[IC] Journey to the East

[Illumin0sity]

Noah smiled at Elann buzzing with excitement beneath him, almost laughing as he looked out into the fire, observing the people encircling it. His eyes were trailing over the man who usually played the guitar for the night, leading the songs, when Elann’s fingers played at his neck under his chin. He shied away from her prodding, looking down with the smile brought on by the tickling sensation. Noah gave her his sights and attention once more, his hand stilling in its movement over her tummy. A nod came from him as she said she was going to turn the bowls in, telling him to go ahead into the tent first.

Afterwards she slid from him, letting him readjust then slip into the tent through the flaps. He preoccupied himself with reassessing the establishment of the room, walking carefully to each of the four corners as Aimee and Elann traded goodnights and well wishes. The wolf returned to the wagon where she closed the flaps then shed her remaining clothing in order to shift then meld into the blanket Elann kindly set aside for her. Aimee was fond of Elann’s playful defiance of her wishes, they reminded her of Noah’s own devious behavior when they were younger, though Noah’s own was leagues more malicious than his Benshiran partner’s.

Noah stood by the center pole, pushing on the lantern and watching it sway side to side from its fixture there on the post. He liked the warmth of the firelight so near to his face and how it momentarily scorched his fingertips whenever he pushed it. Tiny sensations built up to show him the world he inhabited, even if he had been in the setting many times before. His juvenile sense of curiosity was never ending, always questioning his surroundings in new or similar ways in order to pull something else out in discovery, regardless of how minor it was.

He settled down onto the bed, peering at Elann’s journal, deck of cards, and inkwell with an urging inquisition. Noah reached for the journal, holding it in his hands and flipping it over and over without breaking it open to read the pages. He ran his finger down the spine as the flap of the tent shifted to tell Elann was coming in. His sights snapped to her, his hands slowing in their flipping of the book to hold it loosely as it was lowered into his lap and then back onto the bed, placed back where he found it.

“Hello,” he greeted. “Are we staying up?” He spoke in reference to what they spoke on earlier in the caravan, where he pointed out she wouldn’t be able to sleep that night because she slept the day away. Noah took a lengthy nap as well, waking enough to stay awake and hold her through the rest of her own sleep.

Noah leaned forward and swept up the deck of cards, playing over the band binding them together with his fingers, plucking at it as he looked to her.

[snelss0]

"Hello," she was greeted with as she came back inside the tent, and her eyes found him with the deck of cards nearby and her journal in his hands. His chiming hello brought a smile to her face and she returned it.

"Hi there."

He asked if she was staying up with him and a small shrug danced upward off her shoulders as she moved to plop next to him.

"I don't know. I think for a little while. I am too awake right now to sleep, but maybe in a bit. I used to stay up all night and watch the goats when my father was gone. I would have to ward away lions, jackals, and many other predators with my slingshot...even as a little girl, so I'm used to staying up all night if we want to."

"Are we going to play cards?" she asked him happily as he toyed with the deck. "You should teach me some games you know, that your family plays maybe?"

She wasn't sure if they played cards with him, except for Aimee that is. She nestled in close to him, but if they were going to play cards, she would set herself to face him opposite with her legs crossed.

[Illumin0sity]

Noah looked to Elann as she sat down beside him, slanting his body towards her while his hands continued to pull at the band binding the cards. She told him about how she would stay up through the night, recalling her memory as a herder for her tribe’s livestock. Noah hadn’t done anything like it before, only using his imagination to assume what the scene may have looked like. His mother had recited her own tales about Eyktol, telling him about the deserts and the Benshiran people she once interacted with with Lanna. The desert far to the south was a place Noah wanted to see for himself, at least to experience it once in his life. Though, he felt it would be unlikely since Elann couldn’t return to her own people without putting her life at risk. He didn’t want that for his bondmate, so he was satisfied with living vicariously through her memories.

Elann commented on the cards, asking if they were going to play them. Noah shrugged at first, glossing over her with his eyes as she asked if he could teach her the games his family played. Noah was involved in all the games, they were a frequent pastime when the house was quiet, which was almost all the time. Usually on off days when the sun was high in the sky and people were waiting for dusk to go out on the town and into the city, or just after and before dinner, when those who weren’t cooking would pass the time with a few rounds of Battle or Guess since they could involve several people at once.

“We can play Guess,” he said, moving to pull the band off the cards and set it off to the side near her journal on the bed. He shifted his body towards her, scooting back a small ways to leave a patch of rug-bed between them.

