Snort.

"Okay so I'm definitely at a loss as to how the valley got its qualifications for like, who makes a worthy candidate for the love thing, is it that I am literally the first pretty single woman that was crazy enough to wander into the woods alone or is something else going on here, and if so, how good is it at its twee personality match system, do we have the valley's seal of approval for a blissful eternity together or does it just want some incredibly shallow definition of love that involves stupid poetry and too many flowers?"

"I don't know," he says. "But... it's good at... I don't know about a blissful eternity, but if the valley thinks we can get along I think it's probably right. And it wouldn't... flowers. It's not like that."

She smiles, a little.

"So it's not a matter of pretending to be in love convincingly, it's a matter of actually being in love, which is harder to do but also sort of easier because I think I'd kind of suck at pretending to be in love because I haven't exactly done it before so have no guideline to follow and also lying about something like that seems - it seems -" words fail her, and she gestures with a hand helplessly while she tries to succeed at them. "Like a disservice to everyone involved with zero redeeming qualities to it, really."

...he smiles. "Yes, I think I agree."

"So I guess I should trust the valley's judgement here a little because I really really don't put much stock in 'first pretty single girl to wander into the woods' since if that were the only metric you'd have seen someone else wander in here during your stay so unless you really have a thing for babbling redheads it probably has like, some idea of what it's doing, probably, we get along okay I think but it's kind of hard to tell because we've both been kind of awkward and haven't really spoken very much and I don't know it takes a while to get to know someone."

Awkward nodding.

"You are like, at least a little bit attracted to me, right, I realize I'm probably the weird one by being kind of into a twelve foot tall dragon man that could snap me in half but I feel like it will be more awkward if it isn't a little bit mutual oh wow I did just actually say that, listen, you are getting the full babble experience we are calling upon years of one-way conversations with my brother that finds my babbling informative and highly entertaining I have honed this shit to an art form it just kind of happens now."

...he giggles.

"You're - very lovely, yes. And I. Like the way you babble. It's endearing."

She giggles a little, too.

"Yeah I've been told it's endearing by some people but then the people will also get annoyed by how I think and how it's confusing and not always very nice and thank you, by the way, I'm very flattered, I'm just definitely also thinking three things at once and it's always kind of hard to keep up with that and I don't really I just pick one that seems the most relevant to my current circumstances and follow it like a lost hunter trailing a rabbit in a very well stocked forest except the hunter's got to be the most easily distracted hunter ever and probably very hungry because when I'm doing this there often isn't a point to the things I'm saying I'm just kind of saying them did you know someone told me my babbling was very endearing and then not actually listen to any of it and then try to ask me to marry him anyway, that was very awkward I don't demand complete retention of everything I say but I mean come on please tell me you're at least listening to maybe a quarter of this for the novelty alone."

"...I'm not sure I caught all of that, but it wasn't for lack of trying," he says, smiling down at her.

"I mean if you find it annoying it is definitely completely fine to tell me to shush and also it's completely fine to not catch all of the things I'm saying because it's sort of like asking you to catch a bunch of leaves in a hurricane yeah you'll get some but also it's a fucking hurricane there are a lot of leaves blowing around and you only have so many hands, though I guess since you've got proportionally sized hands to being twelve feet tall you might be able to do better catching leaves than most but that's sort of missing the point of the metaphor in favor of being very literal and as charming as being literal is I think that there is not always a place for it in the world especially when I'm trying to express myself hey what else is proportional am I going to have to worry about - I literally just saw my brother splitting logs, I am thinking very much that but also wow no bad head do not let my brother and being split like a log into the same headspace bad thoughts bad thoughts ew ew ew ew ew."

He covers his face with his hands and cackles helplessly.

She quasi-mirrors him, in that she covers her own face with her hands. Without the cackling, but she's turning faintly pink.

"Well I'm glad you at least find this entertaining because on this end this is kind of embarrassing I mean I will definitely take embarrassment over ultra-awkward as we both clumsily dance around each other with no idea how to string words together to each other but I think there is probably some kind of compromise here between 'babbles like a lunatic' and 'unable to talk about anything' that we can come to where I don't awkwardly and admittedly hilariously blurt out the very first thing that comes to mind or, well, okay lots of things are coming to mind but I mean there are like thought sizes in my head and some of them are bigger and easier to catch than others and I am totally digressing here when I don't mean to anyway there is probably a better solution here I just don't know how to get there how do I get past the awkward weird stage of interpersonal relationships with you because oh man I think if we let it the awkward and weird stage would stretch to fucking eternity we are so hilariously awkward!"

"I don't know," he says, still half-laughing. "I haven't held a conversation in two thousand years, I am not - it isn't just that I'm awkward, I'm - very badly out of practice."

"Well yeah of course and I understand it's completely fine I don't hold it against you but I don't have that excuse I am just actually this much of a social klutz naturally, it's a gift, or a curse, who knows it's endearing, okay I have good breath control on account of having done this a lot but actually I think I'm getting lightheaded I might need to stop this and instead breathe yep that sounds like agreatideaexcuseme."

She sucks in a large breath and then focuses on that.

...giggle.

Breathing. Not causing herself to faint from babbling. That's important.

"... Okay, I think I'm. Going to stop that now on account of needing to breathe."

"That's a good reason."

Giggle.

"A bit. Um. Was that at least entertaining and or educational?"

"Yes."

He smiles hesitantly down at her.

"I like you."

"Oh, well." Shy smile. "Thanks, I - sort of like you, too, but I don't really know you well enough to say with certainty?"

"I... don't feel like I'm very likeable," he says. "I'm not the same man I was two thousand years ago, but... I'm still the man who used to be him."

Navethae nods.

"Yeah. I - don't know precisely who that man was, though, so - I think I'm missing a lot of the weight. I'd like to judge you by who you are now."

"I want my favourite book," he says to the air.

A little child-sized spontaneous door appears, just big enough for one of those delicate silver trays to sidle through. It is carrying a book. He waves vaguely at it and it correctly guesses that it should bring the book to Navethae.

The title on the much-creased spine says Nimire.

Navethae blinks at it, then gently picks it up.

"Um. Okay." She peers at the book. "This is going to make a lot more sense after I read this, isn't it."