For whatever reason, she had always expected a more... social lifestyle, or at least something more exciting. After all, she had been taught so much from both Rogue and Malina since the day of her birth - she had expected, by now, that she would have found herself in the kind of situations that required particular skill sets. Instead, she had found herself aimlessly roaming about, picking off prey here and there and eavesdropping whenever she had the chance. It was hardly social and even less exciting. Well, really, she should not have been able to expect much more: after all, much of that boredom had been of her own choosing. For whatever reason, her desire to be social had always battled with her desire to be alone, or at least an unshakable feeling of being unable to relate.

Imagine, then, her surprise when she had heard the faint sound of rustling grass and the dragging of claws across dirt and foliage. It had alerted her instantly to the arrival of somebody else, no matter how far off they might have been. Still, she remained content in the water, merely having paused to watch the river's banks with a rather passive interest. After all, she had grown accustomed to many things happening, but nothing ever happening to her specifically. Like a big old rock - things just moved around her. That indifference, however, quickly became something else. Something familiar. Something that worked through her gut like a toothed worm, tearing apart a part of her she had forgotten about. It made her cringe for a split second but soon enough, that pain-without-pain had bloomed into something else. It had become something... comfortable, warm even.

For a split second, she might have looked a little daft. At least, she had certainly looked confused, almost a little taken aback as she hopped back a floating stride in the water. The feeling had taken her off guard and it became difficult to swallow it back down into the depths of wherever it had come from. He had asked her something. She had to reply. In fact, she really had to. Like some part of her commanded it of her. How frustrating.

"There's plenty of water to go round."

She blinked, as if the very question he had asked had been all but utterly foolish. Of course he could come in, right? To her, it felt as if he had come for that very reason. Or at least, that she had no inhibitions about him joining her there (more often than not, she might have picked a stranger like him apart before letting them anywhere near what she found fun.) She had always been interrogative - hungry for knowledge - but for now, seemed content to just... float, in the feeling or the water. Whichever, really.

She took another bounding step away from the banks and into the deeper part of the river, beckoning him forward with a flick of her muzzle. Despite the warmth she felt, she managed to remain composed. She had gotten that from her father - a certain level of stoic poise. Her mother had always been all fire, but Mana had learnt to refrain from biting when she didn't need to use her teeth. Right now was one of those times. Instead, she just wanted to give this stranger room to enjoy the feel of the water. She did manage to flash him some kind of smile though, fleeting and small before she focused back on the water.

"Try keep your paws on the ground. It's not too fun going for a river ride into Iromar."