Redhawk Caldera The View from Halfway Down

There was a tell in the way her lips jigged, and the flat tone of her voice. Something- a friendship or affinity- had gone sour. Her laugh painted her as a skeptic. She looked to him, and he probably just looked a bit confused. It seemed her relationship with Akashingo was complicated, to say the least. 

He jumped slightly at the change in her posture and emitted a whisper of a growl. He looked, but saw nothing. Sudden movements had that effect on him. He was quick to relax, hoping she hadn’t noticed. 

Some of what she said went over his head. The white noise that often followed a startle scrambled his thoughts for a couple minutes. He tuned in visibly at the mention of a name he recognized. ”Tierra? Huh. Yeah, I knew her when she was just an ankle-biter,” He said with a slight but brittle laugh. The topic of Reyes’ absence weighed on the conversation. He didn’t know what to say. 

But she didn’t seem keen to dwell on it. Maybe Reyes being gone freed her a bit. So when she suggested they run, he gave her a slightly oblivious half-smile. It felt like he was recovering from whiplash. But when he did, he grinned, dropped into a brief play-bow and then bounded off ahead.