As the curious footsteps neared him, not only did his jaw tense, but his entire body. He kept as still as possible, but when he heard the voice he knew his cover was blown. She was right, that fireball would have done some serious damage to him especially with how deep his current wounds were. He was still in pain and that fall had not helped, luckily he had not reopened anything, he didnâ€™t need to get burnt on top of it. If that would have happened he would have had to start the process over again, which would not have been fun. Nevertheless he didnâ€™t blame her for being angry with him; he did trespass on her property and break into her barn. He knew he sure as hell wouldnâ€™t like if someone intruded his home unannounced. Nobody didâ€¦ especially humans -confirming that this girl was definitely not human was actually more of a relief than he had originally thought.<br/><br/>Though in general he wasnâ€™t someone who felt he had a reason to stand his ground so to speak unless he was confronting his family, Nikolai did have a shy side to him. It was mostly due to being somewhat socially awkward around humans, most preternatural creatures barely noticed it, but it was there alright.<br/><br/>Also, he really was sorry for intrudingâ€¦<br/><br/>When this girl helped him stand against the wall, how she healed him with that special powder, he knew she was far from human. â€œYouâ€™re a phoenix, I see. Thatâ€™s not a very common sight around these parts.â€ He said, tracing the deep gash on his chest gently with his index finger. It was almost completely gone, just two or so more hours and he could be out of here. Since he wasnâ€™t human the powder worked a lot quicker especially with his magic to help speed the process more. Maybe this encounter had been a good thing after all; he wonâ€™t have to worry about not having the strength to fly once he leaves. â€œForgive the slight intrusion,â€ he spoke again, â€œYou could say I got into a bit of a â€˜disagreementâ€™ with my grandfather and needed to blow off some steam as humans say.â€<br/><br/>I also needed to hide myself from humans before daylight hit, he thought to himself, figuring he didnâ€™t need to state the obvious. Nikolai looked her over with for a moment before continuing, â€œDonâ€™t worry about me bringing trouble, they donâ€™t usually come out this far. Iâ€™m only here because I didnâ€™t have the energy to get back to the city the other night.â€ He pushed off the wall and ran a hand through his dark hair in an attempt to get some of the hay out, â€œAs soon as Iâ€™m well enough to fly, I will be taking my leave.â€ He was more than likely going to smell like barn until he took a bath. He didnâ€™t want to bother her with such a thing though, not since he has caused her enough trouble invading her farm. Normally a griffin would snatch up a farm animal for a nice snack. Since food was the last thing on his mind, he restrained himself and minded his manners.<br/><br/>Human manners were something he lacked in a few areas but he did know how to handle himself around mythical beings. Preternatural society was quite different from human society. And strangely similar at the same time, he kept in mind. Surely the phoenix girl would understand this as well. Nikolai himself had no quarrel with phoenixes, but he knew some of the others were not as generous, especially his grandfather; Grigori Moslov was notorious for sticking to old ways. Nikolai doubted it, as he did say they donâ€™t usually come out this far, but if they wanted to find him, they would.