A Peace Offering, Purnip, Winter

[DancingAssassin]

Loki felt it was his duty to make things better with his immediate leader, Silas. He had been getting nothing but disapproving looks since the water bucket incident. He understood why, but he wanted to fix it.

So he had taken upon himself to find some wine in the stores. That had been difficult. Apparently someone had pranked that area LONG before he got there. Loki put it in his mind that he would hunt down that trickster and befriend them. And then teach them what real pranks were. Yes. That was a plan.

But first he needed to get on Silas' good side. He knocked on the door to Silas' roost and waited patiently. Sleipnir was muzzled and on a lead by his side.

[Purnip]

Darkness was the first to respond with throaty barks, which continued for about half a minute before the latch on Silas's door was undone. The squad leader rarely locked his cave, but he had a rough day and he needed a solid hour or so of silence before he was ready to face the rest of the evening. With that completely botched up, it was no surprise that he answered the door with a less than pleased or eager air about him. Once he beheld the culprit, his demeanor slackened and his expression seemed a little less friendly.

"May I help you?" He hoped this wasn't going to turn out to be some bumbling apology about yesterday, because he could tell Loki didn't regret his actions--given than he pursued his desires despite his speech to Vincent. The two were awfully disappointing to him.

[DancingAssassin]

Loki heard barking from the inside of the roost. Ah, good. That meant Silas was probably in. When Silas answered the door Loki could tell that he wasn't in the best of moods. The look seemed to sour further when the older man realized who was visiting.

"Good evening, Silas," Loki said in his very politest tone. "I wanted to extend a sincere apology for my behavior yesterday. It was unprofessional," he paused to reveal the skin of wine. "I also wanted to offer this as a peace offering of sorts."

He held the wine skin out to Silas. "I hope that we can put yesterday behind us and move forward. It would probably be easier to work together."

[Purnip]

The corner of Silas's mouth sagged a little when he beheld the wineskin. He had a bit of a weakness when it came to alcohol, especially when he was under a certain breed of stress. He would have drank himself stupid after Joker died if there wasn't so much to do in order to dull the pain. Now he was at that ideal stage set for intoxication. While he tended to drink alone so he could keep responsible, he had a nasty habit of taking down a little too much if he had an amount like this on his hands.

"Where did you get this?" Naturally that question was the first to properly occur to him, as he had been half-asleep. The apology was simply expected and he supposed 'accepted' in the vaguest sense because as mentioned before he didn't buy it at all. He knew if the situation presented itself, Loki just had that genetic predisposition to disappoint him, just like Vincent. That was why at the moment he suspected this wineskin to be stolen. Silas wasn't naive and he knew better than to just take a questionable gift from a questionable man.

Lucky for Loki, Darkness was penned up, because he wasn't wearing his muzzle and he didn't cease his barking. If he wasn't being held back, he would have probably gone for Loki's hound first before attacking the handler himself. He just wasn't in good sorts after Joker passed away either, and to him their scents were still foreign to his nostrils. Silas interrupted with a short whistle and the mountainhound went silent, aside from the occasional growl.

[DancingAssassin]

Loki's smile wavered a little when SIlas didn't grab the wineskin. Of course, he didn't really blame him. He was new. He wasn't trusted yet. He knew that if the roles were reversed he wouldn't be grabbing the wineskin without question. "I found it in the storeroom."

He figured so long as he pulled his weight it didn't matter so much. Loki would be pulling his weight - Cap would make sure he did. That...and he wanted it to work out. Cap had left Crom because of Loki. He had followed despite not having done anything wrong.

Loki visibly relaxed when Darkness stopped barking. He knew how the warhounds could be with strangers. And he knew that he was still a stranger. Sleipnir relaxed a little as his handler did.

[Purnip]

Silas's brow furrowed at the reply, but his tone betrayed a quizzical reaction as opposed to a hostile one. "So you just...brought it to me from our own stores?" He shook his head a bit and let the door open the rest of the way, giving Loki the option of entering if he so pleased. He motioned to Dark and the mountain hound trotted into his open pen to lie down, his demeanor friendlier and far more relaxed knowing his handler was in control. "You should work on making a better first impression," he suggested, before turning to regard Loki eye to eye once more.

