Silence is a loud place (Luke)

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It had been a strange time ever since Virva had left her home. The modern world was loud, smelly but at times convenient. Above all, it was alien and strange. It had taken quite some time before Virva had felt properly settled in. Literal months to even get into her routine. Now that she thought things made sense one single boy had messed things up. The strangest part? She didn't even mind.

Luke, her coworker, was a strange but kind man. He humoured her peculiarities and seemed genuinely interested in her life. So naturally she'd done the logical thing for a poor lonely sauna deprived soul and had dragged him along to the house of a friend for an afternoon and evening of drinking and sauna. She hadn't expected them to get along so well that their slightly tispy (if not fully drunk) butts had gotten along so well that he'd ended up kissing her. It still confused her, but she had to admit she liked it. She felt comfortable around him. After that he'd asked her on an official date. A bit odd and out of order but it was fine.

So she'd dragged him to a secluded valley between some hills outside the city where a small spring bubbled gently. As she grabbed some fruit from her bag she held one out to him. "Do you want some fruit löyly boy?" She asked him teasingly as she kicked off her shoes and sat down on the grass. Nature was best and even better enjoyed in good company. "So tell me about you and growing up in the city." She said as she bit into an apricot. It was good to be out in the wild of nature again. She didn't object to the fruit choices in the city though. Even reindeer jerky got old at some point.

@luke

[Deleted]

@virvatuli

luke had never really thought about a love life. he'd been too busy thinking about graduating while he'd been at school and being able to move away from home as soon as he could and since leaving the castle, he'd thrown himself into his training at the ministry. it's what he'd always done, he wasn't one of these people that let themselves get distracted too often and it usually worked for him. though he hadn't accounted for a certain fellow redheaded and free spirited trainee making her way into his life. it had started with sauna. well it had started a little before that but sauna had sealed any sort of deal. the kiss they'd shared, albeit in the heat of the moment and more than a little alcohol fuelled had been enough for him to ask her out on a proper date. though when he'd let her pick where she wanted to go, he didn't think he'd be sitting on the grass.

he was stretched out with his legs crossed, leaning back on an elbow as he listened to the brook bubble just next to them, watching virva as a stream of sunlight broke through the tree's above them and shone brightly behind her, making the wispy bits of her hair shine as if they were alight. he reached to take the piece of fruit from her, biting his teeth into the apple after she'd offered it. she wanted to know what it was like growing up in the city? how did he even start with that. he'd never been good at talking about himself, it was just something he'd grown used to not doing because it wasn't often it had been a topic of interest when he'd been a kid. "it was .. busy? never a shortage of people around." he said as he took another bite of the apple. he chewed it for a second before finishing the mouthful and he used his elbow to sit up so he was next to her. "always some kind of noise, i didn't really like it much. i liked my grandparents place a lot more" he looked at her and smiled a little. "you're turn. tell me about hy-brasil?"

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It was hard for Virva to figure out what things meant with city-dwellers. The folk of metal machines often confused her and she didn't really want to presume too much about what their previous interactions meant for them, if anything at all. Who knew what these people got up to? The city folk and their machines and pollution and other things that were truly terrible for nature. So she kind of hoped to figure out more. This was a date, so that much was clear. Dating was for people that wanted to spend time together and possibly form a romantic relationship. She at least hoped that also went for the city-folk. He didn't speak of the city with love and passion though, which sparked her curiosity. It had been very little information, but the part about his grandparents interested her, since it suggested that was a far more quiet place. Virva nodded thoughtfully. "More quietness, I guess." She said as she played with the grades of grass around her. "Do you like the city?" The question was in ernest, as it confused her. Most people loved the places they grew up, but there seemed to be something a little more complicated with him. She wasn't sure what and she wasn't going to push him for it, but she was curious either way.

