Welcome to Gaia! ::

The large male took a deep breath, exhaling through his nostrils. “I see,” he remarked casually, looking away from her for a moment. If only he had been so lucky. To be abandoned. He would have much preferred it. Still, he knew not everyone felt the same and he doubted knowing she had been left by her real family wasn’t a particularly happy thought for her. It was probably better to change the subject.

Probably.

“So the leopards you consider to be your real parents then,” he hummed faintly, “I suppose that would make sense, since those other ones didn’t seem to have any attachment to you. Err…. No offense…” he added quickly. Damnit, normal conversation was such a difficult thing for him. Couldn’t they go back to snipping at one another? That was a lot easier for him to manage.

“Were they nice to you? These leopards who took you in?”

“I understand that,” Jeraha responded, “and it’s good to know that you were taken care of. Seems to me those lions that left you had very poor judgment.” He frowned at that, shaking his head and looking away from her. It was almost too much like a compliment to sit well in his stomach. Had he really just said that? Maybe he was just grateful for her help and letting it out in small bursts.

Even then it was painful. Like passing a stone.

“Things that would want to eat you?” he asked, interest sparked for a moment, “how would a lesson like that have gone? Explain.” He sank forward onto his front paws, lying down once more. The pain hadn’t returned just yet, but he was tired. It had been a very long, very strange day.

A long nap sounded good, though he was still a little too on edge to risk sleep with someone near. Though this Chikala had proven not to be a threat, that constant skepticism in the back of his mind hadn’t budged.

Jeraha listened, almost pleased by what he was hearing. He had heard rumors of a large snake, but had never seen one himself. Wanted to, though. The large male was really fascinated by snakes. Ever since he had almost been killed by one when he was much, much younger.

He felt like he had been listening to her for a while, though it wasn’t a horrible feeling. So she liked to talk. At least she wasn’t a horrible story teller.

“I’ve never seen a snake like that,” he commented, “always wanted to. I think you and your brother are rather lucky to have seen one. Though, I suppose the circumstances were probably not the greatest for either of you. I think I would like to fight a snake like that. Seems like a good lesson to me!” He frowned, finding nothing more to say on the matter, really. He knew if said too much than they would be right back where they started. Her made at him with him looking like a jerk. Not a bad way to be, but he had to admit this new thing wasn’t so bad either.

“It’s nice,” he added after a moment, almost sadly, “that your father would be so willing to come to your rescue. I’m fairly certain my father would have let me deal with things on my own. He would have let him die if it came right down to it.”

Jeraha watched his front paws for a little while, dwelling as much as it killed him to do it. His father. What an a*****e. The worst part of it was he knew he had grown to be just like the damn man. With one, very important difference: he fought to protect others. He wasn’t like his father in that small respect. Rather than try to kill others, he made sure he did everything he could to help them.

Without them actually being aware of it.

“It’s fine,” he said quickly, “it’s not like it happened yesterday. Just forget I mentioned anything.” He sighed. Now he felt like being snippy again. It was always a bad idea for him to think about his father without a proper outlet. And, unfortunately, she would eventually be the one to suffer for his mistake.

“No,” he grumbled, “nothing hurts at the moment. I don’t want anymore water. I’m fine. Perfectly fine.” He looked at her, his frown deep.

Jeraha watched her, studying her frame like a hawk its prey. But he wasn’t waiting for an opening to attack. At least, not anymore. He was merely curious to see what she was up to. The last time she had wandered off she ended up bringing something back that he put himself into danger with. This time, though, she didn’t move off. He watched her lie down, mildly surprised.

She was comfortable enough to lie down. Flattening his ears against his head, the large male raised his head almost in time with Chikala lowering hers. Maybe it was a trap. This whole thing.

Was it possible she was just trying to lull him into a false sense of security?

Paranoid, Jeraha secretly decided to keep his eyes open until he was certain she had drifted off. Then he would get himself the rest his body so desperately needed.

“There’s no problem,” Jeraha responded, “I was just watching, that’s all. Is there a rule here in ‘your’ territory that says I’m not allowed to do that?” he asked faintly, turning his head away from her anyway. So she didn’t like him looking at her- that was fine. He didn’t want to watch her anyway. The corner of his eyes was all that was needed to ensure she didn’t do anything he didn’t approve of.

He didn’t look back at her, for a while just lying in the uncomfortable silence. Body proving greater than will, the male soon found it impossible to keep his head up, lowering it against his front paws slowly and carefully. It didn’t take much more after that to send him into dreamland. His breathing evened into a slow, steady state, slumber enveloping him easily.

The male was thankful for it, even if he had been trying to fight it off.