Jefferson was unsurprisingly delighted by the fact that the child was able to catch the squirrel in his place, though she had the advantage of four legs, youth, and a stance much closer to the ground than he in his two-legged Luperci form. She was a fast learner, but he knew that already; Addison had very quickly adapted to mimicking him in some of his everyday activities, from looking clueless at the pages of a book to cooperating her gait to follow his--limp and all, sometimes. It was charming, delightful; he quite enjoyed her presence and company, even if she'd become a headache... and would not have given up that supposed parenthood to the world. Her real mother would not steal her away from him now.
"Good, good!" He beamed proudly, as if she'd taken her first steps or mumbled her first words. The one-eyed brute lumbered closer, leaning down on a knee to reach her level. "There, see? You did even better than I did." Jefferson took all means to keep himself from thinking she'd inherited some genetics of his somewhere, some of the hunting skills that once were at the top of their peak when he'd had four legs, but that was nonsense. She wasn't of his blood at all. The squirrel was still squirming this way and that in the clutch of her jowls, displeased and frantic. The cyclops gently took it from her mouth, holding it strongly in his fist so that the rat's beady eyes blinked horrors up at him. His thumb was habitually placed along its neck. "Now, what you do next is--" He froze. He couldn't kill it... He couldn't kill it right in front of her. She wasn't ready for that yet... was she? Hesitance overwhelmed; after a moment's peace, he breathed in and out and delicately replaced the squirrel to the soil, where it scattered immediately. "Well, the rest can wait for another day. You can keep practicing until then. You got that?" Green eye affixed on her confidently, a smug smile set on his face.