Living in the city was strange. Mogar didn't understand how anyone could be comfortable in a place filled with so many ear-grating sounds and harsh smells. But no one around him seemed troubled by it and even his mother enjoyed their temporary home. Somehow Ponytail Lady had put together a device that worked like the one the Mad King used to steal his mother's milk, except that it was in some sort of wire box that allowed his mother to use it at her own will if she ever had too much milk. Mogar had not even known that could be a problem for her. And behind the building there was a small field filled with the 'wild' grasses and flowers his mother liked best and a couple of large trees all encompassed in a glass dome that made it feel like the summer. Ponytail lady called it a greenhouse. Why would she make the cave if she had already made this? His mother told him it wasn't polite to ask questions like that so he bit his tongue whenever he smelled something sweet with a hint of metal enter the room.
It was almost a week living in the city, spending his days between the cave below the coloured one's den and the greenhouse his mother enjoyed before Mogar followed the smell of strange food up the stairs leading to the rest of the home from his cave and to the kitchen. He stood in bafflement at the controlled chaos. Ponytail lady held a steaming mug in one hand and was reaching into the large standing box that held cold things with the other as the coloured ones went out of their way to move around her and avoid collisions as she moved about the kitchen. He watched as they swelled up in pride at her good mornings and small words of praise at their cooking. She sat at one end of the wooden table on the emptier side of the room and after a few seconds Mogar slowly circled around her to stiffly sit at the other.
"Good morning, Mogar." She said with a soft smile. It wasn't the same one she had given the coloured ones. It was closer to the one she gave the curious female when she made her way into the room. He frowned.
The coloured ones had moved around Ponytail lady and given her their full attention when she spoke, something his mother had told him was normal for males to do for females in the city. But the curious female had to weave her way between and around them as they worked and while they laughed and gave her their attention whenever she addressed them they didn't track her to make sure they stayed out of her way as she moved or have that same look of pride whenever she commented on the progress of the food.
"Oh, Mogar!" The curious female exclaimed as she sat to his right. "You came up for breakfast." His frown deepened.
"Yes, Ponytail Lady and the colourful ones said that Mogar was welcomed."
"Ponytail lady?" Hilda quirked an eyebrow at him over the rim of her mug.
"Yes?" Hilda smiled at the hesitancy in his voice and the way his brow furrowed in something near worry at her response. "Is that not acceptable?"
She chuckled at him. "Why not call me Hilda? Everyone else does." Mogar just grunts and nods.
"And I'm Ash. The 'coloured ones' are X-Ray and Vav."
"I know who the coloured ones are." He grumbled at Ash then turned back to Hilda. "You called the green one Ray and the blue one Gavin, correct?"
Hilda's smile was almost like the one she had given the boys in the kitchen. "Yeah, that's their names." Mogar stared at her for a second then nodded before turning back to Ash.
"Mogar knows the names of the warriors who defeated the Mad King. He just does not always wish to use them."
"Get it while it's hot, losers!" Ray shouted as he came into the room carrying a steaming plate. "More coffee?"
Hilda just smiled as he grabbed her empty mug, not waiting for an answer, and traded it for the plate full of food. Mogar followed Ash's prompting to get up and get food as he watched Ray fill the mug again and pass it off to Gavin who poured what looked like a thick milk into it before he brought it back to Hilda and sat down with his own plate. Musing over this strange pack he took the large spoon that Ash held out to him and began trying to scoop a portion of the strange looking eggs onto his plate.
"She must be a powerful alpha." He muttered as some of the eggs went flying.
"What was that?"
"The Ponytail Lady. Hilda." He stabs the spoon into the yellow mass again. "The coloured ones present her food before they are fed, common in packs."
"Alpha huh? Yeah, I guess she would be...in a way…" She suddenly gasps. "If we're a pack, that's like a family right?" Mogar nods. "So you're a part of our pack too now?"
"No."
"Why not?" She deflates a bit as she helps him clean up the mess he had made.
"Mogar has his mother. Mother has Mogar. There is no need for pack."
"You doing okay there?" Mogar jumps slightly and stops his second go at the eggs to look at Hilda.
"Mogar did not hear you approach."
She waves him off and nods to Ash who finishes serving herself and goes back to the table. She smiles slightly as she looks at the mess he had made of the stovetop and chuckles. "Here," grabbing the hand holding the spoon she adjusts his grip and helps him scoop a generous amount onto his plate. "If you need help, just ask." He nods silently and mumbles a thank you as she walks him through serving himself.
"Mogar wanted to thank you for your assistance." He mumbles after the curious female has left the den on her quest for the truth behind some enemy of the Mad King's tower that now belonged to Hilda and the coloured ones are off patrolling the pack's territory.
"Mhmm." She hums, not looking at him.
"Mogar is not used to," his face scrunches in effort. "Oo-tents-stilts."
Hilda chuckles as she places something into a pan, directing machines and sending one with a tray off to another member of the pack who had not come down for breakfast. "That's okay, it takes time."
"Did the coloured ones not provide you with enough food?"
"What?" She seemed to snap out of her work focused trance. "Oh, the toast." Mogar stared unblinking at the soft look that came over her face. "Rusty was a bit beat up when he came home last night." That's all the answer she offers and Mogar feels there is more she is not telling him but doesn't push further. He just hums thoughtfully, moving into the background as Ponytail lady finishes up and pours a good deal of the bitter drink into a cup of the acidic smelling water she was drinking earlier and the smell of urine and sadness wafted into the room. Hilda almost glides over to the older male and softly places the mug into his grasp, one hand on his wrist, the other on his shoulder blade as she guides her packmate to the table once his fingers are latched onto the sickly sweet smelling source of warmth. Faster than he is used to seeing her move she grabbed the plate of food she had prepared off the counter and placed it in front of him.
Mogar couldn't hear what she said to him as he ate, or what he grunted back, but could only watch as she stood close to him and rubbed his back lightly. He recognized this as just one of the many human equivalents to scenting she seemed to be very fond of. Shaking his head he leaves the room that was slowly starting to fill with the smell of sugar and metal.
A few days later the coloured ones barge into the warm domed area Mogar has been practicing with his sword in, newspaper clippings and blurry photos in hand. All of a sudden he's being grappled to the ground by the blue one who's rambling about pack and family and how 'tippy top' it all is. The green one is just in the background grumbling about over excited puppies and weird ass families as he pulls the blue one off. And no matter how much Mogar protests or shouts at them that he is not a member of their pack Gavin still has that sparkly eyed stupid smile and Ray won't drop his smug, almost knowing, grin.
