The color on Fallow's cheeks deepened. "B-believer it or not, I... I'm actually q-quite graceful. I think i-it's just when I have an audience th-that I get a bit, um, nervous?" He let his hair hang in his face and was quick to turn away from Lijuan to hide his embarrassment. He moved a branch aside so as to slip past it. He mulled over the woman's words as he continued to slip through the undergrowth. The secret trail was narrow and winding--almost invisible in some places. And yet he seemed able to follow it with ease, as though he were in the minds of the very deer who created this path in the wood.
"We could travel through the night, but the question is: would it be wise?" Fallow replied, after several silent moments. "O-once we leave the forest I don't r-really know what to expect..." He trailed off as he ran a hand through his hair to tuck a chunk of it behind his ear. "It might be best to rest up at the forest's edge b-before we carry on?" He spoke with an air of uncertainty, and it wasn't unwarranted. The forest had been his entire life. Hell, even before living there he lived near it! And now he was leaving it behind, and the thought filled him with a certain degree of anxiety, one that was clearly written on his face.
He continued, "I mean, w-we'll be crossing the plains next, a-and that'll probably be a few days? Then we'll need to climb the mountains, which I-I've never done before and... and..." And why am I stalling? he thought.
Maybe it was the fire under Lijuan. She was eager to get places, he was more focused on the journey. Maybe it was time he voiced that? But the woman was very brash, and the last thing he wanted was more of her scorn, especially after knocking his antlers against a branch so recently and making a colossal fool of himself. Again.
And yet his mouth moved on its own.
"I... I don't think there's anything wrong with taking our time and enjoying the journey..." Fallow slowed to a stop as he spoke his mind, heart pounding in his throat. "I'm not... not the worldly traveler you are, and... and I want to enjoy seeing these new things."
"We could travel through the night, but the question is: would it be wise?" Fallow replied, after several silent moments. "O-once we leave the forest I don't r-really know what to expect..." He trailed off as he ran a hand through his hair to tuck a chunk of it behind his ear. "It might be best to rest up at the forest's edge b-before we carry on?" He spoke with an air of uncertainty, and it wasn't unwarranted. The forest had been his entire life. Hell, even before living there he lived near it! And now he was leaving it behind, and the thought filled him with a certain degree of anxiety, one that was clearly written on his face.
He continued, "I mean, w-we'll be crossing the plains next, a-and that'll probably be a few days? Then we'll need to climb the mountains, which I-I've never done before and... and..." And why am I stalling? he thought.
Maybe it was the fire under Lijuan. She was eager to get places, he was more focused on the journey. Maybe it was time he voiced that? But the woman was very brash, and the last thing he wanted was more of her scorn, especially after knocking his antlers against a branch so recently and making a colossal fool of himself. Again.
And yet his mouth moved on its own.
"I... I don't think there's anything wrong with taking our time and enjoying the journey..." Fallow slowed to a stop as he spoke his mind, heart pounding in his throat. "I'm not... not the worldly traveler you are, and... and I want to enjoy seeing these new things."