Noah set the deck down between them and went about shuffling it, his fingers expertly moving to make the deck flutter like papers in the wind as he riffle shuffled the cards a few times followed by overhandedly doing so as well. He set the deck down between them then flipped over the top card, an eleven being set down off to the side of the deck.

“It’s called Guess because you just have to guess if the next card will be higher or lower than the one out currently,” he explained. “So, right now, it’s an eleven; you have you guess if it’ll be a twelve or thirteen, or lower than eleven. If you get it right, you get a point. It’s my turn next; I have to guess if the card after yours is higher or lower too. Got it?”

He peered at her, his hand already hovering over the deck to draw the card when she made her inference. It was a simple game that went by quick and could be played in quick succession, therefore passing large chunks of time without needing a lot of concentration, also allowing for conversation to be had idly. Card games were a large part of Zeltivan culture because sailing was, on ships if there was nothing to do, card games were usually played, thus a lot of them were sailor inspired.

“Also, we’re playing with aces being low, meaning they’re the lowest card, one, not the highest.”

[snelss0]

Elann couldn't help but notice that she opened up about her past a bit but he didn't say anything to her about it. It had been a light conversation evening. Fairly often, Elann noticed he would be silence more than other times. She was just trying to learn who he was and instead of poking and prodding him to comment on what he thought, she just let him think on it. Part of her wished he conversed normally, but he was the man she married and she would have to get used to it. Elann just came from a very open relationship with her mother, essentially the only person she ever talked to other than customers, and since she didn't have that relationship with anyone in Syliras or with Noah, there were times she felt lonely because of it.

Now with her push to not force him into being any certain way, she was having to learn patience and to reserve herself. He offered to play cards with her at least and she nodded.

"Sure."

He went about explaining the game, and to her it seemed quite simple, like a game one would teach a child, but still fun. He finished and she nodded, showing she understood, playing along with his silence. She gave him an okay as he explained about aces and then took in a breath, considering that the numbers were more than likely on the low end, she figured it would be low. However, in her rebellion and hopes of risk/reward, she laid out the opposite guess of logic.

"I'm going to guess it's higher," she said with a defiant look, as if she had just taken a bet that would likely win her some large payday. Really it was just her being silly and she knew in all likeliness she would lose.

[Illumin0sity]

Noah thought Elann bold to think the card would be higher since it was already high enough in the double digits. While it would be unlikely she would get the round’s point, he didn’t rule it out entirely, knowing how Aimee trumped him with her unlikely gamble. He hoped it didn’t happen again, being rather competitive, especially against his siblings.

He flipped the card, eyeing it was it flipped up at thirteen. Noah huffed a breath of laughter, smirking and looking to Elann as if to say she was lucky. He withdrew his hand from the deck to allow her own to hover over it for his guess. Since it was the highest card, his first inclination was to guess lower, but he waited a moment, looking to Elann across from him.

“You used a slingshot when we first hunted,” he recalled. “I remember you telling me about how you would watch the herds, but you didn’t say you did so all night. Were you still doing that before you had to leave?”

Noah stewed on people's words a lot when they were spoken. He wasn’t accustomed to engaging in the lengthy and involved conversations she wished for him to. He was more one to enjoy the companionship they brought one another, quietly. He couldn’t forget the day she fussed at him though, regardless of how many apologies she gave him for it, it was a lesson learned and he was doing his best to adapt to it, speaking and continuing conversations to the best of his ability. She knew he thought of things though, considering his words before speaking them to make the most of those, the little bit he did say. Oft times he would draw quiet and bring the conversation up hours later, stewing on it for that long of time before feeling as if he could carry it for a while longer.

“Lower,” he said, nodding to the cards.

[snelss0]

As Noah flipped the card over, giggles burst forth from Elann at his laughter, which she stiffled with her hand over her mouth and brought the other one over the deck to await the guess he was to give.

"Yeah, I was still doing it as an adult. It was really scary sometimes. I've had a whole pride of lions come down from the plains far to the north to hunt our livestock. You have to be very quiet too or else they can see you and attack. A lot of times we would use some form of thorn to keep them away, but they are smart, they find ways around it. So I just would shoot them before it got to that point."

Noah's conversational habits would drive many a man or woman mad at times, but Elann had learned how he was since that day and really tried to be okay with it. He would slowly learn or he wouldn't, but she just knew herself and what made her feel comfortable, just as her words soothed him. One day he would see that.

She flipped the card, revealing a four.

