If he hadn’t known someone was there or hadn’t been expecting Valkyrie, it would have been very startling. He probably still would have startled, due entirely to not being used to voices (and faces) right in his ear, if he hadn’t been actively hacking at the tree. As it was, he just turned his head in her direction, then straightened and tucked some hair behind one ear. “The favor is hauling, but if you’re offering to cut I’m not turning you down.”