With an effort Ennrik forced himself to ignore Fang's exploratory motions. The firelizard wasn't hurting the guitar, and if he did end up Impressing a dragon, he'd have to get used to having much larger creatures nosing at his instruments, as he was positive a dragonet would be as curious about them as this blue firelizard was. Besides, it didn't do for a Harper to give offense by being overly protective of his guitar. Guitars were replaceable. And Ennrik's main instrument was still his voice, and the firelizard hadn't done anything to damage that, either.
Although Ennrik did not usually converse in the language of grunts and shrugs, he understood it well enough. It may be difficult to believe, but there were taciturn Harpers, and his father had been a great believer in only speaking when it was necessary. The exception to that rule being when he could find fault in someone. The man delighted in criticisms, and the only thing that had kept someone from killing him so far, Ennrik theorized, was that he mostly tended to mutter his criticisms under his breath, where others couldn't hear them. Only his family got to hear them at full volume.
"Mothers are like that. Some of them," Ennrik agreed, thinking of his own mother.
She had died in his sixteenth turn when infection set into a wound that went untreated. His father only told him the bare bones of the incident: that infection had set in and that she had died. A separate letter from his sister, written in a careful script too full of flourishes, informed him that she had died fighting with their father. She'd threatened him with a knife, warning him that if he ever raised his hand to any of her children again, she would kill him. Cyrenna agreed that their mother had died of an infection, and had been emphatic in saying that their father didn't kill their mother, but Ennrik had his own theories on the matter.
Ennrik watched Gamoira make ready to leave and made no effort to stop her. They had each come to this place seeking to be alone for their respective reasons and found each other instead. He would welcome the solitude, though the encounter hadn't been unpleasant. He was sorry to see Fang go, but he knew he'd have further opportunities to interact with firelizards in the future. At least until after the Hatching and his return to Harper Hall (if they'd take him).
"Fare well," he bid her, raising one hand in a gesture that was definitely a wave.
