7/25/2026, 1:38 PM
Yelp's ears perked at the unfamiliar title.
"....Khaaann."
He rolled the word around in his mouth a couple of times, just as he'd done with ger a little while ago, but inaudibly. "Riiight. I think that means you're theee uhhh, Big Guy around here." It came out more like a realization than a question. His mouth had a habit of trying to solve things out loud before his brain quite caught up.
Under Batu's stare, Yelp felt more exposed than he had out on the open trail with Maral. The thought that the bigger male might be sizing him up crept into his mind.
Look at this skinny kid, he imagined the older wolf thinking. Can't even stand still without shaking.
Maybe he was just overthinking it. It was hard to get much of a read on Batu with that hard, steady gaze fixed on him.
Yelp suddenly found both the eye contact and the smile he'd been wearing a whole lot harder to keep up. Then Batu glanced toward Maral, and Yelp's eyes followed before he caught himself and looked back again, pretending he hadn't noticed or cared.
Then came the questions.
"What you do? Herd? Hunt? Heal?"
...
Of course he'd ask…
A wolf his age was supposed to have an answer ready. You didn't just grow up and never learn something, right?. Hunting, tracking and all that. Everybody eventually became good at one thing or another.
Eventually.
Funny how eventually always seemed just far enough away.
His ears dipped for the briefest moment before springing back up "Well, I mean--" Yelp straightened instinctively. "I can do what anybody else can do." His brows lowered just a tick, tone edged with a hint of indignance as he went on. "I can do..." He paused, suddenly aware of how flimsy that sounded. "things."
But he didn't falter.
"You know." His paw circled vaguely through the air. "pack stuff… You see a thing that needs doin', you do the thing sorta thing?" He nodded once, apparently satisfied with that explanation. "That kinda stuff. Plus the other stuff you said."
Shit, that sounded awful.
His grin spread wider, easy and just a little too eager.
"I mean, I dunno how you guys do things around here yet." He flicked an ear toward the direction the horses were grazing. "That horse business is definitely new." And the gers, and the nomadic lifestyle, the culture, and everything else. A quiet snort escaped him. "But I'll catch on." He shrugged as though it were the simplest thing in the world. "Just point me at somethin' that needs doin'."
Batu Maral
"....Khaaann."
He rolled the word around in his mouth a couple of times, just as he'd done with ger a little while ago, but inaudibly. "Riiight. I think that means you're theee uhhh, Big Guy around here." It came out more like a realization than a question. His mouth had a habit of trying to solve things out loud before his brain quite caught up.
Under Batu's stare, Yelp felt more exposed than he had out on the open trail with Maral. The thought that the bigger male might be sizing him up crept into his mind.
Look at this skinny kid, he imagined the older wolf thinking. Can't even stand still without shaking.
Maybe he was just overthinking it. It was hard to get much of a read on Batu with that hard, steady gaze fixed on him.
Yelp suddenly found both the eye contact and the smile he'd been wearing a whole lot harder to keep up. Then Batu glanced toward Maral, and Yelp's eyes followed before he caught himself and looked back again, pretending he hadn't noticed or cared.
Then came the questions.
"What you do? Herd? Hunt? Heal?"
...
Of course he'd ask…
A wolf his age was supposed to have an answer ready. You didn't just grow up and never learn something, right?. Hunting, tracking and all that. Everybody eventually became good at one thing or another.
Eventually.
Funny how eventually always seemed just far enough away.
His ears dipped for the briefest moment before springing back up "Well, I mean--" Yelp straightened instinctively. "I can do what anybody else can do." His brows lowered just a tick, tone edged with a hint of indignance as he went on. "I can do..." He paused, suddenly aware of how flimsy that sounded. "things."
But he didn't falter.
"You know." His paw circled vaguely through the air. "pack stuff… You see a thing that needs doin', you do the thing sorta thing?" He nodded once, apparently satisfied with that explanation. "That kinda stuff. Plus the other stuff you said."
Shit, that sounded awful.
His grin spread wider, easy and just a little too eager.
"I mean, I dunno how you guys do things around here yet." He flicked an ear toward the direction the horses were grazing. "That horse business is definitely new." And the gers, and the nomadic lifestyle, the culture, and everything else. A quiet snort escaped him. "But I'll catch on." He shrugged as though it were the simplest thing in the world. "Just point me at somethin' that needs doin'."
Batu Maral