[ Any doubtful quality in that tone is lost on him at the sound of his name; he hasn't gone out of his way to avoid notice, but he doesn't have to. Usually. Now, it seems, the glamour that keeps him dim to the rest of the world has slipped (if not fallen, entirely, as he remains slightly insubstantial, just the same), and there's an adult staring him down.
A stranger. A traveler? Somebody he doesn't know (despite that nagging sense of familiarity).
Cloud flinches back, caught, and quickly secrets away the prize clutched in his hands to relative safety behind his back. He doesn't run, isn't afraid - there's a difference between being afraid and knowing that the world is cruel. But he looks ready to, maybe, if it comes to that.
For now, he only nods - reluctantly - and regards her with the first vestiges of a defensive glower through messy bangs badly in need of a comb's attention. ]
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A stranger. A traveler? Somebody he doesn't know (despite that nagging sense of familiarity).
Cloud flinches back, caught, and quickly secrets away the prize clutched in his hands to relative safety behind his back. He doesn't run, isn't afraid - there's a difference between being afraid and knowing that the world is cruel. But he looks ready to, maybe, if it comes to that.
For now, he only nods - reluctantly - and regards her with the first vestiges of a defensive glower through messy bangs badly in need of a comb's attention. ]