She was pretty, Reid decided, watching her pull the corner of her veil up for him to see. It took him a second for her joke to register, and he smirked and playfully rolled his eyes. “You Light elves really do know how to put on the airs, don’t you?” he chided back. Jokes aside, he appreciated her honesty and willingness to potentially waive rules aside for his own curiosity. If she was willing to satisfy his curiosity, then he should absolutely satisfy hers. He turned to her fully, crossing his legs across the seat that they sat on. Improper, he was sure, but they were going to be there for a minute and he could already foresee his neck straining from keeping it turned to her for so long.<br/><br/>“Do you like flowers?” he asked. She looked like she probably liked flowers. “Na Caelora is covered in them. Vibrant flowers, exotic fruits, and around this time of year all of the leaves change and fall and decorate the forest floor. The desh makes his home and court in the tallest edelwood tree on the continent.” He breathed out his descriptions with a hint of home sickness. He missed it terribly. Ceremonies under the stars, the vivid smell of fresh oleander, the bright star-shaped yavafruit hanging down from the forest canopy. It smelled too clean here. “But we’re not in Na Caelora, we’re here. Tell me more about your country, your Fruuvalk, yourself. Since we’ll be here a while.”<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>Aloth shook his head at Asraziel’s question. Not because he was saying no, but because he was admitting that he did not know. “I’m afraid I only know this much from my<span style="font-style: italic">miraak’s</span>retelling. He was alone when he was attacked. I fear that if there had been more upon him, Reid would not have made it out with his life. The only way he knew there were more were from the cries that he heard from the trees upon the demon’s slaying.”<br/><br/>An interjection from Asraziel’s young, and one that caused Aloth to shift in his seat. He would do well to remember his race here. Surely Seledora would learn toleration. Asraziel had learned over the years to tolerate his presence - to the point he almost felt she was conversing him as an equal. She would learn what a boon the other kingdoms could have been in a time like this.<br/><br/>“As for the other kingdoms..,” his voice trailed off, hopelessness tinting the otherwise monotonous voice. “I admit that I attempted to contact the human kingdom of Aradell before I reached out to you. And the closest dwarven holdfast caves of Ghish before them. I have begged your presence because I am afraid that I have not received word from either. My couriers have not returned, moreover. I cannot decide if my messages ever made it to them, or if their response never made it back. And I cannot decide which unsettles me more.”