Then he asked about Hy-brasil and she chuckled. "It's beautiful of course. No loud machines or pollution. Every sound made by nature. Most people there are animagi. I haven't been there for many years. I have a few cousins there. My dad's sister married man there." She shrugged. Despite all it's beauty Virva wouldn't trade her home for Hy-brasil at any moment. "It's noisy there, compared to home. But silence is a far louder noise. You can feel it. When you're on the lake in the middle of the night while everybody else is indoors or asleep you can almost hears the fins of the fishes cutting through the water below. That noise has so much more weight than most of the city noises. It's comfortable though, more like a warm blanket because every sound you hear is a whisper from the nature spirits." She smiled peacefully, closing her eyes for a moment as she listened to the sounds around them. Rustling leaves, dancing water. She opened her eyes and turned to look at him, a strange smile on her face as she leaned forward and softly stroked the hair from his face. "I would like to show you one day, if you want. I think you'd like it there."

@luke

[Deleted]

@virvatuli

five words. it was a simple five words and that was all it was but he didn't really know how to answer it. did he like the city? not really. did he enjoy aspects of it? of course. he liked crowds, being able to get lost in them and caught up in the energy that lots of people put into the atmosphere but he couldn't see himself staying there. as much as he enjoyed the chaos that sometimes came with living alongside as many people as he did, he did want to eventually settle somewhere quieter, somewhere like the burrow where there was space to move, air to breathe that hadn't been shared by at least three different people and to surround himself with a family to give him the chaos and energy that he thrived off. "i can't see myself staying there for the rest of my life." he said as he ran his fingers along a long blade of grass. he knew he wasn't really upholding his end of the riveting conversation but he was much more interested in what she had to say right now.

as he listened to the way she talked about where she came from, luke started picturing it in his mind. he'd never been there though he'd read about it whenever it had come up at school and he'd listened to the few people he'd met that had known what it was like but never had he heard someone who'd grown up there talk about it, and talk about it she did. he took her face in as she closed her eyes, the way something about her changed when she spoke of home, there was a softness in her voice that wasn't there most of the time and it seemed her whole body relaxed as they sat in silence, the world moving and making it's noises around them. he felt her fingers brush against his skin and without thinking his head tilted slightly towards her hand as she brushed some of his hair back from his face. "i'd like to see it." he said as he shifted slightly and leaned in a little closer to her. "so lots of animagi, does that include you?" he asked her as he reached into the basket and pulled out one of the last strawberries, lifting it up slightly, offering it to her.

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Somehow Virva found it rather reassuring that he didn't plan to stay in the city his whole life. She'd have had to cut things short if that were the case. The city was... not for her. She wasn't even sure if she'd last long enough to become a full fledged auror but she was determined to try. It didn't really help the ministry spent half their time antagonising her and her fellow druids with their stupid and useless rules. They really should try to pass some laws to make them independant or something. Both here and in the North. The governments were far too attached to the concept of owning land, even if they were very different from those that actually live there. Even worse, up in the north where she came from she didn't even think any of the politicians that wanted to tell the druids how to live would be willing to live there permanently. It was just insane.

He wasn't sharing too much about himself yet but perhaps that just needed a little more time. She didn't really want to risk pushing him away as there was something about him that simply wasn't the same as the many things she'd discovered about most city dwellers. He was different and she wanted to get to know him better. The question about animagi caught her a little bit off guard. She shrugged as she bit the strawberry right out of his fingers. She chewed it thoughtfully for a second before she let out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding. "Well, one day. Not just yet. It's a big deal to me and I don't feel ready just yet." Then she sat right next to him on impulse and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'll take you there. Just pack warm clothing and expect a much worse language barrier. Most people back home speak two languages or three. The most common three are Sami, Finnish and Druidic, although there are a fair few that speak Swedish and Norse as well. It's quite common to stand in smaller groups and constantly be translating for each other, although most converts also speak Druidic and most Druids learn Sami as those are the people we feel most comfortable with. They get it, you know?" She said, although it wasn't sure to be quite clear. They were not technology driven people that lost touch with nature. They understood nature, which Druids found very important. Even if there were plenty muggle Sami the druids had found they often understood the lifestyle a lot better than the magical community, even if they guarded their magical nature from them and they were not allowed in the village itself. There was a fair amount of trade with the Sami still.

