She left him that night and that was it. It wasn’t like she thought about it anymore, they’d made an agreement to try this friendship thing and that was enough. She left the decisions making up to him on when they would meet again after the initial night and didn’t go looking, didn’t even bother to except the casual sweep of the forest floor when she was lounging way up in the trees. Part of her was skeptic on if he would try to see again or if they’d fall into the option of seeing each other by chance, but she also was trying to be more aware of his honesty. He said he wanted casual friendship with benefits, so that’s what she expected and she was happy enough. Things were different than before but not in a bad way, this was probably easier than all their other options before – at least there were no assumptions or expectations.

In the time since their last meeting, Echidna had spent her time in the general area. She mostly kept in her jaguar form, catching small birds and rabbits to feed herself with. A big hunt would be saved until she had a partner, it was more fun that way. No matter how they felt about each other it was the one aspect she could count on. There was a certain thrill in hunting together, maybe because of how she could go high and he went low and their prey didn’t have a single chance so they could play a bit more. Echidna thrived on hunts, it was when she let herself go, let all her worries and aches float away from her. Drenched in blood and guts, she was more herself than walking around on two legs and maybe that was something to be worried about. But she hardly cared, Echidna did what made her feel good.

Of course, it was a rare treat to feel good for her, she spent most of her time wishing she’d never climbed up out of the ocean. It was built right into her, she supposed, to sink down into her own emotions. Even though she felt better than she had in a very long time, it didn’t change everything about her self-image. Echidna thought about everything they’d talked over at their last meeting and she felt at peace on most of it. She was thinking about it all, relaxing into it like warm water when she shifted for the first time – it was, well, she didn’t really know. It’d been centuries since she last found this form. Thick skin, claws, rows of teeth.

She hadn’t been a crocodile in so long.

Not since she was a kid. Stupid and fumbling. Echidna enjoyed the old form, her forgotten form, and spent quite a while in it. Learning how to use the body again, the thoughts, which were both mostly lazy. She’s in her crocodile form when Quinn comes back to her side of the woods and she’s sitting out by the river, her mouth slightly open, waiting for something to crawl inside. Her beady eyes looking around at the forests, the river, and eventually Quinn walking. How long would it take him to realize? Echidna is pretty sure he wouldn’t, which held a slight bit of amusement because there could be mischief.

Echidna growls, lifting her head, snapping her jaws. She pulls herself up out of the mud she’d been wallowing in and swished her tail. There is a reptilian hiss.

Sup, Quinn? She says in a harder tone than her jaguar form and her mouth lags open just a little before she snaps it shut again. What do you think about the new form? Want to test out these teeth? Echidna says in a teasing way and opens her mouth wider so he can see the sharp, bloodied rows of teeth in her mouth.