"I think you cheated on that one," she playfully stated with a sly grin; though the same could be said for her unbelievable guess.

[Illumin0sity]

Elann was the only one thus far who had problems with the way Noah communicated, no one else being one to pressure the Kelvic to speak more than the little things he did say. There were few people still whom he communicated on this level with, and he was perfectly fine with that. Elann’s distress over the situation was still relatively unknown to Noah, he thought he was making the change, albeit slowly and not at the pace she probably wished of him. It was a lot to ask of him so quickly after years of being one way, hopefully she would come to realize that, if she had not already.

“Did you hit the lions?” he asked. “I remember you missed the hare we were after in the field. Do you?”

Noah looked down at the card as she flipped it, the flickering and thick paper smacking to reveal the number four, of which she accused him of cheating. Noah smiled and shook his head, drumming his index finger over the four and the thirteen beneath.

“You cheated on the last one,” he accused.

Noah moved his hand over the deck and pulled at the next card, peering to Elann across from him. “High or low?” he prompted before flowing into the next bit of conversation.

“Do you like sewing a lot, or do you do it because you’re good at it?”

[snelss0]

"Mhmm...I remember. I'm used to shooting larger things like wolves, coyotes, lions and even the occasional snake, but small fast things like the hare I'm not so skilled with. I wouldn't say I'm deadly accurate with the slingshot, but really, you just have to hit them on the face or in the ribs and they will run away, particularly if they don't see where you are at. At least all the predators I've experienced will shy away when they are likely to be injured. They usually hunt the weaker or young from our herds than the rams with large horns."

She enjoyed the fact he was being more open in conversation, and whatever subtle tension was in her was slowly fading away more and more, particularly as he asked her things.

"High," she said nonchalantly, likewise segueing into her answer.

"I wouldn't say I'm very good at it. I'm still learning, but I've become quite competent at it in the recent months. I think I do it because I find it so useful more than out of enjoyment. I enjoy making clothes and dresses for myself, and I maybe one day want to make clothes for weddings, like your outfit you wore on our wedding day."

As she mentioned it, there was a very strong memory of her attraction toward him physically and he would feel that desire.

"You looked very handsome..." she mentioned with a slightly shy trailing off of her voice as she looked to see what he flipped over.

[Illumin0sity]

“That makes sense,” he said, speaking simply. “You use a bow now, you’re more accurate… deadlier too though.”

There was fear in Noah that one day during their hunting she would accidentally shoot him, especially considering it was agile prey they were often after. He trusted her not to but mistakes happened, and he was already cautious enough with her considering he didn’t tend to strike down from above until Elann had her own shot at whatever they were pursuing, a strategy he would stick to.

“Maybe, when I’m better, we should go after bigger things? A deer, maybe?” Noah pitched the suggestion. Deer weren’t utterly difficult for himself to take down given his own size and arsenal of natural weaponry. He was larger than his mother, who was an already big eagle, the dire’s blood giving him an almost unnatural strength to his already powerful frame, lithe and fragile as it appeared.

Noah flipped the card over at her guess, revealing a seven. He wasn’t allowed to reflect on it too long, looking up at her as she went into the topic of her sewing in weaving, saying she wouldn’t say she was good at it as much as she was competent. Noah shook his head.

“I think you’re good,” he complimented, reinforcing his previous one. “I think what you’ve made looks nice… pretty.”

Elann grew shy as she commented on how he looked handsome in what he wore the day of their marriage. He smiled at her in amusement. “You think so?” he questioned. “I thought I looked… crazy. You looked better than I did.”

Noah looked down to the deck between them, noting the seven and making a gambling guess. “High,” he uttered before looking back to her.

“Maybe you should take a sewing class at the University if you don’t think you’re good enough.” He looked to her to judge her reaction.

[snelss0]

"Mhmm...we can do that," she said concerning the deer, though there was hesitation in her. She paused as if she was going to say something important, spurred on by his invitation.

"I have been repeating in my mind over and over what happened that day you got hurt. I'm trying to be tough, but the thought of hunting again is really scaring me."

She wanted to be honest with him and didn't even really notice him flip over the card at first.

"I know you didn't see it, but Noah, I came around the corner face to face with a bear. It tried to kill me, and if it wasn't for Yahal's guidance, I would be dead. Then some lady appeared out of nowhere and..." Terror filled her bond then as she recalled her roar. "She wanted to kill me...I could see it in her eyes. I think she was a Goddess...a goddess of bears...and she sent this bear after me...as big as a house, but I think Yahal scared her away. I just keep thinking about it, and then how I couldn't help you without shooting you...I don't know if I can handle hunting right now...I'm really afraid."

