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"Give up? Hah. I've jussst moved on. It'sss not like I even want to leave at thisss point. It's not ssso bad here sssometimesss..." At the moment, though, he wouldn't have minded a good sturdy door, or a meal that didn't flail in its death throes before he had to gobble it down. Actually, living this way was pretty terrible. Not a moment's respite from worry. "Eh, even if now isssn't one of those timesss."

"Nothing! I jussst wanted a look... but never mind." He dropped his outstretched hand as if he'd suddenly lost interest in badgering Gaius for the hammer. It looked like he was still taking some form of enjoyment in bothering the guy. Deep down he would have been surprised if Gaius had been dimwitted enough to hand the tool over and get himself unceremoniously kicked out into the jungle as well. His massive canines poked out from between his lips as he continued to grin bitterly and speak. "You can keep it if you need it that badly." He moved backward several steps for good measure and let his long, ridged tail drag itself slowly along the ground.

"Nope." He shook his head, his expression pensive. "Why leave? I'm becoming sssomething much better than sssome of the thingsss people are becoming, and it meansss I'm useful to... sssomeone. And this place gave me back sssomething I didn't think I'd ever get back. I'm not going to compromissse what I have now any more than I already have. I can't..."

"I'm feeling a little aggresssive right now isss all," His neck was curved at an angle that looked rather dangerous to a human. This new question brought a renewed smile to his face. Despite the uneasiness in his answer to Gaius's haughty-sounding sneer, Zach was quite comfortable now that Gaius didn't appear to be dangerous. The human presence drove away the harsh whispering of nature that plotted against him. It was the first time in many days he was relieved of his silent suffering. "Though I'm disssapointed you couldn't take a little joke the firssst time we met."

"And of courssse, sssiding with that damned lion..." he hissed, letting his anger get the better of him. Isolation made him more prone to letting things slip. "I hope Sssabin dealt with him."

"Oh, I don't know what exssactly yet, ssseeing as I ended up out here shortly after I asssked. But yesss. He wasss more than happy to." Zach looked utterly maniacal at the thought of the revenge ignoring Gaius's little quip. "And not jussst Rexss. Sssomeone elssse too. The guy who'sss part-cobra. I got them both for what they did to me."

"You jussst don't underssstand. Both of them dessserved it." Zach walked a large arc around Gaius along the rocks, tail lashing. His frill was out, and it was evident that Gaius's empty threat had spooked him. His eyes went from human to hammer with worry. Even so, he refused to give up his notion of being right.

He stopped his slow circling and stared at the hammer-wielder out of the corner of his eye. The need to spread his bat wings wide and fly away from the danger at hand assaulted him and made him distracted. "Why should I tell you?"

The comment elicited an infuriated hiss and more deliberate pacing. What was wrong with caves? He liked caves. Even his damp little cave was cozy in some strange and inexplicable way. It wasn't like he could just go live in a tree or something.

"I'm not buying that!" he growled. There was the panic and terror again, roiling in a distinctively lizardlike fashion at the edge of his consciousness. He'd been wrong to let his guard down. This was the price he paid. "Jussst want to know so you can come kill me in my sssleep? Isss that it?"

"And you think I'm the crazssy one!" He almost laughed. Almost. "It'sss would-be killersss like that cobra who've shown me how dangerousss mossst of the people here are. And you're jussst like the ressst of them. Get away from here! Get away from me! I won't let you kill me!"

It was still a relatively wide circle he'd made around the cliff, he realized, so he'd have to get closer to convince this trespasser to get away. He sank down even more, arching his back and opening his wings wide, and leapt at Gaius. Inevitably he would have fallen short of landing anywhere near the other man by a good couple of feet, but with his clawed hands curved and sharp teeth bared, it may have looked like there was a little more 'oomph' to the jump.

Quadrupedal movement was still a bit of a hassle for him, so he landed much harder than he expected on his hands amd arms and was thrown off-balance. The mistake left him feeling vulnerable many moments too long, and he scrambled to get back to a safe distance again. Claws clacked loudly against the cliff rock as he moved about, looking for the cave he lived in as a refuge. It was a wonder he worked his way back to bipedal motion by the end of that frenzy.

"You're crazy!" he shouted back at Gaius, barely listening to what he said as he continued to try and force the other man away. Words, words, only words. Maybe they were words enough to force the guy to flee.