diamonds come rolling out

It was worse than he had expected if she was willing to give up on her attempts to get away from him already, but he would make the most of her uncharacteristic compliance, resting his head across her neck and allowing a low humm to fill the silence after her question. She didn’t smell like pups, didn’t look that much different to when she had disappeared and so he would keep his purpose from her for now. Though a small, smug, possessive part of him was secretly glad. Instead of answering her at all, he took a moment to groom the slightly longer fur at the back of her ear.

In the distance, a wake wave was moving towards the shore, the spray of water from a blowhole betraying the dolphins as they herded a school of fish into the shallow mangroves. He watched with some interest as the water came alight underneath and around them. It should serve as enough of a distraction from her questions, or at least he hoped it would. "Not quite yer ma’s sturgeon, but I suppose it’s pretty enough."

"speech".