she'd get him to talk to her, and maybe convince him that she wasn't so bad. And maybe, just maybe, he wasn't so bad underneath the layers of adult-hating stubbornness. Esa watched as the boy got up and stomped past her, refusing to tell her who he was. He plopped his rump down and turned only to stick out his tongue at her once more before pointedly turning his nose up. A devious grin crossed her maw, mischief twinkling in her deep green eyes. Ever so slowly and quietly, she prowled toward him, suddenly pouncing toward his unguarded tail, trying to catch it under outstretched forepaws. She readied herself to leap out of reach if he whipped around. "Probably shouldn't turn your back on me," she taunted, her tail waving, "Tell me who you are, already!" If she couldn't force him to do what she wanted, then she would just have to annoy him to death until she found out who he was. "Speak" "Listen" Think