the only thing worse than a hater

So, his suspicions were correct, the dark male thought as he eyed the figure, it was a wolf. One of mottled browns and lean figure, and seemingly just smaller than himself, from what he could tell at a topside view. He watched them amble along the woodline, nearing his perch amid the trees, and then much to his dismay, pause just below him. He remained still, maybe they wouldn't see him...

Revan's scowl tightened as amber eyes followed his shadows upward and locked with his of red. His entire body stiffened under the stranger's gaze, and his claws dug into the bark of the old tree. Why were they looking at him like that, with such wide eyes? It made him wary, and for a moment he was about to ask if their face always looked like that, but quickly changed direction.

"Can I help you?" His rich, gruff voice asked, rather bluntly. To say the least, he wasn't meaning to help them at all, less it be directions to the quickest way to leave him alone.

"This is Revan speaking. This is Revan thinking which is dangerous.

"You're in a tree!" Red eyes narrowed at those words. Revan had figured that was kind of obvious, was it not? He couldn't for the life of him understand what was going through this wolf's head. Shock? Curiosity? Excitement, it seemed? But...why? "I've never met another wolf who could climb before!" Wait...seriously? This took Revan aback, and his sharp brow furrowed with confusion. "Is it not a common practice?" He asked, his tone genuine with his own curiosity. To be fair, he thought, he couldn't recall ever meeting another wolf in a tree either, but he had always figured that if he could do it then surely others must as well.

The perplexed man watched as the stranger turned, and before his own eyes scaled the branches of a tree like it was nothing. Impressive...Revan himself mostly stuck to climbing fallen or leaning trees. His intrigue was not enough to mask his wariness, though. As the wolf climbed to his level Revan sat up with haunches taut beneath him. He may have what he proclaimed to be 'perfect' balance, but even still he wasn't about to be trapped in a tree should this male have ulterior motives. It wasn't that far of a jump to the ground... nothing he couldn't handle, at least. But only if it should come to that. For now, he remained still, watching the stranger with keen eyes.

"Who taught you?" They asked, eyes shining in youthful awe. Revan shifted his weight under the gaze. Even with his bad memory, he could easily say no one had ever looked at him with such... wonder. And all for climbing a tree? Tsk, surely that was the most menial of his skills. It made him curious, just how sheltered was this guy? "I am my own teacher," Revan responded in few words. He wasn't sure how to navigate this, really, and so he decided to get straight to the point. "I fail to understand your excitement. Do wolves not commonly climb trees?" Had he been doing something wrong this entire time? This earthy man sitting before him amidst the branches helped him feel some relief. At least if he was doing something so unnatural, he wasn't the only fool.

"This is Revan speaking. This is Revan thinking which is dangerous.

"No, I'm the only one who climbs here."

"Not anymore." The dark man stated. It could have been meant as a hubris jest, but it fell flat leaving his blunt tongue. His mind went back to his previous thoughts then. When it came to anything aside from social cues, Revan was sharp, and put two and two together quickly. What this fellow mentioned about being the only one to climb around here made him recall being in pack territory, and sure enough, after a terse sniff, the jumbled smell of pack wolves was even more pungent in his presence. Interesting, how come he hadn't been demanded to leave yet? Surely, his skill wasn't quite that remarkable. ...but then again, it was his skill, wasn't it?

"You must be a resident of the local pack," Revan thought aloud, quirking one sharp brow to punctuate his assumption. "I must say, I am...impressed to see another so proficient at climbing, as well. Your pack must value you." Was tree climbing something of value? He wasn't sure, but if it indeed was as rare as this man made it seem, it made sense that it would be. Perhaps it could be used for hunting roosting pheasants or ambushing prey. Revan hadn't ever thought of that before, and he had to admit, he was intrigued. But before he asked any questions he would assess introductions, after all, who was he if not an exemplary gentleman? "What do they call you, tree-lover?"

