"Friends?" Ashva asked, utterly puzzled. He hadn't exactly considered the concept in general, let alone specifically now. He was also aware he was probably half of what was being said to him. On the other hand the excitable stranger in front of him was likely to take that as confirmation that they were the bestest of buddies now, so it was too late to really do much about it now anyway.
Ah, but clothes though. An interesting prospect when one is soaking wet and not used to putting them on. A lot of undignified rolling around happened, which only served to get the clothes soaking wet too, and the whole thing was far more complicated than it really needed to be.
The end result left a bit to be desired - soaking wet clothes clinging to the skin, and Ashva's gills, webbed feet and seaweed hair every bit as naked before. It wasn't exactly the greatest of disguises, but at least he wasn't drawing attention to himself with nudity, which was a start.
"Where is Mr Owen?" Ashva prompted, hoping to break up the latest round of chatter. This was not exactly how he'd envisaged meeting the locals.