@luke

[Deleted]

@virvatuli

his fingers gripped the strawberry a little tighter as she brought her lips down to the fruit to bite it out of his fingers. he smiled a little as she did, dropping his hand back into the basked to grab one for himself as he listened to her talk about not being ready to become an animagi yet. he could understand that, he'd thought about trying to become one but there was a lot involved in the process and he had more than a little going on right now and he didn't want to do most of it with a leaf between his teeth. he shifted to accomodate her as she moved to lean against him and he braced himself so she could. he felt her head come to rest on his shoulder and he lowered his cheek softly to rest it against her hair, the arm she was leaning against coming up to wrap around her waist gently, hugging her gently against his side as they sat there quietly on the blanket, the sound of nature growing louder every minute that ticked by.

it would have been easy to get lost in the silence, to wish to stay there in the moment forever because things felt simple right now. she was warm against his shoulder, the head radiating from her sent warmth down to his bones and he felt more relaxed in that moment than he could ever remember. the scent of her hair was tantalizing though he couldn't place the scent that it was but he sure did want to spend the next while trying to figure out what it was. "alright, it's a deal. i'll bring the warm clothes." he said as he smiled a little. "just promise me you'll not leave my side, just in case i get stuck with no idea what to say." he said with a low chuckle. he could only imagine how confused he'd get or how much he'd confuse the people of the island. "then after we're done there, how about your favourite place back at your home? i'd like to see that." he said, somewhat on impluse. the longer he spent with her the more he wanted to get to know her and get to know what she was thinking, he wanted to know everything about her.

[Deleted]

Virva had always been the kind of person to take to physical contact quickly and easily. It was part of the culture she'd grown up in but also just a part of who she was as a person. She didn't mind touch and missed it regularly in the environment here, where physical contact was far less common than back home. Still it somehow didn't compare to what she felt when she cuddled up with Luke. It was almost like magnets, how much she was drawn to him. It felt like the fit together perfectly. No awkward bones in places they didn't belong, No awkward feeling that seemed so common with most people here when they were touched unexpectedly. His arms felt like home in a way she couldn't quite explain. She smiled slightly as he asked her not to leave his side when they went North. "Don't worry. There's a lot of water and we wouldn't want Näkki to get you." She said teasingly as she snuggled just a little closer to him. She hadn't been this comfortable in her life. Or at least not since she'd been a small child in the arms of her parents, although that had a very different kind of comfort to it. "Most people know a little bit English. In the long term you probably want to learn either Druidic or Finnish though. I'd advise Druidic considering Hy-brasil is closer than my hometown."

But then the topic came to her favourite places and she could feel her smile growing on her face. "Well I'd like to show you lake Inari at some point. It's beautiful. We went there on vacation from time to time, just for a change of scenery. And of course the lake I grew up on. Some of the magical places in the forest where we pay tribute to the Gods and the spirits... It's more the feeling that is my favourite place. Besides, you can meet my brothers and sisters!" She said, clearly excited about the idea. "We'll also go to Hy-brasil at some point so you can meet my cousins. I think you'd get along with Aidan at least."

@luke

[Deleted]

@virvatuli

he grinned a little and nodded slightly as she promised that she wouldn't leave his side when they travelled north. "the ... näkki..?" he asked, sure that his pronnounciation of the word would make her smile at the very least. "what's that?" he asked. wondering if it was some kind of creature he didn't know about or whether it was something like a superstition or an apparition rather than something corporeal. he tightened his arms around her as she pressed herself into him a little more. he had her in his arms but he was already dreading the moment he'd have to let her go.

