Heron Lake Plateau nervous messed up marionette floating 'round on a prison ship

She fixed her attention upon the stranger, a brawny man salted with scars. Towhee’s orange eyes flitted over a few of them before glancing at his face, noting his deep chestnut eyes. He said something, though one of her ears bent backward uneasily when she realized this was one of those times—one of those people—she wouldn’t be able to understand well, for whatever reason.

Her gaze shifted to Njord, hoping he would say something that would give her some context clues. It seemed the imposing man worried that he was trespassing. The laird quickly assuaged this concern, then provided introductions. Towhee shot him a grateful smile, maneuvering herself so she could keep eyes on both men at once.

-“I’m deaf and didn’t catch what you said,”- she told the stranger. -“Actually, I don’t want to be a burden on the conversation, so I’m going to step aside and let you two chat. I’ll wait at the foot of the plateau so we can walk home together,”- Towhee said directly to Njord before nodding her head at the stranger and gliding away to find her post.