"For your sake. I don't know where it is you came from, but as a handler your place in our squad is determined by your attitude and performance." Not unlike a hound's pack, which Silas purposefully tried to base his system on. "If you want to start off by reinforcing your place as a Delta, you'll have a hell of a time earning anyone's respect." He took the wineskin with both hands, considering the idea of bringing it back to the stores.

"Silas, you should accept his apology."

The man turned his head, where Terryna was picking up his tray and plates from his meal. "Terryna, now is not the time--"

"He's not a hound, no matter how much you treat him like one," she continued. "He came seeking forgiveness. It would be in your best interest to oblige."

Silas sighed through his nose stiffly, hating to be corrected by a woman in front of his own squad members. If Loki wasn't present, he'd scold her at that instant. He could never stay mad at her. She served her purpose as always; keeping him from becoming a hard-ass, insensitive dictator. But still, there was a time and a place for this sort of thing. No doubt there would be yelling later.

For now, he looked to Loki again, his face reddened. "You're forgiven, as long as you mind your behavior from now on."

[DancingAssassin]

"Yes, I did," Loki entered as Silas moved aside to allow him in. Sleipnir followed a little more warily. He wasn't sure if he should trust this new man. He would follow his handler's lead, of course. "First impressions are something I am working on. I assure you, I didn't anticipate meeting you last night. I would have insured that I was, at the very least, fully clothed."

Loki listened to what Silas said carefully. He understood that the man was in charge of the hound handlers and anyone else in the ground crew...but was he honestly comparing him to a dog? A delta? He could feel his anger rising - it was just like always. He was the unwanted, unneeded, extraneous person. He would always be in Thoran's shadow even when his brother wasn't present! Shards! He clenched his hand around Sleipnir's lead, his other hand made a tight fist. As Sleipnir felt his handler's anger rising, he let out a low growl.

Loki's anger was cut off when a female voice told Silas to accept his apology. He let the anger slide away. Silas didn't know his history, he couldn't understand what he was saying was cutting deeper than it usually did. When the woman mentioned that he wasn't a hound, he was relieved. At least someone understood that.

"I am grateful that you have accepted my apology," Loki's voice was stiff and formal, not as charming as it had been when he had first arrived at Silas' roost. "I will do my best to keep my behavior in check - if anything, Caperan will make sure I don't cause much mischief." He gave a weak smile.

[Purnip]

At this point Silas was in a bitter mood, quick to accept as long as Loki left his quarters. It wasn't like Terryna to talk to him like this in front of his men. She normally stayed quiet until they were alone together, and he always assumed it had to do with either her putting on some timid facade or understanding that her place in his life was not to become public knowledge. It'd give people the wrong ideas about them; about him mostly. She was his personal therapist, a highly intelligent woman who understood more about him than he ever gave himself the time to learn. While most would assume they were mates, their relationship was as close as mates could be, without the copulating and general affections. No one was supposed to stand equally on his level like she did, so he tried keeping it a secret. So far he was doing a damned good job at it. Most folks thought she was just Silas's favorite personal servant.

He still picked up on Loki's stiffer tone. That means something sank in. Silas was still holding on to the wineskin, mostly forgetting about it by this point, as he stared over the Soran handler.

"Right. And don't keep indulging Vincent's whims."

[DancingAssassin]

Loki had the distinct feeling that he was wearing out his welcome. While Silas had accepted the apology, Loki didn't exactly feel welcome. At least he had practice in not being welcome. His mischief hadn't made him many friends. The fact that he wasn't Thoran or Derot had also made him unwelcome.

It was nice that High Ruins was just like home in that respect.

He narrowed his eyes when Silas told him to not indulge Vincent's whims.

"I politely have to state that what I do when I'm off duty is none of your business," his voice had a definite chill to it, but there was a smile on his face. "Goodnight Silas. Thank you for forgiving me."

[Purnip]

"Then Faranth help us all," Silas grumbled in response, though he fought the desire to restrain Loki and drill him until the point was taken. He honestly couldn't care about the Soranhandler's behavior. If he wanted to make a fool of himself then by all means, he was free to do so. He was warned, after all. But if Vincent wasn't going to set a good example as a squad second, preparations for a replacement had to be made. Silas preferred making the right decision once rather than risking another bad one. He blamed this 'mistake' on his loss during the raid. If he hadn't been so vulnerable, he would have made a more sensible decision. Hell, he could have chosen a Neophyte and HE could have done a better job at maintaining his image.

"Yes, take it and go," he said, waving Loki off as if shooing a fly.