Firestone Hot Springs enthralled

The male's head tilted curiously to the side. "Is this your first time away from home?" he wondered, feeling suddenly very old and weathered. He'd taken Catori as an age-mate, when they met, but her spirit seemed much younger. It was somehow endearing and alienizing at the same time, though Grayday was leaning toward the former just as surely as he was leaning in to run his twitching nose along her muzzle, silently assessing her age. Not a yearling, but not withering, either. That was about where he was, wasn't it?

He lingered close to her, rubbing his forehead against her cheek. "What's a sea lion?" he asked, recalling the animal she'd mentioned earlier. He had a vague notion of a water-cat in his head, but cats didn't like water very much, did they? "And why don't you hunt them? Are they dangerous?"