She snorted at his interpretation of her previous explanation for her use of the scented… soap… whatever that was, and then explained herself a little further in depth. It still did not make much sense to Riumrix, but he supposed to did not have to. She could do as she pleased, it was no concern of his. In his mind, would not this enemy of hers be able to tell who was attacking them merely by sight and smell anyway? Was the addition of a strong perfume really necessary accessory, or was it overkill? Rix could tell any of his acquaintances apart easily by their signature cologne… in fact it would be more difficult for him to identify them if they had such a strong scent plastered across their pelts, but perhaps that was it. Perhaps what this femme meant was that the use of this… soap… was part of her signature, only not her natural one but her synthesized one.

At any rate, they had switched the subject by now to that to of a battle in general, of war. Riumrix had made the comment that even across a battlefield of bloodied bodies and rotting corpses he would have been able to find her by her perfume, so strong was it within his nares, and now she gave her thoughts on that as well. Apparently, she had no intention of them ever being on opposite sides of the battlefield. Riumrix was not entirely sure how she could be so certain of that, but he merely shrugged and went along with it. But then her tone turned to something a little more flirtacious, at least in his mind, only augmented as she said a few key words. Atakask said that she wanted him to come find her in battle, covered in blood. To Riumrix, there was nothing more sexual nor sensual than that - the heat of battle, the warmth of sprayed blood as it pulsated from your enemy‘s filleted carotid, covering you and marking you as victor. He had just only recently told her that his kind often and regularly used blood for all sorts of rituals, including the breeding rituals. Riumrix growled, not in warning, but a deeper, more guttural sound that came from his loins.

“You should be careful of the words which you allow to slip from your mouth, Atakask, or else you may inadvertently find me aroused.” He stared at her pointedly before lowering his haunches to the earth, simultaneously wrapping his elongated tail around him, resting it in between his front limbs to hide his apparent erection. Meanwhile, he continued to speak, his vocals calm again as he regained control of his own reins and switched the topic ever so slightly. ‘You say that you have been trained for battle, and yet have never been in one. How have you allowed this travesty to go on for this long… Is it because you wish to keep your virginity intact?”

He cocked an eyebrow, interested in her response, not aware that his translation into this common language was not quite right. He had meant ‘innocence’, her ‘nativity’, not whether or not she had been claimed by another. He was unaware of the slip in his dialogue, and so continued… His voice still in the thick accent of his people, especially given that their natural tongue was a language similar to Latin.

“As for spying, it is a devious task indeed, and boring if there is no adventure nor subterfuge nor death. Is perhaps the true reason you were sent here was to prove yourself given that you are the heiress to the throne? Or is that not the way of your people - to judge others nearly solely upon their actions instead of their words?”

Still was he perplexed and intrigued by the ways of all the strangers, so different from him not only in body type and appearance but also in culture. His own Deus was well proven in his aptitude to lead by his skill in fighting and body count alone. It was as good a reason as any to follow him, not just in this life but through death and onto the next. But she was still talking, promising that she told no falsehoods, that she had not mislead him. But more than that, she promised to expand his imagination. But if everything she said was true, would it really be an expansion of his imagination, or just an elaboration on the complexities of nature? If these creatures were things real and realized, they were not, in fact, summoned from the depths of anyone‘s imagination…

“Well then, I suppose this makes you intriguing enough, I shall not kill you. Perhaps instead we can continue this conversation… I would so dearly love to see some of these curious things that you talked about with my own eyes, so that I may report them back to my Deus, whenever he deems it appropriate to return here. And perhaps… You could try to stretch my imagination a bit. I do not think of myself as narrowminded and there is always something more to learn. Perhaps… We could even spar. What good are skills taught let her never exercise after all?” He smirked at her, waiting for her response.

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