[j] abeyance

<style type="text/css">q {font:13px Georgia; color:#BA6D00;}</style>Her display held for all of three seconds, the time it took for her to register Tulok's submission and react to it. Her features fell to stoniness as she regarded him, raking up and down his unfamiliar coat and body with a scrutiny best befitting a creep, but at least she could pretend it was well-placed. She was doing border patrol, after all, and no wanderer was fit to question the depth of her observation. He was a tall wolf, perhaps slightly taller than herself, and bore the awkwardness of youth, along with a veiling cloak of maturity. His growth had not stopped, she suspected; she had watched her own siblings, aunt, and uncles fill out over the course of their second year, though Jinx had done comparatively little filling out herself. There was no telling, however, how old Tulok truly was, and she didn't attempt to guess.

There was nothing about him to suggest he was inept, no signal that he was unhealthy or otherwise compromised. The smell of sickness didn't cling to him as it did to some flea-bitten loners, which was a relief. He introduced himself as Kesuk, at once summoning suspicion into the flare of her eyes, but something about him told her he wasn't one of Nanuq's. The way he left "Nereides" out of his name, she decided. She could scarcely remember her other relatives, and wondered who this wolf belonged to... It was possible Nutaaq and Sylvia had taken and produced offspring, which would have made sense with his age.

Convinced now that he was probably of their family, she relaxed by lowering her tail some, but only slightly. Family did not a good wolf make; Jinx was proof of that all on her own. If he was Nutaaq's then he would know of the bear gods. Jinx Kesuk, she returned, watching carefully for any reaction that would suggest he knew her name. Surely, if he was from Shearwater Bay, there would have been no doubt. May Sos keep you. There is space, but what would you say deems you... Worthy? What are your assets? Your weaknesses? The last question was spoken in a snake-like hiss, drawn out into a drawl that was queer but suited her.