"Aw, looks like someone's in the doghouse now," Jimmy said really loudly.

"He acts like a dog, eh? Makes you wonder if he's potty trained," Zane taunted.

Wolf looked over at them. He had literally just stepped out of the dining room and heard what they said. He looked at the scene before him. Pyro was waiting for him on one side of the hallway. On the opposite side were Jimmy and Zane, who were having a glaring contest with Pyro. Bobby was there too, but he was looking away, embarrassed. Then they saw Wolf and all attention turned to him.

He grinned at them. "If you really want to make me mad, you're gonna have to try harder than that. And Zane, really, do a little research on dogs before you try anything witty. The only reason a dog my age would pee anywhere but the established bathroom area would be to mark its territory. If I hear any more comments about 'potty training', I'll 'mark my territory' all over your room. Got it?" He said the last part with a wolfish smile that made one question his sincerity, let alone his sanity. Then he motioned to Pyro and they started to walk away.

"Dude, what was that?!" Pyro whispered when they were out of earshot.

"What?!"

"If they'd said that stuff to me I'd have exploded! Instead, you act like it's just some comment on the weather or a sports team or something that you happen to disagree with. You know, they will come up with something worse to make you mad now!"

Wolf looked at him blankly. "So?"

"So?! So they're gonna try to make life hell for you! They'll insult you using every little thing they can think of, they'll prank you, try to get you in trouble, the-"

"Pyro, calm down. You worry too much. It won't get that far…"

"You don't know them like I do, Wolf. They've-"

"… They'll challenge me to a fight long before that," Wolf continued calmly.

"No, th- Wait, what?"

Wolf turned to look at a very confused Pyro. "They're just trying to intimidate me, Pyro. They want to see how far they can push me. I did the same thing when I got here. Still am. Since I'm new they want to test me. All we need to do is fight to see who's stronger, then we'll get along. However, it's not polite to just go up to someone and say 'fight me'. They need to follow the procedure."

"What? Wolf, they aren't trying to intimidate you, they are being mean because they just don't like you."

Confusion flitted across Wolf's face. "That's stupid, Pyro. They don't know me, so why wouldn't they like me?"

Pyro couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you serious, man?" Then he saw the look on Wolf's face and he knew he wasn't kidding. "Look, Wolf, some people just don't like others. It doesn't matter if they know them or not. They don't even need a reason for it, really. I mean, Bobby and I don't get along at all; we are fire and ice, we don't mix. Bobby hangs out with them, so they automatically don't like me. You hang out with me, so they automatically don't like you."

"Hmmm…" Wolf considered this, "That's dumb. That's not how it should be at all."

"No, I guess not," Pyro consented. Then he added, "And what do you mean it's not polite to go up to someone and say 'fight me'?! That's exactly what you did to Logan!"

Wolf shrugged. "We exchanged all the proper warnings and signals before hand. It was perfectly acceptable in that case."

"Well, even if you think these guys are 'exchanging proper warnings and signals' with you, don't fight them. If you fight your ass is dead as far as Logan is concerned. Fighting isn't allowed here unless it's in the Danger Room and supervised."

"Don't worry, I won't challenge them. However, if they challenge me I'm not backing down."

Pyro was about to warn him that he'd better back down if he wanted to sit at all the following week, but then he saw the look of determination in Wolf's eyes. "It's your ass, not mine," he mumbled.

Wolf laughed, then got serious. "You know, I don't think your theory is completely true. People don't hate others based on friends, emotions, or personality. The reason they hate is that they choose to hate. People may not get along, but they can still be nice to each other. After all, Bobby didn't join in on the teasing. He looked embarrassed. I don't think you two are as conflicting as you think you are."

Pryo looked away. "Maybe." He didn't want to talk about it.