Oh, hardly, but they’re exhausting, so this seemed a much more relaxing option.

[ His answer is delivered cheerfully enough, even if there’s something a little more guarded in his tone, with that as a greeting. He probably should have expected it, but he’s been here with Hilda and Claude - and Petra, before that - that he’d become more relaxed even when greeting familiar faces from home. Easier to forget to don the masks he’d worn constantly back home, when he had so less need for them here.

He settles in across the pool, muscles arms stretching out to either side of him on the rocks as he relaxes and eyes the other man curiously. An impish smirk still lingers on his lips as he cocks his head to the side. ]

Come now. I would have at least bought you dinner first before we proceeded that far. What do you take me for? [ At least his tendency to turn just about anything into innuendo hasn’t abated at all in his time here. ] Although I confess, I’m a little surprised. You weren’t among the new arrivals in the Free Cities, were you?

[ That’s more of a statement than a question. He keeps a close eye on all the new arrivals. Just in case there’s a familiar face among them. ]