Or was it a matter of Hector finding him? Flimsy movement, and a drifting smell, tugged at Irma's attention, and down on the ground, Mauja froze. He held his breath, waiting for the signal to run, or shrink back into the shadows if it already was too late. His pounding heart counted the seconds ticking by. He could almost taste the adrenaline in his mouth.

But strangely enough, the thought that drifted into his mind was one of bemusement, and assurance that everything was alright, but he remained motionless in the darkness anyway, unwilling to try their luck beyond what it might hold. He felt like a sitting duck, simply standing where he was, but he knew that the best way to remain undetected was to remain motionless. Still, every nerve itched to run, and Irma kept her damnable calm. He could've growled at her. Some days he well and truly enjoyed her cold and careless attitude, but at moments like these, it grated on his nerves worse than waiting for whatever was out there to pass.

Or come shooting out of the darkness like some kind of missile, aimed for him. Mauja strangled a noise of surprise, hooves splaying and shifting with a grinding noise; what the hell?! Darkness, somehow more compact than the darkness already surrounding him, swept down, followed closely by the massive crimson beast he'd been looking for: something poked and prodded at his mind, at his heart and soul, and adrenaline surged through his veins. He was vulnerable, more vulnerable than he had ever been, and the thing inspecting his fears would find many things, but the most tangible one was fire.

”Dreven! It’s good to see you again.” It was a rather enthusiastic greeting, and while his frayed nerves still hadn't settled entirely, he had to say it was a relief to find that the massive chestnut hadn't figured out the truth. Somehow, he seemed to genuinely happy to know the darker truth: either that, or he was one hell of an actor. Mauja didn't dare trust either notion, but felt himself slip into the skin of Dreven, a grin splitting his maw. He doubted Hector would see, but it was the kind of thing you somehow felt, or heard in their voice – just like he heard how Hector was smiling. He couldn't keep a slight laugh in. For being so large and important, he seemed awfully young at times, but his enthusiasm was a welcome change from long hours of black-stained loneliness. With Irma to keep an eye out for others, it would be good to have some company for a while again.

"Aye, we did!" he agreed, feeling strangely jolly, and at the same time knowing that saying I'd love to patrol with you wasn't really Dreven's thing, and would come off sounding really weird anyway.. as if patrol wasn't all he had in mind. So he swallowed the wording and the tone of voice, settling instead for "I was actually looking for you, so that works fine," and giving him another rather invisible grin. Hector, the mind-reader, but Mauja willingly fell into step beside him. It felt both good and strange to have the large brute beside him; strange, because he had to stretch his steps to keep an even, comfortable pace, and good, because he was tall, and had huge wings. Wings Mauja could hide beneath, should an aerial patrol pass over. In some weird, backwards way, it made him feel safer to have Hector beside him.