As much as he could be stubborn, she was firm in her beliefs. She let it slip without thinking, a soft fire entering her blue eyes. "What if I don't want others?" A few seconds after, Willoughby blinked and looked away hastily. As if realizing what she had said. Oh, gods above... they were merely strangers. She shouldn't say such things. He was here, at this creek and... this creek... making her think things. It must be some sort of trick. Some magic.

But there was no denying when she looked at him, it was soft. It was kind. True, a kindness she would give anyone but... He was here, with her and she could also not deny a subtle attraction. The man speaks of the past briefly, proclaiming he had done bad things. She hums softly, looking back at him with no pity. "Nobody is perfect, Galileo" she says bluntly but kindly "I don't care you've done bad things. I don't even care if you want redemption for them or not."

She chuckles again, shaking her head. "It does not change anything" Willoughby lets that rest in the air, a weighed opinion that meant more than she let on. The man stumbles forward in his own awkwardness, one that she is beginning to find endearing. He says that wandering is good, that he hasn't a chance to talk for a long time. To find someone, a friend, to listen to him... "do you have a reason now?" she asks, knowing he is tethered to the Day Court.

"I should hope for my friend... that he has a reason to fight now. Opposed to the past, wherein he felt he had to." she chirps.

"Speaking."

"I think I am an old soul" the maiden chuckles to her friend, neither denying her wisdom nor accepting it as fact. She may be vain sometimes, but she has no ego attached. Willoughby believes the world lacks kindness. She tries her best to make up for this, being kind to anyone she meets. Galileo is no different than those she has met. She accepts him for who he is, not who he tries to be.

"But yes" she agrees, watching him as he comes closer. Just a bit. A smudge. He reaches for her and brushes her leg - and even if she was in the mindset to take things forward... She understands that is enough for him. For now. "bad things happen to good people" the maiden breathes a sigh as he looks away, up at the sky. "even if I don't want it to, it happens."

Too many met in Novus suggest a weighed heart in the chest of many. Some kind, smiling through their sadness. Some cruel and throwing words to mask their pain. She sees enough pain to be aware of it. Even Willoughby can't ignore that. "I think we're all seeking such a thing" she moves to stand beside him, leaning to the side to brush her shoulder against his own. "perhaps that's why I haven't joined a court yet."

She smiles forlornly. "As much as I am friendly, as you say, I wouldn't want to rush into anything."

"Speaking."

"I wouldn't want to have too many friends" Willoughby says as she too approaches the water. Glancing down at it, she sees her reflection staring back at her. Then she sees Galileo off to the side, staring as well. "I wouldn't want anyone to feel left out. I don't think I can handle more than five at once." Her eyes glance to him, grinning with amusement.

But a home. It was a fleeting thing. Would a court only weigh her down? Would it rise her up, allow her to reach her potential? There was so much she could do. So much she could see. But her wanderings... The lust of it never ceased. She was fleeting, flickering to the next best thing. "Hehe, I wonder what sort of magical properties this creek has?" she giggles, looking back to the water.

"It'd be funny" she goes on "if the gods of Novus placed it here for any reason. But I think it's just a regular creek with regular water... It'd be unkind to walk into it in the midst of a romantic evening, and suddenly sprout... whiskers? Imagine explaining that to your beloved when you come back to them." She shakes her head, chuckling further.

"But" she wanders closer, eyeballing a particularly deep spot. Without another word to Galileo she more or less flops into the water. "the first jump is always hardest!"

"Speaking."

Willoughby hadn't realized yet that she would meet one of the gods that roamed Novus. Her time as a potential Sovereign was as fleeting as a home would be. Caligo would come before her, but to what end? She daren't hold onto it for long, for she was already moving past it. "Ah!" the maiden states simply at first, craning her neck to look behind her as Galileo joins "then they are no better than mortals! I'd love to play a prank on someone unsuspecting... but more along 'good fun' than 'life changing and horrific'!"

She giggles mostly to herself, wondering what sort of benevolently devious things to do. She often wondered why gods were gods. What did they do to make themselves elevated above the mortal realm and its people? "I think my only goal in Novus is" she frowns, shuffling her body around to face her friend, as she thinks "maybe not achieve any sort of power but more... achieve some notoriety?" He flicks water at her, and she responds in kind.

Flapping her head gracelessly onto the surface, she sprays him. Huffing triumph, she raises it back up. A grin is flashed his way. "I'd like to be known to be kind, do kind things" Willoughby says "or just be known. In some way. To some people. Novus is so large, so full of potential for anyone. I like it here. It gives people a fresh start." Meddling gods aside, she did enjoy it here. She enjoyed the people she had met so far. She reaches out across the water, her nose lightly smacks into the side of Galileo's face.

"You don't have to tell me though" she adds to him quietly as she recoils backward "about your past. Just... try to focus on the future."

"Speaking."

"I think they wouldn't like that!" she protested with a soft giggle. Shaking her wet mane, the maiden resisted pointing out it sounded fun though. She would not be so bold to prank someone she barely knew, let alone divine beings that could change her happy little life dramatically at whim.

"You are a leader..."

She stopped laughing, turning her head to focus on the man. It was her turn to feel flustered, having nobody before tell her she was capable of more than what she knew. Sitting around looking pretty, or dancing and singing was something she knew she was good at. Being a leader of people was something she'd like to do, in her own time perhaps...

But she appreciated his point. Dipping her head thankfully to Galileo, she watched as he wrapped up their meeting. He said he had stuff to do, and that she did too but... She could stand to stay here a bit longer. Except that wouldn't be proper now that he was leaving. She had nobody around to help if she got into a bad situation.

"I'll walk with you to the exit" she offers, getting up and shaking stray water from her coat.

"Speaking."