WC: 386
Jaden's response was hardly surprising; arrogant as usual, of course. What, does he think I'm stupid? Slade wondered for a moment; just as quickly he pushed the thought aside. Of course he does. I'm a coyote. Having subconsciously expected the comment, he was hardly offended.
Naturally, Jaden had to bring up the scar he had given Slade; the coyote was thankful that his fur was long enough to mostly conceal it. "Scarred, of course," he answered dryly. "That was the whole reason you gave it to me." He paused for a short time, trying to think of something to say in return, another harsh reminder of their last meeting. What had they been arguing about, again? Oh yes, Slade hadn't been submissive to the total stranger at the time, Jaden had gotten frustrated, and then he had asked about someone.
Come on, come on, what was his name...? Is it even a 'he'? Slade wondered. Out of nothing but curiosity - and to change the subject so the focus was on Jaden once more - he wanted to know if Jaden had managed to find his victim yet. If the obsidian wolf was actually honest and admitted that he hadn't found the canine he was searching for, Slade could certainly use that to his advantage. If not; well, the coyote didn't care to hear how Jaden had ripped someone's guts out, but he'd have to change the subject again, maybe ask why Jaden was searching for this stranger in the first place.
"Virgilante," Slade said suddenly, the name snapping into his head. Just as soon as he had spoken, he remembered that Virgilante was the name that he had given Jaden's "prey", and that the canine's real name was Vigilante. Hoping that Jaden hadn't caught his mistake, since he had spoken so quickly, he added, "How's your search for Vigilante been? Last I checked you were still asking around for him."
He purposely left out the word "search" the second time; since the assassin had actually bothered to ask Slade about Vigilante's whereabouts, he must have needed some sort of lead. By now he had surely either found his victim or was actually searching, but either way Slade wanted to imply that Jaden was still asking and harming coyotes in his hunt.