It does not pass her notice how quickly they settle into a comfortable companionship, each seemingly content to pass the night, or at least a part of it, in the company of a stranger. Her blue-black gaze rests easily on him as he speaks, and she takes her time, listening, enjoying the slow, warm movement of the water and the distant frog-songs.
"Will, I think," she muses, uncharacteristically. "My little brother gave me the name when we were young, and it stuck."
He continues with the conversation, and she is content to accept the distraction his questions provide her. She enjoyed the give and take of a first meeting, she liked the possibilities, and she would far rather spend the night with his thoughts than hers.
"This is not my first time in Tephra, but I doubt you have seen me before." Most likely, he wouldn't recognize her even if he had seen the balding, malnourished filly she had been last she was in Tephra. And if he had, it wasn't an image she was eager to call to mind for either of them. So she doesn't elaborate, but before the silence has time to settle, her freckled lips finally pull into something close to a smile.
"So," she begins, sinking a little deeper and letting the water swirl over her neck and shoulders as her inky-black mane lifts to float around her.
"You must be a proud Tephra Man then, a staunch defender of the Volcano." Inwardly she half cringes, half laughs, aware but not too concerned that the starlight and lack of sleep are loosening her tongue.
"Do you serve her with your strength or words?"
— soul as sweet as blood red jam —
![[Image: Warlightpageddoll1.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/NMPHtrtV/Warlightpageddoll1.png)