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A'Hallei blinked at her with wide eyes, barely avoiding her hand which had come rushing out at him. Bad anticipation, but good reflexes he noted with no small suprise. He nodded to her with a slight smile, already calming some, mostly for her sake.
"You returned." He said, still in a state of revelation. Her dress was still pinched between his fingers as he rubbed it back and forth, evaluating the light material. From what he could tell, she wasn't hurt. He released the material and smoothed it, not realising he was just sliding his hand down the curve of her hip.

Stepping to the side, he looked around for the cub. She wouldn't have gotten far, even with the two suprises in quick unison. He mad a soft cooing noise, stopping only when the tanned head popped out from underneath a fern.

Smudged with dirt, and a little shaken, the cub cautiously crept forward toward them, slinking low to the ground, yellow eyes wide. A'Hallei clicked his guantlet fingers together and she broke into a run, darting up and beside his leg, still peering up at Nakshidil, who was almost all but forgotten by the baby cougar. She was however, at least three pounds heavier, and a little taller than before.

A'Hallei waited patiently, acting as a slender shield between the cub and Nakshidil, to keep the cub at ease while the meat was offered. She was content to just stare at the dark haired lady until the smell of the meat drifted past her nose.

Suddenly even more interested, the cub stepped forward, short tail lashing back and forth with curiosity. Her ears were perked forward, paws large and still clumbsy for her size as she crept closer, until she was almost touching the meat with her soft nose. Gently, ever so gently she teethed at the meat before grasping it and pulling it from Nakshidil's fingers. A'Hallei reached down to give her a small scratch before turning away, the cub tottering after him.

"Usually here." He answered Nakshidil, motioning to the burned away section in front of the mouth of the cave, lined with rocks. It was where he cooked and normally ate unless it was raining. He pulled out mats he wove from the fibrous plants around, and spread them on the earth. They were clean, and taut, probably waterproof. The cub wandered to one and flopped on it, securing the meat between her paws and chewing on it.

"I wasn't...Expecting your visit." He added without looking at her, sheepish as he overlapped the mats for her to spread out the food. While he had a lot of provisions stored in the quartz cave, A'Hallei rarely ate. He was very lean fellow, and would have seemed sickly, if he weren't so muscled. He sat down and patted the mat opposite him.

"Does who...?" He paused, following her gaze down to the cub gnawing on the meat. It had never occured to him to put a name to the cub. Luminous green eyes watched the cougar while Nakshidil set up the food, clearly clouded deep in thought. Names were designations to tell them apart, when thinking of one or the other, or to identify it to someone else. So far, there was only one someone else who knew this cub was here.

The cub looked up from the intense concentration paid to the food and peeped at Nakshidil, revealing small but sharp pearly teeth. A'Hallei looked to teen beside him and shrugged helplessly.
"Suggestions?" He asked, wondering if she might have an idea of what to call the wee cub, after all it was her idea. He peered at the mix of meals she spread out, not having seen any conventional foods in a long time. It sure smelled good, though. Both the cougar's and his nose shifted slightly as they inhaled the aromas.

His gaze faltered slightly at the tone of her voice. Had he done something wrong? He frowned noticibly and stared at his plate, picking up the fork and chewing on it experimentally. The cub sat up and almost fell into the plate, eating the fresher meat with gusto. He sent a guilty look to her then back up to Nakshidil as she held up a chubby rodent.

He shook his head at the question. "She follows, leads, but...Cannot kill." He answered. That would come in the weeks to come, as she followed him out further, and watched him. Hunting behaviour was learned, not really instinctual.

He took the plate and looked over the dishes again, picking out a little bit of each, to test it. He sat back, and began to eat, tucking into the food to keep from continuing to look at Nakshidil. He was pleasantly suprised,
"It's good."

A'Hallei flinched when she touched him this time, from the unexpected contact. His skin was cold, despite the fact he had been recently exerting himself. He ducked his head down, allowing his long silver hair to droop around him. He'd cut several feet off of it from her last visit, so when he sat down like this, it hovered just over the floor. As odd as it sounded, he tied the silver strands to a string and used it like a cat toy for the cub. Unfortunately now she tended to attack the hair when it was still attached to his head.

"Sorry." He offered lamely, turning his gaze to the kitten draped over the plate, smeared with food from cheek to chest. She said something about her growing up to be a great hunter, but he wasn't looking at Nakshidil.

Finally his eyes darted up to her to find she was positively glowing. His eyes widened as he looked up, suprised to see her slightly flush, twisting her hands together. It shook him out of his own embarressment enough to switch gears. He connected the comments quickly and offered a timid grin of his own, nodding. As if to prove his point, he finished off the plate and went for another helping.

The cougar looked up at Nakshidil when she heard the cooing, a noise similar to when A'Hallei was calling her. A flash of pink was a raspy tongue extending to clean flecks of meat from her nose, as she stood on unsteady legs and began to walk over to the girl on the ground. A'Hallei cleaned his plate and scooped up the dishes, leaving them there while he dissappeared into the cave.

He sighed when he spotted his pauldrons, even worse off now. He scooped up the pieces and set them on one of the shelves as he dug around for his old chestplate and one of the sachels of water he kept.

Returning he found the cougar cub had flopped onto Nakshidil's extended arm, and was bumping the top of her head affectionately against her. He set down the curved chestplate and filled it with clean water, drawing out an old rag. Dabbling it in the water he crouched by the two ladies and rolled the cub onto her back, quickly wiping the remnants of the meal off of her light fur. She squirmed and swatted at the rag, but was quickly cleaned off and damp.

"I think she likes you." He said softly, returning to his task of putting up the food and cleaning the dishes.

The cub was purring loudly, having been fed, played with and cleaned, that was about the pinnacle of existance for a cougar so young. Bright eyed and innocent, the cub began using Nakshidil as a jungle gym, fumbling over her legs before the girl got up to assist with the chores. Her living plaything gone, the cub meandered through the clearing, winding through the grasses, sniffing out for bugs, or something to chase.

A'Hallei ventured into the town only when absolutely necessary, which was to repair his armor, and to pick up small things usually, such as soap, rope, new knives, and other little things. He even had a few indexes of the local flora and fauna stashed in the cave, as well as some items like flashlights that only needed to be shaken to work.

He looked up as Nakshidil crouched beside him, helping to clear off the plates and silverware. Once they were clean, he carried the chestplate of food-tainted water off, and away from the cave, and dumped it in the brook, returning with it full of clean water. To dump it near to the quartz cave would only attract all manner of beasts. He came back and set it down, in case the cub wanted some to drink.
"Thank you." He said softly, offering the timid smile to Nakshidil in return.
"When she sleeps, I will show the woods. Cannot follow." He said, motioning to the cub hiding ineffectively in the green grass.

"Nap?" He asked quietly, seeing Nakshidil visably fade, probably from the large meal. She was laid out on the mats, her hair out behind her, twisted into an almost serpentine pose. He tilted his head slightly as he looked her over, admiring the light material of her dress, how it clung to her, folding and rippling delicately. Flattering, really. He ducked into the quarz cave and vanished inside, digging around for something.

The cub revealed a suprising flash of speed as she pounded from the grass at the waggling fingers. The same instinct that would serve her well later in life was being honed now as she narrowed in on those fingers, so taunting in their movements. She growled at them as she pounced, soft paws nabbing the appendage with lightning reflexes.

A dark head peeped through the undergrowth into the clearing, snuffling loudly. It was a raccoon, drawn in by the smell of food. While normally noctournal creatures, this one's hunger prompted it out during the daylight hours in search of a meal. Clearly feral, it creeped closer to the two laying on the grass.