Tiburtius lingered on Abaven's border uncertainly. He'd never cross it without permission of course, but he wasn't sure what to do. He wanted to see Finch, but at the same time he didn't want to be a bother her if she was busy. He didn't really want to howl for her either though cause what if her dad came instead? He didn't know if he was ready to meet him just yet. Not that he thought Bass was mean or anything! But it was still a whole separate thing, especially if... He shook his head to clear his run away thoughts and sighed. Maybe he should just go home. It wasn't like Fiori and Abaven were that far from each other. He was actually surprised by how close they were to each other. When he wasn't with Finch it felt like she was so far away, but now that he had actually come to see her instead of the other way around he realized that wasn't so much the case. There was still the whole living in different packs thing to deal with, but it wasn't as bad as he had imagined. He shifted on his paws and sighed. He had to do something! Either howl or leave, he told himself. He had been standing here a while and hadn't seen Finch and he didn't know how else to get her here without it. He didn't know why this was so nerve wracking! He was just here to visit a friend! Well a little more than a friend. Maybe. He gave himself a shake and finally lifted his head to howl for her. His call wasn't terribly loud, hoping maybe she was close enough that he wouldn't need to be super loud for her to hear him. Speak Thought Others

He was just heading back from his border patrol when he heard a howl at the borders. His ears perked as he glanced over towards the plains, a single brow raising. Was that a gentleman caller for Finch? Out of all his kids, he didn't think that Finch would be the first one to get paired up. Of course, it could very well just be a friend. However, the aging gentleman turned towards the male with a sly grin on his maw. He didn't get the chance to embarrass his kids too much, and this was too perfect an opportunity. Besides, he needed to check this fellow out. Bass' pace was quick as he cut his way towards the end of the plains, trying to beat his daughter. Spotting the rather large form of the stranger, he slowed down as his head and tail rose high. It was hard to keep a smile off of his face, but he did his very best to fix him with a hard stare. "Can I help you?" he asked in a gruff voice, closing the distance to stand in front of the boy. Even though he was shorter, he still looked up at him without a care in the world. He could smell Fiori on him, and realized that this was the man that Finch had gone to say hello to at the festival. His inky lips twitched as they threatened to break out into a smirk, but he was able to keep a rather stoic look on his face. Hopefully he would have some time to interrogate the lad before Finch showed up. ooc;// OH BOY! XD Finch will hop in next round "Speech"

He wanted to crawl in a hole. No, better yet, he wanted to throw himself off a cliff. Anywhere other than being right here at this very moment would be preferable. As soon as he saw the pale form of who he was 500% sure was Finch's father he wanted to turn and run for the hills. He blinked wide-eyed as Bass made a bee-line for him, looking very official and alpha-like. Tiburtius swallowed hard as his nerves kicked into high gear. He kept trying to tell himself that it was fine, that he hadn't done anything wrong, that Finch's father was just another wolf just like him. But it was Finch's father. "Can I help you?" Ah jeeze, he really wasn't prepared for this. "I uh... um..." he stuttered as he fumbled over his own words, swallowing again and trying his best not to look like a complete and under idiot in front of the man that led this pack and was Finch's father. "I just wanted to see if I could talk to Finch- I mean, I just came to visit her. I mean, if that's okay with you of course, Mr. Finch's Dad sir." Gods, did he actually say that? His ears flicked back nervously, a visibly pained and regretful expression crossing his face at his own words. He really wasn't helping his case here at all. Speak Thought Others

When the young man's stuttering words left his lips, it was very hard for Bass not to laugh at the unfortunate wolf caught in his cross hairs. He cleared his throat to conceal his laugh, fixing the man with his cool stare. Bass knew that he didn't have long before his daughter showed up to torture him. Although he nearly lost it when he called him 'Mr. Finch's Dad', managing to get off with just a snort. "Bass, my name is Bass. But you can call me Mr. Destruction," he said firmly. "And what exactly are your intentions with my daughter, Mr. Fiori man?" Bass asked a single brow rose in question. Honestly he was just having fun with it at this point, it was the first time that he had been able to do this. All his other kids had been rather off on their own, no one had brought anyone home or had set their eyes on a wolf within the pack. There had been the way that Lark and Lillie had been looking at each other but she had vanished, sending Lark into a more silent spell than usual. Bass looked the blue slate man, trying to figure out if he knew him from anywhere besides the festival. He didn't know his name, but he hoped that that would be fixed soon. Meeting his ruby gaze again, Bass' chin tipped upwards as he waited, that single brow still up. "Speech"

