Something something first impressions

Rogue shot Nimue a questioning look when she continued to glare at him and asked if he was some sort of mutant. She must have been new around these lands, otherwise she surely would've met other wolves with mutations before, right? It seemed like everyone and their mother had some sort of genetic variance these days that made them... special. The way she looked him up and down, studying his body made him feel... strange. Ordinarily he quite liked when faes ogled him, but in this case, it felt more like Nimue was trying to find something wrong with him. She asked if he was a mutant, probably more in ridicule than in true curiosity, but Rogue just shrugged it off.

"Uh, yeah, I guess...? They are mutations technically. My mother has quills too, which is where I got them from." Rogue slid his body down to the sand with a languid stretch of taut muscles, letting his belly rest on the warm sands and bringing himself down to Nimue's level. He gestured with a tip of his muzzle to his back, namely his scruff, inviting her to take a look if she wanted. With his fur wet, the glisten of his black diamond quills was much more noticeable in the sunlight, each long spine of smooth, sharp gemstone resting against the back of his neck, relaxed and disarmed. "My claws are the same way, but I don't know where they came from. Neither of my parents have special claws." To showcase his point, Rogue lifted a giant paw and flexed his digits, exposing the retractable black diamond claws that were hidden away, matching his quills perfectly.

Nimue remained defensive around him, initially showing little acknowledgement to his offer to aid her. Rogue had half expected this—but he hadn't expected her to eventually relent and let him help her. With her paw offered, Rogue reached forward to gently take her injured paw in his own. He inspected her paw; so small, so dainty, yet so dangerous. Sure enough, his quills had broken the skin on her paw pads. It didn't look too bad on initial triage, but she'd definitely want to clean it up and get some salve on it. While he inspected her wound, Nimue made a snarky remark about Chimera, one that earned her a sardonic laugh from the dire brute. "Oh yes, I'm thrilled to have the borderline rapist with a superiority complex and six wives in my family tree," he remarked with a lopsided grin, amethyst eyes gleaming mischievously. Her explanation for how she wound up in Ashen caught his attention, eyes lifting from her paw as he leaned in closer with the intent to lick the blood from her wounds. "Pretty ballsy move trying to hunt on another pack's lands. Did you at least get to eat?" Rogue chuckled and had his tongue half out his mouth to clean her wound on reflex, but paused when he realized how that might be perceived and pulled back. "Oh, sorry. You uh, probably want to keep that clean and get one of the healers to patch it. They're not bad cuts, but my quills are sharp, so they tend to bleed a bit."

"Rogue Klein"