He smiled with his eyes far more than with his mouth; a man of subtle expressions and careful considerations of each word before he spoke. Those eyes smiled at Evie now, until her question drew a small gesture of regret from the mermanta: an upward turned palm and the shrug of one shoulder. "In the deeps, it is very cold," he rumbled slowly. "Where the sun never reaches. But I can only swim in water that is not frozen." And from all that he had heard, there was no such water in Halo. Not in sufficient quantity for a mer to survive in.
And even if rumors of the legendary Lost Sea were true, it was as ice-locked as the rest of the region.
He saw her hand go down; watched it curiously, wondering what display the magic would take. He was unprepared for the way the sand suddenly shifted and slid beneath him, and both eyebrows went up as he caught his balance against the easing of pressure along his tail. Soon enough the shallow but far more comfortable tide pool was complete, the ocean lapping in with every rush of surf.
"Much better," he agreed, surprised and grateful as he stretched out and rested his elbows on the sandy edge of his little pool, green eyes considering Evie with fresh admiration. "What draws you to Halo?" His gaze slipped to the cooking mussels, but only briefly; curiosity did not yet win over courtesy, however strange the scent of baking shells.
And even if rumors of the legendary Lost Sea were true, it was as ice-locked as the rest of the region.
He saw her hand go down; watched it curiously, wondering what display the magic would take. He was unprepared for the way the sand suddenly shifted and slid beneath him, and both eyebrows went up as he caught his balance against the easing of pressure along his tail. Soon enough the shallow but far more comfortable tide pool was complete, the ocean lapping in with every rush of surf.
"Much better," he agreed, surprised and grateful as he stretched out and rested his elbows on the sandy edge of his little pool, green eyes considering Evie with fresh admiration. "What draws you to Halo?" His gaze slipped to the cooking mussels, but only briefly; curiosity did not yet win over courtesy, however strange the scent of baking shells.
