He opened her return letter as soon as it was delivered, relieved to learn that she was still alive, if nothing else. Following a quick skim
(Dretch!?!), Howth made himself a cup of something warm and took everything outside. His initial impulse was to try to clarify the parts of her correspondence that had been obscured, but an odd stab of etiquette kept him from it at first. If she had wanted him to see them, should would have left the words unscathed.
Howth began...
He had puzzled out her greeting without even trying to be nosy, and if she wanted to use such an opener, he wasn't going to discourage her.
Grabbing parts was definitely not a necessity. I don't know much about Dretch anatomy, but I believe any remains would spoil long before your return to the mainland.
It took a long time to write what came next. Howth tried to keep his eyes off of her scratched out words, but the more he attempted to ignore them, the more they nagged at his brain. He didn't think he looked nice or nerdy in his glasses, just... normal, and they had grown to be such a necessity that he didn't care. But what about them did Zumei think she couldn't say? He swallowed the last of his tea before he gave in, holding her letter up to the sun and rubbing at the patch of ink. The sentence wasn't difficult to read once he stopped skirting around looking at it, and he muttered the words out loud as he deciphered them.
"Little love is going gaga..." His ears went a dark pink as he placed the parchment on the table in front of him. Oh. Xaawo
had said he was handsome in them. Was this some sort of skill that women possessed? Making him flustered from miles away? Howth swallowed and picked up his pen to continue.
I understand the need to keep to yourself and for that, I offer another sincere apology. I'm sorry. You were right. And I have something else to tell you when I can find the words.
Best of luck with your escort work. Please be careful. I promise I will remain far away from holes.
Howth
