Frost Forest [Goblin]

[Juno]

She would need to think of other arrangements but she was content with it for the moment. Sophie didn't like his continued worries about her being hurt. She personally felt she could hold her own quite well and it was a little offensive in her naive eyes that he felt she would gravely injure herself merely by being out of his presence. The dangers of the jungle were truly unknown to the younger shifter. "I won't get hurt," she answered gently, unwilling to promise not to wander off in the event she found some need of something beyond the sight of his cave.

Sophie wasted no time becoming reacquainted with his body, the hands at his waist sliding around a bit to rest at his back instead. Despite how he complained of the cold she thought his chest at least was quite warm. She got comfortable and quiet, content to just rest with him as she settled a bit lower and adjusted her head to rest at the hollow of his throat. There she could monitor both breathing and heartbeat, which seemed logical to her.

"Let me know if it gets uncomfortable," she finally offered, hoping he would tell her before legs went numb or he got too warm with illness.

[GoblinFae]

Fintan allowed her her adjustments, sitting quietly and still himself so as to not get in her way. Once she was settled though he dared to wrap his arms around her waist again and rest his chin atop her head. "You're really warm," he commented, enjoying the way her body-heat seemed to seep deep into his bones. "Thank you," he added tiredly. "Wake me if you feel there is any trouble.I'll take care of it. Will just be more trouble if you don't and you would be hurt. Just how it is in this land and I wouldn't want that happening to you," the shifter explained quietly. "Just wouldn't want that."

[Juno]

"I think you're a bit too confident in yourself as a sick man, but I hope nothing happens because that would just be silly," Sophie sighed, not seeing a point in him taking care of any problems if he could hardly take care of himself for the moment.

"How would you take care of something?" she wondered. "You can't shift. Not safely, at least. Is there really so much danger here? That you might be attacked in your own home?" she asked skeptically, uncertain why he lived there at all if that was the case.

[GoblinFae]

"They don't know that," he growled back sulkily. "This is my home and I'm known in this area. Not many would dare pass the border but as the scent weakens they might get bold enough. There is one in particular though who would prance his way right up to the heart of my home to rub it in my face. He's the most danger. Hopefully it won't come to that though," he sighed, nuzzling her neck gently.

[Juno]

"So we're to rely on your reputation alone?" Sophie snorted, unable to keep herself from shaking her head against him for the weakness of his plan. She was unaware of who "he" was that Fintan referred to, but she hoped that none of his so feared rivals might move to make a challenge while he was unwell.

"I don't want to see you lifting a finger until you're well again," she warned him. "Otherwise, what am I here for? The food you brought was very good, but it wasn't worth affecting your health like that," she scolded gently, taking a slow breath to inhale his scent, something that seemed surprisingly calming despite her irritation with the stubborn tiger.

[GoblinFae]

The man growled and sulked, not liking her sarcastic tone. It was rude of her to insult him so when he had no idea who he was or the way life worked in the jungle. Out of spite, he intentionally lifted his index finger in a small, silent rebellion to her demand that he remain still.

"You needed food. Not going to let you starve or eat more of those awful green things to get us both killed just because you don't know this area or are in danger due to my current state."

[Juno]

Sophie lifted her hand to set atop his hand when she noticed his act of rebellion against her but otherwise didn't argue it. There was no point, as she'd learned. He was just far too stubborn.

"Well you shouldn't do it again. I am capable of hunting things that aren't green," she pointed out. "How am I going to keep my promise if you decide to go out and collapse or get hurt when I'm not around? Hm? If you don't trust me I don't really see what the point of me staying."

[GoblinFae]

 "You're not from here," he reminded her. "Is it so wrong to worry about your health when you obviously don't know what will kill you or save you? Have you recognized anything here from your own homeland? It isn't a question of your capability," Fintan admitted gruffly. "It's about keeping you safe while you're in my territory. You're my responsibility here whether you like it or not, you insufferable kitten." He huffed and let his head fall back to thunk painfully against the cave wall.

[Juno]

Sophie narrowed her eyes at his chest in frustration, insulted that he would call her out in such a way even though it was true. Things were very, very different in the jungle and she was not familiar with any of her surroundings. That did not mean she couldn't learn, though, and she felt coddled by his not allowing such a thing by restriction alone.

"So you are keeping me safe from myself and you are keeping yourself safe from me, too. What am I even here for if I am not going to be allowed to help? Am I just waiting for you to be well enough to escort me off your land? So that you can wash your hands of me without a guilty conscience?" She shook her head in disappoint, already thinking she was right about it. He saw her as a child that was not mature enough to understand or learn, it seemed, and only because she was not native to his land. Sophie did not understand the importance of her company through all his complaining.

"It doesn't really seem like I'm very welcome here," she finally observed calmly. Perhaps he would understand the root of her issues with him. "And I don't think that will change if you see me as a mere kitten."

[GoblinFae]

Fintan huffed and growled his frustration, squirming slightly as he was unable to stand and pace as he wanted to due to his own limitations and her current location in his lap. "You do help. It is the only protection I can provide though in my current useless state," he spat venomously, angered at his own inadequacy. "If you're patient and listen I could teach you some of what you need to know. Instead it seems you'd rather fight me at every turn hence the name kitten. Surely even your kind know that even kittens have claws."

[Juno]

His assurances calmed her fire a bit, the younger shifter nodding in understanding. "Well I can do that, but I'm no kitten. Haven't been for many, many years," she said, lifting her head to give him a pointed stare. "My kind considers me a full grown adult and I hope you might respect that while I'm here." Sophie did feel a bit bad for snapping at him, though. As she lowered her head back against him she nuzzled against his throat in apology before setting her nose to the bend of his shoulder.