he could almost feel the sense of cold that would seep into him the second she untangled herself from his arms. all he could do was hold onto her a little tighter and hope to hold onto that feeling until he could hold her in his arms again. "well i'll try both. i can't promise a miracle but hopefully i'll be able to learn .. hello .. goodbye ... thank you and help." he said with a slight laugh. so long as he could ask for help then he figured he'd be okay. plus if it was as close as virva had said, he was sure the people who lived in the village she was from would know who he was within five minutes of him getting there.

he listened as she talked about places she wanted to show him and he tried to picture them in his mind. as she mentioned the lake he could picture tree's that came to the waters edge, blue water that you could see to the bottom in and fog rising slowly as the sun rose over it. "it sounds idyllic." he had no idea what it would actually look like but he couldn't help but try and make some sort of picture, after all she always described her home with such detail and passion that it was hard not to imagine. "do you have more than two brothers and sisters?" he asked, curious. he wasn't from a big family really, well not his immediate family. two sisters and his parents but thanks to his father's family there was a whole mess of cousins. "as long as i get my revenge and i can introduce you to my cousins." he said, joking with a small chuckle.

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Virva giggled at his pronounciation of Näkki. "It's a water spirit. If you don't tell him leave the lake, he'll grab you by the ankles and drown you!" She said, wiggling her fingers in his face as if they were hands threatening to grab people and drag them down to the depths. It was good to with him like this, close and intimate. She didn't know why exactly but it just felt.. natural. Anything natural had to be good, right? It seemed to be as natural as breathing and she had no intentions of stopping that any time soon.

She nodded slightly as he mentioned some basics he wanted to know. "Those are easy. Terve, although moi and hei are more commonly used. Then for goodbye you can just say hei hei or moi moi. If you want to say thank you it's kiitos and help is apua. There, you're all covered!" She said cheerfully and squirmed until she could playfully tap his nose. She then smiled a peaceful little smile. It was good that he was already interested in learning the basics of a language so that he could communicate with her people a bit. It meant a lot to her.

Then he asked about her family and Virva shrugged. "Pertu and Petri are my twin brothers. They're 21. Then there's Tyyne, she's my younger sister and she's fourteen. She's very talented with magical creatures, even for a druid. And then there's Otso, my baby brother. He's only five and Äiti usually includes something made by him with her letters. Last time he made me an amulet to protect me." She smiled and dipped into her shirt to pull out a small rock wrapped snugly in leather along with some twigs. It was not very great craftsmanship but it was clear her brother had help nontheless. She then looked up at him. "How many cousins do you have? And do you have any siblings?" She had no idea if it was a painful or touchy subject but to her family was normal to the point that not having a good bond with family was a little odd to her. It made no sense to her, but she wouldn't push if he didn't want to talk about it.

@luke

[Deleted]

@virvatuli

he knew he'd butchered the word when she laughed at his attempt but it made him smile. anything he could do to make her laugh was worth it, even if it was at his own expense. as she explained what it was he nodded a little, fascinated by what the näkki was. he watched as she wriggled her fingers in front of his face and he playfully grabbed at them quickly, taking one of her hands in his for a second before letting it go. he was enjoying this, the connection he could feel. the sense of not wanting it to end and the overall feeling of attachment he was feeling towards her. he was enamoured by almost everything about her. her eyes, her smile and more importantly her laugh. if he could keep her laughing forever he would just to be able to listen to it. he was slowly becoming addicted to the drug that she was and he wasn't upset about that.

he listened as she told him the words he'd asked her about. he figured he should know some basics if he was going to step into a world that didn't really speak his language. it was better than getting there and feeling like a complete fish out of water. he wanted at least a few inches to flap around in. "so moi and hei for hello .. then say it twice for goodbye. kiitos for thank you and then if i need someone to save me from dying a horrible death of embarrassment it's apua. got it" he tried his best to commit them to memory but he knew he'd need a refresher in just those four words before they actually made the journey. his nose scrunched a little when she poked it gently with her finger and he playfully tried to catch it with his teeth, missing by a mile.

