Mudminnow River and basically, i wanna know

Church. He's never heard that word before, so he isn't sure what it's supposed to mean, but he doesn't spend long pondering it. The lack of argument and the slight shift in atmosphere are enough for him to assume it isn't anything bad. The boy — Whittaker, he has to remind himself immediately — even manages to draw a smile from him with his next words, odd as they are. A real smile, one not inspired by his mate for once — something that hasn't happened in... a long time. Excluding when he'd laughed at rat boy. Whittaker has no way of knowing it, truly, but the rarity of the moment makes itself known in small ways; the briefness of the expression, the awkward half-curve on one side as if he doesn't quite know how to form a proper smile. Maybe he doesn't, actually.
Yeah, Amusement bleeds into his voice, but the smile is already fading, gone as quick as it'd come. He hopes he isn't interpreting the phrase the wrong way. Regardless, he tries to switch back into recruitment mode; now that he's interested, it's even higher on his list of priorities. He wants to keep this one, even if he doesn't seem the fighting type so far. You live around here, or just passing through?