Emberwood I got years of livin' by and how I choose

Kincaid was not sure what to think when the verbal sparring did not continue, and the shewolf instead heaped affirmation upon him. His ears slicked back in flustered confusion, but he gave a pleased little wag of his tail all the same.

"Well, that — " He gave a nervous but hearty chuckle. "I don't know about ingenuity. Patience, maybe. Laziness, certainly."

Was she flirting with him? He'd thought so at the very start, but now he wondered if she just wasn't very playful and kind. He took a step toward her as well, but came no closer than that in case it might scare her away. His black nose twitched, and he decided she was not so young as she seemed to him, but young all the same. Young, and far too pretty to have any interest in his scruffy hide.

"I'm Kincaid," he told her, while he took himself firmly by the scruff and gave a mental shake. Down, boy. She's just bein' kind. All the same, he abandoned his post at the tree to turn his attention fully to the stranger. "You from 'round here?" he asked, thinking that he already knew the answer. "Folks sure is friendly in these parts."

he fluster