If he noticed her watching him he did not show it. Though one might surmise that a man who gilded his scars and then went around without a shirt was rather used to the stares. All the more so when he stood head and shoulders above most crowds and had hair and eyes in colors that were not usually found in the average run of human. Then again, the form he'd arrived in had been rather telling to anyone who had lived in Torchline previously; it was the legs that were unusual in that regard.
"You will be welcome," he assured her as he worked, digging down deeper than the seed pods might otherwise warrant. Anyone who brought sincere aid to the island nation was more than welcome in these Void-darkened days. "Your parents will be as safe as we can make them here." He finally paused to consider the hole - three feet deep, and by any arborist's estimate far too deep for a seed to successfully germinate, so far from the surface. But then, Elizabeth had struck on an important observation that might explain his unfamiliarity with planting things that weren't corals.
"I do," he agreed, eyes twinkling as he looked over at her. "Have you been there?" The City had only been open to humans in recent years; the Mer had been an isolationist people, disinclined to allow humans near their capital, for most of history. Only in the past five years had that begun to change, and only in the past two or three had active strides been made to welcome them.
"You will be welcome," he assured her as he worked, digging down deeper than the seed pods might otherwise warrant. Anyone who brought sincere aid to the island nation was more than welcome in these Void-darkened days. "Your parents will be as safe as we can make them here." He finally paused to consider the hole - three feet deep, and by any arborist's estimate far too deep for a seed to successfully germinate, so far from the surface. But then, Elizabeth had struck on an important observation that might explain his unfamiliarity with planting things that weren't corals.
"I do," he agreed, eyes twinkling as he looked over at her. "Have you been there?" The City had only been open to humans in recent years; the Mer had been an isolationist people, disinclined to allow humans near their capital, for most of history. Only in the past five years had that begun to change, and only in the past two or three had active strides been made to welcome them.
