Navia was enamoured by the little feline, that much was obvious. She did not spare much attention on anywhere other than the cub in her arms, only to tell him that it was a lion cub, and to ask him to see how precious and small it was. Théadan smirked at her reaction to the cub, it was cute to watch, and he liked how much she loved animals, each one clearly meant much to her with how she was drawn to them. Even so this one seemed different with how she held it close to her, her eyes never leaving it. The man now spoke to him, trying to encourage him into purchasing the cub for Navia, and using the lure of what gratitude Navia would show him as bait. He chuckled softly and shook his head at the idea. It would be madness to keep the cub of an animal they did not know about, especially while stuck ona voyage across the ocean.<br/><br/>There seemed to be some madness in the air though, or perhaps the cub just had that affect on people, Navia quietly leaned in to whisper that she thought they needed the lion cub. It was such a bizarre statement Théadan laughed, "You're joking." He said, believing wholeheartedly it was one of her games. Even now the cub was gnawing at the seam of her cloak, and Théadan was certain it would leave it frayed - given time to grow and he could only imagine it leaving it shredded. Yet Navia's gaze was completely devoid of the humour and mischief that always marked when she was toying with him. It caught him off guard and he had to glance between the man and her to be certain they hadn't combined together to trick him. He saw no faultering in their expressions, they were completely serious.<br/><br/>Puzzlement was written all over Théadan's face as he wondered what on earth had gotten into Navia for her to think buying this lion cub was a good idea. "Navia, Wyndagar is having trouble coping on the ship, this cub would fair even worse." He pointed out, he hated to think they would be having to tend more than one animal, and how heartbreaking it would be if anything terrible befell this lion cub while they were aboard the Uttarana. But rather than entertain the idea of how they would cope with it onboard, Théadan went more to the point. "And look at the size of it, I've seen kittens, and this is not kitten. Cats this size-"<br/><br/>"Grow to protect those that raise it." Came the merchants voice as he interrupted Théadan. Clearly he was not going to be any help in this, he saw an opportunity to make money and was going to make the most of it. "Come now my friend, look how relaxed the cub is in her presence, and how she cuddles it so, the two have formed a bond, to break it now would be cruel." He said as though the only right thing to do was to buy the cub and bring it along with them, worse it set him up as the bad guy for refusing to. "The little one has lost its mother once, would you deny it a new mother to look over it?"<br/><br/>"I- It's not a house cat!" Théadan said exasperated. "This isn't a pet that will climb into your lap and seek a little attention. A cub this size will grow to be a powerful predator." It was easily twice as big as any kitten he had seen, whatever it was, it would grow up to be big and powerful, and the only cats he knew of that took on such characteristics were always fearsome predators.<br/><br/>"All the better to protect its new mother."<br/><br/>That was quite the leap in the mans logic, such a cat would need training, and neither he nor Navia had a clue how to train such a cat. Staring at the golden ball of fluff, Théadan could only see the big claws and teeth it would likelt grow to possess. "Navia if you bought this cub, it won't be Marroan needles you would have to rescue me from, but razor sharp claws and teeth a year from now should it mistake one of our games for me hurting you." The prospect of them having to deal with something like the tigers Navia had once spoken of was a terrifying thought. "And that's not to mention the danger it would present to others, to the herd of lambs you wanted, or even Wyndagar." How would the feline know what is and isn't okay to hunt - and it would most certainly want to hunt. "Navia, we can't have this lion." He insisted.<br/><br/>The merchant frowned and shook his head before adopting a scolding tone. "You would break their hearts for fears of what you do not understand." He said, and put his arm around Navia once more, which made Théadan tense with annoyance. "Come now sister, look into the little lion cubs eyes, and tell me your heart does not leap as if he were a child of your own." He asked, rubbing a finger under its chin to tilt its head up to gaze at Navia, "The bond between mother and cub is unbreakable."