He barely looked over his shoulder at the croak that called to him. Rokig acknowledged her presence with a gentle dip of his head and small thump of his tail. Time spent in the presence of the masked female had taught him that perhaps words weren't too important here compared to most places.
Although this gal seemed more chatty than the other's he had met.
"Just the creatures here. It's interesting to see how they all live together." His silver eyes glancing at her briefly again. She too had a unique appearance. He suddenly felt a bit...drab compared to the creatures he had met on the Isle so far. An insecurity bubbled up in his chest that he was forced to shove down for later.
His ears swiveled softly as she spoke, keen on picking up her words. Sounded like they were both strangers to this island life. If anything it made him feel a bit better. Like less of a stranger.
Rokig leaned back from a pesky crab, likely ready to pinch his nose, and almost missed her question. "Huh? Oh." He tossed a look over at her "I'm from somewhere a lot different than here too. Not much water readily available, a bunch of creepy trees." His shoulders gave a soft shrug. "This place is a lot better. Even if the occasional pincher tries to grab my nose."
Hesitantly he stretched a paw out to push one of the crabs ever so slightly while otters caused a ruckus in the background.
A sharp frown cut through his usually stoic features at the sound that erupted from his company. An obvious indication of pain. Before he could offer to help (or even snatch the little pincher just for revenge) she had chucked it off of her paw.
"Not sure if that's the official name but, it's what I'm calling them." He wasn't about to drive home the point that calling them anything else besides Pinchers didn't seem fitting. The club-pawed female had already learned that for herself.
His features seemed to soften back out at her hasty introduction. She was a lot more talkative than the creatures he had encountered so far — the jury was still out on if that was a good thing or not. "Rokig." He finally spoke with a smile that would almost seem unnatural on his features.
Her question caught him off guard and then and there he decided that her talking more than the other's he had met was not a good thing. On one hand, it would be very easy to lie to someone he had only just met — someone who wouldn't be able to tell that the words were a lie, unlike someone who knew him. On the other hand, it created a whole situation of having to constantly live in that lie.
Rokig was pretty sure he had stopped breathing in those few long seconds of contemplation. "I, uh," He had sold himself out already by lacking the confidence liars had. Fool. "got sent away. They didn't like me." Which definitely wasn't a lie but also wasn't exactly the truth.
"I don't miss it though. Creepy trees were nice but a more lively scenery is nicer." His shoulders offered a quick shrug as he glanced about.
He was glad they didn't dwell on it, scared that he would vomit up the whole truth to her and she'd rat him out. Rokig was pretty sure he could stress vomit from the thought of a repeat of the Abyss. So he tried not to focus on that and focus on the girl again.
His head gave soft nods to show he was listening and agreeing. His silver gaze meeting hers when she looked at him. She was unique and suddenly he felt bad again, lacking confidence he never had in the first place. The male should just host his own pity party. "I've been trying out some fishing. It isn't easy but I think I might be getting the hang of it." One side of his inky lips pulled up to form a half-smile - weak but genuine. "I like looking at the skies and the wildlife too obviously." Had he said too much? He probably sounded like a weirdo now. Staring at the skies in his free time would definitely come off as weird - or mega boring.
"What about you?"
At her comment of food and following laughter, a smile spread across his features — one that seemed more natural as if her laughter had taught him how to smile. But the mood seemed to quickly simmer out into a more neutral atmosphere again.
"You don't have to obviously but, maybe you could teach me about them sometime." He shrugged softly showing he wouldn't be offended if she opted to keep that part of her life more cut off. Rokig could understand it pretty well mentioning he hadn't brought up the whole he might be cursed thing yet.
He tossed Maegi a quick glance as she spoke of the poisons. "I'd be willing to lend a paw if ever needed as long as you promise not to test on me." Rokig gave a small toothy grin with a few brief thumps of his tail against the rocky ground.