Her laugh was not all that encouraging and he folded his arms in response. Okay, so no room. It’d been a bit of a shot in the dark, anyway and mostly said in jest. If she really did take him back there, he wasn’t entirely sure what he’d feel for her at that point was respect. Possibly some sort of concern for her sense of self preservation. As it stood, she’d said no and he thought that a very sensible, if unfortunate for him, choice. A smile did ghost his lips though, when she called him ‘little mouse’. He’d not had an affinity for mice before he met her but now, whenever he saw one, he thought of the name he’d told her and it brought him back to their divine encounter in the oasis. He’d stopped killing mice after that. Now he tended to catch them and release them far away to live their mousey lives well away from him.

Nia then decided that they’d go somewhere besides her home. Khanh watched as she gave him a bit of a snarky look, stepped around him, and began to saunter off in what he took to be a random direction. Where was she heading now? Despite some vague misgivings, he followed after her. With his long legs, he caught up to her easily and once he did, had to slow a little to match the pace she set.

He’d thought she was taking him to that back alley she’d mentioned before. Each time they came to one, Khanh’s steps slowed a fraction but she never turned. Her strides were purposeful and sure enough that within a second, he’d adjusted and continued on without a word. They said nothing to one another as the city melted away around them and though he had questions, he was willing to wait for her to be the one to speak first.

His eyes did widen, though, when she started off through the long grasses. “Prettier than my room, anyway,” she said, running her palm along the puffy heads of the grass plumes. Khanh looked around, realizing that this stretch of empty grassland was where she’d been intending to go all along. A small frown creased the space between his brows and he wondered what it was about this place that she’d wanted to see...or at least not be interrupted from. He’d said all he cared to say at the tavern, so whatever she wanted, it wasn’t to publicly humiliate him again. Possibly she wanted to take a tumble in the grass, or perhaps she just wanted to walk. He was fine with either one.

They’d been standing around three feet apart but at the rustling in the grass, it seemed like Nia jumped the intervening distance, her hand seizing his forearm. Following her pointing finger, he saw the cause; lionesses. Khanh tensed but didn’t run. If the two of them were being hunted, they were dead no matter what they did. The cats didn’t seem to be interested in them, though. They walked single file after one another, ghostly and quiet in the night.

“Wouldn’t have seen this in my room, either.” Was that a smile in her voice? He swallowed hard, attention still on the portions of grass that split and fell back together in whispers.

“I’d hope not.” He didn’t care if she thought him a coward. Khanh’s list of priorities usually included not being eaten. Call him sentimental but he did care about being alive from time to time. Looking down at her then, he noted her hold on his arm. His initial idea had been to introduce her to the people he spent the most time with but they were out in lion country instead. It was only now that Khanh was beginning to slightly regret contacting her. Lions had definitely not been part of the bargain.

“We’re leaving Egypt soon,” he said, more as a way to find something to talk about than for any other reason. “You don’t have to be afraid of us hitting your house again.” For the time being.