Perseus wasn't sure what he expected. In past experience clamor and raised voices usually meant a fight (fun,) some sort of lovers quarrel (also fun,) or maybe a ceremony or ritual (meh? Alright.) Exploring the coastline usually meant getting giddy about something supremely gross washed up on the beach. Combining his low exceptions of general rabble and the predictability of the shoreline, this... This? Oh, this was a thing of beauty. Stumbling into the mass of unfamiliar faces, the scent of brewed spirits and the press of bodies far less concerned about modesty than some select souls he'd known in the past, Percy was thrilled. Thrilled, and more or less unconcerned with the fact that he was crashing a gathering without the least clue what and who this was all about. That was a problem for future Percy. He tried to flag down a passing stranger, raising his voice above the surrounding chatter. "Oi! Friend. What the hell is all this about?" He was already eyeing the area where, unless his eyes and nose deceived him, mead and other spirits were being offered in abundance. Next stop, for sure. But just in case, if he was planning on crashing this lil' shindig (And oh ho, you'd best believe he was,) probably better off making sure it wasn't some sort of wake or funerary right or whatever it was wolves did around here for a good time. No judgement! Just better safe than sorry, at least until the rest of his ragtag siblings showed up. Percy knew for a fact he could outrun at least half of them, so like... he'd have a head start... "Talk" "Listen" Think

Shilah was thoroughly enjoying himself. He swaggered back over toward the fire with more sticks than you could shake… a stick at. He was going to have enough spears for everyone present. He didn't have a reason why, he didn't need one! They could go poke some bears later what did it matter. He had just started working his way back when an absolutely stunning stranger called him aside. Shilah's jaw dropped open sending the sticks tumbling to the ground. "Oh! Ah shit…" He stared at the sticks for a moment then looked back at the stunning stranger and smiled, almost shyly. "Well, that man over there," he gestured to Jupiter, "is engaged from what I understand. This is some sort of party so if you'd like to indulge in some drunken revelry you've come to the right place. I still have plenty of ale though at this rate I expect it will be gone by the end of the night."

He carefully used his paws to roll the sticks back onto the scrap of hide. He had three for some regular spears and three for spears with actual spearheads on them. "I'm Shilah by the way. Who might you be?"

The wolf he Percy managed to snag looked older, smaller in stature than himself but eh, most were. He was also carrying a bunch of sticks for reasons Percy wasn't entirely sure of, but was quick enough to drop them. How considerate! Percy's grin grew wider and his eyebrows raised higher with each word out of his mouth. Sensible sort, this Shilah, straightforward and to the point. A party dedicated to bemoaning the loss of bachelorhood, presumably? Hm... Well, that tracked. Percy had to fight to keep himself from laughing. "You might not know it Shilah, but you and I just became very good friends." The sunset male looked up, scanning the gathering anew. "My mother called me Perseus, anyone I actually like calls me Percy. Drunken revelry is actually my middle name. Hyphenated, of course. I'm sure there's 'Ale' in there somewhere too. By the way, did I mention ale? Ale sounds lovely." Percy might not have been in these lands long, but if he had his way his first memories would be nigh irretrievable. What better way to kick off a new chapter in one's life than to get shitfaced, eh? He'd yet to discover something better. Strange wolves swarmed all around him, and Percy itched to wheedle some answers or some stories or some answers about stories from each of them, but that could wait until he had a bit of a buzz going. Including why Shilah had so many fucking sticks. "Join me for a drink?" He asked over his shoulder, tossing the older wolf a wink. The other male wasn't grey in the muzzle yet, which meant fair game for a bit of harmless flirting. Especially if it netted Percy some booze. "Talk" "Listen" Think

Shilah felt the heat rise to his cheeks completely unwelcome. He was already trying to do his best not to stare without his body adding to his troubles. His head cocked to the side as the man stated that they'd just become very good friends and parties were something of a forte. However, at the mention of ale his ears flicked forward. He was always happy to share his craft. The rational part of his brain skidded to a halt as the young man threw him a wink over his shoulder. Surely, he hadn't just seen a hot, young man wink at him. No, no, no, must've been just a figment of the light. Shilah focused his thoughts on sharing his craft.

"I'd love to and dare I say I have some of the finest ale in these regions? I'm right over there next to that fire." He picked up two corners of his bundle so that he was able to carry the sticks and he trotted back to his little camp. He set out a few bowls and poured the ale. "Drink as much as you like. If I understand the occasion correctly we're not supposed to remember what happens to night." He chuckled as he picked up one of his sticks and started stripping off the excess branches, when that was done he set the stick aside. That would be the wooden spear. He lapped at his ale for a bit before moving to the next one. For the other one he stripped the branches off it and then proceeded to work on chewing a notch in one end of it for the flint spear. He paused to chat. "You'll have to speak with the man of the hour. He seems quite a character though I don't think I caught the name sadly."

