He took a couple steps closer, forcing Freya to crane her neck to look up at him from her seat on the ground. She blinked at him in confusion.

"There's a price for questions?" she asked cautiously, trying to figure out what this creature was about.

"Sometimes," he agreed. "I can be generous, but right now I am in need," he said, pressing a hand to his side.

Freya's gaze followed the gesture and she saw a bandage wrapped around his ribs.
"Oh, you're hurt!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, I was. It's healing now, but I am in a weakened state because of it," he said.

Freya raised an eyebrow and gave him a dubious look, glancing over at the dead bear creature. The fox man followed her gaze and flashed another toothy grin.

"Ah, the Bear King? Well, I caught him by surprise since he was looking at you. I suppose you could say he and I wanted something similar from you, except he did not intend for you to survive when he was done," the fox man said. Freya felt more confused as he drew even closer to her. He held out a paw-like hand to her, and she hesitantly took it and started to stand with his help. He pulled her forward, knocking her off balance, and pulling her body to his. She flushed and put her hands on his chest and pushed, but he did not allow her to retreat. This is him weakened? she scoffed in her mind.

"The Bear King?" she glanced at the corpse again. "He wanted... to eat me." She said it as a statement, but there was also a question in her words.

"Oh yes, in more ways than one," the fox man chuckled.

Freya gave him a confused look and tried to push him away again, unsuccessfully. Her expression turned frustrated and she glared into his golden eyes.
"Why did you help me?" she asked, finally.

"Because you already helped me. If not for you, I would probably be dead from my injury. You enabled me to recover. Not fully, but enough to live. So I need more," the fox man said.

"What are you talking about? When did I help you? How?" Freya asked, pushing on his chest again. She was beginning to feel agitated by how unyielding his grip on her was.

"Last night, of course."

Freya froze. Last night? Surely not... the dream? That was the only thing that happened last night... She looked at him wide-eyed, unnerved by his toothy grin and luminous eyes. Those eyes... they were the same eyes; she'd already had that thought.
"You're... a mara?" she whispered.

The fox man tilted his head, frowning.
"No, mara make bad dreams. The dream we shared was decidedly not a bad one," he said, his grin slowly returning as he lifted a hand to caress Freya's ear. She flinched.
She was a little surprised he knew what a mara was, since it was clear from what he said before that he was not from her parents' homeland, nor a local.