It was nice to have a bit of close companionship at least, something she hadn't been able to admit to herself about missing in her travels before. "I don't want to fight with you. I just want you well again and... I just want to go home."

[GoblinFae]

Her nuzzling soothed some of his ire and he found himself relaxing more against the wall. Fintan did not believe that he was disrespecting her by calling her kitten, it was no different than when he called his runt sister teasing names either but for now he decided it best to keep those thoughts to himself.

Instead he focused on what she was saying concerning her wants. "Have you gotten what you came for then? You are so far from home anyway and to want to go back now...you are ready to return so quickly then?"

[Juno]

She heaved a great sigh at his questioning, the reminder of her failures causing her to slump against him a bit more. She'd had such a plan before entering the jungle and meeting him had ruined it all, but it was for the best in her opinion.

"Not exactly. I think I'll just return empty-handed. It wouldn't be the first time," she explained gently, straightening slightly so she wasn't just dead weight against his chest.

"It wouldn't feel right to hunt your...wild cousins. Or however you think them. I can easily lie and say this was all a failure, that I never found any tigers." It was the story she'd been thinking on, at least. Whether her employer might accept it as truth was yet to be seen but she just did not feel right hunting so near native shifters for her own profit.

She would probably upset the balance of the land and shift the power if she killed for the skin she'd been sent for. Privately, she also doubted her ability to take down an adult tiger after seeing both Fintan and his brother, as much as she would deny it and claim she was strong. Even more, she thought she might have trouble seeing a wild tiger for what it was after her most recent mistakes.

"I will repay him the advance he gave me for the trouble and go back home to the north. It was nice to come visit and see, but the jungle is very different from home," Sophie lamented. "Very different."

[GoblinFae]

He did his best to try and console her, rubbing a hand slowly up and down her back along her spine in hopes of bringing her the comfort she seemed to need. "Would he harm you," Fintan found himself asking, concern and a need to protect, flowing like fire through his veins, "for failing?" The shifter thought hard, trying to remember what exactly she had said before about hunting a tiger but it was all fuzzy for him. In the back of his mind possible solutions were beginning to arise but it would depend on what and how desperately she needed things to be a success. "What did you need to bring back for him, exactly?"

[Juno]

It probably shouldn't have felt so nice but his consoling hand helped uncoil the tension she hadn't even realized she'd been holding in. Burrowing against his chest and squeezing him close Sophie shrugged a bit. It was all so complicated and difficult to explain when she'd been given so many options.

"I was sent to bring a tiger back. Alive if possible. I assume for a pet for some noble," she began, though she realized she was leaving out some details. "I accepted a job from a dealer, I assume on behalf of a client that wants one. They asked for a rumored tiger from this area. 'Large male with beautiful coloring,' but I didn't have much else to go off of. The biggest tiger around, whatever I could manage... I honestly didn't think tigers were so, well, large," she admitted, chuckling softly at the ridiculous idea of her small leopard managing to drag a tiger as big as Fintan or his brother to an entirely different country altogether.

"They were willing to accept a skin as well, if I couldn't manage to deliver a live one," she added with a frown. "But I can't do that. Any of that. Would be so wrong to harm such a beautiful creature." Sophie was glad her face was well-hidden for that, the heat upon her cheeks was obvious enough to her but she didn't want him catching on just how much she'd grown to admire the natural beauty of his animal.

[GoblinFae]

"You wouldn't have to manage. There are other options," Fintan informed her quietly, his thoughts miles away and racing with solutions. One in particular stood out firmly within his mind. "There is a way to meet the secondary expectation, if you're willing that is." He sighed softly, squeezing her a bit closer as he adjusted his position slightly. He was completely oblivious to her attraction to his species but he did know where a fur could be found without having to take down one of his fearless cousins. "It would mean some traveling if you're still interested in following through with whatever your human lifestyle required."

[Juno]

She was curious, but she almost didn't want to ask at the same time. She shuddered at the thought of obtaining one, traveling or not. "It might be for the best," Sophie finally whispered, feeling sad for what she could only assume to be him taking her to some far off tiger he knew of. The proximity didn't matter to her, she no longer liked the idea of killing one as she assumed he meant.

"Maybe once you're well again we can discuss it," she dismissed, adjusting some to try and relieve whatever annoyance she thought might have caused the fidgeting. "Won't be doing anything until you can be all grumpy and stubborn again." The last was muttered to herself, albeit affectionately, despite it being quite true in either of his forms.

[GoblinFae]

Fintan huffed at her, giving her a look of disgruntled disbelief before shaking his head. "I am not grumpy and stubborn. You're the stubborn one," he muttered, feeling sulky. "What's to discuss even. Either you want it or you don't." He shrugged at the simplicity of it all. "Or why wait if you're so insistent upon talking? Have nothing better to do, do you?" The shifter sighed and huffed again, feeling incredibly tired and as grumpy as she had aptly described him.

[Juno]

It was a good point, but she wasn't sure she was ready to discuss it. "Well, no, not really. I guess I was just...afraid of what you might have been wanting to suggest." Nuzzling against him in the lightest touch again she finally came to a decision.

"Tell me about the way you had in mind. I was just under the impression we could not go anywhere until you were well again."

[GoblinFae]

Her nuzzling was surprising yet soothing and comforting. It was a familiar gesture for the shifter and therefore not one he expected from the human-inclined shifter curled up in his lap. "What was so awful that you feared what I suggest? This is my home. I would never do anything that would cause the balance of it to be swayed."

Fintan sighed and unconsciously moved so that his head nuzzled into her hair and her scent was allowed to wash over him. "There is a wild one who has grown quite old. If his time has not yet already come then it is not far off either. His fur is no use to him once he passes," he informed her matter-of-factly. The cycle of living and dying left him with no concern or fear. It was just the way things were. "Would that suit your purposes well enough?"