Pride was, for once, just having fun.

It had started with his familiar. He'd been trying to graze at one of the swathes of grass Mercurius had grown in Orion, Mischief by his side. The white hare and white stag were both clearly visible against the green, but Pride didn't really mind that--he hadn't been attacked here since the whole Raheerah... thing.

Mischief had started interrupting him, at first. Bounding in, kicking off his leg, jumping for his back (and missing) while he was trying to eat. A few head-shakes, a few snorts, a stomp or two, and finally Pride gave up ignoring her. He gave chase, instead, a playful rush of hooves across dirt, but Mischief bolted out past the grass and into Orion proper. He gave chase, of course. She was weaving and dodging, far nimbler than he; every time he slowed to give up the chase she'd double back and leap off of him again with a little lapine attack. "Devil! Miscreant! Troublemaker!" he called after her, and sparked a little magic in himself.

At least, he'd meant for it to be a little.

Instead, his next leap clattered him to the ground and shot him skyward, so that he let out a startled shout as he was flung slingshot-like past Mischief. He sailed through the air, spinning, wide silver eyes taking in Orion flashing past, and a single soft swear escaped him.

The arctic hare, too, stopped to stare after him, sitting up with a quizzical expression.

I hope nobody sees this, was Pride's embarrassed thought, as the ground came rocketing up to meet him.

He heard--a voice, at least he thought it was a voice, as he touched down. The touchdown, surprisingly, didn't kill him--didn't even hurt him, really, though he was most certainly not graceful. Slender silver-tipped legs were flailing as he landed lightly, flanks-first, on Orion's rock.

He hoped whoever it was hadn't seen too much... and hadn't heard his wordless shouting bleat as he'd careened overhead. But he had a feeling that they probably had.

Hooves scrambled at rock, and Pride came to his feet, head whipping up as he tried (and failed) to quickly regain his dignity. He stumbled a little, and his pale eyes flicked back and forth, looking for the owner of the voice. He heard a shuffling sound, and shifted his gaze that way, finally catching sight of the stranger: a wolverine, lumbering toward him at very concerned high speed.

Pride gave a delicate little cough. Mischief hopped out from the shadows, and sat up, watching him intently.

"Ahem. I--am fine! Yes." He blinked, swaying, struggling against the wave of dizziness that followed. "-Thank you for asking. I do not--I apologize if I startled you. Tumbling through the air is..."

He looked back the way he'd come, and blinked again.

"Not... my normal routine." His head swung back to Jenani, and he still couldn't quite process what had happened. Did my magic just backfire-? he wondered. "I am--that is--my name is Pride. It is a pleasure to meet you." Aside from the whole falling out of the sky, thing.
He cringed a little at the thought.

The first question was an excellent one, and Pride looked down at his slender legs. Lifted them, placed them back to rock, tentatively. No pain.

"I don't think so," he confirmed, his faint amusement clear. "It was magic, yes--and very unintentional. Normally it is, ahh... milder," he explained. Normally, I do not go careening through the air. "It is a magic that makes things that fall, ahh, bouncy. I hit the ground and went-... farther, than usual." Understatement of the year.

For a moment, when Jenani asked 'and you are..?' Pride thought they were referring again to him--and in confusion, he started to respond. Did I not already--oh! he realized, following the wolverine's gaze to Mischief. Despite himself he laughed, a little, albeit good-naturedly. "Oh, that--is Mischief. She is my familiar. She cannot speak," he explained. "She is friendly, though. That is magic, too, ahh... a way to bind to Lesser creatures, if you did not know-?" The question was polite; he didn't want the stranger to feel like he was talking down to them, explaining something they might already be aware of.

In any case, he was realizing (a tad belatedly) that this wolverine was both polite and very well-spoken. They seemed like they'd be pleasant company, and he considered for a moment. "It is good to meet you, by the way, Jenani. I live here, in Orion. If you'd like to talk for awhile, I do not get much company. If you are busy then I extend the invitation to another time, if you ever wish it, but I'd be happy to show you the magic I used to bounce, or simply to chat."

