Jay quirked a brow, looking over at her. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked playfully, though still seriously curious.

Then, he chuckled again. "Well, they're kinda called African wild dogs, so I took a stab in the dark," he teased lightly. "Sounds good though. Unless you think there might be anything else of interest, then we can take the scenic route." He gave her another playful grin, waiting for a response.

”Oh, wouldn't you like to know?” Zoe asked knowingly. Of course there was never anything that interesting in her purse, but it was so much more fun to hint that there was.

Well, you didn't realize that the zebras didn't like the cold because they're from Africa, so I wasn't sure,” Zoe pointed out.

And despite the cold, Jay was willing to take the scenic route if she thought there may be something else interesting. ”Well, how bout we compromise? Go find the wild dogs, and then take the scenic route. That way you're guaranteed getting another shift.”

"Actually yet I would," he replied with a wink, followed by a shrug at her next remark. "I know if something's African, it's from Africa. I don't have a weather map of the continent," he continued teasing.

"Sure. I would like to get at least one other shift while I'm here. Not that my time would have been wasted if I don't; it's been fun," he said with a genuine smile. He stepped a little closer as they continued to walk, this time heading back toward the zebras.

Zoe raised an eyebrow at Jay's comment that he would like to know. ”Guess that means you'll have to stick around for a while. Maybe you'll luck out and decide to shift into a purse dog on an interesting day.”

And he knew that zebras were from Africa, but not what the weather was like? ”Maybe we have more to teach you than I thought at first,” Zoe said playfully, teasing as she shook her head. ”It's probably going to take quite a while, too.”

Bit then Jay continued, and Zoe smiled over at him as she heard his words. And, since she was looking at him, she noticed as she stepped closer while they walked. ”I've enjoyed this too,” Zoe said, looping her arm through Jay's once again even as she shivered. ”As much as I love the animals, this had always just been work until today.”

He chuckled, shaking his head, but kept his mouth shut because it hit him that he may have been crossing into dangerous territory. He was trying not to hit on her, but some of it was probably just his natural charm. Besides...it was freaking cold today.

"Hey, I never claimed to be the brains of the operation," he teased again. "And I may have fallen asleep during that bit in school. Which was over ten years ago, might I add," he said with a shrug as they continued to walk.

He nodded, smiling a little. "I understand. Most things aren't as fun by yourself, anyway," he murmured as they made their way back across the zoo. Every now and then he'd glance to see if he saw something remotely dog-like, but he never did.

”I suppose that's true,” Zoe allowed, then smirked over at Jay before continuing playfully. ”Because really, who gets dressed in a bush in the middle of winter?”

But as Jay said he may have fallen asleep in class, Zoe just rolled her eyes and shook her head. ”Well, if that's the case, hopefully we can keep things more interesting as were teaching you biology.

“But you're right,” Zoe agreed, her tone turning more serious from the playful. ”Most things do seem to be more fun with someone else.”

At that point, they were passing the zebra enclosure again, and Zoe’s eyes drifted over to see if anyone was out. But, it seemed, even Jama had made his way back inside, hiding from the cold. ”Maybe we can plan to come back another day, when it’s warmer,” Zoe suggested after a minute, looking back over at Jay. ”Then I’d be able to show you all of my zebras.”

"Well," he said, unable to withhold comments any longer, "I figured the bush would make a better first impression than just doing it in front of you," he said with a sly smirk as they kept walking.

"I think you can manage," he added to her teaching comment. "Yeah...At least I did get to see one, though," he said with a soft grin.

Hearing Jay’s comment, and seeing his smirk, Zoe blushed slightly. Yeah, that was the other option, wasn’t it. But despite the blush, that didn’t stop Zoe from making her own comment. ”For a first impression, yeah that was probably the best. But, there’s always other, preferably warmer, times now that you have made that first impression.” Was it suggestive? Yes, but he had started it with the suggestion that he could have shifted right in front of her.

”At least you’re interested in the subject,” Zoe said, grinning at Jay. ”That’ll make it easier to teach you, as long as you don’t keep getting distracted.”

It was then that he realized the extent of his comment; he was getting in dangerous territory. So, he stayed quiet for a few moments.

" I'll probably get distracted anyway," he murmured with a soft smile. He was trying hard not to flirt, but it was his nature. And he surely didn't want to hurt her or lead her on. After all, she was nice, and she'd said herself most people find her weird.

"So, we seem to be in the right area," he said after a moment, looking around.

Jay didn’t say anything about her comment. For a moment, Zoe wondered whether she had misread things, misunderstood the teasing and the increasingly more suggestive comments that had been going back and forth between them. It’s not like she had had a lot of experience with situations like this, after all.

But as they continued to walk along, her arm was still looped through Jay’s and he hadn’t moved away from his close position next to her as they walked.

Maybe Zoe just wasn’t sure what exactly was going on between them.

”I guess we’ll just have to find some way to keep your attention,” Zoe said, still teasing, though some of the playfulness had disappeared in her confusion. ”But let’s try up there. I know I don’t pass any dogs on my way to the zebras in the mornings.”

He could tell she was confused, and that somewhat worried him. He let out a sigh and looked over at her a moment.

"Hey, I want to level with you for a minute. I know I've been flirting and stuff, but...that's just my nature. I'm just letting you know so I don't end up...leading you on or anything. Besides, this looks like the start of a good friendship, right?" He gave her a smile as he looked around again and they walked through an area he hadn't been to.

So she had misread things, at least partially, Zoe realized as she heard Jay say that he didn’t wanted to lead her on. Well, at least she had recognized that he had been acting flirty with her.

”It does feel like the start of a good friendship,” Zoe agreed. But as she spoke she pulled her arm away from where she had it wrapped around Jay’s. Then she frowned slightly as she looked ahead of them. ”Let’s check there. I think I saw something that might have been a dog,” Zoe pointed ahead and to the right.

That frown wasn't a good sign. It was Lee all over again. Well without most of the awkward nudity. Or the home invasion. Or the sex. But it was still making him feel bad.

"I'm sorry; I just...don't want to ruin this," he murmured before going to where she'd pointed. His mind wandered a little now that they were separated, but it wasn't to his usual non-innocent place. He found himself wondering how many people he'd hurt. Or did he only care now because he'd seen the negative impact? He didn't know.

He sighed again, but then smiled as he saw what he was looking for. "Hey, I found one!" he called, excitement in his voice as he walked over and looked at one of the African wild dogs. It wasn't doing much, just lying there for the most part. It was a healthy size, and would make a perfect shift.

”Oh, don't worry about it,” Zoe waved of Jay's apology. ”You're not ruining anything. I mean, yeah I thought, but it's nothing.”

But then they were at the edge of the enclosure, and a few moments later, Jay said that he saw one, and Zoe smiled at Jay's excitement. Turning away from Jay, Zoe looked in to look for the animal Jay had seen. And see one just laying there. ”Will that one work?”

She waved off his apology, but didn't seem bothered too much. He nodded in response to this as he stood still and watched the wild dog, its muscular yet lean body built for distance running. Its jaws built for taking down anetelope. Its...rather large adorable ears.

After a few moments, he looked at her and smiled. " Got it. Thankfully an African wild dog is actually a dog," he said with an eyeroll as he thought back to the hyena fiasco earlier.