Blackbeak Bluff And the rings i am breaking

He would not know what to do if she were displeased with the silence, lacking the social tools to keep conversation afloat. Small talk seems like too much trouble. And he is not the sort of move into deeper chats without some prompting. Not that he minds others who are talkative - Liana comes to mind, even now - but reciprocation is beyond his limits.

As are other things. She catches him staring and he blushes faintly, caught out. But more than that, her question throws him off guard. The man's nostrils flare in surprise. "Er," he says, sheepishly, "I apologise." It  is not so much the question itself - fair enough, he would think - but the way the femme has asked it of him, her eyes so velvet and doe-like. Étoille is not a complete stranger to flirtation - there'd been his brief feelings for Liana and his exchange with the woman in the quarry - but the force of it turned on him still weakened him, just slightly. "Je suis curieux," he murmurs, somewhat shyly, and clears his throat. "We have been traveling for some time now," Étoille says. His question is implied, though he gives Mirabelle a sideways look, clearly expecting an answer.