Sitirika turned his head to gaze at the other leopard as she moved closer, arching a solitary eyebrow and giving her a flat stare. It was clear, from this look, that he considered this quite the invasion of his private space, and that he expected her to move away. He cared even less for closing the distance between them than he did for conversation.

His gaze lingered on the female a few moments longer, and then he turned away again. "Not this poison," he replied firmly. His shoulders bunched up as if to create an invisible barrier between the two of them, refusing to let her try and convince him that his poison was anything other than that: poison.