With eyes narrowed, head tilted and tail flicking, the cheetah glared at the older man.

"Exactly. Whether or not you teach me, I'll learn it somehow. Even if I have to do it myself." He raised both his eyebrows daringly. Either Rendaz could supervise him...or...he'd do it on his own and possibly injure someone or himself or maybe even both. Then a wide grin split across his face again.

"But don't you see? Being an arrogant, troublesome pest is part of my plan. Persistence gets you places, really. Besides, most of the time I don't bother, I don't always want to think everything through, it gets boring." He snickered lightly. "and already something's working for me...I've caught your interest..." The cheetah lowered his head and tone, looking up slyly, challenging that statement.

"Plus, trust me, I'll hang off every word you say the moment I believe you're telling me something worthwhile. Cleaning plates, however, as we've already both agreed...is rather pointless and not really why we're here."

He was gambling on this being right. He didn't actually know what Rendaz was thinking, he was just taking a shot in the dark. Rendaz seemed a smart man, and he had already state he didn't care about the plates... Ndale now just hoped he was right and hitting a spot here somewhere.

The ruckarl let out a small, indignant 'huh' at the cheetah's tart response. He suspected that he hadn't picked up the implication behind his words - well, they had been vague after all. Rendaz was starting to suspect that he'd just have to hand him the truth straight on a platter, which would be fair, seeing as Ndale seemed to be doing the same for him.

"Listen, squirt," he sneered, his tone becoming slightly more strained. "You said you would do anything to get what you want. And I'm gonna assume that means backstabbing me as well." He squinted his eyes, displeased. "I'm not gonna lay my faith down on some meddling kitten that's only trying to squirm his way out the hole he dug for himself. Not when he'll probably run off and tell the exact same thing to anyone else if it benefits him."

"It's not your quality I'm doubting, oh no. I think you make an exceptional twit." His sneer was almost amused. "But you ain't exactly setting up a reliable service for yourself. Why should I teach you to shoot? I may as well just shoot myself in the foot instead. It'd be faster, and saves me the pain of betrayal." He was pretty sure Ndale couldn't miss the implication of that one.

He listened to all the other said with a blank face, tail only flicking occasionally. At the end, he only simply sighed. This situation here, he figured, was two people who both believed they were the one in the right with the other just not getting it. He looked up at Rendaz again with a cool expression

"You're forgetting a rather important factor which protects you from any betrayal from me." He shook his head. "I'm not in a hole to be trying to squirm out of and I'm not trying to seem reliable. I'm just being honest. I'm resourceful and useful. You can trust me. You can trust me to be untrustworthy." He raised an eyebrow in a cocky manner, smirking and showing a canine. "and I already told you the reason you should teach me...because I'm going to go off and learn it anyway. This way, you'll have some control over it, and I'll be in somewhat of a..." He trailed off thoughtfully, as if trying to come up with the correct word. "Debt."

There was a moment of silence before the cheetah started again.

"Besides, you've already agreed to help Valentin and I build a new heart for me..." Ndale's tone was notably quieter for the bringing up of that subject.

Rendaz found himself shaking his head at Ndale's answers. It was just going back and forth, around in circles. They weren't getting anywhere with all this disagreement. But there was still a stubborn side of Rendaz that refused to let up. Rendaz was a professor, he was a student. Rendaz was older, he was young. Rendaz was right, he was wrong. It was the way things were.

"If I can't trust you with some pitifully easy chores, then how can I trust you with any important task?" he huffed. "As it stands, you're being about as useful as a foam hammer. At least show me you can follow orders." An eyebrow raised, as if challenging the cheetah to get himself out of that pitfall.

He raised his chin as if to give him a sort of superior edge over him. "I really couldn't allow that bumbling faun to take responsibility for your survival, could I? It was merely out of the pity of my heart."

The cheetah snorted airily.

