Jade Fern Grove The loneliest people are the kindest

Haunt sensed that he was taunting her, first about her intelligence and then about her skills. As an aspiring hunter, she had become immune to the sting of failure by now. And with parents like Kaertok and Arbiter, she hardly had a thin skin. But to have a random stranger pick on her was an unprecedented experience. Did he mean it? Her frame of reference was so limited, she wasn't entirely sure how to take it. Her tail lashed a few times, like an agitated cat's, as she deliberated.

Maybe if your ass and face didn't look exactly the same, she thought, though it seemed lame to retort now. Truthfully, she didn't desire to insult a stranger and there was no truth to those unspoken words. He was actually quite handsome. In any case, she wasn't great with words, much less verbal sparring. And though he didn't outsize her too greatly, Haunt didn't know if he was dangerous and didn't want to invite trouble.

Eventually, she simply said, "Okay." Unaware that her brevity might come across as cattily as a more verbose rejoinder, Haunt began to back away, prepared to leave him to it and likely return to the bypass.