Rhade doesn't have a clue of what she looks like. He just knows not what he's seen, but that's about it. He's largely accepting though. So many alien cultures- even Trance having affected his perceptions, to care about how other people presented themselves would be ludicrous.

What he does care about is survival. And to survive, he wants to know if the water in the city is good (could anything in the fog be affecting it?), so he's by the river, dipping his fingers in and letting water trickle off. He lifts it to his nose. Sniffs. Presses his fingertips primly against the very tip of his tongue and thinks about it.

Even being assured that generations of people have lived here relatively safely, he has to make sure.

He doesn't see the top of her head and dark watching eyes at first. He's too busy investigating. But then there they are. And the vague form of someone beneath and the surprised attempt at a bolt further up onto the shore sends him slipping right half into the water.

The only thing that keeps him from a muddy scramble is hesitation. There's something familiar about that face, if not those eyes.