He hesitates before giving a tiny, rapid nod.

"About anything in particular?"

"I- I'm not- sure? I just- there'll be- lots? Of people?"

"Mmhmm. But almost all of them will be more like Deka and me than like Rogerios, or won't care about you one way or another. And if anyone does try to bother you, you don't have to listen to them, and we'll be right there to take care of it. Okay?"

"Oh. Okay." Pause. "I- what if I- what if my fire-"

"Well, it depends on what you want to do, but I don't think we'll have a problem with it. I'm thinking I'll rent you a room, and I can make sure to get one with a fireplace in it, and we can bring the sandbag up too if you want - or if you'd rather not be alone, you can stay in mine, I'm going to get one too. If you'd like to go to the inn and people-watch, I expect I can talk them into letting us bring the sandbag in there, too, or letting you stay in their fireplace. If you want to see more of the town, I have the fireproofing spell, I'd be glad to take you if Deka doesn't want to. And I do have some magic prepared for if I need to put out a fire."

"...But what if it hurts someone?"

"I don't think there's much risk of that, if we're careful. But I can heal them, if it does happen. That doesn't make it completely right, so we should still be careful, but it's better to take a small risk of it than to never let you be around people at all. And -" he pauses to consider. "If it does happen, it'll most likely be because someone was bothering you when they shouldn't, I think? Which is different than if it happens for some other reason. It does mean you should try to tell them, if they're making it hard for you to keep your fire low, or if you think you can't, that we should figure out another way of making sure they know."

One thinks for a little before hesitantly saying: "I don't- If they get- angry. Or- loud. I don't know if I could...say? I- people are- big." (Big is not the right word, but it's hard to really explain what the problem is.)

"That makes sense. I think - for right now, until you've been around people a little bit, it'll be best if I stay right with you, or maybe if Deka does, and if anything happens we can try to stop it and help you leave if we can't. I don't think it's that likely that something will happen, but it's reasonable that you're worried, and you'll be more comfortable if there's a plan for what to do even if we don't end up needing to. Does that sound right?"

He nods, hesitant, and shy, and perhaps a little worried about being a trouble.

"I don't think Deka will mind, if you want to just pass through and we can camp out again tonight. I know I won't. I do think you should try visiting a town sometime - I don't think it'll be as scary as you think, once you try it - but if you're not ready, that's fine, we can work with that."

"...I- I don't- could we- try? And move on if-" He stops, shakes his head. "Ah, it's- I'll be fine?"

"We can leave if you want to, that'll be fine. We'll need time to find a campsite, but I can let you know when it's starting to get late enough to worry about that, and you can decide then, does that sound all right?"

He ducks his head down, and looks up at Raafi shyly. "I- if that- if that's okay?"

"Of course it is. I know this is hard; I don't think it'll be too hard, but it's always a good idea to have a plan, just in case. I am wrong sometimes," he adds lightly.

-Yeah, One isn't entirely sure how to respond to the more lighthearted tone, and quirks his head slightly in confusion, but he does, at least, understand the rest of it. "Thank you!"

They make their way into town, with Raafi identifying some of the food plants as they pass them and picking the occasional berry or herbal leaf for One to try. Eventually they come to the town proper; Deka pauses, looking around to try to figure out where to go, and Raafi takes a look himself and points her to where he expects the carriage house and stables to be - correctly, as it turns out, and they busy themselves for a few minutes getting the cart into place and the goat out of his harness. Deka takes him away to the other side of the building where the livestock stalls are, taking her dog with her, while Raafi comes back over, smiling reassuringly at the curious stablehand supposedly doing maintenance on a farm wagon a couple of parking spots away as he does.

"Doing okay so far, sweetheart?"

He's looking around with wide eyes, and mostly trying to stay small and unnoticeable but...

"...Think so?"

"Good; let me know if you need anything. Deka'll just be a minute, and then we'll find where the lift is and get up into the trees - it might be a good idea for one of us to carry you, for that part - and find the inn and get rooms. Have you thought about whether you want your own or to share with one of us?"

(The stablehand is making more of an effort to focus on his work, now, but still pretty distracted by them.)

One's eyes flicker to the stablehand. "I- ah- probably better to- share? If that's-"

"It's fine, sweetheart. I wouldn't've offered if it was going to bother me. We'll do that, then - would you prefer to stay with Deka, if she's all right with it?"

One makes a shrugging motion. "Ah- I-" Stops, puts effort into seriously considering the answer to that question. "...Probably?"

"All right. We can ask her when she comes over. And then - I don't really have plans for the rest of the day, if you want to take some time to relax we can certainly do that, or I can go talk to my druid friend - I think there's a good chance he'll want to meet you, so it'd be better to leave that until you're ready to deal with someone new, at least for a few minutes, if you think it'll be soon. If not I'll just tell him you aren't ready and we'll do the best we can."

"I'm not- I don't- I can- probably? If he wants to?"