Oriel had been watching people pass by, until he caught sight of Natalie, with her pale hair and her bright, bright smile. His own smile was bright in return and he waved to her as she approached, and then signed out 'hello' as well.
When she was close, he stepped into the hug, returning it the same. Stepping back so he could read her lips and see the way that her hands moved, the signs that she made. Oriel too thought of her as a sibling, a sister that he had never had.
"Lost? That doesn't surprise me," he said and signed and there was laughter twinkling in his eyes, for he rarely laughed audibly. But it was evident enough in the way his blue eyes danced.
"I'm ready. I've been steeling myself from going in alone." Which would have ended in him carrying the entire menagerie out with him! Oriel turned to the door then and pushed it open, holding it for Natalie before passing through himself. Inside it smelled of animals.