King Elk Forest time and he are inseparable

this got longer than i intended, oops!

the androgyne hangs onto every word that falls from his prince's lips like precious silk, expression aglow. lacking the archival tools of a conventional historian delight will have to rely on his memory for his self-given task and he intends to do exactly that. he will imprint the shape of mato's words into the fabric of his being, that he may carry them with him for the totality of his existence.

he bows his head slightly with the morwinyon's words, recalling the visage of the god-creature as it has judged him. it does give him a chill of a sort, having met a god named the wolf-killer and survived (and the elk had plenty of chances to attack at that venture, when both he and uka were reduced to trembling submissives in the face of greatness!) but he lifts his nose and tentatively adds, "i think..i believe that, um, the king elk has accepted us." his own survival adds credence to that particular theory and he says accepts as if he means chosen. mato probably already knows this, though, and he can't help but feel a small flare of embarrassment at his own childish wonder. something about being around the silvery prince makes him want to be - more. 

there is little time to dwell on this though as mato continues into his own story and delight listens intently, committing every word to his memory. it is a flawed logic on his part but of all the stories he feels that mato's must be the most important, not simply because mato is their leader but because mato is the flicker of spirit that drew them together, that took delight in on the heels of tragedy and let him reshape himself into something that can be good, and if his own feelings are in the way of a historian's objectivity he is young and has time to learn better.

 the details are easy to grasp and he has never worried about the shape of such things - broken antler fen, the vale, these will become key elements to the tale that weaves to their founding. there is a part of his natural curiousity that latches onto this new figure, rannoch, thinking of - interviewing him too, but he feels sheepish at that and thinks its best to stick with his own pack's members to start. he does not comment on any part of mato's story, aside from a quirk of the eyebrow at his nickname for seabreeze (and the subsequent roll of his stomach which he staunchly chooses to ignore). he does not revise his earlier thought but makes a mental note - seabreeze is a good friend and he is pleased his vague assumptions on her role in tindómë's founding had been fairly on track, and so she will become a second priority. 

"thank you," the androgyne says after a few moments of silence spent gathering his own thoughts. "that's - good. important." truthfully mato has given him so much information that he is a little caught up on trying to sort through it. he feels a little big for his skin right now. "andum, i think it's brilliant. breaking out of tradition like this," he adds unnecessarily and has to duck to hide the blush that comes immediately on its heels. delight wants to flee a little bit. "...that's a good start, i think," he says instead, unable to come up with any proper follow up questions until he's spoken to his pack-mates (a silly part of him wants to ask about mato's childhood, but that definitely veers out of the professionalism of the trade and into delight's own burgeoning interests and he has embarrassed himself quite enough for one day).