Desi worried that he was talking her ear off, but it seemed more that she was quiet than that he rambled too much. Her lack of words was comforting in some respects--he didn't mind talking about basic little details about himself, but as long as she didn't talk much about herself, he didn't feel required to return the favor. There were a lot of things he didn't want to talk about, after all.
He heard the shoreline before he saw it. It seemed like the tide was heading out with the ground slightly damp under his feet. It was an open area, practically indefensible, but there wasn't anyone around, and even the docks were abandoned, likely because there were no boats docked to it to watch over. By his estimation, the Joining wasn't over yet, and the inevitable mourning that followed probably hadn't even begun. Desi did have time to relax, provided he could find it in himself to stop worrying a possible if very improbable pursuit. Forcing an air of calm onto himself, he settled himself off the silt and onto the wooden planking of the pier, which was thankfully dry.
To his credit, Desi didn't let her questions startle him. "I was with one of the warden parties, yes," he said, challenging himself to conjure up a story as quickly as he could. He hadn't anticipated meeting up with anyone so soon, and he'd hardly given any thought to plausible reasons for him being out at this hour. "I'm an apprentice scribe, but they don't have a messenger boy, so that duty falls to me. As I said, I'm supposed to make all haste, but it's too nice out for that, I think. Haste can wait for the turn of the hour."