Willfur
Willfur's long, long ears perk up beneath the praise, his thick neck arching in pleasant surprise. He hadn't imagined the flashy little stallion would be as generous as he was covetous of kind words, especially after his initial, more stereotypical back-handedness, but his words now feel genuine, and, well, it does feel good to have ones best qualities recognized, or at least the ones that are held in highest personal regard. That, at least, they could both agree on.
"You're a bard!" He exclaims, all thoughts of vanity extinguished. Bards have been a source of joy and admiration in him all the way back to the mule's earliest memories, their songs and stories and the way they so often seamlessly and skillfully combine the two the very foundation of his wanderlust. "I would be honored to trade a few stories with you sometime, Radek, maybe during a winter respite, or - " Excitement swells in his chest, possibilities crowding his mind and pushing him on in a rush of words and enthusiasm. "Maybe on a tour of your Court? I wouldn't mind a trek through the desert these days, with frost already threatening the morning dew. I'm no songbird myself, quite the opposite, really. Have you ever heard a mule try to sing?" He grins, shaking his head with a disparaging chuckle. "But I have had a few interesting adventures along the way. Maybe not the illustrious heights of 'heroics,' but I'm sure there's something worth incorporating among the lot."
The subject changes suddenly and Willfur finds himself caught off guard a moment, murmuring a quiet, "Oh," as he pauses, gathering his rampant thoughts. "I haven't been 'home,' in so long... I don't even think of it as that anymore. I think of home as something less tangible, something I carry inside myself, perhaps, though I'm sure my mother and friends would welcome me back if I ever found my way back to them. They were all very kind. We lived in a quiet pocket of countryside. Hmm... I wish I could give you better directions, other than north, since I know going north from here will run you straight into the sea, but somehow I got from there to here." His massive shoulders rise, shrugging, expression somewhere between apologetic and dismissive. "It doesn't make much sense, I know, but maybe one day it will."
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