Soft come the dragons

"Because I want to see you get fat," he countered without skipping a beat. But in all honesty he knew that despite Koontz's ingrained instinct to survive she rarely took the opportunity to properly do so; all he'd seen from her was giving 110% to everything beyond her own simple needs. Skipping meals and sleep...and what point would she relax a little? At what point would he not?

Genuine surprise flitted across his face when he noted how easily she ninjaed her way onto his 'hidden' trail. "B-but the secret tunnel..." he mentioned with a comical tilt of his head. His honest flabbergasting (a common reroute of embarrassment) was cancelled out by her praise and he lifted himself a little higher in that moment. If ever-serious Koontz complimented him then she meant it. "I'll be trying REALLY hard," he commented before turning his face away in a rare moment of shyness.

Oy he thought to himself as she stubbornly pursued the thought of hunting. It was his one true shortcoming. He knew it. She (unfortunately) knew it. He was a failure at most hunts...but he was wise enough to know that he'd never get better without practice. So without insisting more on the free meal just a half mile away he turned his head and flashed his cohort a grin.

"Your lead or mine?" he inquired to solidify his agreement on the hunting party.