Tyger, Tyger, burning bright....*OTA*

[mongrelverine]

Daken had gotten the call while he was in Rome, finishing up another assignment. "I trust you've seen the news?" the voice on the other end of the line asked in Japanese. Daken stayed silent. Who hadn't? An earthquake of that size and magnitude, with the scope of the tragedy involved. Every news station in the world had been eating it up like

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[watch_the_nails]

Blood. Victor could smell blood. And with the new team leader being more up tight than a duck's asshole, it struck the feral as unusual that he'd be able to smell the unmistakeable sickly, cloying scent of fresh, arterial blood this close to the camp's perimeter. He'd been patrolling the grounds - patrolling what he still thought of as his territory, no matter how much the army bigwigs would try and convince him otherwise - and he paused to sniff the air, trying to hone in on the direction of that scent.

If nothing else, it was getting him excited.

Still, it didn't pay to be too cautious sometimes. Dropping into a near-crouch, Victor stuck to the shadows as much as he could, trying to blend in wherever there were dappled patches of light and darkness, breaking up his silhouette. Thankfully he hadn't showered too recently, which meant that at least his own scent might be partly masked by the dirt in which he'd been sitting and lying. He moved carefully and deliberately, his curiousity making him feel more alert, more awake than he had done for some time.

[mongrelverine]

Daken felt a sudden prickle go up in the back of his mind. The predator's instinct in him was raising a big red flag. He felt like he was being watched, but when his eyes scanned the surrounding buildings and landscape, he saw nothing. The feral didn't like it one bit. He'd learned long ago to trust his animal side much more than his human. It never lied or tried to reason with him, only ever supplying him with cold hard facts.

Subtly, he began sniffing the air, trying to pinpoint the location of his unknown watcher. His claws hadn't come out yet, but his pheromones were already being used, leaving him with no scent, and hopefully beginning to disorient whoever was out there. Daken had spent a lot of time getting here and he wasn't about to break cover at the first sign of trouble. He did take out the firearm he had stolen along with the dead man's uniform. He was still able to defend himself.

"Who's out there?" Daken called, staying in plain view. Hopefully, whoever it was would be satisfied with the poor, jumpy, trigger happy soldier routine and break cover.

[watch_the_nails]

Victor's eyes narrowed further as he moved further along the perimeter, bringing the younger man into view. Even though Daken had taken care to obtain a uniform which was free of blood, there was still something about him which didn't sit right with the old feral. He had a predator's instinct of his very own, and it had served him well so far; he knew better than to ignore it. Much as the 'bewildered new recruit' act seemed genuine, Victor had experienced enough tricks and tactics to retain his caution, and there was a faint scent of blood about this one, enough to make him wary.

"What's the matter, kid? You ain't never seen a feral before?" he sneered, close enough now to bare his fangs in a snarl. If the guy was genuine, maybe he'd freak a little at the sight of them; and if he wasn't, well, maybe Victor would have some fun testing the man's cover. He couldn't help but flex his claws, too, an unconscious gesture of excitement at the prospect of a fight. If Daken was the deadly, efficient younger hunter, than Victor was the older, bigger male, keen to exert his dominance over the kid, preferably in a violent and bloody way. "You wanna come closer an' get a better look?"

[mongrelverine]

When Victor appeared, Daken first just took a moment to marvel at just how big the other mutant was in terms of just size. The added touches of the pointy teeth and nails only added to the intimidating figure. This was a man who clearly considered himself to be at the top of the food chain, literal or metaphorical.

"Maybe," Daken replied evenly. What he really should have been doing was keeping up with that scared soldier routine, maybe freaking out and taking a step or two back when he saw those fangs and claws. But his pride had other ideas and instead he stood his ground. He did manage to keep himself from growling back at the other feral and unleashing his claws. The thought of a fight was tempting, but he had a mission to do. Daken couldn't let himself get sidetracked. "No thanks. I can see them just fine from right here." One hand kept the gun steadily pointed at Victor's chest.

[watch_the_nails]

The larger feral's mouth twitched into a smile. Subconsciously, even if he didn't realise he was doing it, his animal side recognised something akin to a challenge when it saw one - and, just as Daken stood his ground, so, too, did Victor. He allowed his claws to unsheathe themselves to their full length, drawing back his lips to show his fangs more clearly; drawing himself up to his full height, he puffed out his chest also, every inch the large game cat strutting his way across 'his' territory.

Realising that the younger man wasn't as scared as he had initially appeared to be - he could smell it, sometimes, the fear on the greener recruits - he narrowed his eyes a little, and he laughed.

"Oh yeah?" he smirked, not as scared as he should have been by the sight of a firearm pointed squarely at his heart. What was the worst that could happen? The kid would fire, he'd get shot in the chest and be out for a couple of days - sure, that would suck, but maybe the boy would get into trouble for having an itchy trigger finger, especially if there wasn't any evidence of Victor leaving so much as a scratch on him. Perhaps he'd try and goad the other man into pulling that trigger. "You sure 'bout that? I ain't quite the same as your momma's lil' kitty-cat."

[mongrelverine]

Daken's face didn't change expression when the claws came out. He felt a touch of amusement as Victor puffed himself up, looking like the biggest bully on a school playground waiting for lunch money to be handed out. Maybe that worked when he used it on ordinary humans and lesser mutants, but Daken submitted to no one, especially not some pompous feral who had delusions of being top shit at a camp in the middle of nowhere.

