There is always a need for wolves like him. Perhaps it is the hardest thing to learn, after all. Even I am not skilled in such a thing - politics, diplomacy, licking the chins of others in some desperate grab for peace. Peace from what, exactly? We never make alliances with those that seek crowns, only those that already have them. That thought alone makes my lip twitch in thought; perhaps we ought to change that. I wonder, then, how open he might be to such an idea. Hadrian has come to experiment and perhaps I ought to as well. We should all seek to differ, in a sense, from others for the sake of progression.

I listen closely to him as he speaks, pulled away from my thoughts. I am passive as I watch him, always searching for an indication of a lie and yet, none come. Rather, he gives me more honesty than most. It is an interesting perspective and a nod in acknowledgement, allowing him to continue without interruption. Certainly, I can... relate to the feeling he speaks of. In Diveen, I had been nothing but a child overlooked; in Taviora, a scout but left to my own devices, nonetheless. There had always been a lack of... interaction, I supposed, that had allowed me to fester in my own thoughts and impulses.

When he falls into silence, I ponder his words for an extra moment before I speak, ensuring I am fully understanding of his experience and thoughts on the matter before I make my own known. "What you have told me is invaluable in itself. Such things are often withheld from those that lead; some fear letting their leader know that all is not well. If you would be honest, do not hesitate to be so." It is an invitation for him to continue down such a path of thought; I wish to be the alpha that those without purpose or reason come to, after all. I seek to find the strong and the neglected. If he can aid me in such a thing... it will benefit us all, I am thinking. I move to speak first, however, ensuring I do not cut him off as I do so. "Your experience with groups shall come in time. However, for now, perhaps there are... more interesting and important things to be dealt with. Tell me, Tristan, what is it you know of the wolf whom has challenged for the plains and the forests in these recent seasons?" It will be a curious thing, indeed, if we can begin to seek out more than the usual path of diplomacy, after all.