Jericho stood on the wall, like he did everyday. It was okay, though. He was free. The sun shown down on his face, he could walk back and forth, as far and as long as he wanted. If it was a little boring, that was fine. Boring was good at Reservation, it meant that they weren't being blown up or shot. It meant that his family was safe from humans.
He moved his head from side to side, cracking his neck and hoisting up his weapon. He shifted it to his back before grabbing his binoculars and searching the wall.
Each of Jericho's days had a purpose, a predictability and routine that comforted him and made him feel useful. He followed the safety pattern that Tiger had set up: walk, observe, stop, sight-in weapons, watch, repeat.
"Yo!" a voice called from below the wall.
Jericho grimaced, "Hello, Magic."
The feline jumped onto the wall, landing lightly next to Jericho, and smiling his million watt smile.
"What up?" he asked.
Jericho raised an eyebrow, not looking away from his watch, "Nothing. Perimeter clear."
"Perimeter clear," Magic mocked, doing what Jericho thought was a robot voice, "I meant with you, Dawg."
Jericho looked away for a second to stare at Magic, "Why are you talking like this?" he asked.
"I'm joining the human/ New Species Task Force, I'm learning different styles of speech so I can code switch," he said.
He started moving his hands in front of Jericho's face before Jericho swatted him away, "What is wrong with you?" he asked, going back to his routine.
"I was telling you 'hello, my name is Magic' in American Sign Language," he said, "Did you know Leo's mate was deaf before she was fitted with cyborg capabilities and now she can hear?" he asked, "Unless something happens to her computer chip, and then she can't, so I am learning sign because I will be able to communicate with her and others who can't hear," he added.
While Magic was going about it in a dumbass way, Jericho couldn't help but be impressed with his initiative, "Does Leo know you plan on communicating with his mate?"
"Noooo," Magic said slowly, "Doesn't matter anyway. He won't care."
Jericho snorted. He'd spent his youth with the feline male and other present residents of the Wild Zone until his eyes had darkened. He doubted very much that Leo would appreciate another male learning to communicate with his mate.
"Let me know how that goes," Jericho said, moving onto checking his weapon, then sighting-in his rifle.
"Did you just make a joke?" Magic asked, pretending to stagger back, and clutched his chest.
"Is there a reason you are bothering me today?" Jericho asked.
"Yeah," Magic said, smacking his forehead, "You're going to the wall in the Wild Zone," he said.
"Fine," Jericho said, "where?"
"Close to the entrance," Magic said, "Tiger's going to meet you there. There have been some threats against the young of mated pairs," he added, suddenly serious, "We're increasing the number of guards."
Jericho nodded, "That's fine. I'll go now."
Jericho moved his rifle to his back and jumped off the wall, sitting in the jeep that Magic had driven up.
"Hey!" Magic called down, "I'm still using that! I have a date later."
Jericho lifted his hand to his chest, making a fist and rubbing it against his uniform, sign language for "sorry," and drove off.