Word Count: 516. GRACE used CUTENESS. It's super effective! No, really. They're adorable.
For someone who rose with the dawn each day, the idea that one might be attempting to sleep with the sun up (if barely) seemed momentarily outrageous. Of course, she'd not slept either - she'd been wandering, smoking, looking at the stars, talking to Taj at length. Home wasn't far-removed, but it was considerably far enough, and she might have savoured sleep as well, had she thought to partake in such activities yet. The excitement of a new face dulled the hum of sleepiness, and she watched the boy with intense curiosity. He was young yet, only an adolescent, yet already larger than Grace herself. Not that it was particularly a challenge to accomplish that feat, considering the small stature and slight build of the blonde girl. She was insoucient to the fact that most towered over her; her brother had accustomed her to such things. He was a fair bit larger than she was, and had been for some time. He looked profoundly akin to their father, and her to their mother. Curious, given that the similarities inverted from there. Gabriel was their mother's son; Grace, her father's daughter. It was a curious contrast.
She hadn't even noticed the warning outside. Of course, she could read, but she had not been questing for a message to discern. Rather, she sought her avian friend, and now, she had recovered him. The matter was slightly complicated by her also having discovered a strange wolf, although this was neutral territory, and another might have decided that it was not their business. Howbeit, he was of interest to her... however choleric he may have been. And wasn't he so! "Well, I've often seen a wolf without a grin..." she jested, grinning as widely as the cat in the book to which she referred. She had learned to read from her father, despite her mother's protests that such things would turn a perfectly sensible girl into a capricious fairy princess. However, when it came to Grace, most discussions between her parents had ended with her mother throwing up her hands in umbrage. And thus, she had been taught to read, and her favourite book was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. A fanciful story, but so charming! She had aspired to be the Cheshire Cat in her youth, sitting in trees and attempting to make her body vanish into thin air.
Grace sat back, propping herself on straightened arms. Conversationally, she spoke to him, oblivious to his attempts to be dispiriting. "Good morning! River, eh? I like your name. Where are you from, River? You look rather exhausted. Are you hungry? Would you care for breakfast?" She was bombarding him with questions, surely, but his presence similarly bombarded her with curiosity. As he spoke, she tilted her head and stuck out her tongue a little, burlesquing his allegations and criticisms with blithe face-pulling. "Silly lad!" she exclaimed, her tone mirthful. "Why didn't you sleep? Isn't that what you do at night?" Taj pecked her meaningfully, and she laughed. "Well, 'twasn't what I did last night, either, I suppose. We've both been travelling."