"Something is only useless if you give it value in something it's not meant to do. Yes, a foam hammer, when trying to use it as a real hammer, is going to be useless. But should you need to jokingly hit someone in the head and not cause harm, or need a prop in a play, then a foam hammer is indeed quite useful. Your fault here, is that you are trying to get something to do something it is not meant to do, therefore deeming it's value as low when really, it's value is extremely high if you would only use it properly. In other words: I have no value as a cleaner, but am very useful for other things and you should stop misusing me." His eyes narrowed and he gave the elder man an extremely unimpressed look. "It's the theory of the Uncut Block in Taoism. Though...I am going to assume you're not actually that well educated in things other than mechanics, are you...?" He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Yes, he had kind of just spat back some things he had read once when trying to find his place in the human world and found interesting, but hey, it worked to his advantage and that's what gaining knowledge was all about, no? Self gain.
"Annnddd, I told you. I'd follow your orders when you order me to do something useful, which brings us back to the whole foam hammer versus real hammer thing." He rolled his eyes up to Rendaz's face and raised his eyebrows in a 'are you finally with me here, stupid?' expression.

A grin pulled at his lips.

"Ah, you like me. You just wont admit it, that's why you're helping to save me, and you know it." Ndale's tail swayed happily in a rather cocky manner. In his opinion, he had just succeeded in getting around Renda'z logic yet again, and so the cycle continued...

And there Ndale went again, evading his remarks. A sigh escaped his nostrils, something hat may have hinted at some sign of frustration, but certainly nothing that indicated that he was about to give up.

"Maybe I could've used a better analogy," he groaned. "Though I hope you understand that, even with what you've said, foam hammers are still pitifully useless." He was almost challenging Ndale on just why he would have the urge to go around bonking people's noggins.

"But you're mistaken. You're setting yourself up as... a utility, of sorts. But in reality, you're a student. And you're being punished. Is that really so hard to understand?" He gave a pitiful shrug, as if Ndale were a lost cause. And he might've been true.

"I'm educated in living," he sharply retorted. "Something which, you're doing a pretty awful job at doing at the moment without my help." A smirk flashed. "And please, don't flatter yourself. I merely tolerate you."

All he could do at first was chuckle. There was small subtle signs of Rendaz's irritation with him, which, ultimately, was the majority of his goal here. He blinked up at the mechanic with large amber eyes..then promptly opened his jaws in a wide, loud, bored yawn.

"Listen, yes, I'm a student. But, I'd be better use as a utility. Besides, I didn't even do anything wrong and you're rather failing to punish me." Sharp shoulders shrugged half-heartedly, though he did give the man a small glare for the living comment.

"You say that as if I am failing to live. I assure you, I have lived already. In fact, I'm at the end of my lifespan. I'm just being greedy and extending it." He stopped and paused, then grinned. "Alright, you tolerate me, but perhaps you're just thinking that saving me will be a great present to Od? There's got to be something...not that I'm complaining really." He gave another half-shrug and stood up. Looking around, the cheetah seemed to rather suddenly make a decisions. "Alright, well, if you're not going to use me, then I guess we're done here. I'll see ya again later sometime." Ndale turned to stroll towards the door, tail flicking out behind him, without waiting for a dismissal.

As the cheetah stood up to leave, Rendaz's eyes tracked him disapprovingly. Really, somebody had to smack some sense into that twit. And the more time passed, Rendaz was finding that he was probably the one having to go through with this unfortunate duty.

But Rome wasn't built in a day. And you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Both of these idioms applied hideously well in this situation - it would be gruesomely difficult, he knew. Why bother? his initial thought was. He was tempted not to stop him at all, the thing was a lost cause, and he'd be exerting effort over something so pitifully rooted to his ideals.

"Now hold right there just a minute," he snapped. "If you wanna know what's wrong, it's your self-respect. or lack of it." He raised a brow. "And I ain't talking about your appearance."

He didn't move once from his spot - he trusted that the cheetah would be unable to resist making one last remark, so blocking his path wasn't too necessary.

