[ Thankfully, Sarangerel did, in fact, expect him to be fresh from the odd jobs they have the tendency to pick up and so she isn’t all that terribly surprised when he appears on her doorstep looking every bit worse for the wear. She still answers the door with a small smile — albeit a sympathetic one — and only sighs in response to the state of Ze. She opens the door and gestures him inside regardless with no judgement. The cottage has seen her step in before in similar disarray, after all, and she can hardly be so hypocritical. ]

Take your greaves and boots off here though. It will be less to clean up if you do not track everywhere you have been inside the house.

[ She gestures to the mat and armor stand placed beside the doorway. Both are clearly not new, but at least there is no evidence of her own past messes on either still. The house is tidy. While Ze works on his boots, she steps behind him to remove his coat. Dusty as it is from the road, it can use a wash, but they can tend to that later. For now, it’ll go on the coat hanger. ]

You arrived sooner than I had expected. Were you already in the forest?