Emberflame Ridge The music of the moment.

excitement to see a newcomer faded quickly into puzzlement as the man asked him—well, cortez was tempted to shake out any water that might be in his ears from his recent bath. he'd heard the other correctly, right? he was asking if he lived here? well, he supposed he could chalk it up to bizarre behavior, but perhaps there was actually something wrong. wolves didn't just ask that. that wasn't a thing that happened too often.

uh, i dunno, cortez offered, feeling more shy than before. his brows knitted together, staring at the man. i don't think i've seen you before; what's your name?

though he wasn't feeling great about receiving any sort of straight answer, but the man could surprise him—right?