Another day, another unproductive meeting with alphas who took their jobs way too seriously.

Stifling a yawn, Chaos stopped on the Abaven border, just over the river from his own lands. He took a moment to sniff the familiar scent marker and grin. He and Rhys'n'Rhyme had been dropped here for babysitting while the rest of Imperium was off kicking ass. They'd been bored enough to do a little puppy-siege of their own on Abaven. His smile faded quickly though. They'd disappeared the same time his dad had. Valentine had come back. They hadn't.

Chaos had thought more than once about killing Rhythm for taking his sister away from him.

Body tense with memory, his jaw tight and eyes hot and narrow, he stared at the scent marker. He could hate the Destructions.

But a moment later he snorted derisively. What was the use in hating them? Obviously Rhythm hadn't brought her kids here when she'd run off, or Valentine would have gone after them and brought them home, no matter how he felt about Rhythm. Besides, the Abaven he remembered had been weak enough that they needed Imperium to fight their wars for them, so unless they'd changed drastically it would be no fun at all to hate them.

Still it was with a touch of sullen heat that he called out for the alpha - Bass, if he remembered correctly, which of course he did - a demand, not an invitation, for him to come to the border. A grin that had a morbid sort of amusement to it twisted his muzzle as Chaos lowered his head again to wait.

It wasn't too often that someone demanded him to show up at his own borders. The sound of it brought a flash of irritation to his generally calm features, halting in his tracks where he had been patrolling the borders. Yellow eyes narrowed as he brown marked man spun on his heels and heading back for the Thicket, having just left moments ago. It didn't take him long to see who had called for him, it wasn't at all hard to pick up the striped man with a toothy grin. Chaos. He was an alpha now, and there was no need for him to call in such a manner. Oh well, he wasn't going to yell at him like he was a child, which he clearly no longer was. "Nice job growing up," he called as he neared, gaze wandering over his dark gray form. Bass took a seat in front of him, yellow eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Why had be come here? Diplomatic talks were far from his favorite, enough was clear on his face. "If you came looking for Qualm, he is long gone." Offered the pale man, hoping that that was all he needed from him. Then he could go back to his patrol and forget about all the nonsensical chatter about their packs. Plus, the tone of his howl made him less inclined to do the boy any favors. "SPEAK!"

Art by Evelyn

The other alpha's manner put Chaos' back up, so Chaos made it a point of falling into the most arrogantly dominant pose he could think of, tail raised above his back and head high, staring down at the smaller male and giving him a deliberately insolent grin that bordered on a sneer. "Bass Destruction," he drawled. "Fuck, you get any older you're going to lose that shit on your face and get lost in the snow." The bit about Qualm did throw him off his 'arrogant little shit' act, though the way it curled his lip fit well enough. "Why would I care about Qualm? He left my pack when Raba gave it to me." A sour irritation wormed through his chest - clearly Qualm had already been here since leaving Crew, and judging by Bass' lack of reaction he'd already told this other pack what had happened. He should have told the little rat to keep his mouth fucking shut, and the bastard not even knowing the details anyway what rumors had he been starting that Chaos would now have to squash?

The attitude that the younger man displayed made his lips curl up in a sneer, but Bass didn't growl. Chaos was just a bratty kid who obviously needed to be put in line. While it wasn't his place, it was tempting. Now that he was an alpha he did have to watch himself, the pale man wasn't in the mood to make enemies. "Lovely, maybe then I can disappear and not have to show up for chats like this," he retorted with a snort, taking a seat as he narrowed his eyes at the man. He would see when he aged, that was for sure. He wanted to make more comments about how he couldn't run from time, but that wouldn't fix things. His mood changed when he mentioned Qualm though, making him sigh as he curled his tail around himself. "He told me what happened and I told him he had better keep his mouth shut. It wasn't his business to go about spreading news like that. After that he vanished." Casually shrugging his shoulders, his face relaxed as he smiled at the long toothed wolf. "If you're not here for Qualm then, what brings you to my borders? I doubt you came here just to insult me, or are you really dead set that?" Bass chuckled, clearly growing more amused than irritated now at his attitude. It seemed all like an act, and he wasn't going to fall for it... again. "SPEAK!"

Art by Evelyn

Chaos barked a sharp laugh at Bass' words. "Oh please feel free to not show up," he snarked, "It's not like I'd just walk in anyway or anything. But surely some other alpha would take the opportunity to waltz in and piss in your den. You might want to be careful about that," he added the advice mockingly.

"Damn right it's not his business," he muttered, anger flexing his paws against the ground as though getting a grip for a fight. Or getting a grip around Qualm's neck. "If he's off bothering Raba I may have to find him and kill him." The grin that bared his fangs didn't even bother with 'friendly' - 'bloodthirsty' would definitely be a much closer descriptive - and it wasn't immediately clear whether or not he was serious.

"I came here to tell you what happened with Raba, since I know she came from your pack," he said sourly, "but there wouldn't be much point to that anymore." His lip curled, only partly in humor. "The insults are a pleasant secondary objective."

Bass' eyes narrowed further, starting to tire of the younger man's sharp remarks. He growled at his first words, his hackles raising slightly. It was all too clear that the man had no respect for other alphas, speaking of trespassing and marking his lands. He said nothing as he watched him speak more, saying that he had come here to speak of what had happened to Raba, but Qualm had beaten him too it. Ignoring the talk of killing him, Bass sighed as his nostrils flared. "Yes, tossing around insults like old pals is my favorite past time." He remarked, a hint of bitterness in his tone. While Bass never cared for speaking with other alphas that much, he had never before dealt with one as put out as Chaos. "Are we done here, or did you want to sit at my borders and bicker like elders?" Bass asked as he eyed the younger male. Really, he wanted to just leave but there was something about Chaos that he didn't trust. While he could be all bark, he knew his father and knew very well that he had quite the bite to follow up with it. Part of him had a feeling that it was the same with his son. "SPEAK!"

Art by Evelyn