She bit her lip nervously as she thought on such things and was definitely in need of comfort. She was on the verge of tears from the memory and how it all affected her. She wanted to be brave, wanted to see the world as he saw it, but it was hard. The bear goddess had such a malice in her eyes that Elann wondered if she would seek vengeance some day. Nothing Elann did was intentional however, so she hoped that her feeling sorry was noticed by the goddess.

"No! You didn't look crazy at all. You were very handsome. Don't you remember how I felt then? I was very attracted to you in those clothes." She played with the card, almost turning it over, but asking instead, "You really thought I looked pretty?"

Her other hand was playing over the mangalasutra that still hung out of her dress in a thoughtful way, a way that showed the connection between him and the gift. She caressed it as if it were him with her thumb. She knew aspects of her were beautiful in his eyes as he had said so, but she had not felt an attraction toward them, more often being mistaken for an attraction to her other qualities.

He called the card and she flipped over a three, and making a scowl face, she showed that she wished he had guessed right instead of celebrating her win and rubbing it in his face.

"Aimee was saying I should take some classes. I've never been in a classroom except at the orphanage. I wonder what it would be like?"

[Illumin0sity]

Noah’s gaze settled on her all the more, sensing the hesitation in her voice and frame, the smallest quiver in the otherwise smooth way she talked - regardless of the accent - being noted. There was a pause in her words then the recounting of what happened during their last hunt; how she was attacked by the bear, how Yahal saved her from it and then saved her from Oriana, the goddess of the bears, then how she was helpless in his defense just as he was helpless in hers. The feeling was mutual and strong, perhaps deeper than Elann’s own because there was a sense of failure in him for not taking care of himself enough to defend her, bear or not. If it meant she’d live, he’d die for her.

“We don’t have to go hunting,” he said, making it more affirmative than for the moment. “That’s how it is though. That’s how it feels to be hunted and it’s what I felt about the falcon.” Noah shrugged, discounting it all as a part of his world. “You saw one of the goddesses of nature. I think Aimee knows her name, I don’t, but she protects the bears.” He was religious enough to understand how important Zulrav and Yahal were to their blessed in that moment of the attack, how both of the deities saved their chosen from certain death, and how Yahal protected Elann from Oriana’s ugly wrath.

“I’m afraid all the time,” he said, giving Elann something to confide in. “I’m afraid that I’ll miss my catch, I’ll fall and then I’ll break my wing or something, then I’ll be stuck and I would die. I’m not afraid of dying though, I’m afraid I won’t be able to see you anymore and you’ll be hurt because I died, because I may have made a mistake, like I did then, going into that falcon’s territory.”

He paused as well, taking a breath. “I made a mistake when I went away from you then. I wanted to get into a better place to fish from the river but I couldn’t see you under the trees. I didn’t think anything of it until you got scared and then the falcon came. I was trying to get to you as fast as I could and you pulled me so hard...” He put his hand over the center of his chest. “It hurt.”

The memory was a painful one for Noah to recount because of how personal he took the entire situation, placing himself at fault for a great deal of it. Noah knew he was capable of fighting beasts greater than himself, doing so against a dire lynx to save two women outside of Syliras two years prior. The lynx wasn’t that far off from a bear giving it’s dire status, it made him believe he could’ve distracted the bear long enough for Elann to get away.

“I did look crazy,” he urged. “You were attracted to me in those poofy pants and frilly neck thing?” Noah brought his hands up to his neck, splaying out his fingers and opening his palms wide to imitate the frill he wore on their wedding day. “It was so silly!”

He looked down at her hand, watching her fuss with the card before she prompted him again. He nodded, looking back at her. “Your hair looked really nice and the dress you wore, I liked it. I liked your... your... veil too.” He brought his hands up again, wooshing them back over his head slowly to act out the red veil she wore.

“Liam helped pick that,” he said, pointing to the mangala sutra over her neck. “Well, he picked out really big and fancy ones. I could afford them, but I liked that one the most. I didn’t want it to be... brighter than you.” He licked his lips, eyeing the piece around her neck, the two coin sized balls of gold hanging at the end as the charm. His lips spread into a soft smile then as he met her gaze again.

“You can ask Aimee,” he went on about the classes. “I didn’t see any of them unless they were outside on the nice days.”

