PISTOLS AT DAWN // DOUBLE-JOINING

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 1.4;letter-spacing:.1px"]He'd learned his place early, but if he heard that someone else thought as much — Tydeus isn't sure what he'd think, really. Equal parts shame and fear, probably. He would hate himself for a moment, because the small rebellions aren't enough at this point. Even if he made a thousand of those smart comments, pushed Bones until Bones finally pushed back, it's not for his sake. In a way, he knows that Valkyr sees through him like that. Their histories aren't entirely compatible, but there are enough familiar pieces to make it easy for him. Recognizing that leaves him feeling stripped of all armor, wanting to shrink away from the way he talks and looks at him. Wide peach colored eyes dart to the sha as he spoke. In any other situation, when Bones wasn't there and Tydeus hadn't been permanently shaped by him anyway, maybe he would have appreciated the admission. (Once upon a time, he would have flirted.) As it was, he's familiar with how Bones reacts — Valkyr wouldn't be the first person to die for paying too much attention to him. It sounds awful, doesn't it?

What's worse is that he's more comfortable once the other lion's threat lingers in the air, relieved even though his exhale is shaky. His gaze shifts to Quill only after that, looking for the other's reaction. It doesn't matter all that much, but at least Valkyr doesn't seem too bothered. His response has the smaller lion raising a brow quietly, amusement flickering across his expression just for a moment. Dwindle, getting his ass handed to him — no, he doesn't think that Bones is the type for that, but nobody knows Bones as well as he does. Everyone else who might have is dead. Blush. It's flattering, really, probably a reference to the soft pink stripes that brighten his body. At that, he smiles. Everything drops so quickly with just a flick of his owner's tail, jumping to shift to his other side with one last apologetic blink.

"Are you going to correct him?" Tydeus asks as the sha walks away, eyes on the receding members. He's not sure if he wants him to or not, and that — that's scary too.