Toby said that he thought he was born here. The sentence made a brow arch, but she didn’t bother to ask why he wasn’t sure where he had been born. Perhaps he’d been taken from his birthplace as a cub and adopted or kidnapped—something. If he had torture in his past, she couldn’t really begin to imagine what else had happened. It sent a little twinge of something she refused to call fear in her stomach. A sense of self-preservation, perhaps? She was suddenly a little wary, but outwardly her features did not change from their smooth, faint interest. He’d given her no reason to panic so far, and so she was not going to prod him.
He went on to say that the bad pack he’d been with was on the outskirts of the land. She nodded in understanding, supposing that he’d been taken from his mother to this pack; that would explain his confusion over where he was “from.” He stumbled faintly over his words, falling into a long pause, and she began to tell him to forget it. He was having issues remembering, perhaps because he didn’t want to remember his past, and she didn’t want to pain him any further.
“You’re pretty,” Toby said out of the blue, and her ears stood up in surprise while his lowered as he attempted to amend his statement.
Great. Vesper let out a sigh, wondering if it’d be smarter for her and less embarrassing for him to just walk away now. However, it’d been a while since she’d spoken to a loner, and she didn’t want to throw away the occasion. “I’ve heard both before,” she said slowly and carefully, “though I would rather be considered ‘pretty cool’ than ‘pretty.’ But thank you for the compliment either way.” There was no point in getting mad at him until he crossed a line, and she supposed he’d regain control of himself eventually. She’d been struck dumb by appearance before, herself.
The memories put her in a slightly better mood, and she offered Toby a small, crooked smirk before settling down on her stomach, forelegs crossed. “So, does my fellow loner have any interesting information? You might be more attuned to what’s going on with the packs and neutral territories than a newcomer like me.” She flicked her tail once against the grass. “I’m incredibly selfish and starving for news to benefit me.” Her voice was almost sarcastic.
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