"You don't have to apologize."
Technically, that was indeed true. He didn't need to apologize for taking a walk and happening to find someone. But the way the man had been reclusing himself gave the lion boy the indication that he had come here to be left alone. Auru would know, he had done it enough times himself.
He shrugged aimlessly, unsure what to do with himself for the moment, taking a hesitant step back despite the other man's statement.
"I'm Rostislav. It's a free land, I'm sure you'd find many others."
The other man laughs lightly, and Auru can't help but feel a little embarrassed.
What a stupid thing he had said. Acting like finding someone in a free land was unexpected.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
His ears wilted a little as he wished to shove his face into a tree in embarrassment, not dealing with the emotion well at all. But that would just make him look even more ridiculous, so he elected not to act, and simply flexed his hooves in his place, shifting his footing in awkward unsurety.
The best he could do was try to play along, try not to look like even more of a fool than he already had. He finally forced his eyes back to the other man, trying not to flinch away at the warrior-like appearance. Even if the man made no move towards him, the other was still more than a bit intimidating in his clear musculature and battle-hardened build, especially for the poor lion boy whose body was as thin as a foal's and temperament the same.
Auru gave a weak smile, hoping to play off his nerves as awkward embarrassment rather than the first touches of fear that coiled in his breast. It wasn't as powerful as it might normally be, but the other was still quite the intimidating conversation partner.
"I... guess that's true, yeah. I just... I-I saw you alone, a-and thought you might want to be left alone... is all..."
@Rostislav
OOC: Man I'm just making up all sorts of words in this post
