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Thom hadn't gone far after his encounter with Oz. Though the meeting with the gorilla man had cheered him, Thom hadn't accomplished his intents towards either Emelyn or Natsumi, and so he would stay nearby as long as he safely could. Of course, had he abided by safety, he probably would have vanished back into the jungle some time before.

As it was, he had merely taken up a different position, this time curled up in the lower branches of a tree, looking very much like some vine or branch himself. The tree allowed him to see a good area around him while effectively hiding him from sight among the branches. And, as far as Thom could tell, there were no cameras in the immediate area, to boot.

Though bored near-to sleep by his fruitless watch, the cobra still remained alert enough to flicker out his tongue every minute or so--and it was his tongue that first alerted him to Nita's approach. He lifted his head to peek down from the tree, watching the path curiously, and soon enough the red panda girl appeared. A good few seconds passed before he realized he recognized her--she certainly had changed--and called down. "Nita? S'that you?"

"Yeah," he acknowledged, wrinkling his nose at the dogs. Dogs were difficult. They were the perfect size for a good meal, and that meant the cobra couldn't sit comfortably near them...more for the fear of how the owner would react should the dog become dinner than any compassion towards the dog itself. Luckily, Thom wasn't particularly hungry today.

"Haven't seen you in a while," he spoke as means of a greeting as he slid down to a lower tree branch, from there twining his tail around the branch to hold himself steady and lowering himself to the ground. "Sorry if I scared your pup."

Thom was half tempted to make a face at the dog, or move suddenly, or anything that might startle the poor creature just because she was starting at him in such a way. Honestly, he wasn't going to eat her. He wouldn't need to eat again for a good few days. "Not really," he admitted with a little laugh and lifted his eyes back to Nita, then shrugged. "But things are lookin' up. Yourself?"

"I thought you looked different," he countered teasingly, grin returning. "Or shorter, at least, but who'm I to talk? I don't even know my height anymore. Good thing about th' last change, you don't 'ave to worry about any more to come."

He paused briefly at the mention of Lauren, trying to summon up an image of the girl. He knew they had met, but... "Lauren... Your girl, mongoos--" he trailed off with a sudden sharp hiss as the image sprang to mind, hood flaring, but a sharp pain from the back of his neck at the movement snapped him back to his senses.

Reaching back, he pressed a hand down against the bandage, hissing through his teeth and praying it hadn't begun bleeding again, then returned his attention to Nita, offering an apologetic smile. "Yes, well, ah... Sorry, cobra didn't... Pity about that. She seemed a bit immature when I met her, though."

"S'a good short an' stumpy, though." He assured her with a nod, and, once satisfied that the bandage wasn't leaking, let his hand fall. "Cute. Endearing, even. You look like a teddy bear."

At the question, he countered with a raised brow of his own, but only shrugged slightly. "Emelyn decided she would hack open my neck. Apparently there was a nasty bit of metal down there that had to be removed... But it's gone now."

"It was a compliment," Thom replied, chuckling.

At her expression, he flashed a toothy grin, nodding once more and spreding his arms. "Free as a bird, 'ave been for a couple of weeks now. I know I should be keepin' away, and I 'ave been, but..." He hesitated, good mood fading quickly as he glanced off towards the village. "You 'aven't spoken with Emelyn recently, 'ave you? I'm worried that th' labs 'ave done somethin'. Didn't really think about it before, but they've acted on lesser things..."

"Damn," he muttered and sunk back against the tree, almost as if he were sitting. He sighed. "But she 'adn't done much, right? I mean, cuttin' out th' chip, yeah, but she's Emelyn. It's not like she went out an' attacked a guard or another islander."