Lion Head Mesa snapped like twigs

"Hm," Cicero said when his mistake was pointed out. He had to have forgotten that he had already asked the question. Still, asking a question a second time after a negative answer was not necessarily a bad thing. It still gave information, and in this case made Cicero realise that he must have secrets to hide since he refused to tell. That was okay. Everyone had secrets to hide, anyway. Perhaps Cicero would find out about Akela's at some point in time.

After that, Cicero just moved on in silence, seeing no further point to try and make conversation. While he had enjoyed their earlier wordplay, it seemed that Akela's spunk had died down for now. Cicero did not need words to accompany him, however, so he did not mind overly much. The youth simply continued the climb upwards in silence.