Phantom Hollow i'm sorry i'm a little late [s]

Nori's brows rose at his tone of voice, regarding him with mild suspicion, before her expression changed to one of begrudging amusement. She huffed out a soft breath of air from her nose - not really a laugh, but more an acceptance of the situation for what it was. He hadn't meant it, really, so her bruised ego could back down and lick its wounds. "I suppose I could let it slide this time," she reasoned, smirking at the boy, her own tone lightening up. "You are a forest demon, after all. I should've expected your brutish sense of humor." She sniffed, grin still on her maw and head held high in a faux show of superiority. As though she hadn't been making fun of him this entire time.

Ah, well, when he phrased it like that, it did seem a little stupid. At the very least, it wasn't necessarily something that seemed beneficial to the person who was helping. "It does seem... idealistic, to go through life like that," she began - it wasn't as though Nori was particularly altruistic, either. Would she help a stranger? She'd never been in a position to give a starving wolf her meal, or tend to their wounds, or hunt for them. Of course, survival was not something Nori had to worry about too often growing up, either. It didn't make her any less selfish. "What about friends, then?" she asked. Another topic she was woefully inexperienced in, as she had not had other children to play with when she was younger. Had she ever had a friend? Had he?

She couldn't imagine either of them had had very exciting social lives in the past. Of course, Nori had had essentially no social life at all for the last two months, having left her parent's home when she was just shy of eleven months old. Her exchanges with others had been brief, sometimes aggressive, sometimes cordial. She hadn't slept nearby someone else since she'd started off on her own, so perhaps that was why she felt more comfortable around Jet than she normally would with a stranger. It was stupid, because she really didn't know him, but she had to admit that he was fun to be around.

"Mhm! You've been a wonderful guide so far. I'll be recommending you to all the lost wolves I come across," she assured playfully, momentarily wanting to nudge his shoulder, but ultimately thinking better of it. They'd had no physical contact thus far, after all, and Nori wasn't the biggest fan of it anyway. Her face warmed at the praise, and she only halfway concealed the happy grin on her face. "Aww, I didn't even have to fish for that compliment - you're going soft," she chirped, seeking out eye contact. "You're definitely not hard to be around either, you know. Of everything I could've run into in those woods, I bet you were probably the best." It was another one of those objective truths - she was having fun right now, and Jethro really did need to know that she was enjoying herself, because it seemed like he was, too.

This time, she’d let his comment slide, excusing him due to his demonic nature. Idly, he wondered what that meant would happen the next time. Jethro’s brow furrowed in thought as he contemplated asking, but he settled simply on allowing one corner of his face to draw upward in a wry smirk in defiance, to challenge to the display of dominance, settling on a single word response. ”Beware,” he warned lowly. Because, in all probability, there would be a next time. In fact, he was going to try to make sure of it, even if he had to create something, just to see what would happen.

Nori, though, did seem to genuinely contemplate his views on generosity and friendship. She termed it idealistic to go through life like that, a statement he agreed to with a bow of his head. ”Sure as hell does,” he grunted, though the dark one once more found himself wondering how much of this she’d contemplated before, with her background. Although, the fact that she didn’t immediately attempt to refute it was intriguing. Anyone that’d been raised in the sort of environment he’d spoke of would have, so perhaps.. there were more similarities between the two of them than he’d thought.

”Friends.. probably ain’t worth it, either. Alliances work better. Find something to trade, both parties benefit, then maybe go their separate ways. Then you’re not beholden to anyone.” It was the name of survival. Never owe anyone anything, not for long. Anything to do with emotional attachments just led to weakness, and potentially, the loss of one’s own life. In the end, none of that was worth it - or at least, that was what he told himself, to avoid thinking about how desperately he’d craved some inkling of attention, or love or a connection from his family. But there’d been nothing except pain and loneliness.

