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It had been a while since Dhiren had slept in a safe place, and so he had fallen into the deepest sleep he could remember. The orange tomcat lay on his side, loosely curled, with his bushy tail draped over his thighs. Waking was slow coming for the Somali cat, and he fought it off as long as he could, a deep rumbling purr rolling from his chest as he was able to shift into a slightly more comfortable position and drift off again. Eventually though, his forepaws stretched out before him, unconsciously reaching for the body that was no longer resting beside him. When claws extended and flexed through empty space, the tom's tail gave an irritated flick and he cracked one eye open with a sleepy, questioning 'mrr.'

Through blurry vision, Dhiren could see that he was sleeping alone. Sunlight was filtering into the small space, warming his pelt nice enough, but his woman was nowhere to be seen. Troubled, the Somali rolled over and pulled himself into a sitting position. He took a moment to muss his hair and rub the sleep from his eyes before padding forward and falling into a long, comfortable stretch. In nothing but a pair of jeans, the orange cat quietly left the comforts of bed and began his search for his missing mate. It didn't take him long to discover her outside, sitting by the koi pond, and with a quiet mew, he walked over and slid his arms around her shoulders. "Nn... Mornin'" He murred in a low voice, nuzzling against her ear.

Letting his hands fall to his sides, Dhiren watched the female with slight confusion. "What are we doing?" Personally, the orange tomcat felt that his jeans were enough, but he followed Alice back to their room anyway. "Are you okay? You got up early today..." One of his ears fell to the side as he searched for a shirt, and he glanced over to her uncertainly, "You're not still worried about... that, right? I've told you that it doesn't bother me." Behind him, his fluffy tail whisked over the various fabrics lining the ground, and he tightened his jaw in frustration over not being able to fix her broken womb.

Pulling on a shirt, Dhiren glanced over at his mate and simply nodded. That expression was there again, he was growing to dislike it more and more. She looked happy enough, but he could see the tenseness in her face; it was forced. The toms ears fell back despite the affectionate embrace, but he pushed it aside for now, she seemed to have business that they both needed to attend to. Amber eyes followed the Somali femme as she moved around, getting dressed, and he grabbed a jacket as a second thought before following her out. "If a walk is what you want, then that's fine." He said at last, an arm slipping around her shoulders and pulling her against him, "I need to get to know this place better anyway, if I'm going to remain living here, that is." Dhiren smiled down at his mate, despite his concern, and whisked his bushy tail against hers. They would surely sort out the other issues later.

Dhiren chuckled at his mate's idle threat and walked with her until they were in the center of the territory. Curiously, he looked out at the buildings that faced them and nodded in acknowledgment as Alice pointed out each and named it for him. When she paused, he looked down and her and tilted his head a little at her mysterious 'Secret Garden.' And when she began to pull him along again, he swished his tail again and looked forward. "Where... do you hold the fighting and self defense classes? Do you have those here?" He was almost sure she was taking him to this special place, but he was curious about that too.

Dhiren nodded quietly to his mate, agreeing with her placement for the self defense classes; although, he was a little displeased that there were none established in a school territory. This meant that if he wanted to get better at fighting and learn to properly protect his mate and his new family, he would have to go elsewhere and ask someone to help him. This prospect sat heavily on the tom's tongue like a bad taste, but he swallowed it and sighed to himself; it had to be done.

When they came to a stop at last, amber eyes darted to the old building and looked over it carefully as she spoke. It was definitely much quieter here, and more peaceful. Glancing to his mate, he tipped his head a little, "I think it's a good place; quiet and without all those humans wandering about. Is this where you intend to hold meetings for the others in this territory?" His tail flicked slowly, the Somali didn't completely understand what this building meant to his mate, nor did he quite understand what it is one did with their territory yet.

Dhiren stood for a long while, just considering the old, forgotten building. Immediately, the tom found himself liking the place; it was quiet and out of the way, and it didn't seem as if many humans had ventured near it recently. Indeed, it looked as if it needed some work, but it would do for a bunch of stray cats. Ignorant of the building's deeper connection to his mate, Dhiren nodded and offered an approving smile to the female. Following her inside, he was taken aback at her sudden suggestion and hesitated before addressing it. "...Do you... really thin that's a good idea?" His ears tilted back in unease; no one had told him but he knew he hadn't been the one that scared off the tom who had threatened Alice that one time. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew he would have had his tail handed to him if Aidan hadn't stepped in. Even so, he coughed and continued quietly, "I'll do my best... but I really wonder about the effectiveness of this plan."

Hell, Alice herself was probably a better fighter than he was at this point, who was he kidding? Bringing a hand to his chin as he followed his mate to a secretive staircase, the Somali flipped his tail pensively. Any way he looked at it, he knew he would need to get some help. Going through all the cats he knew well enough to even entertain the thought of asking for help from, he was presented with two options; Demi and Tempo. Demi was quickly tossed out, there was no way he would be taught defense from a kid, and so Tempo seemed to be his only option. One bright orange ear twitched; he would not enjoy having to ask for this, even if he and the Ruins leader were on friendlier terms. Lost in thought, Dhiren was becoming oblivious to what he was supposed to be paying attention to.