Perhaps if he had known the Hollow was referring to a series of winding tunnel, Crixus may have hesitated. He may have found the mere thought to be rather depressing, because who wanted to be stuck inside the earth all day? It was fortunate that he had blindly followed Nadia to the caverns, otherwise he may not have been there at all. Now he found himself downright enamored with the place and its growing familiarity, how it stayed so much cooler than on the surface. Privacy wasn't a luxury often afforded in cave dwelling prides, but he and Pandorra had seemingly found themselves a quiet enough place for the time being. Outside of her, he hadn't met a single soul. Crixus wandered the territory in boredom, trying to memorize the layout to the point of perfection. It wouldn't happen overnight with the way everything was laid out, but that was quite alright. He was home, so he may as well take his time.

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In truth, Nadya was growing restless underground. It was unnatural, yet this was where her brother had deemed appropriate to live. How much longer would the Nikolov convince herself to follow the ways of a sibling who was no longer present? But she couldn't just turn her back on Obsidian Hollow, could she? Not when Magnus had been nothing but kind to her, gave her a home, gave her a rank. A nobody with a rank, measly as it were. It made this whole pridelife thing that much more frustrating.

Growing more familiar with the caves, Nadya wandered them aimlessly in search of something to do. Every turn, however, brought the scarred woman up short. There were plenty of other members more in touch with the needs of the pride, and more engaged with the rest of its members. Aside from Magnus, Nadya had yet to truly meet anyone else other than seeing them at pride hunts or meetings. Did she know their name? Maybe, but she'd have trouble remembering them. Did she know anything about any of them? Absolutely not. To be fair, though, they knew nothing of her as well. Nadya was content to keep most individuals at a ten foot distance from herself. As such, one could assume her surprise to turn a corner and nearly run into an unknown brute while lost in her own thoughts. Paws practically skidded to a halt, saving the scarred woman just a few inches before she would have collided with @Crixus. "Apologies." The lioness quickly ushered the word while craning her neck back from the male in a need for space. She didn't recognize him, and gauging from his markings, his face would not be one easily forgotten. Yet, a quick sniff of the air spoke of his allegiance to the Hollows, so this wasn't a trespassing rogue? "Are you new?" the Baroness questioned suspiciously, one brow raising subtly while her chin was kept parallel to the ground.

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Crixus would have been content to remain alone. It had been how he'd spent the majority of his life, after all, and now that he was essentially entombed beneath the earth, it only made sense he continue to stay that way. The only other lions he would meet down in such a dreary place would be fellow pride members, he assumed, but even then he wasn't the most social of creatures. It had been a miracle to have uttered more than three words to Nadia at the passageway, though desperate times had called for desperate measures. Pan had attempted to find them a home several times before he'd simply dragged her to the borders, and with the hollow he was content for now. Problem solved. If only they had done it sooner. His eerie gaze snapped to a shrouded figure as it materialized in front of him, recoiling as quickly as it came. Crixus pulled himself to a halt to give the lioness some space, though truth be told it took him a second to identify what the shadow had been at all. Without her ears, well.. it had caught him off guard -- not that he stared and gawked. It wasn't like Crixus had the nicest of bodies, either. Besides, it set her apart from the rest. "Yeah, I've only been here for a week or so. Don't know my way around too well, sorry if I've intruded." Was he? No. But she didn't have to know that. "I'm Crixus," he said with a gentle nod of his head, anticipating the same courtesy in response. Bitch. @Nadya

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Luckily for the scarred woman, the male seemed to be paying more attention to his surroundings than she had been. Even if he didn't know his way around well enough yet, he had the ability to at least pay attention to what was in front of his own path, unlike the Nikolov. Hardly one to admit her own faults, Nadya was pleased that the stranger did not seem irritated or aggravated by her near blunder. She wouldn't have to lower herself to providing an excuse for the matter. "It is quite alright," the scarred woman was content to let the man apologize as well if he felt the need to do so. Far be it from her to take the blame for something that was actually her own doing. 'It took me a while, too, to learn the paths. Living underground can be just so.... unnatural." They were lions, after all, and normally lions lived on savannas or prairies, or anywhere other than under the freakin' earth, but yet, here they were. Thankfully, the Nikolov's distaste had since subsided for the notion of living underground, but she could still understand the adjustment it required.