"Don't you ever feel repulsed at yourself? Sinking so low? Letting yourself be used? Setting yourself up as a..." He gave him a quizzical glance. "Tool." He almost shuddered. "Forgive me for thinking so, but I have no respect for anything that proudly presents himself as a tool." He looked away uncaringly. "Really, it all depends whether you actually desire my respect or not." It was a risk, but if Ndale shrugged it off... then Rendaz would be more than happy to continue his disrespect.

The cheetah didn't seem like he was going to stop at Rendaz's call. Well, not until the other mentioned his self-respect. Halting, the cat turned its head to look at the other from the corner of his eye, expression blank and unreadable, but stayed silent until he was done. Ndale felt no need to explain himself to Rendaz, and considered simply walking out. However, he also was curious as to the other's opinion. Rendaz was not a fool, and the feline thought it interesting that he did not see what Ndale himself could see. As such, he decided to continue the conversation. His first comment was as flat as his expressed emotion but as harsh as if he had spat it with venom.

"You say that like I give a flyin' flip-shit." Ndale turned fully to train both eyes on the mechanic professor. "What I do works and I get the results I desire and as such, I respect myself quite highly. What do I care what others think of me - outside of situations needing them to think me a certain way because it benefits me, of course - ? I'm not going to change how I am just because I may or may not gain your respect. I see no need to make you like me in this moment. You either will or you will not. I don't believe you would be fooled by my attempts and so I am not insulting you by trying to anyway." He lowered his hind to sit, tail circling in a smooth motion to curl around his feet gently, arched to impeccable posture with chin held high in stubborn pride. "You know nothing about me. I was a pet for fifteen years and what I have come to know is that everyone is a tool. You are as well, you just either haven't admitted or realized it yet. Everyone plays with and is a toy for someone else. It's how the world goes around. Call it something else if the word 'tool' does not suit you, but it shall not change the meaning or the situation." The feline's tone was slow and deliberate, as if explaining something that should be simple to a little kid. "You could call me a mercenary, perhaps." He rolled his eyes in a big motion.

He was not one to flip flop and knew what he wanted and what he thought. There was no question in his mind that yes, he was a low person. He knew exactly where his moral boundaries lie and he wasn't afraid to admit that they were six feet under.

Staring straight at Rendaz, he put it every plainly.

"To satisfy the open-ended question of whether or not I desire your respect...it is this: To have it would be nice, beneficial, I'm sure, in some cases. However, I will not change my ways for anyone's opinion but my own. I have enough self-respect for that." Ndale nodded decisively before raising an eyebrow almost accusingly. "Do you?"

As the cheetah turned his attention to him, Rendaz simply stared, holding his ground and allowing his rather lengthy rant to flow. His opinion of him seemed to lessen and lessen as he spoke, evident by his increasingly displeased expression. Finally, he found the incentive to return to standing up straight, glowering down at the cheetah.

"So maybe we are all tools," he growled. "And why should that be reason to behave like one? Sounds an awful lot like 'giving up' to me. Let's face it, who gets the respect? The power? The control? The king or his lowly slaves?" Of course, it wasn't as if he thought Ndale desired these things. He'd already come to believe the cheetah had very low ambitions indeed.

"Of course I do though..." he paused, before raising a brow. "But what do you mean, merely 'beneficial'? No, let me rephrase that. Why do you think I would extend the lifetime of some pest I have no respect for if I knew he would only continue to pester me for his remaining years?" He crossed his arms.

"Giving up?!" Ndale scoffed incredulously. "I admit, Professor, how surprised I am to find that you are so narrow minded!" His tone growled as eyes narrowed and ears pinned back, lips peeled to bare canines. "To think that the king is the only one with the power. I'm just not presumptuous enough to think that I start out a king. We're not like that, neither of us are! You have to get there, and that's called strategy." He hissed out. "What happens if a pawn endures the battle, only going forward on the beck of the king, to get to the other side of the board?"

The cheetah's tail flicked irritably. There was a brief moment of hesitation at the mechanic's threat, as if disbelief, but it was quick to pass as he muttered lowly.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking I need you. I have a mechanic." He lowered his head, glaring darkly.

