Welcome to Gaia! ::

I hope you might find reason to linger.

Lothorien might have worried about being too forward, but he had no reason to be concerned where Laureat was concerned. Even at his most direct, it was doubtful whether Lothorien would crack Laureat's 'forward-meter;' after all, Laureat was no shrinking violet, and never had been! But just because he didn't notice forward behavior in others didn't mean he wasn't cautious of it (to some degree) in himself. Laureat was comfortable with himself, his high energy levels, his general state of happiness, his passion for all things lovely; he was well aware of his ability to come on strong. Lothorien might not realize it, but so far in their meeting, he'd witnessed restrained Laureat; relaxed Laureat, with all his dramatic flair, was still waiting in the wings.

But with those words of Lothorien's, Laureat's comfort-meter rose up a few more notches. Lothorien had no way of knowing that Laureat had set out on this little excursion to raise his spirits after the depressing week he'd had in the aftermath of the great fire. He hadn't had much of a destination in mind, just a desire to find something to clear his head and cheer him up. With those goals...well, he was ready to linger away!

Which is why Laureat was grinning by the time Lothorien finished his statement. "With an invitation like that, what kind of cad would refuse? I'd be happy to stay and talk shop," he said, stepping over to allow Lothorien access to the water. "Or, honestly, talk about anything. Or even just stop and smell the flowers," he said with a sly sideways glance at his newfound friend. "I'd hate to grind your voice down so soon after we've met and all...but really, thanks for the invite. I think this place might be just what I was looking for," he finished with a soft sigh.

"Well, that's great to hear, Loth...do you mind if I call you Loth, by the way? I'm always shortening things," Laureat said with a chuckle, realizing he was jumping a bit fast into overly familiar territory. Personally, he considered that to be a good thing; it was a sign of his comfort level with Lothorien that he already wanted to bring a nickname into the equation! Still, he understood that he might be a little premature, and that was ok. Hell, Lothorien might not even be the type FOR nicknames; maybe he just preferred use of his entire name! Laureat could work with any of the above, whatever Loth...Lothorien's...preferences were!

But whatever the verdict on the names, Laureat doubted he'd be losing the 'comfortable' feeling any time soon, especially not with Lothorien being so friendly and playing such a nice host. "There''s nothing in particular I want at this point; just the company and the scenery is doing it for me right now, thanks. That said, I'm open to suggestion," Laureat said with a grin. "After all, you know this area a lot better than me!"

That said, he laughed at Lothorien's 'favorite' question. "Oh, it's no secret; you could say I practically wear my preference on my sleeve." As Laureat spoke, he raised a wing to the glossy black of his mane, from which he deftly extracted a lustrous black rose. Offering the rose to Lothorien, he said with a grin, "I have a few others, as well." The one tucked into the chain at his neck was obvious, but hidden in his dark mane and tail were a half-dozen more, neatly camouflaged by the hair. "How about you?"