Slowly the sour taste of Hati overwhelmed the taste of the river mud. The nastiness of it was worsened by the sand that speckled the inside of his mouth. Every change in pressure, every licking of his lips, Valentine crushed grit between his teeth. As he waited his focus slowly began to shift away from Hati and to the grit he kept inadvertently crunching until the snoozing scuzzball was all but forgotten. It wasn't until Rhythm arrived that Valentine became aware of just how narrow his focus had gotten.
Breathing deeply to “wake” himself up, Valentine answered dryly, "Not yet I haven't. But I may yet." A joke? Perhaps, but Valentine's expression was anything but amused. "He showed up at the border all," he gestured vaguely at Hati's injuries, "scuzzy and spouting weirdness." The King shrugged. What else could he have done?
""
NOTE: Valentine has a female striped skunk companion named Lefty. Unless stated otherwise assume she's present.
