Bones kept smiling at him, though he had a sneaking suspicion she was trying not to laugh at him but he did not dwell upon it because she had not actual laughed at him. The Princeling watched as her eyes flickered to the mountain and then back to his face, “Yes,” Ira confirmed to her question about them living on Silvertip and listened to her expected exclamation about not being any where near their lands. “I know but it doesn’t matter,” Ira shook his head, ears slicking back to his head for a few moments before they rose to settle at half mast. “They don’t care, Bones.” Ira said glimpsing back at the moment himself. It was true that under Jinx’s rule he felt like he had more freedom than he ever had before, and didn’t regret his decision in the least, but there was something, a small amount of worry, maybe, for her. “Parley? What is that?” Ira inquired, having never heard the foreign word before.
Their conversation took a different direction then as Bones explained where she was going even without any prompting from Ira, telling him that she was heading to see her father. For a moment Ira recalled their previous conversation and the cruel words he had spoken to her in regards to her still unknown father to him. According to Bones her father not only wanted her but wanted her to move to the Plateau but she stated that she wouldn’t because she was loyal to the Creek. Bones gave him a toothy grin that he took to be smug when she informed him that he had been completely wrong about her father. For a moment, Ira studied her unsure if he was jealous of her because her parent had wanted her, or if there was a part of him that was actually glad, for her sake, that he had been dead wrong. He didn’t dare investigate that further though, unsure of what exactly it meant. His jealousy was only sort lived because he thought about Jinx and how she was a better parental figure than his own parents - whom he couldn’t even remember anymore truth be told - had obviously ever been; and she was his - to whatever extent that meant. “Well look at that, I can be wrong after all,” The Princeling admitted in a startling admittance that he wasn’t *gasp* perfect after all.
If there was anything Ira understood it was loyalty. For all his faults, for all of his nasty flaws, his loyalty was probably one of his most redeeming qualities that he had going for him. It had been loyalty and
lovethat had allowed him to make the decision without thinking about it - because he hadn’t needed too - to follow Jinx. “I get you want to be loyal to the Creek, Bones, but sometimes you have to do what you really want to do, and forget about what is supposed to be right.” He had subconsciously ghosted forward a step. “Do you want to live with him? If so, then do it.” Ira was well accustomed to doing whatever he wanted because his lack of moral compass didn’t give him a defining definition of what was “right” or “wrong”.
“And just think, if you move to the Plateau you’ll be closer to me. That’s a plus, right?” He gave her an arrogantly smug and somehow still boyishly charming grin then, exposing his teeth, a soft chuckle escaping from him.