Kids had never been something that he had particularly given too much thought too given how he didn’t ever entertain the thought that he would have a chance to have a pup of his own. Of course, the fact that he was gay definitely put a damper on things in that aspect but he couldn’t be happier. He had his cherub and if possible, and if they ever did decide to have a family then it would be with his cherub and only with his cherub. Only he could make raising a pup worth it but would the other male really want it when it would mean that he wouldn’t be the center of all of his attention? He wasn’t sure and honestly it was something that he was going to have to later bring up with him. There was no point in him thinking about it now. Now was a time for him to focus on what he had to do in order to firmly place himself in the pack and keep him in a firm position where he felt that he would rather like to be. But today was another one of those days where he was exploring, feeling like he needed to get out and do what needed to be done. He wanted and needed to get out and get a better feel for the layout of the land but he never thought that he would end up with much more than he bargained for today.

Like any other day, he woke up and pulled his jacket on, letting it slide around him, hiding the majority of his scars behind the brown fabric, making sure that the scarf that he had was wound securely around his neck yet not tight enough that he would hurt himself. Throwing a look around, he sniffed at the air, letting the scent of his cherub drift in his nose before he started to leave the place that he shared, looking around Salsola in his daily rituals. He stopped at the usual points, sniffing at the trees where the other arbiters would have already passed by but finding that the perimeters were not breached and there was no need for the boogeyman he decided that it was safe enough for him to leave and he meandered his way out of the area and to the other places that he hadn’t yet gone to go see. One place had been left until late in his explorations just because of the memories that it held for him. The ocean yawned before him, still just a glimmering horizon but still the memories associated with it sent pain down each of his scars and wounds, lighting his body with what felt like fire. But he ignored it and pressed on, trying his hardest not to remember the pain of the lash or the rolling hell that he had felt on the open seas. No, that was all over with now and he had to be okay with that.

He walked towards the object that took up all of his thoughts when there were sounds from the underbrush that he was walking by and two young ones seemed to be playing. His one good eye softened a bit at seeing them but guessing that mom or dad wouldn’t be far away, he stepped back into the shadows, letting himself be consumed by them and hiding his presence from all involved for the moment. The figure that showed up was indeed a father figure it seemed since he berated them and their scents were so alike but there was something about him that made Janos’s nose itch for some reason that he couldn’t really explain. He just felt like he knew the other. But that was ridiculous. Once the pups and their father were gone, he was tempted to keep walking but his senses told him that something was off, something was different and it inevitably brought him forward towards the clearing where the father was there with his pups and seemed to be keeping a grudging look over them but even he could tell that the father loved his pups. It was in the way that he so carefully looked over them and made sure that they didn’t run away. He made a sound in the bushes given that he was normally quieter than most other creatures out of pure habit. He didn’t want to be captured when he was trying to stay free after all. But this figure attracted his attention and Janos emerged from the underbrush with looks that weren’t all that handsome anymore. With one ear in tatters, scars covering his body, and one eye permanently damaged. ”Children wearing on your last nerve?” He asked, his voice soft, quiet, not quite submissive since he wasn’t around his cherub but also not completely in control.

The male honestly hadn’t meant to frighten the father or his children but in a way he supposed that this was good. It meant to him that this new male was good at being a father and being cautious, wary of all of the newcomers that dared to come around his children. But he wouldn’t hurt pups at least not of his own volition. The unspeakable horrors he had done while under duress were things that still haunted him something terribly, still waking him up with a cold sweat and he knew that he would forever hear their taunting and painful cries echoing in his head and it would follow him until the day that he laid down and died. Coming into the clearing, his eyes fell upon the other Russo that he didn’t know was his family member and to the two small pups that looked as though they had been playing around only moments before he had shown up which wasn’t too surprising. Just as Mars noticed, he too noticed the blue stud that was in the other’s eyebrow, like a mirror of his own and it was strange. He had been here for a while now and even in all of his travels he had never seen someone else with the same piercing as his and it was strange and intriguing to the male to think that maybe, just maybe he had found someone who could tell him and who he was and where he had belonged before his future had been taken from him.