"This is Revan speaking. This is Revan thinking which is dangerous.

Even for the socially inept like Revan, it wasn't hard to notice the way the smaller man puffed up at the recognition. A sharp brow raised only faintly. Perhaps this fellow truly was valued after all, and just maybe he let it go to his head... Ah, how Revan hated those types, even though he was certainly guilty of having his own ego, the hypocrite.

The man introduced himself per Revan's request. Maxem. Maxem, Maxem, Maxem. It was certainly unique, surely he could remember it. And, typically, this Maxem asked for introductions as well. "Revan." The dark man answered curtly.

And...now what? Revan certainly wasn't the one to rely on when it came to carrying a conversation, but it seemed for the moment it was his responsibility. He shifted his weight from one paw to the other, racking his brain. Should he ask another question? What? He didn't have much else to say, seeming that his suspicions of this Maxem being a pack wolf were indeed factual, should he even bother to ask more? He had never been one to waste his breath if it wasn't necessary. But, if he didn't, there would just be awkward silence between him and this stranger until one of them thought of something to say or simply left. As he gazed -- steadily yet expectantly -- at Maxem, he thought that perhaps the latter would be the best. Truly, he was horrible at interactions.

"This is Revan speaking. This is Revan thinking which is dangerous.

And gaze on he did, still hoping that this Maximus fellow would either carry on the conversation himself or leave. Preferably the latter, to Revan. But after a minute of basically staring, he did notice that the fellow seemed lost in his thoughts. Something Revan could at least relate to, but did he really have to do his brooding here? In Revan's brooding bubble? Red eyes squinted if just slightly, almost as if trying to read the lad's head to figure out if his thoughts were even worth trying to understand. Probably just picturing himself as some heroic tree hugger for his pack, and--

A creak. Revan's eyes dropped to the branch below Maximillion just in time to catch it bending and splintering beneath him, and to no surprise of his own, snapping under the weight of wolf. Sharp brows raised with widened eyes as Revan simply watched the man fall and bounce from limb to limb like a squishy ping-pong ball, eventually landing with a dull thud. Huh... he wasn't quite sure what to make of this, but one thing he was sure of? It was fucking hilarious!

"Hah!" The dark man guffawed, a sharp, derisive sound. He lowered himself back down to his stomach, once more comfortable with having the high ground over this stranger, and gazed down at the man with an amused, toothy smirk. A royal looking down on a peasant jester. "Tell me, Maxon, how did the ground taste?" He taunted with a flick of his rust-tipped tail. Perhaps any other wolf would leap down to make sure the guy was okay, at least, and not impaled by some branch in his fall. But, Revan was not any other wolf. He was an entire asshole, and all he could see was an unfortunate fool. Could he be blamed for at least getting a chuckle out of it?

"This is Revan speaking. This is Revan thinking which is dangerous.

That amused smirk fell to a more neutral frown as the clumsy fool corrected his name. Typical on his behalf, and it just reminded him how his memories were always slipping from his grasp. Recent and minial ones more than anything. But this also confused him. Maxon– no, Maxem wasn't pleased with his name. Why? Was it not a real name? Either way, it couldn't be that difficult to resolve. "Why do you not change it, then?" Revan asked as if it was the simplest and most obvious thing. Maxem is his own man, he assumed, so surely he could change anything about himself at his will.

Dirt tastes like dirty plants. "Shocking." Revan deadpanned. He watched as Maxem sat up from a fit of coughing, before drawing his pointed ears back at the strange drawl of his name. Was he making fun of his poor memory? Revan wasn't sure how to take that, but if he knew one thing, it was that he wouldn't bow to any teasing. "Yes, I always enjoy looking down at those beneath me, Manson." The dark man retorted. Perhaps sounding like an insult, but his tone lacked the acidity that would usually come with one. This was, as far as strangers go, the most lighthearted his grave voice could sound.

"This is Revan speaking. This is Revan thinking which is dangerous.