"Nadya," the chocolate lioness offered with a curt nod of her head. "Pleasure to meet you," she spoke with a tone that just seemed automatic. Frankly, if he wasn't a pridemate, he probably wouldn't have even gotten that much, but Nadya knew when it was important to play nice. Being 'respectful' to those who might have to have her back one day was one of those times. It would be to no one's benefit if pridemates did not get along to some degree. Infighting was probably frowned upon.

@Crixus

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Well, she seemed pleasant enough -- to him, at least, the man who was completely unable to process anything emotionally whatsoever. The more blank the face, the better, because chances were she was going to be getting the same thing in response. Pandorra had often commented on it, but it had been bloody well trained out of him as a child. Crixus did not emote because he did not often feel, and when he did, he showed it more like a child than anything else. A real catch, that big blue bastard. A real catch. And with Pandorra being more absent than usual, Crixus' empathy lessons had been derailed. Anyway. "Unnatural is a good word for it. Do you know why Magnus even picked it?" He hadn't a damn clue that the high sovereign was essentially a carbon copy of his missus, because had he known, the need to escape the sunlight would have been a bit more understandable. As it was, he just assumed the dude was a vampire. That would be cool. Vampires. Crixus shifted, glancing over his shoulder to peer into the darkness. "Are there any inconspicuous cliffs one can disappear off of if one is not careful?" Because they hadn't mentioned that in orientation, and he would rather hear it from someone who wasn't invested in protecting the sanctity of the caves. "Or any hot spots where everyone gathers to gossip?" he snorted dryly, doing his best to socialize. Because Pandorra would have wanted him to.

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Well, this guy was already leaps and bounds better than the only other male the Nikolov had met in these lands, not including Magnus -- she had to like and respect him. There was no annoying accent and no awkward first impression. A lack of emotion was actually preferred compared to other possibilities. So far, so good.

Crixus then posed a good question that Nadya didn't know the answer to. She did not like not having answers, but the scarred woman was not about to make a wild assumption either. "Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe he prefers the shadows," the Baroness shrugged while leaning back into her haunches. It would not dawn on her that Crixus hadn't yet met Magnus in person, thus she wouldn't mention his pitch black appearance. Even with her own shade of brown, the Nikolov knew direct sunlight for too long could become very hot very quickly.

Maybe she'd been without her brother for too long, but when the steely male asked about cliffs in the caves, Nadya couldn't help but feel a wet smile start to curl at one side of her scarred lips. "Hm, I could tell you, but it might be more fun if one found these things out by one's self." Much like Crixus's mentality, Nadya figured if her brother was here, he'd want her to socialize a bit as well. " Finding gossip is not my strong suit, I am afraid," she'd then offer flatly. Maybe she should mention that Crixus was pretty much the first pridemates she'd held any sort of conversation with since joining, aside from Magnus, at least.

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"Well, perhaps one day they'll divulge all their secrets." Crixus shrugged, assuming the king and queen were just.. quite terrible at picking real estate. If he had cared enough, he would have marched straight up to the two of them and demanded to know. As it was, he was rather content to just.. not be social. Present company excluded, of course.. and Pandorra, wherever she was. Crixus snorted, amused by the retort of self discovery. "If that's the case, I suggest a buddy system. Safety in numbers, yes?" The lion shifted his weight, tapping out his paw before him as if he were looking for the edge they spoke of. "This square foot of ground is safe, so mark that down." Piece by piece, they would map out the whole cave system. Or something. "It's not mine either. Socializing in general isn't. Am I doing it right?" Crixus wished he'd been joking.

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"Someday," she mused without sparing much more thought to the reasoning behind anyone might choose to live underground.Given their dark complexions, though, it probably wasn't too hard to figure out. Nadya would chuckle in response to the remark about the buddy system, finding a redundancy in the suggestion given. "Safety in numbers, hm? I suppose we should start living in groups to enhance that safety," spoken in words laced every bit in sarcasm while a rare grin pulled up one side of the Nikolov's lips. Okay, maybe this guy wasn't so bad.

The damned lion even prompted a laugh from the scarred woman as she watched him feel about in front of himself. At first, Nadya wasn't certain what he was doing until Crixus claimed that particular patch of cavern floor 'safe.' "Noted," she smirked. "I am not too certain about this next square foot, however. It might be a bit precarious." A smug look crossed the chocolate woman's scarred features before a brow rose as the lion's next comment. "Well, you have not made me wish to jump off a ledge yet," Nadya admitted with a deadpan expression. Not like something like that had ever crossed her mind while forced to converse with someone.... annoying.

@Crixus

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