The nudge that Empusa gave him, that little bit of contact, gave Beppe the same feeling that he used to get from waking up on an Italian morning and stepping out of his parent's den. Crepescular rays would weave steady paths through the trees, catching in the shimmery dew that clung to their leaves. The light always had a certain golden quality; not only in its color, but also in the texture and the feeling it gave him. A warmth, a feeling like he was the recipient of a gorgeous present from an unknown sender. It was possible that it would take Beppe a thousand pictures and a million words to describe the feeling. That little bit of warmth transferred on a cold day was special, though, to oversimplify it all. It was like gold.
"Ah, yes... You need not to be worried. The only part of you that is not safe here is your tail." Beppe couldn't help but make light of it, make it into a joke. He had a problem with seeing the full seriousness of something. "And even then, if it is to come down to the wire, I would protect it. From the others, of course. Myself I would have no mercy on it." His smile was barely perceptable, but it certainly glowed in his eyes as he glanced at Empusa once more.
Beppe listened carefully as the girl translated some of his words, trying very hard to press them into his mind. The words sounded so smooth, so soft and elusive. He might have trouble making his voice as gentle as the coyote's, but he would certainly try. Part of the fun was learning things like that, anyways, and he didn't think he would be speaking French to anyone he wasn't friends with anytime soon. Empusa was, really, the only one he had come to think of as a good friend as opposed to just an acquaintance, and she was certainly the only French one.
As she let the last phrase drift out of her lips like a clean white cloud, the boy watched her. To liquify consonants was one thing, to do it with so little effort, with such an ease, was something a little more. His eyebrows arched as she paused, and when she turned it into English his eyes found the fresh snow in front of them, and a smile appeared unwittingly on his face. After a moment he looked back up to her, still smiling. "Sei la mia amica speciale, is how to you I would say that... Sei il mio amico speciale is how you would say it to me. They are different, for girls and boys." He smiled again, silent, and watched her for a bit. The boy didn't know how the French language worked, or how Empusa thought, and he wondered about the implications of what she had just said. Though they both originated in Europe and shared similar cultures with respect to the North Americans, the way the French thought could be miles away from how Beppe went about his world. After a little deliberation, the boy added. "É vero... it means it is true."