Noah hadn’t noticed the card being flipped over, having been eyeing Elann’s necklace and then her. He had even missed her scowl entirely, entranced by the necklace in that moment. He looked down then, tsking his tongue in mild annoyance. He brought his hand over the deck, pulling at the next card before looking at her.

“High or low?”

[snelss0]

What her husband said at first didn't really lift her up, but when he confessed he too was afraid all the time, she took solace and comfort in his relating to her. She felt the same, a fear that she wouldn't be able to be with him anymore, and she felt that all the way back to camp in her arms until the doctor had told her he would make a full recovery.

"I'm sorry I pulled so hard. I've never been more afraid. The bear was so big and scary, and so close. She roared at me and I thought the vibration of the roar would stop my heart. All I could think in my mind was that you were my husband, my protector. You would help me, but she was so close...and the falcon."

"It was just a bad situation, but I don't think you made a mistake. I'm sure any other time you would have been able to fish from the river and I could have walked around that rock. The momma bear just happened to be there. I don't blame you in the least. It was just a bad situation," she reaffirmed.
"While I'm still a little afraid...I'm sure like you said, many things can happen and do happen all the time in nature, or else nothing would get killed and eaten. It has just really shaken me and I've been trying to get over it. You see...I love hunting with you. It is my favorite thing I've ever done, and I don't want to give up on it because I enjoy the fact we can do it together. I want to hunt a deer...I do...and I want to be a predator like you, but I'm just so new and well...I'm kind of nervous to try again. Do you think we could start smaller again sometime when you get feeling better? Maybe even just a walk in the woods? I think I'll feel better if we do that..."

On the subject of his dressed up costume during the wedding, she she nodded largely to him that she was attracted to him. "Silly or not, I think back to that day a lot when we are making love. It reminds me of how handsome and attractive you are, how much you loved me that you would dress up like that, and devote yourself to me legally- when I know the bond was enough for us. It meant a lot to me, and you dressed like that makes me a little crazy..." she shyly confessed, a big reddish blush coming over her face. She knew he would think of her as silly, but she really was attracted physically to him and just him playing the part of the groom at their wedding was a huge turn on to her.

"I tried to look the best I could for you that day, like the brides of Syliras. Though I think you think I'm more attractive now without anything: no makeup, no perfume, no styling...like now. I look homeless," she chuckled a little, but was curious to see what he was going to say.

He pointed out how Liam helped pick out her gift and her palm displayed it for the both of them. Her eyes lifted upon his compliment and she flared in love for him. It was seen in her face and she too licked her lips. In that moment, she really just wanted to kiss her husband, but let him speak about his sister, giving him a nod about the classes. He prodded her for the answer to the guess and she thought it would be a nine, and so guessed, "High please." Though her eyes rest upon him instead of the deck, viewing his neck, his cheeks, and the beauty of his eyes. She was not so interested in the card game, but more about; his words "brighter than you" echoing in her mind.

[Illumin0sity]

Elann apologized for yanking on the bond as hard as she did in her fright. He shrugged, denoting it was alright, over and done with. Usually Noah wouldn’t be affected by a failed hunt or even having his life put into that much danger, passing it off as his world working how it worked, he was but a small part in the grander circle. However, Elann was involved and he knew she was a foreigner to his lands, thus he saw her as an innocent caught in the crossfire of the wilds’ war. He was beyond thankful for Yahal in that moment for saving his bondmate though he did not pray or speak of it otherwise. His own guilt was too loud to allow him to see Yahal as the saving grace there.

It was encouraging to hear she did enjoy hunting with him, even going as far as calling it one of her favorite things to do. He was glad being out in the wilderness the few times they did go with the intention of bringing back gameleft a big enough imprint on Elann, dispelling his assumptions of her not enjoying his world as much as he did.

“A walk sounds fine,” he agreed. So long as hunting with her had a glimmer of hope to still happen Noah was satisfied. Like Elann, he wanted something akin to the tale of Lanna and his own mother’s bonding, both hunters with a mighty prowess. He didn’t expect them to travel the world as Lanna and Isabella did, though he would like that as well.

Elann grew shy then, talking about their wedding night and the first night they did lay with one another as man and wife, in the way Elann wished it. It was because of love why Noah dressed in what he deemed as a ridiculous outfit at the behest of his mother to fit the traditions of their western weddings. If Elann had not been so dead set on them getting married to cement their relationship legally and publicly, he would have stood beside his own argument of keeping it private and secure in their own minds because it was deeply personal. Since she wasn’t discounting their bond in favor of her own silly display he went along with it, grateful for Elann’s happiness in the end.

