I'VE GOT A FOOT IN THE DOOR ☆ leroy

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND YOU, AND I WILL NOT BE PART OF YOUR DESIGNS — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Wormwood respected Leroy. Sure, they never interacted much outside of larger group interactions, but Crow had decided to make Leroy his proxy, and that was enough for Worm to assume that Leroy was plenty capable, and worthy of respect. After all, back in the pride, you needed to respect and trust whomever was in charge, and any decisions they made. Worm had heard a couple of times that Leroy gave Crow a bit of a hard time occasionally, but that just meant that Crow making him his proxy was a conscious decision to acknowledge how valuable he was to the group as a whole.

Still, Worm did have a desire to learn more about Leroy and get to know him more personally. Part of this was because he just liked knowing his groupmates in general, but the other part was because he would have to truly know and trust Leroy by the time the other became the leader of the group. Which – hopefully – wasn't something they had to worry about right now, since Crow seemed perfectly healthy and capable of remaining leader, but would eventually be something that would happen. However, since Worm didn't know that much about Leroy yet, he wasn't quite sure how to get to know the male quite yet. He had decided to go out on a limb and choose something he thought Leroy might enjoy – drinking. Wormwood had never drank too much in the past, since it wasn't really something he did unless there was something to celebrate over. For example, he and his brother had ended up drinking after Poetking had taken over the pride, although that had been a bit of a bitter celebration on Wormwood's part.

The lion had a bottle of whiskey carefully clamped in his jaws as he walked through camp,
having gone searching for it and eventually managing to get some from Feza after a great deal of listening to her yammer on and on. She usually kept it around for parties, but it had only taken a nice – slightly forced – smile and asking nicely for her to hand it over to the lion, who was now looking around for Leroy. His back legs were aching from walking and hunting for the day, and he ended up sitting down after a bit of searching, sighing and grumbling to himself over his still healing injuries. He put the bottle of whiskey next to him and out of the way, just to make sure he didn't forget it and let it get smashed into pieces. When the large male noticed Leroy coming out of his nearby house, he blinked and waved a paw, rumbling softly at the other male as he stretched out one of his back legs, wincing in pain, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Hey, Leroy. I was actually just looking for you a second ago..."[/glow]

[toboggan]

The attitude withheld by Leroy throughout the day was completely based on how his morning went.

By way of example, the hound's temperament would potentially veer between irate and dickish over the course of the next twenty-four hours - for the male had just endured a total shitheap of a dayspring. Not even a second of the prior night was spent beneath sleep's tender grasp. Physical contact with other Tanglers was enough of a hassle - but now, not even sleep wished to wrap him in an eight-hour embrace. Fed up, the mongrel abruptly sprung up from his feeble sleeping position following a torturous period of time, and raided his medicine cabinet. The medications within the case had not seen the light of day in an extended period of time, but expiration dates were a scam anyways, right?

After downing a fair number of sleepytime pills, the recently-crowned proxy spilled his guts.

Hence, his morning had not been one of good nature.

Hence, he was pissy, sick, and incredibly tired. A scarce quantity of energy pulsed throughout his system. There was far from enough to get him through the day. His duties as second-in-command would be the utter death of him. A long day lay ahead, with his itinerary consisting of worrying sick about Sam, and planning the oncoming raid. If he wasn't unconscious by noon, then perhaps a nice nap would be in order. 

Leroy forces his creaky door ajar with an equally creaky shoulder, harsh rays of sunlight stabbing at his frail pupils.  An irked scowl narrowly vacates the male's throat, before a voice cuts him off. Great. Interaction already. Couldn't this shit just, like, wait until later? He had enough strife when it came to forming basic thoughts, let alone speaking clear-cut words. The canine's yellowed chompers break into a snarl for a wee moment; diminishing when he catches sight of the bottle clamped betwixt the feline's powerful jaws. His maw instead morphs into a crooked smile.

Wormwood wasn't a figure he knew a whole lot, and thus, he had no strong feelings towards the lion. Though, Wormwood surely had some fundamental understanding on the hound, for him to pursue Leroy at this hour with such a beverage.

