Jigano watched Rory shift and awaken, glad to see his friend moving but worried about what the injuries beneath his bandages looked like. The bite had been... bad. The burns, far worse. Still, Vervain's healing had been enough to close the wounds over, preventing further bleeding or infection and it was a relief to see the man moving now, both arms usable despite the abuse his shoulders and chest had suffered. It was a brief moment of relief amid his sea of uncertainty and fear that their friendship had been irreparably damaged by his weak mind and sharp teeth.
The fox flinched at the grumpiness in the human's voice, assuming it was directed at him, and at the scowl - had he ever seen that expression aimed at him before? No, never that he could recall - that pulled at his friend's lips. Tucking himself up small in response he tensed to hop down from the bed and leave the man in peace, without any further reminders of what had been done to him by a wild and angry animal.
Before he could quite force himself to try and leave his friend's side, curse be damned, Rory reached out to him, placing a finger gently on the cool black leather of the fox's nose. Jigano blinked, ears twitching partway up in surprise, and on reflex he found himself backpedaling to sit up in instinctive affront. He uncrossed his eyes to look cautiously up at Rory, but the touch had been so gentle and recalled another time when he had cheered the hunter up. So maybe... maybe...
Greatly daring, the white fox stepped carefully forward, ears twitching as he watched Rory's expression for any sign of flinching away or displeasure. He wanted things to heal between them, wanted more than anything not to lose what he had found at the quiet hunter's side, and if Rory didn't hate him for what he'd done then maybe... maybe there was a chance...
He put a paw to his friend's hip, then another on his stomach as he stretched up, careful not to touch his friend's injured chest as he dipped his nose to briefly hover over Rory's bitten shoulder with a soft whine of guilty regret. He straightened to meet Rory's eyes, his own gaze just a little bit below the hunter's, then closed his eyes and nudged the blond's unburned cheek with the top of his head, rubbing soft fur to warm skin in a wordless apology filled with more emotions than he knew how to give voice to.
The fox flinched at the grumpiness in the human's voice, assuming it was directed at him, and at the scowl - had he ever seen that expression aimed at him before? No, never that he could recall - that pulled at his friend's lips. Tucking himself up small in response he tensed to hop down from the bed and leave the man in peace, without any further reminders of what had been done to him by a wild and angry animal.
Before he could quite force himself to try and leave his friend's side, curse be damned, Rory reached out to him, placing a finger gently on the cool black leather of the fox's nose. Jigano blinked, ears twitching partway up in surprise, and on reflex he found himself backpedaling to sit up in instinctive affront. He uncrossed his eyes to look cautiously up at Rory, but the touch had been so gentle and recalled another time when he had cheered the hunter up. So maybe... maybe...
Greatly daring, the white fox stepped carefully forward, ears twitching as he watched Rory's expression for any sign of flinching away or displeasure. He wanted things to heal between them, wanted more than anything not to lose what he had found at the quiet hunter's side, and if Rory didn't hate him for what he'd done then maybe... maybe there was a chance...
He put a paw to his friend's hip, then another on his stomach as he stretched up, careful not to touch his friend's injured chest as he dipped his nose to briefly hover over Rory's bitten shoulder with a soft whine of guilty regret. He straightened to meet Rory's eyes, his own gaze just a little bit below the hunter's, then closed his eyes and nudged the blond's unburned cheek with the top of his head, rubbing soft fur to warm skin in a wordless apology filled with more emotions than he knew how to give voice to.
