Tal grinned at his tablemate's courtesy, giving a nod as he answered. "She'd be more offended if you didn't. Manners, girl," he added in an aside to Boreal, who gave him an offended side-eye as she was released. Her blunt muzzle came within an inch of Sohalia's hand, sniffing curiously before she scooted forward to bump her warm, scaly head beneath the young woman's fingers.
The teapot on the courier's side of the table was still piping hot, and Tal poured himself another cup from it carefully. He hadn't been sure about sharing his table at first, but Sohalia's genuine interest and excitement was a welcome distraction from his misadventure earlier in the day, and he found himself relaxing around her almost without realizing it. Talking about Halo helped, of course; it was a lot harder to drown in a land where the water was usually frozen solid! "I couldn't imagine so much water that wasn't ice for most o' my life," he admitted, gesturing vaguely out the teashop's door and to the water-logged Greatwood beyond. "We dress warm, though. Keep fires burnin', an' use whatever magic we have." The Abandoned had been far less persecuted in Halo than the Hollowed Grounds... though the herald gods had been absent for several centuries until the Grounds' Barrier fell several years back.
At her mention of the Oerwoud his nose wrinkled up, but he nodded in reluctant agreement. "It's... a lot, fur sure," he agreed wryly. "Hot an' sticky-humid, but there's some neat stuff there, I guess. The Walkin' Palms are pretty neat." If he did say so himself, looking almost as smug as his dragon as he took another, daintier sip of his tea.
The teapot on the courier's side of the table was still piping hot, and Tal poured himself another cup from it carefully. He hadn't been sure about sharing his table at first, but Sohalia's genuine interest and excitement was a welcome distraction from his misadventure earlier in the day, and he found himself relaxing around her almost without realizing it. Talking about Halo helped, of course; it was a lot harder to drown in a land where the water was usually frozen solid! "I couldn't imagine so much water that wasn't ice for most o' my life," he admitted, gesturing vaguely out the teashop's door and to the water-logged Greatwood beyond. "We dress warm, though. Keep fires burnin', an' use whatever magic we have." The Abandoned had been far less persecuted in Halo than the Hollowed Grounds... though the herald gods had been absent for several centuries until the Grounds' Barrier fell several years back.
At her mention of the Oerwoud his nose wrinkled up, but he nodded in reluctant agreement. "It's... a lot, fur sure," he agreed wryly. "Hot an' sticky-humid, but there's some neat stuff there, I guess. The Walkin' Palms are pretty neat." If he did say so himself, looking almost as smug as his dragon as he took another, daintier sip of his tea.
