In all honesty, Kinis wasn't sure what to think when his guess of Indru was confirmed. On the one hand, he did want to remain impartial until the full story was revealed, but he didn't doubt his brother's judgement. Indru wouldn't have attacked her unless she deserved it.

The excuse which followed was a little confusing. Dominating pack wolves? Well, of course Indru was going to act superior in certain circumstances; he was a leader with children. However, Kinis didn't think his brother the arrogant sort, and in order for this female to have run afoul of Indru in authoritative mode... that left very few viable situations, and none of them in her favour. Just what had she done?

His instinct was actually to smile, as if it had been a slight joke, because who honestly doesn't know how to behave around someone above you? Even if you were hopeless at the nuances, the basics were surely obvious... but as he considered the facts laid out in front of him, and the awkwardness of the girl's manner in general, he found he could believe it. Eyeing her with a quirky smile, he said, "Well, common sense always helps," as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, but then quickly moved on, thinking that perhaps she was simply lacking in that department. "Y'know, 'cause if someone higher in the ranks than you is pissed, you just don't piss them off more. And being a leader trumps being a loner, sorry, it's just the way it goes."

Ruiko? Was she confused, or was he? When did she meet Ruiko? Suddenly, everything was getting more complicated. He was quite certain that he smelled Indru on her, right? It wasn't Ruiko who attacked her? But did her words imply that she had aggravated Ruiko too?

"Wait, you... you know Ruiko? I thought we were talking about Indru?" He blinked, his bemusement evident in his expression. But this was secondary to his knowledge goals - now adding irritating befuddlement to the mix made it harder to keep on track, so he just blurted it out. "And what exactly did you do, anyway? Indru doesn't attack for no reason. But it was Indru, right?"

So she did know Ruiko - but of course she knew him, how could she have said his name otherwise? - but then it had been Indru she had fought. Or been attacked by. He wasn't really sure any more. When the explanation came, though, for the wound, Kinis had to stop himself from baulking; she had raised her nose to the leader of the lands she was walking on? Just what thought process came to that logical conclusion? Fighting to keep the bewilderment from his face, for he really thought that it wouldn't help matters (she had already admitted to being... bad with people, right?).

"Erm..." How to explain that Indru had been in the right without sounding too critical? "Well, you know, he has kids in that pack, so I think it was fair enough that he act like that. Plus... he's leader... you don't go challenging them on their turf unless you're looking for something like that." He gestured to the wound with his nose, the bizarreness of the situation affecting him with humour; suddenly; a wry smile touched his lips as he watched her, unable to comprehend her thought patterns. She didn't come off like a troublemaker - at least, not a deliberate, calculating one. Her obvious discomfort pointed to that. But a thought occurred to him, and he hazarded a guess as to the answer. "You tend to get in trouble a lot?"

It was beginning to make more sense, actually - if she didn't know how to act, then that she simply copied Indru was kinda understandable. It hadn't worked in her favour, but he at least could see why she had acted as she had.

With his curiosity mostly sated, at least the most hungry aspects, Kinis was finally able to pay attention to the girl's body language again, and was dismayed to find that she looked uncomfortable and shifty. He hadn't meant to make her feel bad, and scolded himself for his lack of sensitivity; she had been a fool but paid the price, so there was no point in berating her more. It seemed as though she at least understood that she had done the wrong thing. The 'at least, not often' part was of mild concern, but maybe she could be encouraged to change in that regard?

"Well, here's to hoping you don't get any more," he said with an incline of the head, a more genuine, kind smile gracing his lips this time. "I'm Kinis, by the way. What's your name?"

There was a name to remember, and he nodded his head deeply in response to her curtsey, amusement playing on his face. "And you," he replied, not ungenuinely. From the evidence provided, she wasn't an enemy of Swift River so much as a casual irritation, and certainly there was nothing wrong with being cordial to her so long as she did not continue to pose a threat to the pack.

Not that it was to be his pack for long. The thought caused the boy a flash of guilt; it didn't mean he had to stop looking out for the family he was so connected to.

"Just the fish," he said, glancing back to the water. "I don't tend to do much these days but patrol and hunt, so I thought I'd try something at least a little different. It's been a while since I swam in something other than a river." Always the river. It would be a relief to be free of it. "What about you? You got a den out here?"