Adi calling him "Azzy" brought a sudden, violent pang to his chest. Nobody had called him that for a long time. Not since he'd raised a young white fox, that had clung to him and called him "Dad" and "Azzy" and giggled at his theatrics. For a moment he considered snarling at the child, putting them in their place. Only Forgraves was allowed to use that name, how dare they call him anything but what he said he could be called. But he didn't. This was a child. They didn't know that there was a faint hurt there. But he didn't correct them either.

"I am big," he answered after a brief hesitation, "because that is what I am. I have always been bigger then many. Some are hatched big. Some are hatched small. It does not matter." He thought, again, of Forgraves - small, even smaller then this one - but filled with life and joy and cleverness and curiosity. "Maybe you will be big! But if you are not, do not let it discourage! All life can be big within."

He crossed his arms and huffed, something like amusement in his voice. "Yes, exploring is fun. Learning is good. Me? I wait and I wander. I track my enemies and destroy them. I fight when I need to and when I want to."

@Adi

Adi waited, watching Azrael's face with open, nonjudgmental curiosity. Her ears drooped even further at the news, once again scrambling to press against Azrael in a bid for comfort.

"Aw..but you are very cool! I want to be cool, if you are right, then I will be the gembound with the biggest within if I can't have the biggest without."

Once again, the pup fixated on Azrael's every little movement, looking up at him with something akin to awe. "Enemies? Why? You are nice! Hmm.." She dropped her gaze, seemingly deep in thought. "If I get big, will I have enemies? Then I don't want to get big, they could stop me from learning."

@azrael