At Ndale's aggressive indicators, Rendaz instinctively found his own defences rising - his teeth bared in a threatening manner, and smoke spewed at an increasing rate from his nostrils. "You made it sound like you were proud to be lowest on the hierarchy," he scoffed, spitting slightly. "Of course there's a climb. And just how are you progressing with that climb? Still just a utility?" The question was rhetorical, and he continued. "When you throw yourself in the path of others yelling 'use me, I'm low and dirty', exactly where does that take you? Nowhere."

It probably would've been easier just to accept his offer in the first place. But why should he do that? Rendaz had his own resources. He didn't need his help.

"You're wrong. You have a hopeless excuse of a mechanic."

Even with Rendaz's own threatening signs, Ndale didn't back down. The professor couldn't hurt him. He rather arched his head up higher, ears pinning back, adopting a superior tone.

"You didn't answer my question. Perhaps that's because you don't know the answer. A pawn, if it can just survive its lowly station and suffer to the other end of the board, can become almost any piece it wants, including a queen. So yes. For now, I am proud to be that pawn. I, unlike the knights, bishops and rooks, have the ability to work my way up. And I don't throw myself out at people. I merely offered to you because I think you need all the help you can get." He sniffed haughtily. "But forget it. It would have been a risk to me anyway. My 'hopeless excuse of a mechanic' is a direct connection to Kale. Sure, it would have been a great spying opportunity, but if you're so against my tactics, then you're on your own. A connection to her might be more powerful for me than one to you anyway." He spat, obviously offended at Rendaz's thoughts on him. He said it, yes because he had thought about it and it might be true, but also because he knew that the harpy and the ruckarl were not friendly and it was mainly a point to make a stab at the other male.

Ndale was not so clueless. He knew something was wrong. He had bothered Kale enough to know what kind of woman she was and with Od as his mother, it was pretty safe to say that he was clued in to some things. That, and he didn't trust that evil harpy. There was no way a woman that immune to his charm could be not up to something. It was true, he didn't know most the situation. Probably less than Rendaz himself knew...actually, probably most likely less. But, Rendaz didn't need to know that. All he needed to point out was that soon he could know more than him. He hoped it would tick the mechanic off.

His eyes narrowed. Of course, Ndale was trying to make him regret this all. But why was he mentioning Kale in particular? Had the cheetah suspected something between them? But whatever, Rendaz reaffirmed his thoughts. There was nothing that Ndale could do that Rendaz couldn't do himself.

But the remarks had succeeded in agitating his nerves. "Don't underestimate me. At least I've lived my life more than being a pet for someone." He seemed to hesitate for a moment - longer than he intended to - before he continued. "And I couldn't care less what business you have with that woman. It only gives me a reason to trust you even less."

Before there was the chance for any tart response, he twisted around to his back towards him, a hand raised dismissively. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

His nose scrunched as he was rather rudely dismissed, but he sat silent for a moment rather than leave directly. Eventually, he spoke quietly.

"Far from it. I believe that my mistake was overestimating you." The feline's hackles had lowered, and farther from aggressive, his tone almost seemed a little sad. He wondered at the pet comment and his curiosity was peaked about the professor's own history, but he didn't feel like right now the man would be inclined to share with him. "You're right. I don't know what your life has been like or how you have lived it...but, there's one that that still makes you a good father." He hesitated. "You're a great model. Looking at parts of you, I know exactly what I need, and what I need not, to be. " Ndale shook his head and stood. He felt this meeting, in some ways, had been a failure. He had not achieved what he had come here for, and he believed he had played the man wrong. With this, he would reassess and try again.

He slowly strolled towards the door. Pausing only once more at the frame of it.

"I will still learn whether you teach me or not." He had said it before, and he would say it again. His determination on this would not falter. "and mmm," he gave a non-committed hum of agreement. "thank you for your concern." And with that, he left the cell and started up towards the main castle.