I Am Weary, Let Me Rest

She was quite positive her heart could beat right out of her chest at any moment. Never before had she ever had to worry this much over a single creature. Sure, bears were a fright when there were cubs on hand, but even they paled in comparison to this striped beast. Or...at least they would if the cat were not presently just standing there looking quite dumbstruck. Why was he not moving, or at least reacting to her more defensively? Did she really look like that much of a pushover compared to him?

Yes. It appeared she did. His answer was casual, perhaps a little confused because of her defensive behavior, but in no way aggressive as she had been. And the smile upon his face was of no help. Her rounded ears folded against her head in a mixture of self-depreciation and embarrassment. At least his tone was not patronizing. If anything he sounded quite friendly, maybe even chipper. Or was that smugness that she detected? Either way, he was quick to welcome her company and showed it by promptly flopping onto his side upon the ground. Yep. No threat at all.

Considering it a victory - since she really did not want to cause a stir - Laila slowly and tentatively reclined back into a seated position, still watching the tiger as if he would leap at her at any moment. "I was after something," she answered, "and I guess it didn't know you were here either." A small pause preceded her introduction as she surveyed the tiger, and at length she spoke her name, "I'm Laila." Very nearly the added the polite phrase nice to meet you, but considering the circumstances of their meeting she was not altogether sure that it held any grounds there. At least not until she felt more sure that he was not just biding his time with her and waiting for the perfect moment to take out more feline competition. Or could he really just be happy for company of his own kind?

She was reluctant to say more, but curiosity got the better of her. "You haven't seen any other cougars?" Wolves seemed to be the majority here, but surely cougars were a common cat to share territory with them. Or compete, as it seemed most often the case. Not that she was looking for any of her own kind, but she had suspected to at least come upon one eventually, to share boundaries with if nothing else. Being the only cat in a horde of wolves was far too uneasy living for her.