Lucky Catch

Walk | Talk | Think

He was watching her, as she knew he had a right to do. After all, depending on how well she assisted him with his injury could very well determine whether he might live to see the next day. There was certainly a lot of pressure with the task but Tahlia hardly felt any of it, comfortable and confident that she had been following his instructions well enough to pass his current scrutiny and, by the fact he still retained consciousness at the moment, that his directions had been sound. It was a good feeling, knowing she had played a hand in all of this, and it showed in the form of a little smile that curled at the corners of her mouth, partially present but not fully expressed due to her concentration.

Tahlia met his curious gaze without flinching, ears perked and listening as he introduced himself. Bane. An interesting name, she thought, somewhat heavy and yet uncommon to her knowledge. And so simple. Nothing else accompanied it, no tag of lineage, no title, no rank. And yet he bore all of these scars... Perhaps they had not all been acquired in the service of this pack, if any of them had been acquired here at all. Maybe there truly was more to their stories than she could gather simply from what she had thus far learned. But it was far too rude and forward for her to even think of mentioning them, and so all those curiosities were left to flutter about her mind.

The unexpectedly humorous remark that followed quirked up the edges of her complacent smile into something more noticeable, something more recognizable, as what it was. As if she honestly expected him to take to his paws and properly show her his gratitude with a bow! It was blessing enough that he was even still awake let alone raising his head to stare back at her. The nerve she would have had to expect anything more. But more did come. He shifted - a movement she supposed either to be because of her weight or her consistent pressing against his injury which she countered by gently shifting her position to place less of a burden on him - and met her gaze with open gratitude. Thanks rolled off of his lips in eloquent phrases, his manner of expressing himself quite rivaling that of his gruff appearance. How strange, and yet how delightful a surprise that was.

"Luck favored you on this day," she answered, "I very well could have been here tomorrow rather than today. It just so happened that I decided to take advantage of this good weather to fish and swim." Unfortunately - at least for her - she had never gotten to the second half of those plans, her fishing attempt spoiled when Bane had risen from his resting place on the banks to barrel into the waters, startling Tahlia and, in turn, startling the fish. But with a hole still visibly pooling blood on his side, she hardly felt it appropriate to point out that he had been the reason for her failed attempt at fishing. "But there will be time enough for that later," Tahlia finished, her attention returning to the pinched wound between her paws. The dark blood was already collecting and hardening over it, a good sign that soon, she hoped, it would close off on its own and Bane would be free of her. And though he didn't outright hint that her presence against his side irritated his injuries, she couldn't help herself from asking matter-of-factly, "I am not causing you any discomfort?"