So his leaning was correct. The animal understands him, and will at least apparently answer his questions. With nods and tail movements. "You're one of these idea-people they kept telling me about, back there. Responsible for this, too?" He holds up one bare foot, the bottom of which has his mark-- a tattooed trail of small paw prints marching along the bottom. "Can you speak, or am I stuck interpreting your ear and tail movements?" He can... possibly do it, if they're anything like Raksuran spines and tails, but it doesn't leave a lot of room for detail.