"Regret's supposed to kick in after the party," he replied with a sage grin. Goodness knows the mare looked like she could use the loosening up as she appraised him like a hog at a county faire - specifically one that wasn't listed on her entry sheet. Raymond didn't mind. Her critical eye merely gave him leave to measure her, though he did so in a less obvious manner that mainly appeared as though he was waiting for her to respond.
The red stallion recognized her as a denizen of Terrastella much the same way that she did him, though she had been there long enough for the scents of the swamp, plains, and court life to congeal and seep into her very skin where it clung to him like morning dew. She had the mannerisms, too, of citizens of the court, and had he actually called the place home for any length of time he would have questioned how he could go so long without running into her before. Alas, nearly every face he spotted was a strange one, and he did not begrudge anyone their solitude if that was their preference.
What she said next took him a bit off-guard.
Raymond was not what you would call 'religious' by any stretch of the imagination, though he had gotten a surface-scraping run-down of of things before coming to the festival. His were a people of long memories and rigid tradition, who counted their ancestry in particularly high esteem, but there was no grace to be measured that could not be afforded through hard work and solid preparation. If that were not enough, he had grown quite fond of his autonomy and I daresay arrogant about what he could accomplish purely under his own power. Faith, in his eyes, was a crutch - or a vulnerability.
That was why, in Ravos, he had sided with the heretics even when the gods had faces and walked among them as mortals do. That was why, when Marisol invoked Vespera's name as though to push back the encroaching Oriens-ness of this particular shindig, he found himself quickly rifling through his options. He did not wish to offend, but he had absolutely no desire to talk religion with a stranger.
Great way to ruin parties.
"Thats the goddess of Terrastella, right?" he asked, passing off the brief delay as a newcomer's ignorance (which was a completely honest choice, as he'd hardly been there long enough to wipe his hooves, let alone recite any religious epithets or the history of the region). "Did you take an oath on her name not to enjoy yourself at festivals?"
and at his feet they'll cast their golden crowns
when the man comes around
@
aut viam inveniam aut faciam
