The forest was good for smelling things, especially around the changing of the seasons. It was a game of his to name the things he did not know, and he found this endlessly more entertaining than looking up their real names. Thus he is here, now, instead of in the library or at the tavern, with his nose to the ground and the dappled sun soaking eagerly into his dark back.
Near a fallen log, a tall, bright orange mushroom catches a ray of sunlight on its round cap. Something about it suggests it popped up quickly, overnight maybe, and would be gone just as fast. "Ah, and he we have a rare specimen colloquially known as Solis' Member," he thinks crudely to himself, and a juvenile cackle follows. "Okay seriously..." he steps closer to the fungus, inhales deeply a scent not unlike... lemon? "I hearby dub you, noble creature, Orange Mushmon." It was admittedly not the cleverest of names, but he found the name rather charming in its gracelessness. And it was leagues more dignified than Solis' Member.
Having noticed one of the specimens, they're suddenly easier to see. They don't seem to clump together but rather they extend in a line that goes deeper into the forest-- almost like a gingerbread trail except... phallic and likely inedible.
Something moves. "AH!" Mateo shies, pedaling backwards and unfolding his wings as though that would make him seem larger. It takes too long to realize it's just a girl.
"Gods, you scared the-- you startled me." Who sneaks around the forest so quietly, like a predator?! He's indignant and out of breath, not a flattering combination, and he realizes suddenly that the Orange Mushmon was trampled in his terror. Its bright orange color has turned an angry shade of blue, and a strange black fluid seeps from its base. He'd like to investigate it further, but his attention returns to the stranger before him. First things first. "Who are you?"
- - -
@
