Again, Maurice opens his mouth to speak--maybe even to argue-- but he can't get sound to come out. So he is forced to listen.

And admit, that, yeah he had been in a pretty vulnerable state a few minutes ago. They could have been peeling his face off instead of just curiously smelling him with their horrible pokey antennae. The kelpie anxiously fumbles with a lock of his mane as he tries to figure out how to apologize to this strange glowing being before getting out of his hair--metaphorically this time.

"Hhhh," said Maurice. He lifted both hands and tried to make a placating gesture. It turned into a weird little half-bow.