Tiburtius' heart was pounding hard in his chest and he just kept thinking of all the things he was doing or could do to screw this up. Calling him Mr. Finch's Dad was probably not a great start. He nodded eagerly when Bass told him his actual name and what he could address him as. Mr. Destruction sounded much, much better than Mr. Finch's Dad. "Yes, Sir. Mr. Destruction it is." Okay, now he could start redeeming himself a little now. He just had to calm down and pull it together and pray that Finch would get there soon and- "And what exactly are your intentions with my daughter, Mr. Fiori man?" Ah jeeze, never mind, all hope was lost. His face got hot and his stomach tied into knots. How did he answer that?! He couldn't even get over his embarassment long enough to register the "Mr. Fiori man" title he had been given. "U-um, well, I- I like her alot, Mr. Destruction. I mean, I don't know if she likes me too yet, that's kinda why I'm here cause I wanted to talk to her about it, you know. I mean, I know we're from different packs and all, but my mothers said I should just do what makes me happy and she makes me happy, sir, so I just-" he cut himself off, his face completely red and his ears flat back against his head. He just didn't know where to stop, did he? "I-I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting to meet you so soon! And I'm just nervous cause I wanted to make a good impression!" Speak Thought Others

He had to say, he was rather impressed with the young man's answer. Unable to hide it any longer, a grin cracked his rough exterior as he beamed at him. He still didn't know his name, but was obviously working hard to try and impress him. Letting out a smooth chuckle, his body relaxed as he took a seat in front of him. "Well, that's a good start. You are welcome inside to find my daughter, but I'm not the worst wolf you will run into inside," he said with another laugh, looking over his shoulder to peer into the plains. Finch would be here at any moment, he needed to hurry this up. Turning back to the male, his tail sashayed behind him. "It's her brother that you have to impress, he's not as soft as I am," his thoughts crossed to Lark and how protective he was of Finch, even more so since she was found very ill. He was a good son, but far more stoic and harder to impress than Bass himself. Plus, he wanted grandkids before he died and this was the first time that anyone came calling for his children. "Don't be so nervous, son. He will eat you alive." Bass tossed him a toothy grin, standing once more to turn around and head back to his den. Would he dare enter and risk running into Lark? Or had the alpha scared away his first chance at being a grandfather? He knew that Finch had picked well, if they did indeed end up together. A well bred man who was just a little thrown off by his sudden appearance, but he would be on his own when it came to Finch's many siblings. Looking over his shoulder, he winked one of his yellow eyes before trotting off, catching the woman's scent on the wind. Perking up, he broke into a lope and cut towards his den, hoping to avoid direct contact with the pale wolf. -exit Bass- "Speech"

*Home turf - Serpent plains

She had been in the thickets when she heard the unexpected call of Tib, her head snapping up and away from the rabbit trail she was following. A flush rushed to her cheeks right away as she tried to collect her thoughts, and then she realized that she was wasting time. There was no doubt that her father had heard the call, and what if he decided to go and see who was calling for her. Crap! Crap, crap, no that wasn't good at all. Barking for Civetta, she took off at a sprint for the borders. As she neared she saw her fathers form disappear into his den, his scent trail coming right from where she had heard the taller male call. Dammit all, he had been there, hadn't he? Did he scare the Fiori wolf off? Swallowing hard, her salmon tongue hung out as she panted slightly from her run. Fear made her steps slower as she made her way to the border, letting out a soft sigh when she saw the slate man standing there. Noticing that his ears were back, she let out a sigh as she closed the distance between them. Her own mismatched ears flicked back slightly, and she daringly nuzzled her nose into his chest. Breathing in his scent, she felt her muscles relax as she sat in front of him, only a small distance between them. Peeking up at him in a bashful manner, she searched his cream marked face. "I'm glad my dad didn't scare you off. I'm so sorry he beat me here... what did he say to you?" she asked, only slightly breathless. It wasn't the run that had made her lose control though, but being this close to Tib. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she looked over her shoulder in a self-contentious manner. Who else had heard his call? Would Lark come to investigate? Looking back at him, she wondered if they should go somewhere else to talk. It wouldn't be hard for them to be spotted, and her siblings were most often around here. "SPEAK!" ”CIVETTA SPEAKS”

