Out of Touch (Cen/Devorah C support)

[Cen]

Ooc: Takes place whilst walking in "The Need for a Path"

Ic: Cen had noticed an akward moment with Devorah about their hands when they were walking earlier. He reached his hand to her and smiled, then slowly walked away as she took it. She was the only person he'd ever held hands with other than Laney, and the thought made him feel very childish. But he didn't want to make Devorah feel sad again. He'd made her sad twice now, and he didn't want to repeat it by giving off a negative vibe.

He rolled his head a little bit, taking everything in. Walking through one of two cities on a plains country, with two complete strangers. Oh, and holding hands with one of them. The thought made Cen smile. He wanted to say something. Even something small, small talk. Well, she lived in Sacae, the weather would seem a stupid subject from a foreigner. He felt the silence getting a little akward, and said the first thing he thought, "So, miss Devorah, you're not very familiar with the outside world, are you?" He smiled lightly, hoping that didn't hurt her.

Ooc: If she DIDN'T want to take his hand, he can just be an akward guy.

[Devorah]

Devorah was surprised when the young squire reached out and took her hand, though she was happy that he did. After the small group's conversation in the bakery it was apparent that she had a lot to learn about the world. She could have easily clammed up, blushed, and apologized for her ignorance, but where was the good in that? Instead, she stood up and got them moving again, wanting to see the town and start to try and grasp the way the rest of the world worked. She would be damned if she didn't want to try and learn everything she could.

The Sacaen looked over to Cen just as a smile appeared on his lips, and Devorah couldn't help but let herself smile as well. Her day had gone so differently than she had expected, but she couldn't have minded less. The two men she had met were so kind, much more so than she had expected from outsiders, and they hadn't held back when she asked questions or wanted to be shown around. Hell, Cen was so nice that he had somehow noticed her awkward reach for the hand earlier and had taken the initiative to hold it to make her feel comfortable; Devorah couldn't have appreciated it more.

Their walk seemed to be aimless for now, simply taking in the sights and smells that a still-bustling Bulgar had to offer. It didn't bother Devorah in the slightest when Cen asked about her familiarity with this new world around her; in fact, Devorah couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape her as she began her answer. "Was it so obvious?" The Sacaen quipped, another chuckle tumbling from her lips before she continued. "But no, I'm really not. The smells, the sights, the people... I mean, I've lived on the Sacaen plains for 20 years and know them like the back of my hand... but this is just all so foreign, even in my own country," she sighed. "I can't even begin to imagine what life in other countries is like."

After a moment of thought she looked over to him. "I was wondering... What is your home like?" Valcrist had been very open about his home during their conversation, but something about Cen's home had quieted him. Maybe something had happened at his home, or maybe it was his family; whatever the case, Devorah was curious to know the reason for his silence.

[Cen]

She wanted to know about him? Why? She was probably just being nice. Cen couldn't really see any reason he would be interesting. She was the one with the face tattoo and seemed out of the ordinary. Then it hit Cen, she was as strange to him as he was to her, and that would explain why he seemed interesting. He tried to think of how to explain his home to someone who'd never seen it.

"Well, I lived on a farm. A farm is a place where a few people grow food and raised animals to eat, or sell o buy other things we needed. It's...a beautiful place in it's own way. We grew sunflowers and wheat. Some of the sunflowers were as tall as me."[/lime] Cen smiled and laughed for a second. "I lived in a small house, and slept in my sisters bed because I'm the youngest. My favorite place, and my favorite thing to do was, working at the stables. That was where we kept our horses. My brothers knew they were going to be knight, I wasn't supposed to be, but it was something I always dreamed of when I rode. No one would ever listen to me about it but my sister, and she..."

"She left, to marry a man in another city. Without her," Cen said as he sub-consciously tightened his grip on her hand for a few seconds, "It was lonely."

[Devorah]

Devorah smiled as Cen remembered his home, glad that his deposition about it had changed slightly since their conversation in the bakery. Maybe she didn't really know Cen yet, but it was nice to hear him talk about where he came from, to see the light in his eyes when he was undoubtedly remembering the farm that he spoke of. It sounded like a wonderful place to grow up, and she even laughed as he spoke of the enormous sunflowers, though when she tried to imagine them compared to him it looked quite ridiculous.

