Azure's latest lost fight coupled with the verbal lashing his father had given him had the prince in a foul mood indeed. He could have swallowed the embarrassment if only the warlord had had the decency to reprimand him in private, but he couldn't allow that warrior to stand idly by and watch as he was pushed further down the totem pole of power. Az didn't care much for respect as he did for commanding fear, and it was hard to fear a boy who'd been thoroughly put in his place by his daddy. In Azure's opinion it was all his mother's fault. She was a slave risen up to Queen simply because of his father's love for her, and Az wished he could have met his fearless father back when he was untainted by kindness and empathy. Some hardness of the Klein Empire remained in the sister pack, though it was muddled with softness too. What was the point in being allowed to own a slave if you could not mistreat them? What was the point in being called Heir if you could not command those below you? Azure wasn't sure what he wanted to do about it, but whatever it was he had to be careful. If it was too obvious then the boy would simply be reprimanded again, perhaps receive another strike that could lose him his future throne. If it was too sneaky then nobody would know it was him and it would do nothing for his image, there was no point to any retaliation if he could not benefit from it. The boy leaned down to carefully nibble a small piece off a squishy fruit at the base of the orchard tree. He'd been taught not to eat rotting food, supposedly it made you sick. If he was right, the fruit discarded by the tree would do similar and he could bring it back and... use it, somehow. On someone. He hadn't gotten that far yet. Having tested his theory he sat back on his haunches and looked out across the territory. It might take some time before he felt any ill-affects, and that would be how he'd determine if the poison was suitable for his use. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Jupiter was bored. In all honesty it was a state he was unaccustomed to. Normally he was up to his eyeballs in projects and bitches, but at the moment he had exactly zero of either of those and he didn't know what to do with himself. So of course he was in the Orchard hoovering up fermented fruit. He'd had the bright idea to try to made his own booze so roughly one out of every three pieces went into a bucket he'd brought with him. It was a half-assed attempt, however. He had no idea what he needed to do to make anything drinkable so he was just going to wing it after getting his buzz on today.

He snuffed around at the base of a tree following a trail of pears and was surprised when he nearly came nose to rump with someone. His head shot up and he eyed first the ass and then the back of the offending head. It was a baby monstrosity. Not really, just a kid, but he had like spikes and shit jutting out of weird places and the sort of fat head/big paws combo that suggested he'd be built like a bull one day. Today, however, he just looked like someone stuffed an adult into the skin of a kid. It was weird. Or maybe Jupiter was just buzzy. It was hard to say. "Hey, move your ass, kid. You're blocking my harvesting."

Azure was focusing so hard upon his own body and waiting to see if there were any adverse effects from the carefully nibbled fruit that he'd hardly noticed the intrusion. The man's voice rang out and the pup spun, inadvertently moving the ass that was commanded of him. He realized how he'd accidentally obeyed a stranger and frowned, stepping back forward a bit so he'd feel a little bit less like a weakling. A proper verbal response failed him. 'Move your ass', he could say... but that felt lame. Instead the pup merely bit his lip, and arched his neck to look into the man's bucket. "What're you doing with these?" He asked, a smidge of protectiveness touching his voice. If he was right and the discarded fruit could be used, he wanted them to be his. Azure realized he'd forgotten to respond appropriately to the man calling him a 'kid', but it was too late now. He could at least pretend he shrugged it off and that the word hadn't offended him. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Absently Jupiter waved a 'shooing' paw at the boy as he scrambled away and then began to collect the fruit his butt had been blocking. He really was not a kid person. Their high pitch little voices, unabashed stares and general naivety both annoyed and unnerved him. That it was considered a sin to kick them out of the way when they were weird or annoying was a irksome shame. Not that it would stop him if it needed to be done, but it had been his experience that when you did that you summoned forth every do-gooder wannabe hero and gawker in the territory. And that was only fun if you were in the mood for it. Otherwise it was just a pain.

The kid asked him a question and Jupiter, neither pausing what he was doing nor dignifying the kid with a glance, responded, "Hopefully going to get drunk off my ass." And hopefully not alone. He enjoyed the extra level of unfetteredness (not a word, don't care) it gave him, but it was a shame to drink alone. No, he'd do this once to make sure he could make something decent and then he'd find someone tolerably pretty to share it with like a good little sexual deviant.

