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Out of all the things Dragomir worried about missing since leaving his family's home, he never expected that he would miss his siblings the most. He actually thought it was going to be kinda nice, y'know, not having to share anything anymore. He could stretch out as much as he wanted in his makeshift den. He could have as much of his prey as he wanted. He could even do whatever he wanted all day without his parents or aunts or uncles or siblings or cousins or...Well, anyone telling him what to do and scolding him for doing it wrong.

But, well, turns out being on your own is...lonely.

Drago missed curling up next to his siblings every night and talking with them over meals. He even missed them scolding him.

"I can't go back now," Drago said aloud to himself as he meandered through the trees, heading northwards just as he had been doing every day since he'd left. "I have to find my purpose first. Yeah! Then I can go back, and they'll be so proud, and..."

His pep talk faded slowly as his tail and his head drooped.

"But, I do miss everyone..."

Drago sighed and continued his slow trudge through the trees.

The forest was alive with noise as ever. Dragomir looked up as a squirrel chattered overhead, hopping from branch to branch. An acorn dropped a few moments later, bopping Drago on the nose as it fell into the undergrowth.

"Ow!" Drago yelped, more from instinct than any real pain. "Hey, mister or miss, you dropped your dinner! Don't worry. I'll find it!" He called into trees before, with a laugh at his own private joke, he began to sniff around in the undergrowth for the lost acorn.

He was so lost in his snuffling that the scent of the nearby wolfdog was lost to him underneath all smells of musty leaves and mud.

Dragomir could not say that he the acorn that the squirrel dropped, but he did find an acorn. He bumped it with his nose up to the root a tree and then peered back up into the canopy. The squirrel was no where to be found, but he called out one last time, "I'll just leave it here for you, alright?" before continuing on his way.

As he rounded around a thick tree, however, he jumped at the unexpected sight of another wolfdog standing not far off. Staring at him. Still and just...staring at him. Oh no. Did he hear all of that? The other wolf did not look threatening, but Drago knew it was best to be cautious.

"O-Oh! Hello...?" Drago called out to him.

"I don't see anyone else around," Drago answered back playfully, seeming oblivious to the fact that he had just been caught having a one-sided conversation with a squirrel. The other wolfdog did not emote very much, Drago noted. Even when Drago caught him, he answered his call with an evenness that spoke of either seniority in age or, just, general maturity. Drago had a healthy amount of self-awareness and knew he was prone to bouts of ridiculousness despite being old enough to know better. When growing up with such a large family, when lost in the middle of the shuffle, it was easy to get away with it.

Hm. Now that he was out on his own, maybe it was time to be more serious...

It was a sad thought.

"I'm Dragomir!" He called across the distance, not sure yet if the other wolfdog would be okay with him approaching. "Sorry if I disturbed your walk. Just enjoying the morning air!"

Dragomir perked up when Burian stepped more fully into view, his tail giving a few happy swishes. Burian was right: it was nice to have a chat with another wolfdog. It was nice to have a chat with anyone, really, but another wolfdog — especially one with an air of maturity like Burian — made Drago feel closer to home, more secure out here in the wide, vast...vast unknown. "You can say that again," he mumbled in response to Burian's comment on the subject, his eyes giving the area around them a weary sweep.

Though, he had done his best to be respectful of the older wolfdog's space, Drago could not help but bound forward a couple steps when he mentioned leaving. "Oh! But, I have no plans, so I'm not being kept at all, so...You could stay." Looking around for a reason why Burian should, Drago remembered the squirrel and its acorn. "We could squirrel watch! Yeah. They're so agile, and they can climb so high. It's fun to watch them from time to time."

Drago yipped with glee when Burian agreed, stamping his front paws on the ground just like he would do back home when he convinced one of his older siblings to take him on a hunt. He was never any good on a hunt, except for trouble, but it'd been fun to hang out with his siblings. Now, with Burian, he couldn't help but revert to some of those old 'younger sibling' habits.

"Oh, well, I saw one back this way," Drago explained. With barely a beat of hesitation, he started back towards the tree where the acorn had fallen. He stared up towards the branches. No squirrels. Yet. "Hey, hey," he whispered to Burian while still keeping his eye out. "What do you think would be a good name for a squirrel? Personally, if I was a squirrel, I'd like my name to be Summer, because that's when there's so many leaves and it's easy to hide, or...Phillipa....because that's a nice name."