Perhaps Evarhi's appearance would've startled one of the lesser members of Tanglewood, or even just one of the newer ones that didn't know what the mud could make of you when you were in it long enough. However, Aurum was very pointedly neither of those things, and he actually found his whiskers twitching in faint amusement when he approached the boy, having scented him during a patrol. Well, sort of scented him. It was around 90% the murky smell of mud at this point, and then the other 10% was actually the smell of Evarhi beneath. Either way, the tigon was quick to approach carefully, crossing over a few logs to keep his swelling belly from going in too deep. He strongly doubted the cubs would get hurt by a little bit of mud, but he wasn't too keen on getting his pelt messy either. Once he was near where Evarhi sat, Aurum offered the serval a crooked smile, his voice coming out in a slightly tired rumble, "Hello there... I see you've been having fun. Could I perhaps have your name and business? You're on Tanglewood territory." Of course, if Aurum had known whose child Evarhi was, he probably would've taken on less of a friendly tone. He and Bai Shi hardly had a very positive history.

[div style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; text-shadow: 0px 0px 2px #722227; font-size: 24px;"][color=#c16f78]— AURUM

Aurum naturally knew that Beck could be a mischievous creature. He hadn't seen much of it firsthand, considering most of the time when they were around each other, Beck seemed totally miserable. Despite this, he had heard many a tale from others that the spirit definitely had a boyish pranking streak, which was why the proxy supposed he really shouldn't be surprised by this. Unfortunately, the tigon still found himself jumping slightly backwards as Beck burst forth from the mud, grabbing at the new joiner with enthusiasm. The angel just stared for a moment before he began to laugh as well, hearing the sound of Caustic's laughter in his ears. He normally wouldn't have approved of such an act, but it was hardly meant to do any harm to Evarhi, it was just meant to startle and entertain. Besides, on a deeper level, it also pleased Aurum that Beck had chosen to go through with the scare, even when he was present. Perhaps him not showing disapproval and actually laughing could begin to mend their mysteriously broken relationship. Or at least, make them able to coexist without plenty of space between the two of them.

The male opened his mouth to speak to Beck and tell him his little stunt was pretty funny, only to suddenly hear the enraged roar from Evarhi before him. The anger in the other's tone immediately set Aurum's body alight with instincts, and he was lunging forward after only a moment, attempting to grab Evarhi by the scruff of the neck and drag him backward before he latched on. Whether or not he was successful in stopping the other, the proxy growled angrily, his fangs snapping together sharply with his words, "EVARHI! I don't care who you are, where you come from, or where you're here, you don't just fucking attack one of the members of Tanglewood on our territory. Especially not over something as trivial as a joke!" The tigon had already been on edge as of late, dealing with his pregnancy as well as his growing worries over whether his children would be safe. To have Evarhi here, adding onto that by attacking Beck after just a little prank? It was enough to make Aurum's already fragile patience snap, bringing put what most referred to as his proxy voice.

[div style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; text-shadow: 0px 0px 2px #722227; font-size: 24px;"][color=#c16f78]— AURUM