His attention was quickly diverted though as he looked down at the two pups that came to him and he crouched down, balancing evenly on hind paws as he looked down at them without a hint of malice in his eyes. No, these two little bundles were safe from the wrath of the boogeyman. But then daddy stepped in and snatched up the pups and he rose slowly, looking at the three of them before he gave a little nod of his head. Had he been softer he would have smiled. ”It’s okay, they are precious,” he said, blinking with surprise as the other revealed their names. Russos…all of them? He felt a thrill of something, perhaps it was anxiety at having finally found his family only to feel worried that he would be turned away, or perhaps it was something more basic, like he was happy. No, he was only happy with his master, so what was this? All of this passed by in a flash behind his startling eyes before he gave them a little bow. ”It is a pleasure to meet the three of you. I am Janos…Janos Russo. I would ask if we are related but that seems a bit obvious now. But if we are, then who are you to me?” He asked the other, holding out against hope that maybe…just maybe he had found family that he could get used to, family that he could actually go to when he wasn’t with his master and have a family again. But did he dare hope that far?

Long ago he had given up all hope of finding his family again and meeting them. During his time captive he would often find himself thinking about his family, his gypsy parents that had soon separated him from his siblings. He did still wonder about his siblings, where they had gone and if they had avoided the fate that he had found himself entwined with. To him, pups were the greatest sort of pleasure that a man could ask for and it made him want one of his own. Well that would be something that he would have to talk to his master about later. For now though he was happy to be there and playing with the pups that he didn’t know it but were related to him. Mars reached out a hand towards his and he reached out his hand to take it, shaking the other’s hand with his own firm grip, the motion exposing many more scars on his forearm. It only served to further the surrounding mystery of his past and continued to add to the illusion that he was a boogeyman and a creature of war and of violence. But while that was true some of the time there was another side of him that not a whole lot of people got to see but Mars was seeing it right off the bat with his soft interactions with the pups and even with him. Eagerly he waited to see who the other was to him, watching him closely.

Finally the other dispelled the great mystery and he felt his eyes widen just a little bit, a sure sign of surprise. ”Really? Rurik is my grandfather. My father is Zaets,” he said as he looked over at him. ”I guess that means that I am your nephew?” He asked him, trying to figure out their family tree in his head but not even he knew the extensive family that he had been born into and there were many, obviously, that he hadn’t heard about much less met. The puppies resumed playing but then he felt a slight tug on his leg and he looked over at the pup before he gave a little tilt of his head and his tail gently swung, aiming to tickle the little one’s nose. His attention was soon pulled back to the other male and he shook his head gently with the apology. ”There is no need to apologize. They’re just playing,” he said as he looked down at them again before he turned his head back up to Mars. ”Is there anyone else from our family in these lands that you know of?” He asked the other male curiously. He didn’t remember much from his mother but his family was travelers, moving around from place to place with a gypsy sort of lifestyle. But even that peace didn’t last long since his mother drove off his loving father and then even his siblings left her until the last that he knew; his mother was still all alone but oddly he didn’t feel too much sadness for her. She had chosen this path for herself.

This was more than Janos had ever expected to be honest. He had never thought that he would find someone related to him, someone that he could say that he was family with. It was something that he had given up hope on and now it seemed as though things were turning around for him. He had a master that he was so in tune with he would do anything for the other male and now he had his family back, an uncle and some cousins even that he could protect and say that he had even if he was in another pack. The Salsola pack was secretive so it would not be easy for him to tell his uncle where he was from because that would violate the very rules that he abided by. The children were introduced to him and he looked down at them, his eyes softening and it looked as though he wanted to smile but he couldn’t get his lips to form the right motion. He couldn’t bring himself to make such a simple movement so he made do by giving them a little wave and watching them run off and begin to play again. He wished that he had the youthful vitality of a pup again because to have that would mean that the world was innocent and a good place to be still but now that he knew differently he wanted to protect their innocence and let them know that if they wanted to have a good life then they were going to have to make that life for themselves because no one was just going to hand them that life on a platter.

The two pups went back to playing and he took a long moment to watch them, simply soaking up the simplicity that was pup life before he looked back up at the other adult in the situation who seemed to be scarred like he was but he seemed to also be scarred in other ways, just like Janos. It was easy for one mentally damaged person to see the way that another damaged person was like. He wondered what had happened to him to make him be like that but he would ask him in a moment considering the other began to speak again and he gave a slow nod of his head. So there was another one here somewhere. It made him want to go and find this Anatoliy but he wouldn’t even know where to start honestly. These lands were large after all and trying to find one person amongst the masses was like trying to find a needle in the haystack or in the lands as it was. Russia…the homeland. He wanted to go back there whenever he had a chance to but for now he was content being here with his cherub and with the new family that he had found. Maybe one day when him and his cherub had their own pup they would be able to play with their second cousins and they would be so happy together. Ah but that was what dreams were made of and in his experience dreams were something that he could only wish for, not something that he could make come true. ”You are not Russian born?” He asked, seeming to be surprised. He hadn’t heard of many of his family that were not born in the motherland but then again he hadn’t heard from many considering his family had been gypsies growing up. Blinking with the words, he silently cursed his inconsistencies with hiding his scent. ”I have been travelling ever since I was released from captivity. What you smell is a result of my being captive until just recently,” he said, giving a little lie but he hoped that it was enough. After all, as an arbiter it would look even worse if he admitted to his pack.

