"New York City?" He perked up in excitement, his whiskers going forward. "That's where I'm from! I live in a parking garage several blocks away from Grand Central Station - that's where I work." More smug feline looks. "I'm a worldgate technician."

"And ehhif means human, like you." Still he was feeling a tiny bit more kinship toward her than he might otherwise have, considering that they were from the same place. And suddenly, somewhere like this, that meant a whole lot. "Wizards do that too, sort of. We work behind the scenes to make the world better, to fight entropy and its effects."

At her name, his ears went back. He'd have no chance of saying that the same way she did. "Hi'hh Hh'irlh, I'm Arhu. Hunt's luck."