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The girl had looked up at him for what felt like only a moment before ducking her head down. Ashbrooke's ears perked and tilted forward in surprise, although they shouldn't have. He understood. He was a stranger. For all she knew, he could be coming here to scold her. Maybe she had been warned about strangers, and suspected him of being a kidnapper, or worse. Maybe he would laugh at her, or judge her and call her stupid. These were all possibilities. And he understood her too well. As a child, he would have been too petrified to answer. As an adult, he wasn't much different.
He gave up on saving the seat of his pants from the potentially damp grass, and finally just sat. He tucked his knees against his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. He was patient, and felt oddly proud when she did answer him. Ash smiled, finding her adorable even in her pain. Ugh, maybe that was weird. "My name is Ash. I just moved to Dahlia de Mai recently." She was so young, she probably lived nearby. Perhaps telling her he was a packmate would make her more comfortable. Or convince her he really was a pervert trying to make her comfortable so he could kidnap her.
"Ohh.." He sympathized with her wound with a wince. "Well, at least you didn't sit on a bee," he reasoned with her. Ash grinned boyishly. "That happened to me once, and that's a hard boo-boo to kiss away." The male was silent for a moment, and tilted his head. He wondered what he could do for her. "If you let me look at your paw, maybe I can pull the stinger out." He was more equipped than she, due to his current form. It would still probably hurt, but it would be worse to leave the stinger in.
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