King Elk Forest pretty (ugly before)

ah, ouch. he feels for the snowy woman (and he definitely cannot imagine her among a den of thieves). she turns the question back on him, unsurprisingly, but he holds his breath for a minute, still feeling shy - and can't help the tiny snort that escapes him at her surely meant to be comforting words. die for him? mato is - single-minded, to put it nicely. he knows the silvery prince values his company (or he would not have earned his place as nénar) and there was a moment between them that.. he can't quite parse, but knowing the morwinyon, knowing how quick he was to cut his losses with brienne -- delight knows better than that.

but, oh, a part of him aches. "maybe," he mumbles, flushed. "to answer your question - it wasn't really a choice, no. the side of the mountain we were homed against collapsed -- i was far enough away to avoid being crushed, but, well, there wasn't much for me to stick around for after that." he winces a little, but every time it gets a bit easier to talk about. "anyway, enough about that, yeah?" the androgyne asks, trying for levity - and failing, but the effort is there. "i hope you like it here."