It was a little open, a little overly familiar perhaps, but there was no point in being shy when making new friends. Pride glanced to Mischief, then, taking in her state of being; she was relaxed around Jenani, despite them seeming to be perhaps a predator. "I think Mischief likes you."

Pride dipped his head in acknowledgment. The wolverine's mild annoyance was wholly lost on him, and his "Well, thank you," was amusedly ironic. He was still imagining what he must've looked like.

But she was right; his magic was strong. Ego aside, he couldn't deny that.

"I'll tell you about it--about familiars, if you like. A good friend of mine has a little garden near here--soft grass, moss, we could sit on while we talk? Ahh--could I get you something to eat? If you don't mind telling me what you eat," he added. If it was meat, he could easily just form up a banana--the magical kind, anyway. Otherwise, Mercurius kept all sorts of goodies in his garden for herbivores and omnivores.

He turned, glancing back, the gesture an invitation to follow; but he spoke further, answering Jenani's question. "The binding's magical. I didn't discover it myself--I heard of a seer who'd done something similar, with a bird, and I only managed to replicate the act after quite a lot of trial and error. Error being hilarious failure," he added, amused, remembering all the Lessers he'd accidentally sent scurrying. "It's... sort of sharing your magic with one. It links you. I can feel her emotions, her intentions. I think it's enhanced her mind, a little. And she can sense mine. If she sees things, hears things--I get a sense of what she knows, does that make sense?" It wasn't a perfect window through which he could view her world, but the glimpses could be quite enlightening.

He paused in his speaking; he didn't want to overwhelm a conversation, to make it one-sided. But of course, he was happy to discuss more of his magic, as Jenani had wished--given time.

Pride dipped his head at the mention that Jenani had already eaten. "Very well," he answered, easy-going. He didn't seem bothered by the concepts of hunting, or of meat. The realities of survival were what they were.

Hooves tapped a soft rhythm on the rock as he led the way to the little garden, to the soft mosses ringed with ivy, with flowers and ferns. He settled in, himself, as he considered Jenani's question--folding his legs down beneath him, laying in the grass. "That's a fascinating question," he mused, glancing to the wolverine. "I don't recall ever trying to read other lessers' minds, before, not directly. I suppose that I could try, and compare-?" Was Mischief different, now? Was her-

Mischief's mind cut into his thoughts, a haughty and humorous sort of of course I am, as she recognized his comparing her to others. She darted past, leaping clear over him, and he huffed laughter through his nose as he looked after her. "Well--she thinks she's better than others, but she has a sort of... sense of humor," he explained, amused. "I'll need to test that, though. It's an interesting question." This sentiment half-repeated, he fell silent and considered Jenani's other comments.

"Something like that, yes," he agreed, shifting a little against the moss. "Glimpses and shadows, but of course I can't simply walk through to her side," and he realized he'd sort of lost track of the metaphor. Ahh, well.

And would it work on a Gembound-? Pride eyed the wolverine, pleased with her intellect. This was an actual conversation, rather than the passing interactions he so often held instead, and he enjoyed it. "Yes, or something very like it. I'm linked to a close friend of mine, too. He can see what I see, hear what I hear, when we try; we can speak to one another, mind-to-mind. I do not think the magic is identical, but if I had to guess, it's very similar indeed. But it is, as you say, both ways. I can read someone's mind, pick their thoughts from their head--I don't, usually, unless I'm invited," he hastened to assure Jenani. "It's..." He hesitated--"Intrusive, I should think. And I need to see the one I'm reading; I can't sense their thoughts from far away, in other caves, as I can with Mischief or Mercy--that's my friend," he explained.

Curiosity flickered through him, and he nodded toward Jenani. "May I ask what sort of magic you hold-?" he asked, head tilting a little to one side.