Re: Mayflowers: Max and Solas
His brows lifted at her questions, amusement dancing in his eyes. "Yes, da'len, I am male." He waved off her concerns about the people. Truthfully, they were alarming. He'd never seen so many people in one place in his life. Even Val Royeaux's population paled in comparison to this mammoth city's. But he wouldn't let anyone know he found such crowds distressing. "Once," he said, touching the crest of his head. "We all have our misspent youth." His eyes lingered on the device in her hands, curiosity lighting his features.
He was about to respond to her question about the doors, having a carefully constructed explanation of the Fade and the Veil on his tongue, when a human child rushed up to him, an explosion of energy and brilliance, sparkling with the force of her effervescence and life force.
Solas recoiled before he could school himself into indifference. Fury flashed briefly across his face when she reached out a hand to touch his ears. This was the kind of human behavior he was accustomed to: men and women who thought they owned the elvhen simply because they were human and the elvhen were not. But then the fury was masked with neutrality. He caught the girl's wrist in a gentle grasp, turning it aside. "That would be unwise," he said, his tone frosty.
Stepping away from her, he deliberately placed Max between him and the girl. He clasped his hands behind his back again, but now he did it not because the pose was comfortable but because it put his hands close to his staff.
The girl moved away. She had a modicum of intelligence, then.
"I believe you asked why this was not disturbing to me," he said, turning to Max. For her, his tone was much gentler. "My own world is split into two. There is the physical realm and the realm of dreams and spirits, what we call the Fade. Though the mechanics are different, the two situations are not so dissimilar." He gestured toward her pockets. "What was that device you were using earlier? What purpose does it serve?"