Random Intermission story

Sylvie smirked, but instead of mentioning that Auker had recommended that as general principle to live by, said, "I trust you have a better idea of the risks here." Even if some of his measures of caution sounded odd to her, this was true.

She let her backbrain play with the general topic of what would be useful to know in Yrn while they finished breakfast, got ready for the road, and found their way out of town. They left on a dusty street due west, rather than continuing on the paved street that roughly followed the river.

By the time they had left the crowds behind, Sylvie had come up with some things she could mention, one of them triggered by his joke.

"You know, goblin men generally want to be part of a harem. More or less. Their families have a woman as a head, and a handful of husbands."

His usual way of walking -- rhythmical and brisk -- deviated from its tempo for about three steps as Sebastian shot a curious glance at Sylvie. He didn't, in fact, look shocked, but interested. With a tilt of his head and a lop-sided smirk, he squinted. "I sense it's more for practical than cultural reasons?" he asked, adjusting his hood and readjusting his current disguise in other ways. Somehow, it was more about his posture and way of walking that made him seem different rather than the hair and clothes.

"Are you sure you can't read my mind?" She nodded, and went right on, "Yes, they have more sons than daughters. They seem to need closely knit groups even more than humans do, too, though, so maybe a bit of both."

Smiling faintly at the question, he tilted his head and considered Sylvie's explanation. As he thought, his expression grew wan for a moment -- something about how she said about the need for tightly knit groups reminded him of his own self. Moving closer, he took her hand and tried to remain calm and analytical. "By the way you say it, I imagine there is little conflict with this practice due to practical reasons having become part of their culture?"

There was something he needed to ask later, but for now, Sebastian would rather keep both of them cheery and amused.

She gave him a sideways look and a warm smile at the gesture. "I don't know that those families break up any more often than couples."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow as well as a corner of his mouth. He was calm again -- how did Sylvie do it? Instinct? "Oh, I'll expect I'll have my time to investigate. Not nosily, of course, but you get the idea. I'm curious about people." Biting his lip, he admitted: "I've always been envious, too. Tell me about the elves, would you?"

"Hm... There aren't very many in Yrn. I heard they don't like gathering too many in a small space." She waited if he'd either give her a cue what he was interested in, or say something else.

"Why so?" he asked, relishing the feel of her fingers -- as much as he could, through the fingerless gloves. Then he chuckled. "I'm think of this as an infiltrator. The burden of always being an outsider -- you want to know everything before you can try and pretend to be even remotely local. Well, but, anyway. What about... what about the fauna? Dangerous things?"

"There aren't many dangerous animals in the city itself. Occasionally you hear of a poison snake in the outskirts." She watched the ground in front of her feet and tried not to grin. "First example of fauna I thought of is a species of whale. They are pale, and the biggest whales that have teeth - a bit of a nuisance since they hunt big fishes that are sought after. They are hunted, and, well, any animal gets aggressive when injured. They're called white hunters."

At first, Sebastian looked amused -- but then he made a connection between a strange half-memory and Sylvie's body language. He raised his brows and, after debating it internally for a few seconds, asked nervously: "Er, is there... something you want to share about this white hunter thing? When I think about the... words, somehow I recall vegetation and your fa-- no. Don't tell me?"

"You're much more adorable that a huge toothy beast," She said, looking suspiciously innocent.

"Ehm," Sebastian managed, blinking rapidly at Sylvie -- and blushing. <em>Just what...</em> His mental gears once again churning quickly, he came to a conclusion. "It was... the... oh, for the love of everything, you're enjoying this! Exactly how much and what did I say when I was going after that bump on my head?"

Strangely, feeling embarrassed almost felt good. "...wait, adorable?" he added, sounding perplexed. The last time someone had called him adorable, it had been a fat man with an acute case of no clothes.

"On occasion, yes. Would you like me to answer your other question, too?"

Bewildered, he put on a nervous grin. "...yeah, please. And thanks."

"Let's see... you were afraid the chicken was about to eat your head, and threatened to scream like a girl... something about a unicorn I didn't get; you'd got into that fix by playing great white hunter and failing; you called me a good nurse and 'better than tolerable looking', and looked horrified you'd said that." Yes, she was enjoying this.

She suddenly looked more thoughtful when she remembered another detail. "I think you told me I could call you anything I wanted, just before giving your name."

At first he looked mortified, then amused -- and snickered uncontrollably for a moment before having a coughing fit. Oh. Yes. That was decidedly one thing Sebastian remembered, telling Sylvie to call him whatever. "Um. Yes. After that, I began to suspect that..."

