“Wow, I'd like to come visit your home one day,” he chirped gleefully and his tail waggled a little at the thought. What would another pack's lands be like? Scoprius had a very small basis of comparison so just naturally assumed that they would be just like Anathema's. His young life had begun in another land, but his mother quickly packed up and moved from that land while he was still just a babe, and he had few memories of that time. “I'm really good at navigating caves. I bet I could have your home memorized in the time it takes to howl.” He couldn't help but boast. Yet prideful as he may be, he was more trying to tell her about his abilities and himself than brag, and there was no sense of 'I'm better than you' in his tone. Better than Juju, maybe, but he wasn't about to bother bragging about that.
As the conversation turned to the whereabouts of Anathema, Scorpius glanced over his shoulder as if to indicate in which direction the lands were, but was not really sure. He turned halfway around, and then made a complete circle before coming back to face Melee. His face melted into confusion for a moment before he was able to summon a more casual demeanor. He quickly recovered, putting on the, 'oh, I'm totally not lost' face, and made a noncommittal gesture. “Oh, it's off that way.”
Then the girl started doing something strange. He watched, confounded, as she dipped her fore half towards the ground. “Wh... why are you doing that?” He scrunched his nose in confusion and watched. It was clearly an awkward and unnatural motion for her. Scorpius had never been bowed to before – he was young, only a pup and despite his parentage held no status in his pack yet, therefor all gestures of respect and loyalty were displayed to his mother. Suddenly the auburn girl tipped forward too far and went tumbling end over end! He made a little cry of worry and bounded over to her. Without thinking he nestled his teeth into her scruff and helped her back to her paws. The jaws on her scruff did not pinch down hard, only enough to help give her a little boost, and it was no more force than any cub would use when playing. He watched as she backpedaled and held his ground for a minute, wondering if she was embarrassed.
“It's okay, you don't have to do that. Well I mean, if I beat you in a wrestling match, you do. But, not for no reason!” He chuckled, and an image of play fighting with Juju flashed through his memory. Perhaps they could play fight here? Did one play fight with a girl? He didn't see why not, they were all Luperci pups, after all, and there was nothing special about girls.
And then he broached the issue of her forepaws. He had only been curious and had no idea that asking about them would offend her. He had never seen anyone with paws like hers before and he found them fascinating. Were all her pack members like that? Maybe they were a whole different type of Luperci! He wanted to know, badly, but when his eyes met hers he read something in her injured gaze. Something that stopped the rest of his questions before they could burble out of his throat. His eyes widened and his ears flattened, matching her expression though a bit more surprise in his own.
“I... I'm sorry,” he eked out the words. “Why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong?”