At a glance, Shilah didn't seem to quite know what to make of Percy. And that was fine, because most of the time Percy didn't know what to make of Percy. It was just the natural order of things. All the same, Percy followed as he bundled up his... fucking sticks, and was happily led to the other male's spot beside the fire, waiting with barely contained glee and wiggling toes as the ale was poured. Ale! From complete strangers! Was it his birthday, because it felt like it ought to have been his birthday. "I love not remembering things!" Percy chirped, dipping his head to drink. Did these wolves just, do this all the time? Was this a thing? As far as Percy was concerned, this beach was his home now. Take it from him over his cold, dead corpse, and if this night went the way he was starting to imagine it would, that was a real possibility. Shilah mentioned that he ought to go speak with the groom-to-be and yeah, sure. He was getting to that! "Yeah, yeah, I will. I'm sure he needs consoling or something. But you, though. I'll confess I'm curious." Maybe it had something to do with an easily flustered sort offering him open access to alcoholic beverages, maybe it was innate curiosity. Hard to tell! "All this..." Percy waggled a paw at the revelry surrounding them. "Frolicking, and you're bundling firewood? Please tell me those are for kebabs for the after party." So what if they were very plainly way too large for skewering meat, it was still a valid question. Especially considering all of the other "meat-skewering" going around, from what he could gather. It was odd, go ahead and sue him for his curiosity! Percy was still trying to wrap his wits around all of this, and Shilah had offered himself up as tribute so he was more than happy to take what was offered. "Talk" "Listen" Think

Shilah picked up one of the smooth branches in his mouth, repositioning the spear so that his jaws were closer to the front end he started rubbing the end against a large nearby rock. He worked carefully to make a sharpened point using short, quick strokes followed by longer ones, keenly aware that some of the movements might be a little suggestive. He'd just finished one when Perseus mentioned kebabs. He set the stick down and grinned. "Now that is an idea. That's what this party is missing, some food! As for the sticks well…" He didn't really have a plan but at that moment he decided that a little flirting would be fine. He wouldn't let things go beyond that. He cast a sideways glance at the younger man. "I thought I'd make a few things so gorgeous young men would come ask me questions."

Percy watched Shilah work with... great interest. This was turning into a fascinating night from all angles. His bowl was already half drained and his head beginning to feel a bit lighter, and maybe that had something to do with his keen interest. Hard to tell, really. He was disappointed to learn that no, these sticks were not intended to roast meat over the fire. Shame too, because without something to fill his stomach this ale was going to get to him quicker than Percy had anticipated. Shilah went on, "I thought I'd make a few things so gorgeous young men would come ask me questions." Perseus couldn't help but tip his head back and laugh because, well, he'd walked into that one, hadn't he? "In that case, very well done. Here I've fallen right into your trap." He looked down at the half-drank bowl of Ale. "Is this the part where you tell me this has been tampered with? You needn't have bothered, but I can respect forethought and initiative." He sent Shilah another wink and a grin, hoping it would be clear enough that Percy was only joking around. Turns out some folks didn't like the insinuation that they would drug a stranger, go figure. "Talk" "Listen" Think

Shilah pulled out a stick of pine pitch. Taking it in his jaws he leaned over toward the fire to warm it to the point that it was sticky and oozing enough to fill the notch. He took the pine pitch back over to the end of the spear and lightly pressed the pine pitch into the notch. He then set the pine pitch down and picked up the spearhead. He carefully pressed the back end of the spearhead into the notch, using one of his paws to hold the spear steady. He held the spearhead into the spear until the pine pitch dried enough so that the spearhead wouldn't move out of place.

He chuckled at the other man's words. "Perish the thought! I'd hope my wit and charm could still get me favorable attention without resorting to such low tactics." He returned the wink then noticed the man's bowl was almost half empty. "Need your drink topped off? Also feel free to grab whatever you like out of my travois if you'd like to do some inebriated crafting of your own before the lights gone. I don't mind the least." In truth just relaxing back and watching the going on's while he enjoyed his higher 'spirits' was doing wonders for his stress.

Perseus wasn’t sure what his expectations had been with the older wolf, but whatever they were Shilah was exceeding them. Maybe it was the bare hints of intoxication, but he found himself laughing along with the wit and quips of his companion. “More than sufficient, I assure you. Consider the thought entirely perished.” Percy even got a wink back himself, for which he internally preened. He certainly wasn't going to argue with more ale either, so when Shilah offered Percy nodded like his head was affixed to a spring. "Oh, yes please. You weren't kidding, that's good stuff." In all reality, Percy had only lucked into tasting some on occasion since leaving the good ol' motherland, but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate what he was offered. "As for crafting, I'd probably better not. Your hard work would be wasted on me, historically speaking, drunk or otherwise. I'm happy to observe though. What's that goop there that you heated up?" Percy inched his way closer, careful not to jostle his bowl. "Talk" "Listen" Think

"Thank you!" Shilah chirpped in answer to Percy's compliments. He prided himself on his crafting of ale and he drank in the compliments as rapidly as he had the alcohol. Of course, after this party he'd need to get some more made while he could still get ahold of the ingredients.

"Psssh, it's not that hard of work! You can make a spear with just a stick. A young thing like you, you could go 'accidentally' poke a cute boy in the butt, get a conversation started." He laughed but then turned his attention to the 'goop'. "This is pine pitch. You gather the sap of pine trees and heat it until it liquifies. Add in crushed charcoal until it's thick then as it cools glob it onto a stick or keep it in a bowl. You can then reheat it whenever you need to make a sticky substance. Pretty clever for an old man, yes?" He winked again at Percy.