So vexed by this land Adrius sometimes is, he has taken to occasionally forgetting his manners. While he was not spying, he was staring - which, if he truly wanted to think about it, was he spying on her? Adrius has never been a shy creature, nor a creepy one; and so, his initial response is to indignantly rear his head. How dare she suggest such a thing?
After the initial impulse wears off, Adrius violently realizes her tone was not one of offense. He blinks, thinking she sounds an awful lot like his mother when she was trying to appease strict royals. He blinks, black eyes clicking with the sound of his scales. Was every being here so unimaginably . . . casual? Adrius straightens, briefly recalling the way Maurtia teased him. He would be damned before he was caught off-guard again, and makes a valiant effort at mimicking Stargaze's attitude.
"That depends on what you would consider spying," Adrius answers, approaching the cattails slowly. More and more of his body is exposed, hundreds of tiny water droplets showering like glitter from his belly. He shines beneath the bright sun, fins flaring instinctively. Beneath the brilliant light, his fins cast a faint glow of pale blue upon the water. In Baltia, he is considered a healthy, handsome creature; and so he carries himself with the kind of pride one was instilled with from a babe. Beautiful from birth to adulthood, but entirely unaware of how strange he might look to another culture. Adrius stops just in front of Stargaze, drawing his body to a statuesque stillness.
"But if I was spying on you, I would not have been found," he adds after a moment. "You are very striking amongst the cattails, and I was curious . . ." Fighting the urge to shift uncomfortably, he finishes, "My name is Adrius. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?"
@Stargaze