She knew, though, that the remembrance wouldn't be completely happy, as he spoke of his sister leaving his family. She looked up at him, her features morphing into a soft frown as she gave a slow, empathic nod. "I am so sorry..." she said, though her thoughts had slowly drifted to her own life on the plains. "I know how you feel, though. A few of my cousins were married off to men from different tribes when I was very young. And when I came back from the warrior camp to prepare to leave for my pilgrimage," Devorah lowered her gaze from her tall companion, "my parents were preparing to marry one of my sisters."

The Keskarvian paused for a moment, giving a small squeeze to Cen's hand. "Besides, there is nothing stopping you now from going to see her... is there? I'm sure she would be glad if you visited."

[Cen]

Cen looked down at Devorahs smile. She seemed far more genuine when she smiled than a few women he'd met in this city. There was a barmaiden, who'd convinced him to go down an alley to confront her ex-lover, only to have him outnumbered, and the young couple running off with all of his money. He'd gone to reclaim a rich woman's ring, but spent two nights in jail, which was reasonable, considering it was actually a family heirloom of an elderly merchant. Cen didn't really seem to have the best judgement when it came to dealing with women. But Devorah would be different he was sure.

Cen looked down at the girl as she explained the similarity between their cultures when it came to marriage. Or rather marrying off women. He reached down and lightly turned her head to meet his gaze. He smiled, disappointed hed failed to avoid making her unhappy,but tried to hide it as he said, "You're right, ah think ah'll have to make time for that. I've talked about my home, what was yours like?"

[Devorah]

(OoC: sorry for not replying for so long, been real busy with school)

Devorah gently slipped her hand out of Cen's grip and crossed her arms as he asked about her home. "Well, the Sacaen plains are my home," she grinned, looking off as she thought about how much she already missed having the open fields to run around in with her siblings and friends. "But I know that's not what you meant," she amended, chuckling awkwardly before going on. "While I was growing up I lived with my family and my sisters in my tribe, which had about... two hundred people, I think? I knew almost everyone's name though, everyone did; even though I only had 5 "blood" family members, it was like I had 200 because we all knew each other so well."

"Our tribe moved with the herds so we could hunt for food, so we moved around about 4 or 5 times a year. Each family lived in a large hide tent; I think in all there were about 30 or 40 tents in our tribe. The men in our tribe would hunt while the women either gathered berries and herbs or took care of the children." She stopped describing for a moment, feeling her chest tighten as images of home washed over her again. She had barely left and already she wished she could go home. She was a strong woman, but she still felt she was barely an adult. So much of her time had been spent training that she felt she wasn't given the chance to really grow up.

Realizing she had been quite silent, she look up at the sky and simply sighed. She knew she had left out a lot but she wasn't sure she wanted to keep going for now. "I miss it a lot."

[Cen]

Damn it. Three times, probably even four. Cen wasn't too great at normal conversation today it seemed. He could feel she missed her home a lot. She described it with a certain happiness in the sadness. Cen ducked his head to think of something cheerful to say, "You know... it might not help much but, there are some nice things in the outside world too."

Ooc: It's okay, sorry for this one's shortness

[Devorah]

Devorah smiled as Cen offered a few short words defending the merits of the world outside of her tribe, and she knew he was probably right. Already she had met two men who were kind enough to help her find food and to explain the workings of the city to her; hell, they had even agreed to show her around. If anything, that would be plenty to prove to her that those outside of her tribe would not be as bad as some made them out to be.

"You and Valcrist have already proven that to me," she affirmed, though she kept her gaze on the path they were taking rather than Cen. "As much as I want to go back, I know seeing what outside life is like will help me learn. Besides, I can't really go back anyways, so I'll just make the best of it." She nce she had said her part she realized she might have sounded down again. At the same time, though she was being completely honest. She wouldn't skirt around the fact that she couldn't go back to her tribe for the next three years, because when push came to shove it was an honor to be out representing the Keskarvian tribe on her pilgrimage.

Not sure Cen realizes that... Devorah thought, remembering the disconcerted expression he had been sporting after talking about her home. Looking at Cen, she tried to clarify. "I mean, I wasn't exiled or anything... Warriors in my tribe go on a pilgrimage at the end of their training so they can understand how the world outside of Sacae works, since it's important for us to know so we can better protect our people." Luckily the warriors had never had to protect the tribe from attackers in her lifetime, but they were always ready to defend the tribe and Sacae if the time called. Devorah just hoped something like that wouldn't happen while she was away. She didn't know what she would do if she was too far away to protect her family from harm.