The woman’s returned greeting was jarringly flat to the young rekkr who recoiled some, the velveteen fur of his brows furrowing slightly at the unexpectedness of it. Bragi could not shake the feeling that something was expected of him in this situation but he was at a loss for what it was. It had never occurred to Bragi that she was under the misunderstanding that he wanted something from her other than her company as to which he didn’t. He was left grasping at vast confusion which felt very similar to trying to grasp smoke betwixt his jaws. He could find no purchase on the writhing, evaporating substance and never would. This confusion felt elusive like smoke did.
Or at least that was how it felt until she asked him if he needed something and slowly the puzzle pieces began to fall together in his mind painting a rudimentary picture of understanding. It made sense, instantly and within the next few seconds sparked the wonder that maybe this was one of those cultural barriers he had heard the more seasoned travelers speak of back in Odinn’s Cove and Freya’s Moors. Perhaps where she came from one did not stop and socialize with strangers just to socialize. It wasn’t like Bragi had anything else to compare it too. This was the first time he was outside of his own culture. Mixing and mingling the Norse ways and tongue with the ways and tongues of all these strangers. Even Stavanger’s Bay wasn’t made up entirely of Vikings. It felt a little bit like home but the wolves were still too different to offer the young, lonely teen any comfort.
“No,” Bragi responded honestly after a soft ‘ahhh’ hung in his throat as he reached the apex of his conclusion. “I only wanted to speak…—” He paused and gave her a boyish little grin. “— or just some company.” But of course he wouldn’t and couldn’t force her into anything she didn’t want to do. His tail flicked amicably against his haunches, his ears twitching as a honey bee buzzed past his ear on it’s way back to it’s hive or to a flower to pollinate. Besides the twitch of his ear Bragi paid it little mind. “I am Bragi.” He introduced himself freely, shrugging his broadening shoulders as if to tell her that it didn’t matter to him if she wished to indulge him or not.