He rubbed his eyes and pulled on her hand gently, to get her to stop walking. Before continuing, Sebastian sighed and pulled the beige hood lower again, staring at her. "I kept suspecting that I'd embarrassed myself terribly or told you something I don't... usually tell people, but I'll not deny that I was damned glad to find that you not only didn't care about me being an ass, and." A shrug. "Look, you kept haunting my dreams. I didn't remember anything but bits and pieces, but I couldn't forget your face or..."

It was at that point that he decided it was best to look at the ground. How Auker would have laughed. Sebastian was actually feeling shy and acting it, too.

"I'm not sure when you think you were being an ass." The mention of appearing in dreams made her feel a little awkward, so she tried to make light of the matter. "What you said then was the best compliment I ever got - I could be certain it came from the heart, not calculation." She squeezed his hand and smiled at him.

He gave a tiny shrug and thought it over, looked up from the path and thought it over some more before squeezing her hand in return. Then he frowned. "I get your point about it coming from the heart, but nobody's ever called you pretty befo-- oh. You mean, you're suspicious about compliments?" Sebastian blinked, leaned his head closer just to examine her eyes. "I'll tell you. I usually am."

Sylvie answered the question with a nod, and his last pronouncement with, "I am not surprised."

Sebastian tilted his head minutely and searched her eyes and her face in general. Then, having had enough of that, his free hand's thumb found a place on Sylvie's cheek and a smile its place on his face. "You know the thing about being able to read people and their body language?"

She tilted her head a little and nodded in his direction. "It makes people who know about it nervous about talking to you?"

A nod, but also: "But I can also -- usually -- tell when someone's being truthful. And so, that in mind." He leaned his forehead against hers, then the tip of his nose against hers. "I can tell when you're worried, I can tell that you're speaking from the heart." That said, Sebastian smiled faintly, eyes still open. "I think you read me just as well."

Sylvie closed her eyes as he spoke, trying to control the confusion these pronouncements left her with. What did it mean in relation to her trying to look less worried than she was? And she wasn't particularly empathic... She met his eyes and said softly, "Maybe that's just in comparison to other people reading you, because you're usually trying harder to hide yourself."

That had been his rationale as well, and he couldn't deny it. "I don't dare hide," Sebastian said in the same tone she did, but continued with a pensive note in his voice. "I'd slowly start to lose you, wouldn't I, if I hid? I'll not have that."

"Your mask might not lose me. If that would be you keeping me or not..." She pulled back and turned just a little, and nodded up the road. "That's getting too philosophical for me."

He digested the words, nodded at the gesture and turned to bo, hand firmly in hers. "Just scared." There was a crease on his forehead. "Later. Now, let's see where we are."

He was prepared to let the topic go and just walk alongside her to their next stop.

The river valley here was a wide trough with relatively flat bottom until the mountains started. They were getting close enough to the western slopes to watch people harvesting grapes that had been planted in places too steep for fields. Small villages lined those foothills, sometimes climbing up into the folds of narrow side valleys, and connected by a street now avoided by people just passing through the area.

Hilyet, straddling the river but leaning more towards the eastern slopes, was visible in the distance to their left.

Sylvie, however, looked inward. Her steps were slow, and after a few moments she gave Sebastian's hand a squeeze and said quietly, almost as if talking to herself, "Being open is scary. If you aren't accepted it is not because of a miscalculation in the construction of your mask, but because who you really are has been found not worthy. Trusting..." <em>means handing someone a knife, turning your back, and hoping the one you trust will defend you, not attack.</em> She shook her head rather than finishing the thought. She leaned towards him and said a little more brightly, "I'm not running away from you, you noticed."

He lowered his gaze to the path, ignoring the city altogether, considering one of the villages along those valleys at the same time as he thought of her words. Sebastian still looked wan when he, having gone through several possible meanings, said: "I know. You're walking with me. You've accepted me, though it still mystifies me." He refrained from putting more angst on the table. But: "It is scary, yet even so... back when I came clean in front of the family... it felt good. In hindsight, when you asked me -- or is that interrogated? -- me about the orb and its origins, it felt good as well," Sebastian finished, watching her.

Sylvie chuckled, and gave him a sideways look, just a little embarrassed. "Well, good, then." After a short pause she said mock-primly, "Curiosity is a virtue."

Utterly unready for that -- he was more ready for something more serious and possibly awkward --, Sebastian laughed, relieved and happy. "Oh, it can be! Look where it brought us!"