Favorite Dish of the River

“'Cause you said the scent's weaker on you.” he thought it seemed obvious. Was he wrong? Probably missing something here.

When she spoke about the so-called benefits of a pack, he was hearing her, but he wasn't truly listening. For every point she made up, he thought of a counter. Yes. Create a pack of wolves to defend my rich home and be backstabbed because they can't be bothered to share, was one of his biggest points. Basically, he wasn't convinced.

The boy was almost offended when she got to her last big of information, after the little huff she made. Roaming the earth like a forgotten ghost? He wasn't roaming the earth like a forgotten ghost... And he had family. If he truly wanted to see them, he was sure he could find them again. As for friends, well... He could make them on the go. Not like there was a law saying he couldn't. And even if he couldn't, he didn't really need friends. He'd survived this long on his own. He could continue to do so on his own.

Finally, after a bit of thinking in silence, Rayios spoke again. He was about to make some dismissive comment about her liking for packs, but then he realized she hadn't even said anything fanatic enough to warrant a tease. Otherwise he'd be picking at straws. “Glad pack life works for you,” a half-assed comment, both because he still doesn't particularly care about packs, and because he didn't know how else to comment on what she'd just said.

He licks his lips, and then he is instantly reminded of his slip-up in the river, and the cuts on his face and paw pad. He's also reminded of the fact that he hasn't actually proven to her that he could fish. The desire to prove to her that he could do it was driven by something more than just his boastful nature, but the feeling was too subtle and burried deep within enough for him to care or even think it. He chalked it up to his own pride and called it that. “Here--let me actually prove to you that I'm a good fisher,” he rises on all fours now, looking at her with a look of determination, “Since you live by the sea and all, this'll surely be useful.” and then off he goes, with his tail raised in excitement, ignoring the stinging he feels on his paw. He wants her to follow him as he looks for a more narrow part of the river.