Blacktail Deer Plateau The Gathering of the Clouds

The two probably operated on a similar wavelength, or at least were doing so when you combined recent events, histories.  Whatever.  Mal had been walked over his whole life, was done with it, and was suspicious of everyone and then some.  It made him the awkward and at times awful person he could be sometimes.

A sound to him is just a noise, and Rusalka meant nothing to him.  That didn't help him at all -- and it was probably a good thing because he thought living at the ocean = psychopaths just because of his one earlier interaction.  Nah, right now he just frowned a bit.  Totally useful on his part too.  Still, she wasn't telling him to leave.  So now what?  Did that mean he could go do the thing he wanted to?  However, he looked both confused and offended at her next suggestion, Uh, no.  I just wanna see if there's some reason I can actually see to explain why jerks keep crashing through my territory, ignoring borders and stuff. I'm tired of it already.  Mal's muzzle scrunched up in distaste at the thought.  To him, a border was a sign to go the hell away, no matter how many people stood behind it.  They had no excuse for barging into his home.  None.

He didn't notice the other guy.  Mal was too busy trying to read her expression to see if he should scram to pay broader attention to things that were just beyond his periphery.