Duck Lake not all treasure is silver and gold

sorry for the wait! <3 lost all muse and needed to take a break for a bit

At her mention of the "lovely view" yet again, another chuckle rolled through the lad's chest, he having now been given the impression from her freely wandering eyes over his boyish frame that the view was, in fact, himself. The tip of his mud-colored tail languidly swayed from side to side, the movements kept small and subtle in order to keep his true sex concealed, but still showing his appreciation all the same, if as much couldn't have already been seen from his merrily sparkling gaze.

He then perked his ears to her next reply, causing his wag to cease and his pretty features to become attentively neutral. It appeared she too was not from here, but her lack of noting just where she was from hadn't gone unnoticed, especially since Killian had provided this information and had privately expected to receive the same in return. Vibrant green eyes squinted distantly and inquiringly, scanning the girl up and down and pouring over the details of her tiny frame, like her tousled black fur or burning scarlet eyes might tell him what he sought to know, and his curiosity was quite evident... but then, with a small smile, he dropped the look, turned away, and figured all were entitled to their secrets, as he was to his. He wouldn't pry into this perfect stranger's business anymore than she hoped he's pry into his.

Instead, it was her turn to ask a question, earning a sideglance from the russet lad as she asked about his reason for leaving. To this, he offered another smile, though this one smaller, and coupled with the way his glaze mysteriously clouded over, maybe even a bit dark and off putting.

"Jus' wanted a new start is all," he shrugged casually, telling the truth yet lying through omission all the same, something the lad was quite good at by now. He wistfully swept his eyes back out to the sereness of the lake. "Had someone else's legacy shadowin' my steps and didn' feel like carryin' it around." And this vague answer was all she'd get from him. Killian had plenty of reasons to keep the intricacies of his life to himself, though perhaps the biggest one (aside from just being used to keeping secrets) was that he really did want to live a life free of his father's past misgivings, and in this land, where he had no way of knowing how far the name Gallagher had traveled, he just thought it safer to keep all of that to himself, not even take the chance.

After a brief moment, he glanced back at her with a grin. "Ya like the wa'er? Lakes 'n' oceans 'n' rivers 'n' such?" Killian was an unabashed aquaphile himself, it having been the only good constant in his life, and though he never expected those around him the love it as he did unless they also grew up around it, he was still happy to meet someone with an appreciation for it, at least. He also wanted to change the subject, though that needn't be said.