Jethro was quite glad for the theatrics his companion commonly displayed as she returned to that, distracting him from his thought and stating excitedly that she intended to recommend him as a guide to all lost wolves in the future. ”Oh, hell no. Unless they got somethin’ decent to offer, this was a one-time deal.” He spoke with just a trace of humor, scoffing at the thought. Anyone following him was bound to get lost forever, or worse.

He huffed out another, soft snort as Nori gratefully accepted his comment and claimed he was going soft. She claimed he was not hard to be around, and that in fact, he was the best thing she could’ve met in these woods. Again, he snorted, in both disbelief and a bid to hide how close to the truth those words managed to get. ”Yeah, well, you had somethin' to offer. But, you could do a hell of a lot better. If it weren't for the food, you'd think different,” he grunted, this time absent of any humor or jokes. Had Nori not been clever enough, or practical enough to propose a hunt, he probably wouldn't have had any qualms about leaving here there. Ultimately he was glad he hadn't, but that didn't need to be admitted aloud.

There is a small pile of bones gathered on the ground, there might be some marrow left in them. +2 Health

Nori let out a light laugh, entertained by the look on his face and the gravelly voice both. She was not at all worried about a next time for the moment - sure, he'd unknowingly hit on an insecurity, but she was Nori. She could handle a little light teasing. It was kind of what she did.

They were in agreement on the second point. It sounded nice, Nori figured, to want to give up something key to survival to someone else just... because. Because you were kind or altruistic or wanted good karma or something like that. Nori was not any of those things, and she didn't really believe in karma, so perhaps there was no need for her to be nice to anyone unless there was something to gain from it. A soft hum escaped her, thoughtful and acknowledging. There wasn't much else for her to say on that topic, really.

Friends weren't worth it, either, in his opinion. And she wasn't sure what she thought about that one - it wasn't exactly a topic that she was well-versed in. But it sounded nice, to have someone that hung out with you just because they liked you being there, and you liked them in return. Again, it was idealistic and maybe even unrealistic, but it sounded nice.

She was grateful for the change of pace in the conversation, and she crooned playfully. "Aww, I'm special," she bragged, even if she understood logically that she was not. She had something to offer, and so did he. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

"Well, I am excited about the food," she admitted. She also didn't know if she could do better, but he didn't need to know that. And she wanted to tease further, about how she was confident he'd grow to enjoy her presence, but unfortunately the forest was thinning out and it was about time to stop talking and start focusing on the potential hunt at hand. Her attention flickered away from her newfound companion and instead focused on the scents and sounds around her, eager to find a trail and set off.

Nori didn’t seem to have much to say in response to either his opinions pertaining to ideals or the useless nature of friendships. Instead, she simply let out a soft hmm, seeming to indicate she either agreed with his opinions or at the very least, she was seriously contemplating them. Somewhat surprising, he thought, and once more he wondered if there was more to her background than he thought.

Although Jethro believed what he’d stated, it was also impossible to deny or completely crush the long-felt desire to experience that sort of thing. He had openly desired to know what it felt like to have someone care about him, but as time had gone on, that had started to seem impossible. For, if his own mother couldn’t have been bothered to give a damn about him when she had been the one to create him, how could anyone else?

Distracting him from those thoughts was Nori, claiming that she was special. He huffed slightly at that, and shook his head, though the sight of a discarded set of old bones tucked away beside a tree stopped him from responding verbally. It was the first sign of anything living he’d seen, but it was proof that other animals were in this area, and also meant it was probably best to quiet their banter for the time and shift towards tracking something down.

His company seemed to agree, so Jethro nodded. ”Think we ought to separate. We can cover more ground, have a better shot at findin’ something. We can keep within’ hearing range, and call out if we find something,” he suggested lowly, gesturing to the skeletal remains they would be passing, before glancing back to his companion to see whether or not she agreed. They seemed to be leaving behind the thick of the forest, so there would be far less risk of one of them getting separated or losing their way.

--exit/fade..