Ezra watched with wide eyes as Hildy spoke to his master in such a commanding way.<i>This woman must be very powerful</i>, Ezra thought, looking back and forth between the two mildly bickering humans.<i>She must be very powerful indeed for Master to allow her to speak to him in such a manner. </i>"I think I like you, Miss Hildy," Ezra said gently, the slightest hint of a smile gracing his smooth features when Hildy said Ezra wasn't a bad Asha. "I hope not," he mumbled, watching with a renewed focus as Hildy fiddled and cleaned his injured hand. "I want to be a good Asha for Master, but he is difficult to understand at times. Everything the keepers told me about what Master would want so far has been untrue. Master says they lied to me," Ezra added, remembering that lying was a thing humans did, a very unpleasant thing.<br/><br/>Talk of not locking Ezra up in a cage was something the Asha followed closely with his sensitive ears, though he kept his eyes trained on Hildy's work. Although he shouldn't have felt any joy at listening to Hildy chastise his master, Ezra couldn't help but find pleasure in knowing that<i>someone</i>thought putting him in that dreadful, awful, lonely cage wasn't a good idea. He had hated it in there. Despised it. Every second had been a painful, gut-wrenching stretch of seemingly endless torture that had left him feeling dulled and his face stained with inky black tears. The dark tears had burned his eyes and he had hoped to never feel such dread again, but he was finding it immensely difficult to predict his master's actions. The keepers had made serving humans sound so easy, but Ezra was coming to understand that it was far more difficult than he had originally anticipated.<br/><br/>When Hildy was finished, she led the young Asha to Reis, moving his hand onto his thigh. Master tensed up, but Ezra did not mind so much in that moment. Master always seemed tense, no matter what was happening, and Ezra was beginning to think that's just how Master was. He was more focused on Hildy, the volleying words between her and Reis, and all of the interesting bottles, pouches, jars, and various other containers on the shelves lining Hildy's walls. As his master was still seated, Ezra dropped down onto the floor and forcefully settled himself in between Reis' thighs. He liked being there, and it was a submissive position the keepers had taught him, good for pleasing, even if he was just sitting. To Ezra, being between Reis' legs denoted a positive sense of ownership and possession. It was evident to everyone in Hildy's hut, even if it was just the four of them, that Ezra knew whom he belonged to and whom he preferred to be around, even if Reis would've had it otherwise.<br/><br/>Waiting for Hildy to finish up with Horvath grew dull for the Asha relatively quickly, and it wasn't long before his gaze and attention were wandering to places he should have ignored. Hildy had many herbs, minerals, powders and other things on her shelves, but she had shiny things, too. The Asha boy liked shiny things, all Asha did, and he slowly began to creep from his master's legs to get a closer look, but a quick call from Reis reset the pet's attention and he returned to his spot without argument, though a gentle pout lingered on his lips. His boredom gripped at him again, but Ezra simply laid his head on Reis' thigh and waited patiently for Hildy to finish her concocting.<br/><br/>"Miss Hildy is going to visit us at home?" Ezra asked, looking up to his master as the woman shooed Horvath back toward the other two males. "I think that would be lovely. Have you seen the gardens, Miss Hildy? They're truly stupendous! If you haven't seen them, I'd happily show them to you. The flowers are quite nice, even if they're not the same as the ones from--" He stopped himself. Ezra had remembered Reis' instructions to not tell anyone where he was from, and as Master hadn't nixed those instructions himself, he didn't want to go against Master's will, not when he was sitting quite comfortably near him. Instead of trying to cover up his words or lie, the Asha simply stopped speaking, resting his face against Reis' leg and waiting for further instruction on what he should do next.