And along came a wolf....

[clawandscars]

But it was too late to think of the what ifs now. Here he was and he was bound to stay, at least for another year, as much as he was opposed to the idea with every fiber of his being. He’d survived being on his own this long and doubted some fancy school was going to change that mindset. Still, the grounds were nice and wide, perfect for

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[wolf_runt]

Speaking of skipping class, a certain puppy decided to be rebellious today. It was really too nice of a day to not be enjoying the fresh air. Sneaking out of a low window, he was already shifted to his canine form before his feet hit the ground. Speeding across the lawn, his bracelets made a dull jingling sound every time his feet hit the ground.

Catching a new scent, Toboe stopped and turned his nose into the breeze. The smell was...earthy, almost musky in a way. It reminded him of Kiba and Professor Lupin in a way. Slowly following the smell, he kept his senses in high alert. Following the scent till he came to a clearing, he sat by the treeline, watching the newcomer closely.

Wagging his tail slowly, Toboe lied on the ground, inching himself closer with a short yip.

[clawandscars]

Tsume was in that fuzzy state of mind somewhere between dozing and being fully awake. Maybe this wasn't so bad. He could just avoid all human interaction for a year and then he'd be gone. The sound of the clanking bracelets made him look up. What looked like a puppy was hesitantly coming towards him. "The world's largest puppy," Tsume amended in his head.

He took off his sunglasses to get a better look, curious rather than scared, as common sense usually dictated. If he didn't know any better, Tsume would have said that was a wolf. But really, how many wolves would be running around upstate New York? "Do they allow pets here?" He wondered out loud.

[wolf_runt]

Pulling his ears back when the stranger took off his glasses, his tail paused as he was being assessed. Taking the question as an "Oh please, come play with me." Toboe, bounded up towards the older boy, stopping about a foot from actually jumping on him. Forcing himself to sit and not pull on Tsume's hand, he pawed the air between them, giving a crude impression of waving hi.

Inching closer until he was almost sitting in the new persons lap, Toboe tilted his head slightly. It was only polite to answer his question, surely if their positions were reversed, he would help Toboe, right? Nodding his head for a second, he sent a questioning look around them. What did he have for a pet? Wouldn't the teachers have told him he could bring it before now?

[clawandscars]

Tsume just gave the hyperactive puppy a condescending look when he eagerly wagged his tail. No, he would not be playing with him and that was that. Then Tsume found himself pressed back against the tree as he found his personal space invaded by the large furry form.

With a not so gentle shove, he pushed Toboe off of him with a gruff-sounding, "No! Bad dog." At least he hadn't tried to hump his leg. He was very tempted to shift forms and teach the puppy a lesson in manners, but he wasn't about to resort to that quite yet. He looked around, hoping that there might be an owner he could yell at to get his or her dog on a leash.

[wolf_runt]

Not expecting the push, Toboe lost his footing and fell back on his rump. Shifting mid fall, he gave a huff as he caught himself. Glaring up at Tsume, he wasn't quite sure of what to make of what just happened. No one had ever pushed him before, they said to leave, but never pushed him. "Hey, what's your problem?! ...and I'm not a dog!"

He was just lucky that he hadn't been a teacher. If one of them had been pushed like that, he'd probably be looking at detention.

[clawandscars]

Tsume hid the shock and surprise he felt at seeing a wolf become a young teenage boy rather well. He could now see why people tended to freak out when he did that. It looked rather strange from an outsider's perspective.

"It's called personal space. Learn to use it, runt!" he snapped at Toboe. Despite the fact he was irritable, Tsume was processing in his mind that there was apparently another wolf shifter at the school. He wasn't as alone as he thought.

[wolf_runt]

He could see now, Tsume wasn't lonely. He was a bully. That was completely fine though, if he could worm his way into Kill Masters heart, he would be no problem.

Leveling the stranger with a stubborn look, Toboe stood to make himself appear bigger than the new person. This seemed to be the best course of action at the time, he'd spent so much time learning how to act human, he didn't realize it could be taken as an act of dominance. "My name's not Runt, it's Toboe! Besides, you just looked lonely is all."

[clawandscars]

Unfortunately for Toboe, Tsume relied on his animal instincts, perhaps more than he should have. They urged him now to put the interloper in his place. He stood up, clearly standing head and shoulders above Toboe.

He glared at him, feeling every inch the dominant wolf in the situation. "My name is Tsume and if you ever do that again, I will yank off that tail of yours and have you eating it." He was fully choosing to ignore the part about him looking lonely. Nope, that wasn't the case, not in the slightest.

[wolf_runt]

Stumbling back a few steps, he honestly wasn't expecting Tsume to be that tall...this was like Kiba all over again. "D-Do what?" He tried to keep the quaver out of his voice, knowing he failed to some degree. The only thing that would make Tsume more intimidating was if he was holding a syringe.

He was beginning to regret taking the teachers advice...the first time he really takes up for himself and he gets threatened with losing his precious tail...

[clawandscars]

Tsume took one step forward, making sure that he was still intimidating to the pup without getting too close to him. "Act like an idiot." Tsume said the answer flatly as if it should have been obvious.

But what else could he expect from someone who clearly was lacking a key amount of brain cells?

[wolf_runt]

Resisting the urge to move back when Tsume moved closer, Toboe peered up at the taller figure. "...'M not an idiot..." If anything, his time here had shown him that.

Staying in place, he straightened up a little. Toboe was still scared, but he was confident Tsume wouldn't actually hurt him. "You don't need to be so mean to people."

[clawandscars]

Tsume just raised an eyebrow. He highly doubted that Toboe wasn't an idot. The kid looked like he lacked the common sense God had given to most empty-headed sparrows.

Suddenly disinterested with the whole conversation, Tsume turned and flopped back down under the tree. He didn't look the least bit sorry for his behavior at all. "Think of it more as being brutally honest, kid."

[wolf_runt]

"Honest or not, you're not going to make many friends if you treat everyone that way. You're acting like you don't even want to be here..."

That didn't make sense though, why would he be here if he didn't want to be. Xaviers was a wonderful place to live at. The classes were fun, most everyone was nice, and you always had good food to eat.

[clawandscars]

"I don't," he said flatly. If Tsume had his way, he'd still be back on the streets, just scraping by on what he could steal and where he could find a place to sleep for the night.

Sure, having an actual bed again and regular meals was kind of nice, but the advantages weren't enough to sweeten Tsume's sour disposition one iota.

[wolf_runt]

Frowning at that, Toboe dropped to the ground, inching closer to the figure. "Why not?" ...Maybe... "Do you miss your family?" He could just be homesick...

[clawandscars]

Again Toboe was at it with the moving closer thing. What was with him? Did someone not get hugged enough as a child or something? Then he mentioned the dreaded F word: Family. His posture already pretty tight, Tsume stiffened up as if a wire had just been attached to his shoulders and yanked hard.

"No." Things couldn't be considered going well if Tsume had moved from sentences down to monosyllables. Next was complete silence.