"Darn. I guess a really big ball of yarn to entertain you with is out then?" One eyebrow went up as Daken switched to looking bored, gun lowering. His relaxing posture showed he clearly didn't consider Victor a big enough threat to even think about anymore. "If you'll excuse me, I have much more important things to be doing than standing around and watching you stroke your ego, as much as you seem to be enjoy having an audience."

[watch_the_nails]

If there was one thing Victor hated more than anything, it was being ignored. He could cope with hatred, with insults, with put-downs, and with downright contempt - but to have someone turn their back on him was one of the worst things that could possibly happen. That was partly why he liked to provoke so many fights; negative attention was always preferable to no attention at all. A low growl rose in his throat, and he took a step closer to the smaller man, clearly displeased.

"You really wanna turn your back on me, boy?"

If it sounded like a thinly-veiled threat, then that was exactly what it was. The snarl rising in his voice would have left Daken in no doubt of that. There was something about this younger man that Victor really didn't like, even though he couldn't put his clawed finger on it; the kid's arrogance, his cockiness, the way he didn't even seem to flinch at the sight of a clearly angered feral.

Oh no, Mufasa, maybe *you* shouldn't turn your back on *me.* :D

[mongrelverine]

Daken smirked as Victor's mood took a turn for the nasty. If he had known it would be this easy to rile the feral mutant up, he would have done it much sooner. One finger waggled in a tut-tut motion, the way a person might scold a disobedient pet.

"Better watch that temper of yours, or you're going to get into trouble."

In contrast to Victor, Daken was still outwardly level-headed. It was the constant need for power that drove his actions, and currently he felt like the one in control of the situation. A few choice words were all that were needed to rile Victor up. "After all, from what I've seen, you're on a tight leash. You're only allowed to bite when they say so."

Goddammit! I *knew* that line sounded familiar! *has a Lion King flail*

[watch_the_nails]

Unfortunately for Victor, Daken was pretty close to the mark on that count. Much as the bigger man was capable of dealing with things himself - hell, he'd handled himself alone for long periods of time, even without Logan being around; he could track, and hunt, and fight - his volatile temper had often led him into situations which had proved to end in blood. For all his power and strength, his tendency to let his primal, animal side take the reins could all too often be his downfall. He wouldn't even be here in Team X if he'd learned to maintain some degree of control. The young feral's finger-wagging drew an irritated growl from Victor's throat, and he instantly adopted a defensive stance.

"I'll bite whoever the fuck I want, when I want, you little shit."

But Daken was right. All the new restrictions chafed on the old feral's nerves more than he'd care to admit. At least Stryker had allowed him some freedom, but Stone and Sykes - those goddamn sons of bitches - all their rules and regulations really did make Victor feel like he was pacing in a cage that was becoming ever-smaller.

Lion King ftw!

[mongrelverine]

Daken took a step forward, putting him dangerously close to Victor. One hand was curled up into a fist. That itching sensation that happened beneath the skin, the one that was always present when he wanted nothing more than to release his claws in an opponent, was in full force right now.

He looked up at Victor with contempt. The younger feral knew he was better, not because of his skills or the hand dealt to him by evolution, but because he was the one in control. He had worked long and hard to keep the animal inside from ruling over him. He was just arrogant enough to think he had mastery over it. "Oh really? You could have fooled me, 'cause all I've seen you do is talk, old man."

[watch_the_nails]

As ever, the insult only riled Victor even further; yes, he knew he was technically old - older than just about anyone else around here, as far as he knew - but he didn't like to be told, not in this context. His age was a constant reminder of the fact that his healing factor was inferior to Logan's, that he aged more quickly, and he'd already felt his senses starting to dull a little. Not that he ever really mentioned that to anyone else.

His first instinct was to hurl himself at the kid, because for all he knew the boy was a human, and tear and rend and slash and claw, teach him a bloody, messy lesson - but he managed to stop himself. Barely. In the past, a stint in the brig hadn't been too crippling; a few days alone, but he'd always managed to stroll out with no permanent damage. Now, though, with Emma back on the scene, he was far more reluctant to land himself in solitary. He already knew just what damage she could do to his mind, and he didn't doubt that she'd gloat at his misery if he found himself locked up again.

It was at that moment that Victor realised the unusual scent about the younger man - or, rather, the lack of it. Most of the human soldiers had at least some kind of lingering fragrance about them, usually a combination of whatever toiletries they used combined with their own sweat, but this one didn't have that chemical, artificial stench that came from shower gels, soaps and aftershaves. Maybe he just hadn't bathed that morning, or perhaps he only used water. Still, it was unusual enough for Victor to be able to pick up on it, and he figured that gave him at least a small advantage.

"I got your scent, you piece of shit," he snarled, his contempt evident in his face. "You piss me off one more time, an' I'm gonna make sure I come for you."

[mongrelverine]

He waited, braced and ready for an attack, but unfortunately it seemed Victor had more self control then Daken thought. What a shame. He had been looking forward to eviscerating the feral from groin to sternum.

As much fun as it was pushing every button he could find to use on Victor, Daken knew it was time to quit playing around with the older mutant. If he finished his mission quickly, maybe he'd find the older feral later and teach him a lesson about why he had just made the stupidest move of his life in threatening Daken.

"You've got nothing," he sneered. Daken wasn't bothered in the least. He was eager. How long had it been since he'd had any sort of challenge in a fight? "I'll look forward to that." Making sure his back wasn't facing the feral at anytime, Daken began to walk off. It wasn't a retreat, not at all. His posture was far too confident for that. He was just setting the stage for round two of this little encounter.