Noah watched her face tinge with pink as she said seeing him dressed in that crazy outfit actually made her crazy, but in a way he was coming to better understand. What she said next turned his face of subtle curiosity into one of joy as he laughed aloud at her self-deprecation.

“We are homeless,” he reminded of the technicality. “I look worse than you.” He brought his hand to his face, scratching at it and the hair his chin and upper lip. “I want to shave so bad. You smell better than I do too. I just want a bath.”

Over the past few days, especially recently, Noah’s mood had been dragged down by waking up and realizing how dirty he was. It had been some time since his last bath and the heat of the day and warm nights bundled up with Elann, he only seemingly got worse. When they could some of the other travelers went to bathe in the river that was a mile or so away, give or take the road’s distance that didn’t vary too much day in and out. Noah hadn’t been among them and desperately he wished to cleanse himself.

He flipped over the card at her behest, revealing another eleven. “You’re going to guess all the high cards,” he feigned a whine, pulling his hand back from the deck.

“I guess low, and you looked better than the brides of Syliras. You’re a homeless bride,” he joked.

[snelss0]

Elann was glad that he discounted her apology and seemed to feel it was alright. That caused her to smile. She understood that he wanted to protect her; it was why he was with her at all despite their fights they had been having. His ultimate failure to do so she could easily see affecting him, particularly in his weakened state, but Elann saw him still as her protector. Even in his current state, he kept her from death when the bandits attacked and completely showed his ability to fight just as great as any desert warrior for his family. It warmed her heart to think about.

"Good," she said in agreement that they could walk. Though she was still afraid inside, she felt a little better, willing to come to him with her fears and express them. He could feel where once there was terror, now there was a calm comforting buzz from her, and it was only at his words.

Noah's laughter rang out, bringing a brilliant smile to her face as she curiously longed to hear exactly why he thought it was funny. She was serious to a point, but as he explained, she too laughed.

"Yeah...to me, this is even a homeless person's tent."

Her people's tents were huge, spanning some fifty feet in some cases and filled with multiple rooms. This was just a small thing, and while Benshiran made, it was nothing like home.

He rubbed his jaw, the action making Elann think of him as more a man than a boy.

"How about tomorrow we go when the sun is up to the river before everyone gets up and get you a bath, shave you and let you get cleaned up, since we are staying up tonight anyways?"

It seemed like a good idea to her, and due to the forest being thinner here, it was not far to the river and wouldn't be as much of a challenge for him as it would have been before.

Elann was close in her guess and it was clear her mind was not the same as the divine blessing of her fortune telling or else she would have truly been able to cheat and know each card. She was currently winning and couldn't help but chuckle a little at his fake whine.

"I am, and you are going to lose," she chuckled and revealed a ten after he guessed, though his words made her hand linger a moment. In another blush, she looked down until he joked with her. She looked back up with a smile, showing she thought it was funny and took in a breath, subtly mentioning, "I like it when you tell me I'm pretty like that. I grew up being told I was not pretty, too skinny, hair like a camel's back, umm...that I have a voice like a whining dog, and small breasts, not capable of feeding a child. I've been told I'd never have children, and if I did they'd likely be too frail to live in the desert heat." She shrugged, showing it didn't bother her. "So it's nice to hear sometimes when you think I'm pretty or that I looked better than the brides of Syliras, because to me, they are really pretty."

"I guess high again."

[Illumin0sity]

In his own lightness of mood, Noah had felt Elann emitting the pressure of fear and her other conflicted feelings down the length of their bond. When they were lifted he was relieved inwardly, making it easier for him to laugh out loud at her jab at herself.

He looked around the tent as she called it homeless as well. It was bigger than most of the small ones he had seen and thus resembled the closest thing to a home a camper could get. In his time over Syliras Noah had encountered a great variety of people who camped out in the Bronze Woods, even hunting with one of them though they never knew of his Kelvic nature, thinking him an eagle simply sharing a downed deer with them. Noah derived joy out of the deceit of others, though it was innocently had. He hid his true nature in order to observe the human nature upclose, especially if they were walking in his world with no fear.

“That’s a long walk...” he trailed uncertainly. It would be uncomfortable for him to saunter that far out but the promise of cleanliness was tantalizing. “I’ll try to go that far.” He would make an attempt because he wanted to get clean and because he was hoping it would help him heal. Atop that, the regaining of self-sufficiency was imperative to him.

