nathaniel is a solitary creature by nature - it’s not that he’s a misanthrope, it’s just that his general personality is a bit of a turn off when it comes to making anything slightly related to friends. this is not something he bears resentment towards, it’s simply a fact of his life. he left his littermates and parents when he was young - just a year and half old, not for his sake but for theirs. he wasn’t very tolerable at that age and, if past encounters are anything to go by, he’s only gotten worse.

however, it is this solitary nature that whips into into a frenzy when he first heard the man’s howl. he’d begun an angry pacing, fury making itself known through growls that rumbled from low in the man’s stomach and snarls of dissent and protest spat at the trees, as though it were their fault this was happening to him. nathaniel’s temper is like a forest fire - furious and wrathful and merciless. not all forest fires are legendary, and the same is said for nathaniel. he is not known by all due to this temper, but the trees now know of it, just as they know of fires. they stare him down through his wrath, solid and strong as he works himself into a rage. a fire is a fire, however, and if you let it sit long enough, it will slowly die out. this is what happens to nathaniel, and despite the resentment still offering to fuel his aggression, his anger dies out.

he settles himself in for the night and gets a few hours of sleep before waking just as dawn cracks. it has been said before that nathaniel is most definitely not someone who raises at the crack of the dawn, for any occasion. but this is not just any occasion - it is Eden, who is coming for him.

now, nathaniel is not one for pillow talk or coddling in any way, shape, or form. but girls are insistent and, while he never thought that he’d need the knowledge they provide, they gift him with tidbits of information while they are exhausted and easy to manipulate. these tidbits of information are how he found out about the man searching him out. of course, all this information was passed to him during the winter and it could very well be outdated, but that was no matter to nathaniel. of course, he’d known that someone was coming for him, but it hadn’t registered until later just who it was. nathaniel doesn’t spend his time with alphas and doesn’t like to immerse himself in the political pool, but an alpha after him? yes, that does pull his attention into the ‘mildly concerned’ range.

so, that morning finds him standing between the trees, cautiousness feeling closer to dread. he smells the alpha before he sees him - how nice of him to give nathaniel a little warning - and then the other man is in his line of sight. instinctively, nathaniel takes stock of Eden, as though this is a fight and not a meeting. the other brujo is taller than him, but thinner. where nathaniel is brute strength, it appears as though Eden is made for both power and speed.

nathaniel doesn’t trust him instantly.

”Come.”

so nathaniel does, slowly making his way towards the other wolf. he doesn’t understand why Eden turns his back to him - he would never do such a thing - but still, he follows silently. as the sunlight turns golden, they reach glorall. nathaniel has never been to anywhere that could be considered, even remotely, a beach and the scent of saltwater and sand is foreign to him. it makes his coat ruffle with unease and both ears lower slightly as he follows Eden across the strongly marked border.

"You must be curious... as to why I desire your company though I do not know you," nathaniel dips his head slightly in response, flicking both ears back upwards as Eden speaks. ”But I must tell you, you do not need to know why. I simply desire to learn of you. Your kind. Those that trifle with the norms of this world. There are still those, did you know, that judge those who play with those that are not bound to them through mateship?" there is a moment of pause, in which there is a mild feeling of shock that the other is so abrupt, before nathaniel nods slowly.

”your honesty is...refreshing,” he says, in the slow drawl that many find so infuriating. ”however, i don’t particularly care for - or about - the norms of the world. to be so guided by moral is idiotic,” he paused then for a moment, to word his statements out in his head before continuing. ”to ensure survival, your genes must be spread. why waste time hunting down “The One” when there are willing bodies?”