SMILES OF PLATED GOLD — joiner

When was the last time that Colman had even contemplated joining a group? Perhaps it had been when he had still lived with his fathers. Interesting to see that a change of heart had occurred somewhere down the line since he had not been willing to delve headfirst into any kind of a permanent for the longest time now. It was probably in some way due to him growing tired of entire independence which is truthfully not too surprising since for the first eighteen months out of his current twenty-five, he had been living with beloved family that had helped him out from time to time when necessary. Starting to miss the sense of security and fellowship that such a lifestyle provided was what had lead him here to the borders of whispering pine forest. To the Blackheart Rogues.

"Yo!" For someone who appears to look so beautifully graceful, the man being a sleek snow furred saluki with honeyed sandstone eyes and neatly folded dove-like wings tucked against his sides, he certainly does not have the attitude to match it. Like an angel that had come down to the earth from high heaven above to grace them with his presence except that entire dreamy facade is completely and utterly obliterated once he opens his mouth to talk with boisterous grin splitting pristine features apart and mischief burning hell's fire in his bright eyes. Walking juxtaposition of a man has himself never picked up on such stark contrasts between his outward appearance opposed to his loud mouthed personality though that was in some way fault of his fathers who had both been so eager to enforce this idea that he was their perfect little dove who could do no wrong most of the time. Consequence of this meant that he scarcely acknowledges his own behaviour sometimes, acting in unconventional manners that others may believe to be particularly uncouth or distasteful. By no means is he a bad guy, however. Chaotic good, perhaps, but certainly not evil.

And, speaking of boisterous grins, one is quick to make its presence known across his features at that very moment, the man rather pleased with himself for getting this far and now is far too eager to stop and wait for someone to be stood directly in front of him. In his life there was never much time for slowing down to wait for others, moreso just his own impulsive actions and a quick glance over his shoulder to see if everyone was keeping up with him from time to time. "The name's Colman, Colm, or whatever floats your boat. Wonderin' if I could join." His voice is loud, amplified only by his desire to be found relatively quickly by those of this group that he has stumbled upon. Since he had come in search of some form of excitement in addition to his overall goal of reducing the sense of bored loneliness that had started to dwell within his mind, he was more than simply zealous to get to know what kind of interesting guys, gals, and pals that he would find here. Hopefully they would not disappoint him.

Hard-won elegance of angels, it was a concept that was a rather interesting one to contemplate, especially for someone such as himself who had been brought up learning of saints and saviours who had for the most part not done much to achieve what they had been blessed with. Story books fiction and woven fairy tales had given him a certain, set idea about the world which was one that he could not see changing any time soon but it would be extremely foolish of him to even begin an attempt to convince himself that everyone else would think the exact same way as him. Differences in upbringing and general life choices had a great impact on how one chose to perceive the things that they were aware of and it would have been far too boring if that was not the case. Although he didn't like thinking about such things too often, he was free to acknowledge the fact that things would be a lot less fun with a lack of individuality. Choosing to not allow his mind to linger on such a topic, he is quick to focus all of his attention onto the stranger that he can now see approaching him with interested tilt of his head.

It's unavoidable, the barking laughter that escapes his mouth at the words spoken to him and he can not help but toss his head back to give him a few moments to let it all out. Shoulders quivering slightly from the aftershocks of entertained delight searing hot and fast through his veins, he fixes his best grin on his lips as he looks to the man who had approached, deciding already that he quite liked this fellow what with his witty remarks and general manner of addressing the situation. It was nice to not be greeted with straight faces and blunt queries. "Ah, ocean puns. I really did just walk right into that 'n you couldn't kelp yourself." He says in a tone that is as serious as he can muster to the point where one might believe him to be disappointed unless they heard the contents of his words. As far as legacies were concerned, he has never particularly cared about his own. As far as he cared, he did not worry about what others thought about him too which was the primary reason as to why he felt as though he was free to act as carelessly as he did at any given moment. Regardless of any eyes on him, he owed them nothing. Not his guilt for existing in bold and shameless manner and most certainly not any lost sleep over fear of what anyone else believed him to be. After all, no one would ever know him better than he knew himself and getting hung up over perceptions was not his style at all.

