Redhawk Caldera slipping and sliding

The man rushed to explain himself, and Rue tilted her head.

"Of course. We're all excited for our soon-to-be new arrivals." Rue wagged her tail, hoping to put the man at ease. He seemed like he might have been put a bit on the defensive, and that hadn't been Rue's intention. 

Oh, it was Eljay. She'd heard of him. 

Speaking of new arrivals...

"Yep, pretty new here. But I'm an old friend of Towhee's. And Phox's." 

Eljay was smiling in sort of a shy way, which was actually kind of sweet, and it had a strange effect on Rue. She swallowed, pushing the feeling down. She knew Towhee had been holed up with one of the Caldera males, and with Rue's luck, it was probably this one. Rue didn't want to stir up trouble by looking sideways at Towhee's guy.

"I'm a scout," she struggled to add, remembering that Eljay had given his trade. "Or.." Whoops.  She wasn't exactly a scout, now was she? "Or, I used to be, I guess." Oof. Now it was Rue's turn to be embarrassed.