They were nearly close enough to touch now, and their scent--her scent, it seemed, washed through his nostrils as he sniffed curiously in her direction. Delta curled his claws into the stone beneath him to keep his legs from shaking as the massive cat tilted her head and opened jaws to reveal a mouthful of frighteningly long fangs, but thankfully, she didn't lunge.
Instead she sent forth a trail of bubbles which Delta only ever-so-slightly flinched back from; had she tried to speak with the air in her lungs? He wondered then if she'd even understood him underwater, dark eyes flicking across their finless form with concern before motion caught his attention at the sides of her neck. The flesh there split as if slit with invisible claws, but no blood clouded the water as they flexed against her fur.
Gills! He realized, wonder crossing his expression as he watched the strange cat sputter with her newest breaths. How amazing it was to be able to grow gills whenever one wanted! Did it make the transition from water to land easier? Were her fins just hidden as well? Delta took a peek at her tail again, but with some disappointment noted that it seemed unchanged from how it was before. Still, she was a cat! She was like him!
She spoke again, and with the water filling her lungs her voice rumbled heavily through the water and sent tickles down his whiskers. She had understood him, and his gills fluttered with relief as he sagged against the rocks.
"Sai-ra," he mirrored, testing her name. She'd asked not who he was, but what he was, but no offense crossed his expression as he blinked in thought. He was a cat, of course, but he was also him. "I am River Delta," he said simply. He looked Saira up and down, unfamiliar to any social faux pas he may be committing as an awed curiosity made itself evident on his face. "You are unlike us," me, his thoughts corrected with a pang of longing. "But...you are a cat as well?" His tone lilted with a shy hopefulness, practically in disbelief that despite her differences, he was finally meeting another feline again.
Instead she sent forth a trail of bubbles which Delta only ever-so-slightly flinched back from; had she tried to speak with the air in her lungs? He wondered then if she'd even understood him underwater, dark eyes flicking across their finless form with concern before motion caught his attention at the sides of her neck. The flesh there split as if slit with invisible claws, but no blood clouded the water as they flexed against her fur.
Gills! He realized, wonder crossing his expression as he watched the strange cat sputter with her newest breaths. How amazing it was to be able to grow gills whenever one wanted! Did it make the transition from water to land easier? Were her fins just hidden as well? Delta took a peek at her tail again, but with some disappointment noted that it seemed unchanged from how it was before. Still, she was a cat! She was like him!
She spoke again, and with the water filling her lungs her voice rumbled heavily through the water and sent tickles down his whiskers. She had understood him, and his gills fluttered with relief as he sagged against the rocks.
"Sai-ra," he mirrored, testing her name. She'd asked not who he was, but what he was, but no offense crossed his expression as he blinked in thought. He was a cat, of course, but he was also him. "I am River Delta," he said simply. He looked Saira up and down, unfamiliar to any social faux pas he may be committing as an awed curiosity made itself evident on his face. "You are unlike us," me, his thoughts corrected with a pang of longing. "But...you are a cat as well?" His tone lilted with a shy hopefulness, practically in disbelief that despite her differences, he was finally meeting another feline again.