Welcome to Gaia! ::

Modry was a comfortable, mellow sort of fellow, and as such tended not to much mind just about any situation he found himself in. Granted, he wasn't as fond of caves and canyons, but almost anything else left him with plenty to watch, observe, appreciate and divine from. it was how he'd been taught, after all!

Today he was sitting comfortably, sprawled inelegantly against the trunk of a tree, cradled by its roots. He breathed deep of the lovely scents of summer, of the green things and the drying grasses and the faint wisp of dustiness on the breeze. His eyes were nearly shut, but he was gazing upwards at the slowly waving leaves in the tree above him. All was well in his world... just like every other day.

Modry blinked his yellow eyes owlishly and managed to refocus on the lioness who was talking with him. He sat up a little and rearranged his limbs to something more presentable and functional, then blinked more. The gears in his head were a little slow to get moving again after being in such an open daze for so long. He swallowed to wet his dry throat and peered at her.

Nope, wasn't anyone he knew, but her comment about not knowing who might have snuck onto the pride's lands made his ears flicker. Well, that didn't sound quite right. They were terribly careful about that, weren't they? He turned to look around them as if searching for whomever it was she was worried about meeting. However, the only stranger he saw was, in fact, her.

He looked at her again and cocked his head to the side curiously. "You are new, then?" he asked, though she'd already told him so. "Then welcome." A broad smile washed across his face as natural as the sun peeking through the trees. "You can call me Modry. Or... Firefly, if you prefer." He gave a slow, amenable shrug to indicate his lack of preference. "What would you like to see? It's quite beautiful here." And with that, his eyes strayed towards the leafy canopy above again, his smile turning more dreamy as his eyes began to defocus again.

As the lioness moved closer, he refocused on her almost absently. His brows drew together a little as he pondered her request. To be perfectly honest, he was rather befuddled, but not because of her enticing nature. He was completely oblivious to her possibly over-ripe enticements. No, it was what she was asking of him that confused him.

He sat up a little straighter and gave her a more intent look, though his eyes never wavered from her own. His gaze did not stroke her lovely face, nor drift to the delicate pattern around her neck. No, he peered at her in something that was half puzzlement and half suspicion. "Do you want me to show you the beauties of the pride's lands, or introduce you to important people?" He was actually a little put off by her focusing on "who's who" in the pride. His mind might be distracted, but to him it sounded either insulting to the rest of the pride, or possibly dangerous for those he introduced her to. Could she be a spy? What was he supposed to do with a spy?!

He glanced almost frantically around, and his eyes fell upon and fixated on a scattering of pebbles not far from their paws. He sucked a breath, eyes roving over the non-pattern with the worried hope that it might either confirm his concerns or put his fears to rest. He was rather nonplussed to find no notable markers for either answer. Now mildly alarmed, he looked back to her. "And you haven't told me your name!" Even in the midst of his rising dismay, he appeared quite sleepy-eyed and relaxed. Worried and upset was not a natural state for Modry, and his body found it easier to stay mellow than get all worked up like his mind was becoming.

Oddly enough, some of that charm was slowly beginning to sink in. Well... as deep as any such tactic could, with Modry. He blinked slowly at her, his demeanor relaxing back to dreamy as his state of mind slowed and stilled once more. She'd introduced herself, and did seem to have things straight... maybe she was okay after all? Besides, what would he do about it even if she was a spy? Fight her? He gave a soft snort at the idea and shook his shaggy mane at the very idea.

"Well, I don't really know many important lions," he responded slowly, eyes drifting to the waving of a bush in the breeze beside her. "But I can certainly show you around, I suppose." He bobbed his head then, an almost bow but now quite. "And it is good to know your names. Now I can ask the wind about you." His expression was dead serious, precluding any jovial reaction. "It doesn't always tell me anything, but sometimes, it will hint at things." He gestured to the rustling bush beside her, which then stopped moving as the breeze died down. "I believe you, and so does the wind."

He gave her another slow smile, eyes squeezing briefly shut in contentment. "If you let me choose, I'd likely be introducing you to the beautiful sights instead of the beautiful people. But we will try to do both, if we can." He rose to his paws and gave a great stretch, paws with claws extended into the rich loam of the earth. "Do you like trees?" He peered at her again with interest.

This sounded like a perfectly good plan to him. His previous suspicions were long forgotten at this point, so he beamed at her pleasantly. "Then come, let me introduce you to my favorite tree friends." He chuffed in a friendly manner and began to stroll unhurriedly away. "Now this first tree, he's been around a long, long time. He tends to not comment on very much, but when he does, it's big."

Nevermind that a small, cognizent part of his brain knew that such things weren't... quite... real and true. In his heart of hearts, he believed that it might be possible to truly listen to nature and learn wonderful secrets about the world around him. He just had to keep at it and learn how to interpret the signs more accurately, that was all!