King Elk Forest (brave as a noun)

her voice catches him off guard -- he turns too sharply and gently bonks his head against the tree. a scowl twists his face, but maybe she didn't notice, or would be kind enough not to comment. the singing-sunlight raises his head and steps back with as much dignity as he can muster and turns to face her. the effect is only partly ruined by his sour expression. at this point it may as well be semi-permanent. "yeah." he says, his face smoothing out to neutrality as he talks. the joke goes right over his head. "it's a big forrest, i guess. have you seen a big elk around?" he doesn't say king elk, because king is a pretty subjective term - mato's a king of sorts, and he's.. well, okay, it radiates from him, but still. besides, it's a little embarrassing.

"don't mind that, actually," he says, pale eyes sliding away. seabreeze - he does remember her name this time - seems very nice. so does everyone, actually, except trajan, who is kind of a jerk but okay enough. it makes his chest hurt a little. "so this is really happening, huh," del says, a little subdued for him. being vulnerable - well, he always was, kind of, but being open about it is a different thing. but everything is happening so fast, it's a lot to process alone, the boy thinks. maybe she feels the same.