No answer. She tried again a few times but louder, in case he was sleeping or something, but when there was still no response her annoyance (and concern) grew. He was either out doing something (likely), really deeply asleep (maybe possible? She somehow doubted it), or dead (least plausible but not impossible!).
With the snow falling and covering up tracks, there was no way to verify option number one, which left the last two—both things she could confirm.
Sighing, Jayari waited a little longer, stroking Zala's velvety nose and pulling her hood down tighter around her face to ward off the stinging flakes that were starting to come down a little harder now. Alright, so how long did she give him before she left? She couldn't wait here all day with no clue as to what was happening.
...Or what if he'd just flat out moved on? He didn't like people and he didn't like the fact that she'd found him. What if since she hadn't come yesterday, he'd just packed up and left? It sounded ridiculous even as she thought it; he had so much stuff, how would he transport it all so quickly and to where? And in this weather?
It wasn't realistic. There was no way.
But it's not impossible, whisperedher anxiety.
Shit. Couldn't argue with that.
Jayari glanced around one last time for any signs of him, then cursed under her breath, bouncing on her toes with nervous energy—and to just keep warm. Fine. Whatever. She'd just take a quick peek, just to see what was going on. If he'd packed up, she'd get her ass back home and get on with her life. If he was just out...guess she was waiting a bit longer.
And so she crawled down the tunnel again and into his living space, dusted herself off, and looked around. Everything looked to be where it should be and there was no smell of death. "You better not have croaked or something," she grumbled, intensely uncomfortable now that she was there, since she absolutely knew she shouldn't be. She stood there for a moment, then spun around to leave.
"Oookay. Uh. Right. Everything looks good. Good to know." He was just out. Of course he was. It was always the most obvious answer and she shouldn't have come down here at all.
She started to head back up.