Moonstone Quarry For of sugar and ice, I am made

"Oh!" the male nodded amiably, some of the rigidness seeming to dissipate from his taut posture. Tightly wound a bit, perhaps?

"That's okay. I-I, uh, wasn't sure if I'd done something to o-offend... or... something," he finished lamely, before continuing, "I'm new, here, you s-see. Still getting used to how things are 'round here. My name's 'Mac, which is short for Sumac."

There was one thing Ma always said - when you meet someone new, give 'em your name. So, he defaulted to that habit when he didn't know what else to say.

"I heard there were things called 'moonstones' down there. N-never s-seen something like this before, so I d-decided to check it out," he explained, before snapping his jaw shut with a soft click. Was he talking too much? He was talking too much, wasn't he? His yellow eyes darted from side to side as if he was seeking a magic explanation of how to act from thin air.