Phoenix Maplewood just observe

She ignored him. There was a smugness to him that more than answered his own rhetorical question. She held her silence lest he mistake another retort as her somehow attempting to smooth over his fragile ego... or worse. Compliment him. She shivered at the mere thought of it. Nochtli had challenged her to be "civil" to a male. This encounter sure as hell better count towards that.

"Minimal effort," she returned, breaking her silence to glance over her shoulder and look back at him. He caught her gaze. She held it until he shrugged and broke eye contact. Ha. At least they knew who was in charge here. Which was still her, regardless of whether or not he was the one actually hunting down a water source. At this point, she was starting to think she was doing a better job of finding it.

Regardless, it was some kind of miracle that they happened upon a stream. True to her original intentions, she walked into the water and paused when she remembered she had a snarky audience. She scowled, her cheeks tightening as she lifted a paw through the water and splashed at him. Soggy was a good look for him. Drowned rat was better, but her current objective was to obtain a little privacy.

He ignored her request for space and instead came closer. Her head lifted, nose lowering as her ears rose atop her crown. Her tail lifted as she narrowed her eyes towards him and scoffed at his words. "It's a river. I'm sure it looks much the same half a mile that way." She jabbed her nose in the direction of downstream. "I'm sure that view is much nicer."