Sea Lion Shores From my mouth I could sing you another brick that I laid

She detected no sign of Jinx's stealthy approach, becoming aware of her tail only when the she-wolf stepped close and spoke. Pied started, then bristled slightly when she saw Jinx standing so near. When Jinx made no attempt to instigate some sort of verbal or physical altercation—as a matter of fact, she offered only some brief words of caution to her pack mate—Pied's fur reluctantly flattened and her frowning expression followed suit. She regarded the other female blankly for a moment, then faced the sea lions again.

For a while, Pied ignored her company outwardly, though inwardly, she was very aware of Jinx's proximity. Pied tried to decide how exactly to acknowledge Jinx, if at all. She didn't want to be friendly with her, though she didn't exactly wish her ill. The dappled yearling argued with herself for so long that, eventually, she decided to look at the problem from an outside perspective (as much as she could do such a thing): what would Akhlut or Kisu think?

"What are they, exactly," she finally said, her voice slightly stiff. She turned halfway toward Jinx without looking at her directly, keeping it civil but certainly not friendly.