He was a dreamer

It was just his luck that someone would come on him like this, a pretty girl, no less! He quickly rose and shook the dust from his fur, tongue falling from his mouth in the process. He may or may not have bitten it in his haste to pull it back behind his lips. "I was-uh, just restin’!" Cool as can be, no he wasn’t a clutz, no way!

Something else that she said took a moment to come back to him, as the familiar clatter of Arvid’s approach set his tail to wagging. He kept forgetting his legs were so much longer than the little warthogs. "Arvid’s a friend, not food.” Arne warned in advance with a lopsided smile, that quickly slipped away as he tried to force himself back to being serious. It really didn’t suit him. “Why would I be hurt? Does that happen a lot around ‘ere?"

"speech".