Hatame almost laughed, but somehow managed to make himself look surprised, instead. As if Sakkata's sudden change in priorities was surprising to him. Not moments ago she had been all gung-ho to rush to the nearest village and get some clothes, but at the first mention of flying, suddenly she was perfectly content to take a break so he could practice. Man, she really was enraptured with the whole idea! Even if she tried so hard not to show it, it was obvious, and all the more amusing for her attempts at keeping it in check.
Hmm...that was another thing he'd have to work on: getting her to realize that it was okay to show excitement! Well, aside from when she got a chance to whap him one, that is. She loved that all too much, but he couldn't exactly say he didn't, either. But anyway! Yeah. She didn't have to be so reserved all the time! And especially after all that had happened, Hatame just wanted to see her happy.
And he certainly wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to get back in his original form and practice flying, either. Hell, he'd probably need to practice walking, for that matter. He was so danged used to two legs.
Picking his way more cautiously down the steep path, as he obviously had no tail to keep balance with, he slid to a stop beside her, though at the same time, a bit distanced from her. If he was going to shift, he didn't want to accidentally whack her with a wing or something; he still wasn't quite used to this shifting thing. "Mhmm, suuuure...we all know ya just wanna see my sexy, nekkid, Gryphon-beast body," he teased, "...and I ain't complaining." Oh yeah...and he also wanted to put some distance between them because of that comment, too, and just hope that he could be done shifting by the time she got close enough to deliver a punch. But he just couldn't pass it up. He needed a reprieve from good behavior every once in a while!
In any case, he took her words as words of consent, and wasted no time at all in setting himself to changing. Shifting back to Gryphon form, even though he knew the technique, still proved a challenge, whereas when he'd shifted back to human form, it had come easily and, well, naturally. It was almost as though his body were fighting the change, whereas when he'd shifted to human form, his body welcomed it, as though to say, "this is what you are supposed to be". But aside from being annoying due to the time and effort it took, it still didn't worry him. So, he'd been molded into a human? Another Gryphon would have been horrified, and he knew it. But...he had his health, now. And his freedom. Species didn't matter. He was still himself...as if that weren't painfully obvious. And that's what really mattered.
Maybe he was just too damn tolerant, but he just couldn't be bothered by it. Especially not when he could shift. If he couldn't...now that would have been another story.
It really only took a minute, maybe two, but compared to the mere seconds it took to change back to a human, that was a long time. Soon enough, though, he was standing awkwardly on four clawed legs, his large wings held out from his black-furred sides to help him as he adjusted to the change in his anatomy. It still felt weird, really, really weird, to suddenly have so many added apendages. Heck, it just felt weird being...not human.
But it was nothing a little walking around and such couldn't fix.
In any case, this time around, he made an effort not to show just how strange he felt right about now, and instead nonchalantly stretched out his new muscles and back, bringing his chest low to the ground and flexing his curved talons into the earth. Then he fanned out his wings to their full spanâ€"and watched Sakkata wryly from the corner of his eye. She'd spent the most time examining his wings, after all.
"Ssso, Sssakki-sssweet, what'sss on the menu?" he asked as he flexed his wings, moving them up and down slowly as he adjustedâ€"and running over the flying process in his head. He knew he wasn't going to get airborne the first time, maybe not even the first few times, and it would likely be quite a few tries before he was able to successfully hunt, too. at least, he was guessing as much. But who knew? Maybe all it'd take was a few practice runs before his muscles remembered what they'd been designed to do.
"Therrre'sss prrrobably a lotta good ssstuff out herrre! Ohh! And yanno what? If I get good at thisss and ssstuff wherrre I don't have to worrry about crrrassshing, I could jussst fly usss to the nearrressst village, and it'd only take an hourrr, maybe! Not that I mind campin' out with ya, love. I'd be lyin' to sssay the idea of keeping you warrrm at night out herrre wasssn't a nice one, but...don't wantcha to frrrreeze and all," he added with the gryphon's form of a teasing grin.
