Although he wasn't going to admit it, Roseate was certain it was similarly the case for him. "Winter can be tough." he reassures her. There was no judgement here. Only glee to not be chasing after someone's leftover scraps. He had fought many a vulture for a meal in the past. This was much better.

Arachnae was her name, he discovered. And the snake had one too! "Well, if you promise." he laughs but there was still a aura of uncertainty Roseate held about the serpent. He wasn't necessarily afraid... he just had a health respect. And a strong desire to not get bit.

"Oh right." he rumbles as he draws his gaze away from Rawkshi. "Yeah, that was why I came here." He stoops to grasp a wing in his jaws, and would wait for Arachnae's help before he began to pull it closer to the nearest pool.

Arachnae chuckled gently at his words, both of winter and of what almost sounded like mild doubt about Rawkshi. She didn't mind if he feared him, as long as the rose male didn't act upon harming her companion everything was fine.

Gripping her fangs around the creatures massive beak, she pulled the heavy bird towards the closest steaming water hole, letting go as soon as they reached their destination. The feeling of immense warmth almost immediately was followed by the thirteen foot mamba stirring around her body, tightening and loosening his coils as finally his body warmed and he felt less stiff. The witch felt relieved as slowly his head lifted a few feet above hers, the curious snake finally alive enough to observe his surroundings. Ignoring him, she began to rip feathers off the bird, plucking a clean enough area for the two of them to dig into without an unpleasant poking in their mouths. "Dig in!" She grinned.

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Getting closer to the steaming pool is much more pleasant and Roseate flops by it's edge with a luxurious stretch of his saddle-marked body, letting the warm steam soak into his fur. He didn't want a dip just yet, but just the proximity was pleasant.

Food did make it better though and he grunts contentedly as Arachnae defeathers their catch as cleanly as she could and he wriggles forward to greedily take his share. He ate like a rogue, which was to say very quickly and not too tidily. Manners weren't habitual when food could usually be torn away from him at any instance.

When he had calmed down a little and his introspection had caught up with him, he glances back to Arachnae. "So where you from?" he asks cheerfully, "You a pride folk, or a vagabond?"

Arachnae scarfed down the salty bastard just as her peachy companion did. It had likely been about three days since her last meal, and unlike Rawkshi, that left her starving. The snake hadn't eaten in months. Her stomach felt fuller, less painful from hunger and after a moment she lifted her head, licking the thin bird blood form her maw, though they had very little in them. "I walk alone for now, though my brother is a pride leader, so I consider joining him simply for the food." She answered. "But I kind of like being a rogue, it's harder but.... Not at the same time? I don't know, it's difficult to explain." She chuckled, blowing a feather into the water pool and watching as it spin in circles. "What about you?"

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Roseate props himself up and begins to wash the feathers and blood from his rusty maw, glancing attentive looks at Arachnae as she answered his questions. "Oh? Which one?" he follows up; that was was unique circumstance to be in. "No, I understand completely." he rumbles in reassurance, head bobbing. "Nothing wrong with not liking prides." he was a connoisseur of the art, admittedly. Nothing wrong with a bit of anti-authority feelings.

"I've been a rogue my whole life." he tells her happily, letting his tail dangle into the warm pool beside them. "The freedom, I couldn't give that up. Hunger doesn't bother me." There were a mountain of daddy issues behind those statements. None of which he felt very pressed to divulge. "Besides, prides can be lazy. They ain't gonna miss a bit of food off the cache every once in a while, if you're careful." Roseate heartily endorsed stealing from the rich and giving to- well, him. He was the poor.

+10 Discuss culture with someone else
+20 Learn something about pride/family relations
+10 Learn something interesting about a character

Arachnae plucked a downy feather from between her toes, completing the cleaning she had been doing, and smiled at the other peach lion. "Caladan Cove, him name is Drakon Tollaire." She purred, thinking of her brother. They shared a mother, and the rose was the only sibling of his he shared a mother with. "There are many Tollaire, but I am not one." She stated simply, just in case he recognized the surname and would ask, but even if he didn't, it was interesting information.

Lightly, she laughed about his statement of pride food cache. She would agree, except there was a few prides around here that might actually hunt you down. She didn't want to play that game with those. "Rawkshi doesn't mind going hungry either." She joked.

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Drakon Tollaire, eh? Roseate hadn't heard of the cove, nor the ruler of it. He figures it wouldn't hurt to remember that. "Are the Tollaire a big family then?" he follows up on that assumption. Being many in number and being a big family was different. Any number of bastards could take the bloodline name, without really being a part of the unit.

Although he didn't know how soon he would be testing the exact method of stealing and the dangers of it, Roseate can't help but grin too. Arachnae hadn't seemed like a stick-in-the-mud but her amused reaction to his criminal ideas made him certain she wasn't boring. Well, the snake alone had suggested that. "Where'd you find the sn- er, Rawkshi, anyway. How'd you meet?" Roseate wasn't entirely sure how intelligent snakes were, but figured being polite towards him wouldn't hurt.

Arachnae nodded, trying to think of just how many she had met in her time. "Yes, Drakon's father created many, many.... Many...." She gave became stoic, "children. I simply hope he at least cared for them all." She snorted. Drakon seemed to not talk about Smaug much, but it didn't matter to her. He wasn't of her blood, and he was likely dead anyhow.

Her attention became much sharper towards the peach man as he asked about her and Rawkshi's uniting, and her excitement flared. She loved telling the story. "I was only about two at the time, and after a horrible storm, I found him trapped beneath a tree limb. I lifted it up so he could slither away, and he chose to climb on me instead- for heat, I suppose." The rose chuckled, "to say the least I was frightened, but he proves to be no harm, and then refused to leave. I have grown attached to him, so I have never tried to force him to anyhow. And he is very useful for one of my... Ah..... Professions." She unsheathed her claws, looking at the dark glints for a moment before smirking at Roseate.

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Eesh, one of those guys. Roseate nodded knowingly; she needn't say more. Roseate's own sire had been uninterested in his children like Arachnae presumed about the Tollaire blood. Ros had never considered him a father. Honestly, he could barely recall what the man had looked like. Actually, his mother too for that matter. But who needed parents? He'd turned out great.

His company seems a lot more interested in the topic of Rawkshi however, and ever one to love a good tale, Roseate crosses his paws and pricks his ears with genuine curiosity.

"Oh wow," he reacts with lifted brows, "I'm glad I asked." and he meant it. The atmosphere and retelling made his creative mind go wild. He leans forward with cautious fascination, not wanting to get too close to the dark serpent, "Does he speak?" Some creatures knew the lion common tongue, but Roseate had never met a snake that could communicate like that.

She spoke of professions though, and it takes Roseate a moment to realise what Arachnae was implying. "Oooh." he said, catching on. But he couldn't let that go without sharing his own expertises. He was proud of his skills, after all. "I'm a poet, a vocalist." he tells her, "And a farceur, I like to think."

Arach would shake her head gently, a mild smile still on her maw. "Sadly, I do not believe so. Or at least, he has never told me anything. He listens sometimes, but doesn't respond. Though I once met a constrictor that had been very upset with me for coming too close. Maybe only those without venom can speak?" She mused, ear flicking in curiosity. "Or maybe that was a special case. Who knows?" The rose would shrug, giving a slight chuckle. The point was Rawkshi appeared to be mute, if not a bit.... Special. But Arachnae loved him regardless.

Happily, she would grin, not only relieved he did not judge her very clear insinuation she was a killer, but that he would state his own professions. He was a bard! How lovely. "Oh, oh! Will you sing to me?" She asked.

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