"What'dja need me for, Wormwood?" he mouths, his harsh glare gradually soothing. "Certainly hope your business with me involves that, heheh."

When one pulls an all-nighter, it's never too early to drink. This is common knowledge.

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]BUT NOW I UNDERSTAND YOU, AND I WILL NOT BE PART OF YOUR DESIGNS — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Wormwood, despite the anxious pressure of the oncoming battle that had been pressing threateningly against the back of his neck and against his spine, had thankfully been able to sleep lately. Mainly because he had been pretty much forcing himself to. After all, if he didn't get any sleep, he wouldn't be prepared for the raid, and he would get hurt and not be of much help, and that could ultimately lead to a domino effect that fucked everything up. Sure, the might've been a bit of an anxious stretch, but he couldn't help it. Everything was so overwhelming lately that his mind immediately raced to the worst case scenario, just so that if it happened he would he prepared to turn it in their favor, hopefully. He couldn't even imagine the pressure Leroy must've been feeling if he felt like this now without even being any sort of high rank. He couldn't exactly blame the guy for being a bit of a grumpy dick if his mind was always preoccupied lately with thoughts of Sam, and now Beck. After all, Wormwood was sometimes a grumpy dick without even worrying about anything important.

When Leroy emerged from his house, Worm's heart sank a little bit at first upon seeing the look on the hound's face, but then he relaxed as Leroy spoke, a soft chuckle leaving him. Settling on his haunches just a bit tiny the side of Leroy, the lion lowered his head to carefully put the bottle down, mumbling as he flicked his tail from side to side in a relaxed and friendly manner, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Hey, Leroy. You look like you've had one hell of a night. But, yeah, I did actually come here with this bottle to talk and drink with you."[/glow] He mumbled softly as he nudged the bottle with a paw, a bit of a smile coming to his muzzle, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"I figured I might as well try to get to know you, since I've been getting to know pretty much everybody around here, and I've gotta learn to trust you if you're gonna be our leader one day. You just... ya seemed like the type of guy to like a drink every once in a while, no offense."[/glow] He wouldn't have been offended, but he knew some people didn't like to seem like they could put down quite a few drinks, because they thought it was inappropriate somehow.

Wormwood had come to see most of the members of Tanglewood as family already these days, and Leroy was one of the few that still eluded him somewhat. He had a vague idea of what the male was like, and even liked his personality in group settings – he did put on a pretty good bonfire, he would say – but he figured there was no better way to get to know someone then to just kinda sit around drinking and asking each other questions, maybe venting to each other a little bit over the stress that the entire group was under at the moment. The lion knew some people had qualms over venting about things openly, but he much preferred to just get things out in the open and acknowledge how fucked up they were.

[toboggan]

How flattering. So Wormwood saw him as either a guy in need, or a sordid, good-for-nothing drunkard. Usually, one would allow some time pass before making assumptions of such a nature. Nevertheless, he accepted the alcoholic offering with open arms. While 'a drink every once in a while' wasn't a fundamental for the hound's wellbeing, nor was it treated like one, the notion was composed in good will. And as of late, he had been considerably starved of others' kindness; to deny Wormwood right now would just make him just like the rest of them.

Leroy's grin broadened at the lion's observation. It wasn't like he made an attempt to hide the fact that the past night was shitty in every way possible, yet he found Wormwood's casual mention of it fairly humorous. However, when the reason behind the visit was brought up, his smile soon diminished and his expression grew sullen. The cur refrained from putting much thought into it, as he still couldn't perceive it as reality, but someday he'd have Tanglewood under his jurisdiction. Thinking about it put a damper on his current temperament. Sure, he came into the group with eyes on the throne. He'd changed since then. And he didn't want to lead a Tanglewood that lacked the current general, whom would have to disappear if he ascended to power. And supposing that something detrimental were to occur to Crow, Leroy would be pretty darn lost. Leroy, future leader. Now, that was something he could drink to.

