She took the proffered vial gratefully, stowing it safely back among its fellows.<b> "Neither do I," </b>she said, suppressing a shudder,<b>"though I know my master would be furious if I lost it."</b>She looked back up to him, her expression beginning to lose some of its typical guarded look. Her smile was a timid thing, unsure of itself after so long hidden, but it was there all the same.<b>"You might have just saved my skin."</b><br/><br/>Suddenly the wolfman stiffened, eyes briefly cutting past her, and the smile was gone just as quickly as it had come, replaced by a flash of alarm. Behind him, his shadow writhed on the ground, growing thick and viscous, much like the liquid in the runaway vial had been. Faun stepped backwards nervously as a shape pulled itself up from the ground, as red as blood, before revealing a slender humanoid with deep red eyes and a foxlike smile. She cast her eyes back to the wolfman, judging his reaction for whether or not she ought to be running, though to her surprise, he seemed perfectly at ease, not even startled by the shadowling's appearance. The satyr's hackled fur began to lower once more as the being greeted their companion, and while her tail continued to flick about her hocks nervously, it didn't seem that this newcomer was anyone to be worried about. Her jumpiness wasn't due to any particular prejudice towards shadow-people, moreso that the faun was just a habitually-jumpy creature, and a friendly conversation was a rare thing to find in her line of work.<br/><br/>Her tufted ears perked as the Shadowling, after gently teasing their friend, turned to address her directly. She shook her head quickly.<b>"Oh no, no, he wasn't trouble--the opposite, as a matter of fact." </b>When he asked her name, there was a near-imperceptible flicker across her features, as if something unpleasant had gone through her mind before she stifled it.<b>"I'm Faun,"</b>she said with a polite nod, silently hoping that they didn't choose to call attention to her odd moniker. It wasn't often you met a troll named Troll or a selkie named Selkie, after all. Besides, it wasn't unheard-of for beings to use aliases to protect themselves against certain types of magic.<b>"It's nice to meet you as well." </b>She looked back to the wolfman, her momentary discomfort seeming to pass.<b>"Gray, they said your name was?" </b>A fitting title for one with hair like his. Rather than the peppered grey of old age, it reminded her more of the shade of smoke, lightly marbled with darker and lighter shades.<b>"Thank you, again, for stepping in back there. I...Most folks don't look twice at me, let alone risk their necks to help me."</b>