Shaking his head as if to go along with the stupid act, it becomes swiftly apparent that he can not keep it up for as long as he would have liked to when further comment is made. "Blackbeard, that's a good one." Snort of laughter in the most inelegant manner shaking through him at that, eyes bright with sparkling amusement as he peered, squinting slightly as consequence of his laughter, at the larger man before him. "But, I've never really cared too much about what people call me so go wild if my actual names aren't good enough." Shrugging, he speaks as though there is no significance to it or as if he as no emotional attachment to his real name which is far from the truth. Because he finds it so personal and close to his heart, he feels that in some small way he would prefer for others to not use in in fear that they will taint the meaning that has been constructed around his name but it's not like he's about to stop anyone from using it, though. Moreso just that he'd rather others to call him 'Colman' or 'Colm' only if they truly meant to interact with him on good terms, anyone else with foul intentions not welcome to such a privilege. Hearing the lion's own name certainly does draw out some intrigue him him, curious as to whether the given name is short for anything. "B, huh? Maybe in that case, I should be the one calling you Blackbeard." It is not in his nature to pry so he instead opts to make a joke out of it pertaining to the guy's own previously made joke as that is the easier option for him to take. "Seriously though, it's nice to meet you, mate."

Not long after he finishes talking, he notices the approaching presence of another, much larger, individual lumbering over to join them. Instinctively, his mind urges him to step back a bit out of wariness since it was not every day that a literal grizzly bear came baring greetings but he does not fold. That would be rude of him and although he was many undesirable things, disrespectful was certainly not one of them. In spite of his rather lanky form, long legs giving him a bit of height in comparison to others on the best of days, he can not help but feel a tad dwarfed by these unfamiliar faces. Small as if he were a child all over again peering up at the looming shadows of hazy figures that he could only barely make out now. This was different to be past though and he was swift in acknowledging that fact to quell any raising worries. They were not here to hurt him, they were friendly faces that the would need to learn and get used to seeing around and that was what mattered. "Cheers, love." Tipping his head up slightly, he casts an amiable smile up to the grizzly in response to her growly greeting his curiosity getting the better of any anxieties as he speaks, "What's your name? It'd be a shame to have to call you 'Thing One' or something like that."

Unlike Pantera, he had not had to deal with any kind of drastic transitions in his life as she had from a more solitary, feral lifestyle into the strict setting of communal existence. In that way, he could certainly extend sympathy unto her. Really, he'd never had to deal with the struggles that those who lived in the wild had to deal with simply because his fathers had been members of groups themselves and therefore had done things in a more atypical way to natural methods when raising him. Colman had been lucky in that way, he supposed. Once again, it was a case of what one's perspective on the matter was in order to determined whether it was luck or misfortune. He did know what it felt like for strangers to shrink away from him in immobilising fear, he knew that choking sense of guilt as apologies clogged up in his throat to try and fix a situation that had not been broken in the first place, so in that respect he at least knew how she felt though that had been an entirely different story. He supposed that fear regarding her was more rooted in her appearance whereas his own experiences had been solely based on circumstance since it was not probably to believe that his looks as a picture of angelic elegance, could trigger trepidation.

With that in mind, he's kind of glad now that he had chosen not to shy away from the larger creature because he would have definitely felt bad for making her feel bad. It is as she speaks her name that he makes sure to repeat it a few times in his head to pin alias to face. It wasn't a name that he had heard before but that did not mean that he was going to be forgetting it any time soon either. "Pantera." He echos, rolling the 'r' in her name with slight trill of his tongue as he tests it before letting out a satisfied little hum. Easy enough to say, he concludes and flashes a toothy grin as confirmation settles in his mind. "'Aight, got it. 'Tis a pleasure to meet you." Colman nods slightly, faux formality tainting his tongue as he spoke.

Undeniably, he's grateful for the reception that he has received here thus far since the two that he has met on their borders are certainly an interesting duo and, for a proclaimed anti-clan, they're much nicer than what he had initially expected though there were no arguments on his end regarding that matter. If anything, it simply acts to make him feel even more glad, finding himself almost enthralled as he listened attentively to the grizzly's attempt at helping him. "I think I'll live for now, thanks for the offers though." Trailing off a bit, he lets out a thoughtful hum since in the midst of his words, he finds himself beginning to question whether there was actually anything that he needed and unsurprisingly, something had come to his mind at the last moment. "Actually, would ya mind pointing me in the direction of the main camp bit? I was thinking about walking around to get the lay of the land a bit before settling down properly but it'd be nice to know where it was."