Lost Creek Hollow girl you party all the time

The obvious was stated, to which he would have smirked and said something snarky in turn, had they met just a few months prior. He was better now, though, at handling interactions with strangers—he had to be. No one wanted to be associated with someone that constantly dragged them down, so he’d forced himself to grow up a little, leaving behind his quick-to-attack self and allowing the space necessary for better qualities to grow—not that they did but, hey, at least only some of the negatives were left behind.

“I know,” he settled on saying, figuring it was a good, even response; neither too arrogant nor oblivious, though it did lean more towards the former. “No one claims this land, as far as I can tell.” There weren’t any signs of a pack present, nor reoccurring scents that might suggest someone was attempting to claim the area. It was open to all, though he’d yet to find a reason to visit it again in the future.

Introductions. All first conversations seemed to eventually reach a point at which they were somewhat required, despite how often he wished that the moment would never arrive. He had nothing against giving out his name—in fact, he thought it best when everyone knew who he was—but he found the whole exchange to be bland and forced. Did strangers even want to give their names to one another, or did they do so only because they were raised seeing those before them do the same? Perhaps he thought too much of it; he couldn’t tell because he never actually voiced his thought process. He just continued with his side of the exchange, just as he was doing now: “My name’s Xan.” And although she hadn’t asked, he added, “Unlike you, I’m not alone.” Presently, he was undeniably by himself but, at the same time, he wasn’t—his home was nearby, as was his sister’s.

“What brings you here?” he asked, dropping his train of thought to focus on the conversation at hand. “Exploring?” At this point, he couldn’t tell if he was legitimately curious, or if he was just going through the motions—that would be something to figure out later on down the line.