Eurice preferred the dark. He had an academic's bad eyesight from reading by candlelight late into the evenings, and an academic's ashen skin from spending most of his life indoors, and an academic's soft hands from never having completed an honest day's hard work. He preferred himself that way, too.
And so when he and his... comrades... emerged from the inn where they had spent the night into the morning glare of Freeport's southern desert, his first instinct was to throw his arm over his eyes and pull his hood down as far as it would go.
"Not used to it being so bright?" asked the short-haired one, grinning at him and squinting. Almost polite, though the plebian accent rather killed any good intentions he might have had. Eurice considered retorting, but any ideas he might have had in that direction were immediately thwarted by the longer-haired man...well, exploding.
"AUUURGG!" he cried, staggering back, and fell backwards, throwing both arms over his eyes. The female raised an eyebrow, and the shorter-haired one merely rolled his eyes. Eurice sighed. "It burns! My poor, unused eyes! I've never been outside before!" The man rolled over onto his stomach, pressing his fingers into his eyes. "What is that strange yellow glowing thing that burns me so? How do I--"
"Please, Rheuben," sighed the shorter-haired one, "you could try, you know, to act your age. Just once, for kicks."
"But it burns!" moaned the other, writhing on the ground. It was going to be a long journey, though Eurice.