Verdant Basin from megacities to mega...boring

Honestly, for the sake of avoiding some minor interaction, leaving the lakeside to 'fuck around in the corner' was totally not worth it. With every step his paws sank deeper into some sort of squelchy thing - mud? - and oh boy did it stink. Plus, the stranger had found him anyway.

Lysander listened to the approaching splashes, and then the curious bark that followed their silence. Turning his head, could just about see her through the intrusive stems, her pelt a drop of literal fire (haha) in comparison to the clear, slightly blue tinted water. He didn't answer at first, and then - "H-hi!" He barked back, hoping he could be heard above the rustling of leaves and the lapping of waves and the loud croaking of various amphibians that crisscrossed the myriad of watery pathways. He'd tried a frog once. Hadn't been his finest moment.

Curiosity and a growing awkward atmosphere finally got the better of him and he pushed through the last of the reeds until he was visible, but still a comfortable distance away. "Uhh, not much. Mud - not good," Lysander mused sheepishly in answer to her query and feeling his pelt grow hot from embarrassment or the sun which now shone directly onto his spine...or both. Motioning his tail, he added "I"m Lysander," and gazed inquisitively back at the flame-branded woman, not nervous yet not quite relaxed either.