He flinched backwards at her sharp tone, though more from the hostility than her actual words. It took him a moment to even parse what she was saying, his ears swamped with both the water's rumbling and his own frantic heartbeat. It seemed that she was chiding him? A majority of it was lost on him--his eyes kept darting back to her flashing fangs as she spoke, but he caught words like strange and rude and apology, along with one he'd never heard before.
Sea-dragon? Was that what she was calling him? Her tone implied it may have been an insult, but the term sea was certainly not derogatory. Dragon, he thought to himself, brows furrowing as he rolled the word through his mind and struggled to place its meaning.
His attention snapped back to Saira as he caught a sudden motion, another high-pitched growl rattling through his chest on instinct as fresh fear flashed across his expression. Except, looking at her clearly again, she hadn't seem to have moved. Her body had warped again, fins sprouting from her spine as easily as one could stretch their claws. She just kept changing as if it was nothing!
Delta didn't speak, wide eyes flicking back and forth across the stranger as wild fear tapered into something more unsure. She still made no move towards him despite her sudden advancements. She had said she wouldn't eat him, but she'd been a cat then. Was she still now? She still spoke like one...
Tsillah, he was confused.
He tried to speak, but he could feel the beginnings of a screech bubbling deep within his lungs. He swallowed harshly, for the moment pushing aside his last line of defense and focusing instead on the heaving of his breaths. She wasn't lunging for him; if anything, for the moment it seemed she wanted nothing to do with him. His growling petered but didn't stop, nerves still too frayed to override his natural instincts to make his displeasure known. Slowly but surely he forced his heart to slow from its manic pounding, the edges of his vision clearing as he struggled to compose himself while cornered in the stone.
Delta still wasn't calm by any stretch of the imagination, but he could feel his voice returning. Eventually, as Saira busied herself with her changing form, his trembling lessened enough for him to speak again.
"I don't understand," he croaked, voice strange and warped as it fought against his frightened growling. He opened and shut his mouth several times, readjusting to lean his side against the nook's far end as he wrapped his tail around himself and pressed his fins tight for comfort. "Ah...nhm--what are you?"
Sea-dragon? Was that what she was calling him? Her tone implied it may have been an insult, but the term sea was certainly not derogatory. Dragon, he thought to himself, brows furrowing as he rolled the word through his mind and struggled to place its meaning.
His attention snapped back to Saira as he caught a sudden motion, another high-pitched growl rattling through his chest on instinct as fresh fear flashed across his expression. Except, looking at her clearly again, she hadn't seem to have moved. Her body had warped again, fins sprouting from her spine as easily as one could stretch their claws. She just kept changing as if it was nothing!
Delta didn't speak, wide eyes flicking back and forth across the stranger as wild fear tapered into something more unsure. She still made no move towards him despite her sudden advancements. She had said she wouldn't eat him, but she'd been a cat then. Was she still now? She still spoke like one...
Tsillah, he was confused.
He tried to speak, but he could feel the beginnings of a screech bubbling deep within his lungs. He swallowed harshly, for the moment pushing aside his last line of defense and focusing instead on the heaving of his breaths. She wasn't lunging for him; if anything, for the moment it seemed she wanted nothing to do with him. His growling petered but didn't stop, nerves still too frayed to override his natural instincts to make his displeasure known. Slowly but surely he forced his heart to slow from its manic pounding, the edges of his vision clearing as he struggled to compose himself while cornered in the stone.
Delta still wasn't calm by any stretch of the imagination, but he could feel his voice returning. Eventually, as Saira busied herself with her changing form, his trembling lessened enough for him to speak again.
"I don't understand," he croaked, voice strange and warped as it fought against his frightened growling. He opened and shut his mouth several times, readjusting to lean his side against the nook's far end as he wrapped his tail around himself and pressed his fins tight for comfort. "Ah...nhm--what are you?"