His eyes linger at her throat. Mateo would like something like that, something with symbolism and meaning. Something to remind him where he's from. The closest thing he has is what he's told are his father's eyes and his mother's laugh. And all he has to be proud of are his feathers, which are good feathers, and his voice, which is a good voice. But these things are not the same, they were not thoughtfully given or made just for him-- they are just the result of dumb luck and good genetics. He is not ungrateful for the gifts god has given to him, not in the slightest... but it would be nice to have something like that, something full of prayer and beauty and belonging. "It's very beautiful," he says eventually, once he can contain his jealous longing, and words could not be more genuine.
Just then a subtle motion catches Mateo's attention. There!- A fox approaches the water cautiously and lower its head to drink. They meet eyes for a moment, the boy and the dog, and both creatures look away at the same time-- the fox to his reflection, and Mateo to Elif. All with the same water in them, water so bright it burns.
(A note on those summer eyes- It's true, he knows nothing of the natural world beyond Delumine... but why would he want to know summers so hot the earth cringes? So hot the air itself undulates in pain, into mirage? He wouldn't, because no one told him that the dunes sing. They sing! It is not at all like the whistle of the wind in the grass, it is a huge, ominous sound, and if he had ever heard it maybe-- certainly-- he could learn to love the desert even in the crippling heat of summer.)
Is he staying? Well whatever it was that drew him here, the urgency of the pull vanished after he drank. It leaves him with the sense of waking from a dream that was important but could not be remembered.He does remember that he shouldn't be here. And there is work to do at home, there is always work to do. "I guess I should get home. I really shouldn't have left in the first place, the borders are closed..." but it was worth it, goes unspoken by his tongue, and as he flexes his wings they seem to laugh- and the wind has no borders.
Even if he leaves no closer to god than he was when he arrived, and no wiser, it was good to have come to see this place for himself. But it seems a shame to leave this pretty-handsome-plain stranger behind so soon.
"Where are you headed?" He unfurls his large black wings (showoff) and flashes a cheeky, coltish grin. That expression has no business on his adult face, and yet it seems so at home. "Can I join you?" His eyes seem more silver than green as they look up to the twilight sky. Surely his return to Delumine can wait for just a little longer.
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@Elif I hope you don't mind me skipping his response to some of her dialogue! If I didn't this post would probably be twice the length and it seemed long enough already <3
