Willfur
He hears her approach. How could he not, with such prodigious sensory organs? They rotate atop his head like huge, shell-shaped satellites, adjusting to narrow in their focus on the sounds of reed and water disturbed, even while the rest of him resists distraction, loathe to let go of the wonder around him. Rude, perhaps, but the journey here has been long and as often mentally taxing as physically. He can't help but cling to this moment of beauty and innocent joy, letting it wash over him, loosening tensions he hadn't noticed building until they pinched and cramped along his spine.
It's not until she speaks, more gently than he'd anticipated, no ring of demand or accusation in her tone, that he lets himself be turned, his outline softening, but somehow still held apart, as if acknowledging, but not yet fully accepting of her presence. "Yes." He agrees, murmuring, "Exceedingly lovely." Bowing his coarse head, the mule feathers a deeply held breath across the ripples crisscrossing between them, watching as the reflected constellations wink in and out of position, creating countless new, unnamed designs. "It's so peaceful here. I think I needed the quiet more than I realized."
Inhaling now, the scent of damp and the permeating warmth of the water settling in the spaces between his bones, his eyes finally settle on her and widen as he realizes his own lack of manners. "I'm sorry, I'm not usually so..." Air-headed? Sensitive? Forthcoming? Easily distracted? Yes, he is, and he knows it well enough, but it's not like him to let such things fester into melancholy. "Well, I'm Willfur. It's very nice to meet you, Stella!"
He notices her harness then, expertly crafted, padded and lined with hooks and loops and other apparatus for - he assumes - carrying things. "Oh! How clever!" The configuration of straps and attachments around her neck and shoulders is much better designed than the simple leather satchel he carries, all his items jumbling together inside in a single mass of fabric, herbs, and trinkets. "And a telescope! Are you an astronomer? This must be the perfect place for it."
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