Looking over at the pups, he couldn’t help but think that the other’s pups were positively beautiful. His childhood was good up until the time that he was caught. As a pup though he was a part of the gypsy side of the family. As what he did when he recalled his family, he reached up to touch his eyebrow ring, the symbol of his family. It was a symbol that he really enjoyed having on his body and it held him over during the nights alone. It was a small wonder that they didn’t pull it out of his eyebrow but for that he was glad. They didn’t leave anything else in tact though, his ear giving a pang as he even thought about it. Looking over at the pups, he had a sudden and horrid vision of some of the atrocities that he did to pups their age and their parents and he gave a little shudder. It was sometimes hard for him to see innocents. He knew what he had done and so seeing them so happy was both a blessing and a torture for the tortured optime. The voice suddenly echoed in his head and he, too, was dragged out of his thoughts, giving a little nod of his head, a light little chuckle in his throat. The smile seemed to be half-hearted and it almost seemed to be that he was unable to smile very much. ”Ah eet iss good zhat I do nots talkz like zhiss either yess?” He asked in his best impression but it sounded a bit funny since he had never really used that.

He was glad that he was under no real scrutiny and he looked up at the other. Salsola wasn’t really supposed to be known about so he would have to keep that under wraps for now even though he hated to tell the other a lie like this, especially when the others included his family. He gave a little nod of his head in return, looking over at him. ”You seem to have come through captivity well,” he said as he gave a little tilt of his head. ”Very well in fact. It’s nice to see someone else has pulled through such a situation,” he said as he gave a little nod of his head. And it was nice that someone else had made it through. His master was holding him together so he was stable for now but seeing someone else made it through was for some reason comforting. With the question, he ran a hand through his hair. ”I’m really wary of other people right now as I am sure that you can imagine. I move around from place to place, never staying in one place for longer than a night or so at a time. Maybe when I feel like I can trust others again I will look for a pack but for now, I would rather be on my own you know? What about you?” He asked the other, hoping that he was able to head him off a little.

He gave a little shake of his head as the other spoke. ”I was raised in a gypsy branch. We didn’t stay in the Russian side of things very long. We traveled all over Europe,” he said as he gave a nod of his head and a little shrug of his shoulders as he spoke. ”So I am not from America. So as far as I am concerned, you are the only one here still,” he said as he gave a little shrug of his shoulders as if it really didn’t matter to him very much. He didn’t consider himself a bastard either even though that was relative. Sometimes he was a monster, a cold-blooded monster who tended to destroy things, especially if he was told to do so by his master. During interrogations his other side could come out and he tended to be really aggressive, relating back to his time when he was but a slave. So every now and again that side of him would come out. But for now he was relatively sane and in his main state of mind which boded well for this conversation he was having with his family member. He really would hate to blow his cover after all. Right now he had to act like he was no one, and he belonged to nowhere, such was the life of a Salsolan but that was okay. He didn’t really want to tell too much about himself anyway. The more that he talked about himself and his personal life, the more likely he was to revert back into the state of being that he had been in before.

Blinking as the other spoke to him, explaining where he lived, he gave a nod of his head, a bit touched by the words. Perhaps later when he was needed to find information out about another pack, he would go and take Mars up on his offer but for now he didn’t need somewhere to stay but he couldn’t very well let the other know that without saying something first. ”Thank you for your offer, I will surely take you up on that offer later. But for now, I will keep in mind your offer,” he said before he looked down at the two little ones that were speaking to their father. ”It really is. No one understands and no one knows quite how to handle you after something like that. You really are never the same,” he said as he gave a little sigh and a light shake of his head. ”But that is just the way that things go unfortunately,” he said as he gave a little sigh. He still woke up with nightmares. Of course, the presence of his master helped to ease his sleep and helped him to know that he would be cared for and loved no matter what so long as he kept his master happy and he didn’t fuck up but for others that didn’t have that support he could only imagine the kind of hell that they had to put up with.