The man was tight lipped, explaining little about his plans for the fruit. Azure narrowed his eyes at the back of the colorful man's head, huffing a breath through his nose in defiance. How annoying it was to be waved off but yet still too young and inexperienced to force the attention back upon himself. Most wolves he neared the height of even in his young age, but this man was nearly as large as his father and still Azure struggled to match his height no matter how tall he stood. "What's that?" He asked further, jumping forward to step alongside Jupiter insistently. He wasn't going anywhere and this stranger couldn't force him to. "Can you show me?" Azure didn't know what asses had to do with it, and suddenly he worried that perhaps he didn't want to learn what exactly the man planned to do with his ass. It was too late now however, and Az shrugged it off hoping it wouldn't be anything too graphic or disgusting. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Jupiter cocked his head and side-eyed Azure. For once he was going to be a good little teacher and lay down some knowledge. "Being drunk off your ass is when you can no longer tell if someone is good looking or not. And you don't care; all you care about is having a good time." He dipped his head in a capitulating gesture, then added, "Usually at that point you're stupid sloppy but some people wear it better than others."

He put a paw to his chest and in a grand tone said, "If you're like me shamelessness ensures you have a great time no matter how gross you get. It's all a matter of perspective, young grasshopper. And uhhh...no. I won't show you." Jupiter eyed Azure speculatively. "Whatever negligent mama or daddy is currently tracking down your wayward ass would be all over mine for that shit, and today I'm just not in the mood."

Azure's brows raised high at the very straightforward reply, his lips pursing in consideration. The man was bold and outspoken, and Azure was not used to hearing such blatant honesty from any adult. He tried his hardest to comprehend, wondering what the benefit was in not noticing the way another wolf looked when you hung out with them. "I don't want to have a good time with anyone who isn't good looking." The boy admitted. "Some wolves are too skinny or scarred up or their fur is matted and gross, why would I want to not be able to tell that anymore? I don't want that shit rubbing off on me." He lifted a paw and held it to his chest as if he might be infectious, suddenly wondering whether this drunkenness had already snuck into him through the air or something. Was Jupiter one of those mangy, gross wolves and Az simply couldn't tell? At insult to his father - he couldn't care less what was said about his mother - his expression grew more combative. "My parents aren't negligent, they just let me do things." Az insisted with a huff. It wouldn't help his case if he told the man that companions belonging to the Armada were always present, and one was probably watching him now from the trees. "You must not have parents, otherwise they wouldn't let you be so.. you." He cleared his throat and quickly continued, wanting to clarify and not upset the stranger. "I mean, I get in trouble if I act shameless or talk the way you do. They don't like who I am, they want me to change. I bet your parents wanted you to change, too. You seem like a bit of a jerk." He paused, eyeing the man carefully. "I don't mind though, people call me a jerk too. Or worse." "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

The boy protested, lumping scars in with "gross" which immediately made Jupiter suspicious he was dealing with a ponce. And not the fun kind. "I'm not saying do away with even basic standards I'm sayin-" he shook his head as though shaking sense into it. He was talking to a squeaky voiced little boy, not a man. There was only so much he could explain to someone who probably thought storks brought babies to mommies and daddies. "You know what.  After your balls drop you'll understand." Knowing full well the gesture was condescending he reached out and attempted to pat Azure on the head.

Jupiter waved a paw dismissively. "Nah, I got parents they're just shit." When he was younger than Azure - a lot younger, actually - his mother had disappeared without a word. There was no scenario where that wasn't bad, but to make it even worse, roughly at the same time the pack he was part of dissolved. All the adults had simply vanished and if not for baby Jupiter's thoughtful companion, the boy likely would have died on his own. Eventually he'd reconnected with his father - who wasn't exactly parent material - who pawned him off on his grandfather, Valentine. That alone was enough to spawn a host of problems. Jupiter had never had a chance to be anyone other than who he ended up being. Not that he minded. He thought he was pretty fucking awesome in a terrible, piece of shit kind of way.

"Please. My mom didn't care about me enough to want me to change." He sniffed, his expression bland, but inwardly, even all of these years later, his mother's abandonment still stung and he hated talking about it. As a child he'd often wondered why she hadn't loved him enough to be with him. That sort of betrayal stuck with you no matter how calloused your heart became over the years. "As soon as her titties dried up she ran for the hills and never looked back."