Art by Evelyn

Tiburtius blinked when Bass's firm gaze suddenly softened and a grin crossed his features, leaving Tib feeling like his legs might turn into soup. It was a relief, but at the same time it felt like he had been spun in a circle too fast. He barely registered what Bass said when he mentioned that he wasn't the worst Tib would run into here. Her brother?! He hadn't even thought about impressing her siblings! Ah man, what had he gotten himself into now? He swallowed hard and nodded at his advice to not be so nervous. Well, he certainly didn't want Finch's brother to eat him alive, that was for sure. He sputtered for a moment when Bass got up with a grin and left, his expression still a bit startled from the whole encounter. He wanted to ask more about Finch's brother, maybe see if Bass had more tips, or even just say a complete sentence without stuttering, but he couldn't get any more words out before the pale man had gone. He fell back on his haunches with a light thud and he sighed with the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Just then Finch appeared, and he gave her a grateful grin. He didn't think he was ready to face her family alone again just yet so he was glad it was her that showed up next and not one of her siblings or something. She nuzzled into his chest and some of the tension in his muscles fell away. "Not too much actually," he replied with a nervous chuckle and a slight grin. "He asked what my intentions with you were and to look out for your brother and that was about it. I'm pretty sure I made a fool of myself though... Mr. Finch's Dad..." He scoffed at himself and lifted one of his forepaws to cover his face with. It was a little funny thinking about it now when he wasn't afraid of Finch's father tearing his face off, but the humor didn't quite outweigh the embarrassment. He sighed and lowered his paw as he looked down at her again, a little smile resting on his lips. "But, I mean, he didn't chase me off or kill me so I guess it went okay." He chuckled a little and bent his head down so he could nuzzle the top of her head gently. He couldn't help but keep glancing at the pack lands behind her though to make sure Bass or her brother didn't appear out of nowhere. He had gotten quite enough startling for one day. Speak Thought Others

As soon as the larger male saw her, his grin looked almost grateful. Oh gods, what had her father said to him? It was hard to hide her concern, and the woman felt his body relax when she nuzzled him. A warmth spread across her features as she pulled back, but nearly vanished when he elaborated on what Bass had said. He asked what his intentions were? Her fur fluffed up, she would bite that old man right now if she could. That was so embarrassing! No wonder why he had taken off when he did. Civetta took off and landed on Tib’s head, nesting in his fur right beside his ear. Finch was too distracted to notice, not able to worry about what her friend would say. Well, at least Bass had warned him about Lark. Her brother had always been protective of her, there was no doubt about it that she would want to test Tiburtius if they ever met. But wait, hold on! Where was all of this even coming from? The two of them had only met up a few times, they hadn’t even spoken about… each other, a relationship other than the obvious link of friendship. But now her father was warning him? Finch hadn’t said anything to the pale man, so how did he even think that it was okay to come out and ask him? She blinked slightly though when he said Mr. Finch’s Dad, peeking up at Tib from where she was fuming. A slow grin cracked her face, a very unlady like snort following. "Please don’t tell me you called him Mr. Finch’s Dad," she giggled, biting her lip to trap in further laughs. It wasn’t nice to laugh at him after what he had been through, but it was still pretty funny. He leaned down to nuzzle her head, and the smaller woman found herself leaning into his touch. Humming softly, she blushed as she looked down at their paws. It was true, Bass didn’t try to run him off which was a good thing. She looked up just enough to see him peeking around like she had been, letting out a low laugh. "Would you feel more comfortable if we went a little bit further out of pack lands?" she asked sheepishly, standing on all fours as she too took one last glance at the plains. It would be safer a bit further off, away from prying eyes. If any one of her siblings saw this, they would be all over it. She was just about to lead the way when she froze, just catching the sight of Civetta opening up her beak. Oh sh- "Livianna might see too, and want to meet him! You did talk to her about him!" said the bird, thinking that she was helping her wolf friend. Finch stood there gawking at the bird, quickly shaking her head back and forth. "N-no, it’s not like tha-" "Yes is it! You asked what to do wi-" Civetta got cut off when Finch reached up to swat a paw at her, causing the bird to let out a high pitched tweet and took off, grabbing some of Finch’s fur on her forehead with her claws. Grumbling, the wolf leaned back and watched the bird fly off, only to circle back and land nearby. She would be back… there was no doubt about that. Turning back to the slate blue male, she tossed a hesitant smile his way, a garbled laugh vibrating in her throat. She was going to kill that bird. "TIB SPEAKS" -- "FINCH SPEAKS" -- "CIVETTA SPEAKS"

