She's lost in a cloud of her own thoughts. All that connects her to the world is the coolness of the water against her legs and the shuddering of her reflection. The rest of her is gone, off in a completely different world. In that place, she doesn't have to worry about her imperfections that are so glaringly obvious in comparisons to the few her twin has. She doesn't have to be concerned with not knowing her father, or trying to live up to Phaedra's and the Grey's expectations. It was nice there, floating in happy fantasies she didn't often indulge in for a child her age. Raeden often went on tangents about being a princess that would be rich and powerful and all sorts of things that Hotaru didn't understand. That sort of life seemed rather awful to her, having to be perfect all the time, but in her eyes since Raeden was always right she tried to conform to the idea. Surely that was the universal dream of every filly? But in her mind she could dream about other things, things that had a loose shape but would become more defined as she grew older.

However being caught in her thoughts had consequences, that being she wasn't paying nearly as much attention to her surroundings. She was always very wary and sort of a scaredy-cat as her twin called her, so it was rare for her guard to be down. So when a soft voice, clearly masculine, called out to her she jumped in fear. There were few males in her life, considering the Grey was rather secretive and she never saw many of them. But the person advancing seemed kind enough, and she stilled her suddenly shaking knees. His voice was soft, and smile gentle, so Hotaru gave him a shy one in return. He introduced himself as Tingal, and she couldn't help but stare at him for at least a moment. Although used to seeing strange things like her mother's curse, or Ophelia and Ktulu, she was still a little intrigued. Luckily she didn't outright stare, for she knew it was impolite and reprimanded herself internally before it could get to that point. "I-I'm Hotaru..." she murmured softly, though making sure she was heard. At least she wasn't loud, commanding attention like her twin.

They remain quiet for a while, studying each other. When Tingal speaks again, Hotaru's face fell into a soft form of sadness, like crinkled velvet in the contours of her face. "Just...thoughts. My twin. I feel a lot of things that I don't think are right, but they hurt..." Why was she confessing to a total stranger? Because she didn't really know any better. Had Raeden been there, her twin would have jumped straight into conversation. Apparently Ru had picked up some of her habits, though she couldn't tell if they were bad or not at her age. Quietly she turned eyes that she found too big and innocent- Rae's were so pretty and wise, slanted like a vixen in an attractive way- to Tingal. "She is perfect, and pretty, and I love her...but she is mean to me, confuses me...I am not pretty, and it hurts...but I still love her very much. I think she is perfect. Is that...is that normal mister Tingal?" Voice very childlike, trying to be as respectful as possible despite the confusion that made her bare her very soul to someone who she hardly knew.