"It would be safer if I went alone," Davian said, drawing an 'are you serious' look from Zoya. Maddy sipped her tea, and Davian wondered just exactly he had said wrong. It was not until later he realized she believed he was meaning safer for her. At that moment, he believed she was merely offended that a single individual could go about undetected far more easily than two, and he was used to slinking in alleyways and keeping a low profile. 

"Safer, you say?" She asked, as if she was repeating the wild declarations of a child. "Perhaps, but if you think that can dissuade me from going with you, then you're more thick headed than you look. Now let's go before I bind you in weaves of air and keep you here while I get the food." With a toss of her raven hair, Zoya stepped out of the room to fetch her things. Davian raised an incredulous eyebrow at her as she sashayed away. 

"It's none of my business, but I know men. You might care for her, but men always have this foolish notion of protecting us." Maddy said, patronizingly to Davian's point of view. 

"Protecting her!? [i]Care[/i] for her!?" Davian asked, confusion evident on his face. He was thinking of protecting himself! Not to mention the notion of caring for an Aes Sedai! He had only just gotten somewhat used to traveling with one. Women really did live in a reality outside of his own. She shook her head as if he was keeping secrets. He forced himself to stop staring, gave a dismissive 'aaaahhh' and waved a hand at her before muttering the Domani bachelor's saying of 'the more women there are about, the softer a wise man steps.' Good words to live by, in his estimation. 

In short order, the two had their concealed weapons, along with Zoya having borrowed a small scarf to wrap around her hair to grant her a waifish look. With her simple dress, all she needed was a basket filled with produce and she would look the part of a farmer's pretty wife. Davian had found a wide brimmed hat to don, to keep prying eyes from meeting his own. He toyed with the idea of walking with a limp, but decided against it. They would not be out long. Maddy fixed them up a bit and bade them come back soon, as if to hit the point home. Zoya took Maddy's hands in her own and squeezed, before giving a wink as she and Davian stepped out into the sun. 

The sinking light looked beautiful, and the relatively short buildings gave Godan a deceptively quaint look. However, the sounds and sights below the horizon were more like a busy morning than the end of a workday.

It was as if the two had been swept into a downhill stream, the crowd of locals and travelers rushing about them as a flood might. Davian had to keep his hand on his hat and his eyes peeled for pick pockets. The two summarily were pressed together for a brief moment, before almost being pulled apart. Zoya smacked a reaching hand that seemed to disappear once more into the crowd after she caught it, though whether it was up to thieving or salacious ends, she could never find out. A thickset, mustachioed Andorman with a huge pack on his broad back tried to squeeze past them, but the press was so tight, the pair of them had to grab a hold of one another's hands and push with the current before Davian spotted refuge on a street corner, the thief-taker yanking Zoya out like a fish on a line. The plump woman burst out of the crowd, almost gasping for air. Davian imagined being so short, she might feel smothered. He was not going to voice that concern aloud, though. 

Next to them, a dog scratched at some fleas as two local dockmen were reclining on a pair of crates, one lighting the other's pipe. The other grinned at them as if he had a private joke.

"Two more streets of this," Zoya muttered, smoothing her dress and fixing her hair. "Why did we have to come out, again?"  

[i]Do not argue with her[/i], the Domani thought.