“You’re going to lose,” he shot back after the ten was revealed, granting him a point.

Noah’s words, though they were said because they were the truth of his mind, seemed to hold some part of Elann as she went to tell him she enjoyed his compliments. He smiled softly at her, glad that she was appreciative of his words. He recalled her telling him people normally complimented their significant others, it was another of her coaching sessions of trying to form him to be human. He kept the lesson in mind but didn’t act on it, also sticking to his own belief that said words meant a great deal when spoken, they harbored the truth. A part of him felt as if consistently complimenting Elann would cheapen the value of his words, as if they were spoken to the point of non-meaning.

What Elann recited about what others insulted her with made him feel guilty for it though, made him feel as if he should be attempting to bridge the gap between compliments and insults inflicted over her life. She didn’t seem bothered by them but he was, the darkness of his brows furrowing in miffedness.

“They’re petch heads,” he said, annoyed.

Noah flipped over the card, revealing a six. He couldn’t revel in the minor victory though, his mind still on the various insults. “Your voice isn’t like a whiny dog, it’s nice. I’ve never seen a camel but your hair is better than that, I like it, and your chest is fine,” he said, eyes flickering down to look over her breasts quickly. “They’re liars, too.”

“I guess lower.”

[snelss0]

Elann could almost see the river as she was setting up her tent before the complete darkness, and even outside her tent she could hear the rush of the water. It wasn't as far as he thought, being half the distance they walked down the road that night. She just nodded though.

"I am more worried about the terrain. We'll have to be careful, but it doesn't seem so thick here...so it might be okay. If you are nervous though we don't have to. I can always fetch some water and we can give you a sponge bath here in the tent if that's better?"

Being neutral in her offering, she looked to him for the answer; completely content with whichever way he wanted to proceed.

He threatened her with loosing and she smirkingly gave him a glare in response to show she wasn't afraid. Elann, while weak, had a rebellious defiance in her, almost a competitiveness that he hadn't seen much of, but usually only came out with play.

As it was, being raised in that life of criticism, his belief of consistently complimenting her was ill founded, and only enforced her negative outlook on herself. The more he expressed his adoration of her features, the more she truly felt he thought she was beautiful. Yet as he defended her character, more than his words saying she was beautiful, it spoke that he truly did feel she was a cut above the rest, and his words were meant. He truly did believe her to be more beautiful than Syliran brides, he loved her voice, her hair, and even her more intimate features. She couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by love for him and couldn't take it any longer.

As he guessed lower, she rose to her hands and knees crawled over the pile of cards - not crushing them - and longed to kiss him. If welcomed, she would crawl into his lap to straddle him and sit close, wrapping her hands up into his hair as she lingered close to his lips.

"I love you Noah Amuel."

She would let him respond and then would kiss him sweetly on the lips, pressing up close to him in her attraction to his mentality and spirit.

[Illumin0sity]

“No, I’ll try it,” he reasserted.

The possibility of a sponge bath being given to him was enticing as well, though it reminded him of his last state of handicappedness, how Elann had to clean him because he almost couldn’t do it himself, not really wanting to because of how low he had stooped mood wise. The injury, while it had been healed by Devi’s intervention, would’ve killed him simply because he was already so far done with life after Caesarion broke their bond. It must’ve been utterly taxing on Elann to take care of him and herself while working. In the beginning of that part of their relationship he had started to loathe her coming over because she would coax him into doing things he didn’t want to do. Towards the end, however, her appearance was a soft light to the shroud of darkness around him in his apartment whenever she was away.

He put out his guess, looking down to the deck to watch her flip the card but the flip never came. Instead, her whole being moved towards him, moving out over the game between them to come to him. He looked up to her curiously, taking her into his lap as she straddled over him, engulfing him in her sensuality.

Looking at her, he wasn’t all too taken aback by her display of affection, feeling her piquing desire in their bond. What was surprising was how she said his name, adding his surname into the bit. Now that he thought about it though, he wasn’t sure if Elann knew his full name. He remembered the fullness of hers, unsure if it still applied to her given she was no longer of her father’s tribe. Technically she had his surname as well, though he had not called her by it.

“I love you too,” he replied, the words coming out of his mouth before he was kissed by her.

He had wrapped his arms around her once she took her place atop him, holding her all the more as she pressed herself into him. When they parted he gave her a look of subtle quizzicality, as if quietly questioning her displays of affection. His eyes searched her face for an answer, spoken or not.