He could tell she was just as worried over her father getting to him first as he had been and he smirked a little when she fluffed up at the news that Bass had asked what his intentions were. How was everything she did so adorable? His ears twitched a bit when he felt Civetta land on his head, but he didn't even flinch at the feeling this time. Slowly he was starting to get used to the little bird. He did feel bad though that she was getting so upset over it all and he was actually a little grateful to have the "Mr. Finch's Dad" thing to break the tension. She asked him about it and he groaned with embarrassment and regret, saying, "I diiiiiiid! I can't believe I did that." He sighed and returned her grin, loving the sound of her little snort and giggles. Everything about her just made him smile. He was about to gratefully agree to moving a little further away from the pack's border, and any of her family that might come to investigate, but Civetta's voice interrupted him. His brows lifted with surprise when the bird mentioned that Finch had talked about him to someone named Liviana. He gave Finch a questioning look, but he had to bite back laughter of his own at Finch's frantic denial and gawking at her little friend. He grew increasingly curious though when Civetta's sentence got cut off by Finch's swatting. Asked what to do for what? He watched Civetta fly off and looked back down at Finch, chuckling at the whole exchange. There was never a dull moment with those two. "How about that getting away from the border thing?" he asked with a smile, turning so they could head away from the pack a bit. Not too far of course, but perhaps far enough away that passing by family members, or Liviana apparently, wouldn't stop by. "So... asked for some advice?" he asked as they walked, his tone lightly teasing. He couldn't really say anything, he had asked his mothers for advice too. He didn't know if this Liviana was related to her or a friend or what she was to Finch. He didn't want to give her a hard time about it, but he was still curious. Speak Thought Others

Finch was far too busy narrowing her eyes at that stupid bird when his words interrupted her thoughts about yanking out her tail feathers. She turned back to him with an apologetic smile, her cheeks as red as fire as she followed him several paces off. Sticking in Tib's literal shadow, her tail flicked behind her in irritation, her golden leaf bouncing at her chest with each step. Honestly she loved that stupid finch, but sometimes she wondered if she could shove enough berries in her one day to just make her shut up. She was quiet the whole time they walked, her nose pointing down as she saw a small group of trees. Ducking into them, she sat down and rested her back against one of the skinny trees, her ears pressed flat against her head. He had asked about the whole advice thing, and she found that she couldn't meet his two-toned gaze. Shame filled her like too-cold water on an already chilly day, sloshing uncomfortably in her belly. Gazing at her paws, she batted a pine cone that rested by her left one, following its trail as it bounced away from her. She knew that she had to say something, it was better than staying silent. Letting out a small sigh, she peeked up at him with a rather bashful expression. "Um... maybe," she whispered. Was he mad that she went to someone to talk about him? Oh gods she hoped not, that would make matters worse! But he didn't seem to be angry, if anything he looked rather amused. Finch's brow rose as she fully looked up at him, her chin tipping upwards ever so slightly. "Not as bad as calling someone Mr. Finch's Dad," she added in a teasing tone, the corner of her lips twitching upwards slightly. Civetta didn't say away for long, landing on the tree that Finch was resting on. Lifting her nose into the sky she looked at the bird upside down from her current position. The songbird let out a small whistle, and Finch knew that she was sorry. It was just hard to keep her beak shut sometimes, she spoke without thinking. The wolf just smiled at her friend, letting her know that it was okay. That was something that they needed to work on, wasn't it? Glancing back down at Tiburtius, her head canted to the side ever so slightly as she inspected him. He was going to push further to see what she asked wasn't she? Honestly she expected it, her baby blue eyes squinted slightly in concern. "TIB SPEAKS" -- "FINCH SPEAKS" -- "CIVETTA SPEAKS"

Tiburtius paused and watched Finch settle against a tree across from him, looking awfully guilty for talking to Liviana about them. He didn’t quite understand why though. What had they talked about that was so bad? She made another comment about his stumble with her father and he shot her a playful glare, a smirk crossing his lips. He wasn’t going to live that one down for a while. He just had to home that little exchange didn’t get spread to her siblings. Gods, he really would never hear the end of it if that happened. Or worse, if it got back to his mothers somehow. Even the thought of that made him want to curl into a ball in embarrassment. He noticed that she was looking up at the tree and he followed her gaze till he saw Civetta sitting on a branch above her. Her little friend seemed to cause a lot of trouble, but he could tell how much Civetta meant to her so he was more than happy to love Civetta too. Honestly, anything that made Finch happy made him happy. His gaze came back down to Finch, seeing her squinting at him, looking a bit worried. He blinked and chuckled softly. He did really want to pry a bit more to see what exactly this conversation with her friend had been about, but perhaps he should drop it. Girl talk and all that. He was sure his mothers wouldn’t like it if he started badgering Finch about stuff. He padded closer with a little smile on his lips, dipping his head down to that he gently bump his nose against hers. "What are you squinting about, hm?” he asked softly, his smile growing into a little grin. Little flutters kicked up in his stomach as his red and green gaze met hers. She was so beautiful. Part of him wanted to glance up at Civetta to make sure she wasn’t gonna interrupt, but at the same time he didn’t want to interrupt this moment either. "Talk" "You" Think