Яikyn

As I’d feared, my presence only seems to escalate the situation; with a groan, I wish that I could be Erebos for a little while, simply walking atop the water, so I could pull her out by force and drag her to the shore, rather than being left to awkwardly stand here, anxiously hovering, while she flops about in the water some more. Willing to dive into the deeper parts of the lake to try and keep her from drowning if need be, I otherwise just remain close. Surely, she’ll calm down at some point, and we can progress beyond this seemingly endless barrier of wariness which seems to raise high around her as the mountain does about us both.

Just as I’m starting to toy with the idea of grabbing hold of her with my magic, and dealing with whatever comes after I let her go, she catches her balance. Looking at her, dropping my willpower, which I’d slowly been bundling, I meet her embarrassed grimace with a forced smile.

I don’t approach her, not this time. Instead, I try words, doing my best to keep my voice gentle and even, though it may just come off as somewhat tense and brittle, I myself not the most socially adept, despite my mother’s endless attempts to teach me to be.

I hadn’t caught her name during the madness of their storm-drenched arrival, I realize, and it was likely she probably hadn’t heard mine, either, considering the state she’d been in. Taking a deep breath, trying my best to swallow down all my frustration with our hopeless social encounters for the sake of leadership, and a sense of duty to my people, I attempt to bridge the gap between us with words, rather than physical aid.

"Other than being in the lake, presently, you are quite safe here, miss. I’m Rikyn," my rich tenor voice begins, forgetting I’m supposed to be Lord, too, because I’m too busy wondering if she’s mute, or deaf, because all she’s seemed to do is gasp and shout shapeless sounds. I gesture towards myself with my nose, just in case. I look back over my shoulder, towards the shore where it is safe to clamber out of the water, and roughly point with my horn, before looking back to her, and slowly wading that way, knowing the slowly changing banks of the still, mountain pool well enough to pick out a pretty safe path, if she’ll follow me. Pointing with my dark muzzle ahead of me as I pass her, I try and keep a comfortable distance between our figures, having figured by now that she’s one of those personal space issues people. "Come on. It’s safe to get out over there."

[ OOC: <33333 ]

in every heart a hole