[snelss0]

"Okay," she voice softly. She was confident on the distance to the river that he could make it, thinking it far shorter than it was in her sight of its glimmer through the woods earlier, and yet even in her misjudging of the distance, with her help it hopefully wouldn't be a problem. The road followed the river for the most part and she wished it was even closer that night, but regardless, it would be good for him if he could make it.

They embraced in love and kissed in small amount, but affectionately. Her hands coursed through his hair, but upon pulling back, she could see his puzzlement and knew he didn't understand.

"You kept saying very nice things about me. It made me want to kiss you...a lot" she explained and kissed him again a few times briefly. Elann turned her upper body to grab the deck of cards, showing her limberness, and once having it, brought it to set next to them and flipped over the top card, revealing a five. A small grunt came from her in disappointment and she glared at him.

"I guess lower," she said as she took to lightly peppering his jawline with kisses; just being affectionate.

[Illumin0sity]

Though Noah was confused for the motivation of her kisses he was a participant in making them as sensual and short as they were. The kiss broke, him giving her the look of misunderstanding and her explaining the reasoning behind her actions to him. “Oh,” he said softly, growing warm as he understood it. The next kiss was just as engaged as the others before she pulled back again to turn and reach for the deck of cards. Noah remembered the last card was a six, he had guessed low, and this next one came up as a five, invoking a glare from Elann to him as he scored another point.

“I told you you were going to lose,” he reiterated.

Noah leaned towards her in their closeness, resting his shoulder against hers, his head peaking just slightly over hers as he looked down at the deck in her hands. He reached over into her space as she kissed his jawline and neck. The peckings made him smile because her light kisses tickled across the sensitive skin of his neck and it felt odd to be kissed on the scruff of his chin.

He flipped the card over to reveal a two, granting Elann a point. “Higher,” he guessed in return, naturally believing it wouldn’t be an ace.

The hand situated behind her reached up to course through the strands of her hair, the fingers parting enough to nearly reach her scalp beneath it all. In their closeness still, he rested his head against hers lightly, enjoying the touch they were sharing and the affections she was giving him, and him her. Like she had kissed his jawline, he turned and kissed the apple of her cheek, a simple peck before resetting his head against hers as he waited for her to flip the next card and hopefully grant him another point in the game. Ultimately the game didn’t matter but he was naturally competitive, striving to outdo other players regardless of the game or the seriousness of it.

“Do you think you’ll volunteer at the orphanage in Zeltiva?” he asked, wondering if she would befriend the caretakers there like she had befriended Aenysa before in Syliras.

[snelss0]

Elann couldn't explain it: she loved kissing her husband. When everything was right between the two of them, it was strangely one of the most uplifting and sensual acts between the two of them. In her mind, and remembering her first kiss, it truly just felt like two pieces of skin pushed together, but for some reason she loved it. It made her feel good, even in brief.

Playfulness was taking hold between them as he mocked her again, but she could feel the pleasurable undertones through their bond. He was liking what was happening, as well as her closeness. He guessed higher, and she hoped for an Ace, but knew it wasn't likely herself. She had gotten unbelievably lucky twice, but it was more likely he would win with his guesses.

It was not often that Noah ran his hands through her hair. The soft curls would catch about his fingers should he move too fast, but they were being sensual. Her eyes closed in enjoyment of the action and she could feel him lean in and kiss her jaw. He knew that anything near her neck, sensually done, would drive her sexually crazy, but the kiss on the jawline was much more romantic and flooded the bond with warmth as he moved up to her cheek. Happily she rested her head against his as she nudged his nose lightly against hers.

His question came, pulling her out of the sensual closeness they had and made her really think. She had considered it before, but hadn't decided.

"I might. I know if I go to it I will," she giggled, displaying her weakness for loving the children. "I think at first, I'll just wait to see what happens, where we live, what we are going to do for money, and then I'll worry about that stuff, but I do love children and want to help them out. I wish I could adopt them all myself sometimes...but that would probably drive you nuts," she laughed. He would never be in normal clothing, would always have some form of lipstick on his face, would always be pestered by children running about asking him millions of questions, and would never get to sleep.

"What about you? Did you have any hobbies or anything you liked to do?" She knew about some that he had spoken of, but didn't know if there were others.

She flipped over the card, and if he didn't know what it was by looking, he could see on her face and through the bond that she was confused.

"What do I do now?" she asked as it was a two. "Is that a point, or do I flip another card?"