The blush staining his cheeks grew more and more noticeable, and the blood within them provided a crawling heat to match it. His ears, however, pricked up at the escort's words. It felt...nice. Very nice. Those hands on his face, those soothing words. He was not....unused to kind words. He had friendly enough relations with his soldiers, with the others in his unit. Even if much of what transpired went over his head-he'd never been one for parties, never quite been as social as other felids. He still remembered being shocked about that birthday cake they'd made him.....and how awkward the following hours had been. How very awkward.<br/><br/>He's stared for five minutes. At the cake.<br/><br/>Still, he shifted, and did his level best to look Les in the eye. He was right. He needed to be more confident, all told. This was unbecoming, and he wasn't doing himself any favors. "Nothing like that, I'm afraid." He managed to return, sounding much more confident then he felt. He even rustled up a small laugh. Another sip of coffee did him a few favors as well. The warmth excelled at soothing his nerves, frayed as they were. "Thank you. Though. It's....appreciated." Another sip. "You're not like alot of other humans I've met. They....some of them look at us, and you'd get the impression they still think we'll go insane at any moment."<br/><br/>That had been the favorite lie, to justify the oppression of his people. That felids were unstable. That they'd go insane without a human....companion. Master. The public had bought it. And bought the felids. "But you...it's....more then I could expect." Another shift. "You said you couldn't draw right?"<br/><br/>"Maybe I could. Ah. Show you a few tricks?"<br/><br/>"We could start with basic shapes, and how they go into a sketch....and...all that."