He phases back to the real world, shaking away the doubtful thoughts and insecurities with a hasty rattle of his noggin. "Err - thanks." The lion had said a lot, and he knew not how to properly respond. You'd think that the social skills for someone of his status would be of an improved manner. And you'd be wrong to think that. "My house is pretty, uhh... cluttered at th' moment," he continues, the word "cluttered" alluding to the uninhabitable zone of his hut that comprised of nothing but junk, "barely has enough room for me, even. So I don't got no drinkin' spot ideas. Maybe you do?".

Honestly, he didn't care enough to give an input on the dilemma. Leroy didn't hold himself in high enough a regard to give a shit about someone seeing him drinking. What were they going to do about it, anyways?

[wormwood.]

[glow=#000,1,400]MY MAMA SAID THAT I'M NOT LIVING RIGHT. YOU RAISED A LION, MAMA, I AIN'T LYING, MAMA — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Wormwood tensed up a bit when he noticed Leroy's mind start to drift, worried he had offended him, or already made the male dislike him somewhat. He wasn't sure if it was the drinking comment, or perhaps the mention of the previous hard night, but when Leroy finally seemed to snap out of it, the lion relaxed and let out a soft relieved sigh, glad that Leroy wasn't just going to go stalking off in a huff, like some others might've. Instead, the proxy seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if he was trying to pick his words carefully, and Worm almost chuckled a bit at how the male seemed to struggle with socializing. The only reason he would've laughed really was because, well, he could remember his own difficulties with socializing for most of his life. After all, everyone back in his home before home – the pride before the far superior Tanglewood – had either ignored him, or had been outright hostile to him. As a result, he had been withdrawn and antisocial, and hadn't really known how to react when people approached him. He had gradually become better at interactions with the help of his brother, and the fact that he had to adapt to socialization after he had been threatened out of his old pride. If he hadn't, he probably would've ended up dead, without the help of anyone to point him to Tanglewood.

Even though Leroy's words were brief and took a moment of hesitation, they still made Worm chuckle a little and nod, humming. He hadn't personally seen Leroy's home himself, but he had heard a couple of stories and remarks about the pig sty that the grey canine had claimed as his home. Worm didn't really judge him for it. After all, the only reason that Wormwood didn't have a ton of junk in his home was because, well, he didn't really have that much left to his name. He had the few books he had brought, along with his necklace and some jewelry he had bought from merchants when they came around. All in all, most of it didn't take up much space, which also led to a sort of empty feeling whenever you went inside of it. He didn't mind it, but he wasn't generally there a lot unless he was sleeping, since he enjoyed just staying out on his deck and sunbathing lazily. When his deck came to mind, his eyes seemed to light up with delight at the idea that popped into his head, and he mumbled softly as he flicked his tail from side to side and rested the bottle between his paws, [glow=#165042,1,400]"Ah, I think I have just the place. My house is a bit sad to be in right now since it's still pretty empty, but my porch is really nice. I use it for sunbathing all the time. Follow me."[/glow]

His house wasn't far, so he just turned and carefully took the bottle back up into his jaws, leading the other male along until they came to his calm yellow colored small house. Climbing up onto the wide and large porch, he carefully put the bottle down and disappeared inside for a moment. He came back out rather quickly, this time with a couple of cups that were easy for them to drink out of. He didn't want to assume Leroy was cool with just chugging from the same bottle, so he put the cups down and settled back on his haunches. He then rumbled as he flicked an ear, looking up at the sky and watching as it slowly changed colors with the sun traveling steadily across the sky, [glow=#165042,1,400]"This place is really nice to just sit and watch the sunset on, honestly. Plus, it's really warm. I'm pretty glad that I chose this place out of all of the others... although I pretty much just chose it because Poet was next door."[/glow] He chuckled and shook his head a little at his own words, a soft sigh leaving his lips. He really hadn't done anything without his brother doing it before him yet, huh? He was doing a pretty crappy job as an older brother. But after all, that had always been what his parents had told him... quickly shaking his head to clear his rapidly depressing thoughts, he moved to take the bottle up in his jaw and carefully pull some out for both of them, before tipping the liquor back down his throat to make himself relax. He was just looking yo make a friend, after all, not get depressed over his family.