Bearclaw Valley mini explorer

Kove's body kept still when the child jumped up, only his head moving to follow his motions as he leaned against the man. He was curious about what the smaller was doing, and about him in general. He had to remind himself that the younger probably could not yet understand him, or much of what he said, anyways. It was like back when Meldresi's young were still small, and he'd first started to interact with them. He'd tried to speak to them as if they were older than what they were, and would need to continuously remind himself that only a small fraction of what he'd say could be understood. After his own children had been born, the reminder had started to stick in his head better, but he still slipped up every now and again—such as he'd just done when approaching the boy.

Still, the Inuit found his question to have been answered, more or less, when the child repeated the name. Leo. It had a nice ring to it, though he had no idea what it meant. It was a name he'd never heard before, but it also wasn't overly strange. It lead him to believe Scarlett had come up with it, which presented a big question—what was the kid's true name? Kove gave a shake of his head, clearing his mind of any lingering thoughts. It did not matter who the child was before becoming Leo, what mattered was that he was there in the valley, and it seemed like he would be staying. "I wonder how you got out..." The words were meant for himself, as he didn't expect the boy to fully understand what had been said. It seemed someone was almost always guarding the den from either the inside, or closely on the outside, so it was surprising to see the child had managed to get away.

Lowering his head, he nudged the child in the direction away from the water a bit, still concerned about him falling in. "You shouldn't wander out alone, Leo," Kove pointed out, keeping a careful eye on the boy. He wondered, briefly, what had led the child to exit the den. Perhaps he wished to explore, or maybe he had another reason for doing so. The questions were left unasked, however, as he didn't think he'd get an answer either way.