Phoenix Maplewood Altitude

"Mate?" Valtyr echoed with obvious surprise in his intonation. He had always known Saena to be an ambitious woman. She was social, outgoing, and driven as a child, while he had been a late bloomer. Settling down with a wife and family always felt like a far off ambition to the young Sveijarn, but it seemed his old comrade had done it decidedly. Admittedly, it made him feel a bit insecure. Should he consider laying down roots? All instincts pointed to the affirmative. A young man approaching his prime should surely think about being apart something greater than himself.

"Sorry, it just... caught me off-guard," he said with an awkward chuckle. "I guess when you leave for a while it's easy to forget life continues on without you. I haven't seen her in a long time." His gaze drifted over the alpha again, taking in his appearance in a new light... but it didn't help change his first impression, much. If anything, Valtyr became more critical of Saena's choice in a paramour.

However, his opinion was cast aside when the man mentioned some trouble. Valtyr's dotted brows pinched in concern. "Roughed up?" he asked, "is she okay?" He didn't expect to be privy to what had transpired, but asked all the same. "What's trouble is in the South? Anything a traveler should know about? Oh and... has her brother stopped by at all? Pura?" Realizing he swarmed Reek with queries, Valtyr offered a sheepish grin. "Sorry... don't mean to trouble you with all the questions. I've been on the road a while," he admitted candidly, "The name's Valtyr Sveijarn."