so she came from a big family too. even though she had more siblings than he did. so she had two older brothers, a younger sister and then a younger brother. much bigger than his own. he smiled when she said that the letters from home often included something from her younger brother. he wondered for a second what it might have been like to have a younger brother. even out of his cousins he was one of the youngest so it wasn't really something he'd known. "is aiti what you call your mum?" he asked curiously as he looked at the amulet she'd pulled out of her pocket. it was a stone surrounded by twigs and wrapped in leather and it made him smile. "and it's probably more powerful than any spell you could cast." he said as he rubbed his hand down her arm lightly. then came the subject of his own family. "i have a lot of cousins. 12 of them." he said, he'd list them all later if she wanted to know more about them but for now he'd leave it at that. "and i have two sisters. both older than i am." he wasn't even sure where to begin explaining them so he changed tactics instead.

"but i have something we can do that's a lot more fun than talking about my family." he said as he shifted a little, shifting one hand down to her waist as he brushed his nose against her neck, just under her jaw. he took the opportunity to press his lips quickly against her soft skin at the nape of her neck. he brought his other hand up to rest it against her cheek softly, turning her head towards him as he leaned in to kiss her fully, feeling the world shift and everything in the background started to fade out while he did, like they were the only two people on the face of the earth.

[Deleted]

He echoed the words she'd been teaching him and she nodded at each of them. It was odd to hear words from home coming from his mouth. They sounded as foreign as she felt here, although there was a sense of familiar in them. It seemed perfect to have those two combined, as they seemed to perfectly mirror how she felt about him. Foreign but there was something familiar about him. She was terrified of her own feelings because deep down she more than realised that she was falling for this man she didn't yet know very well. She was impulsive by nature but she'd always expected she'd fall in love with a druid and end up sharing her life with one. To think that maybe her future looked different than that was terrifying and the fact they both worked for the ministry didn't help either. They were supposed to be loyal to an institution that wasn't on the right foot with her people. It seemed a twisted kind of joke of fate, but she knew she couldn't fight it. If this was how she felt and what her future would look like, she was royally bleeped.

She nodded. "Yes. Calling her mother doesn't sound right in my mind. She's not my mother because that isn't what my language says. It just... feels wrong? I've never used that word for her so I don't want to match your language to indicate somebody that I think about in a different one." It probably made no sense at all to him. A translation was nothing but a translation and her mother was not the translated version. She was the version she'd grown up with and had come to know. While she knew it didn't change anything about her mother, it changed everything at the same time. She smiled at the mention of the magic that her little brother made being more powerful. "It's a different kind of magic, that is for sure. His magic won't fade or die in my heart, which is a very powerful thing. Maybe it protects me, but only the spirits would know that for sure."

He came from a very large and extended family by the sounds of it. 12 cousins sounded like a lot on top of two sisters. He either had a very productive aunt and uncle or quite a few of them. He didn't seem to fond to speak about his family, which did gain her curiosity. There was an injury there, probably. Most people didn't really mind talking about their family that much. She wasn't going to chase it, but she was instantly wary of anybody he was related to. There had to be something at play there. Yet her curiosity about his suggestion for something to do drew her attention far more than the family trouble he wasn't willing to talk about. She smiled a big smile as she looked up at him. That was a fun choice since the thing seemed to be making out. She let out a soft chuckle as he kissed her neck. It made sense for mainlanders to be distracted easily this way. She didn't mind at all either. It was a good kind of distraction. She returned the kiss without any hesitation. They'd gone here to get some privacy so they might as well make use of it.

She pulled back after a little while, brushing some hair out of his face. "I think I'm supposed to ask about your intentions at some point." She said in a slightly teasing matter. "Are you planning to take me out to dinner and then leave me after your stomach is filled or do you wish to try for a more a long term commitment?" She blinked at him innocently, although the twinkle in her eyes certainly gave her away. She was playing, but she did want to know. She wasn't familiar with this culture and back home those things were often just spoken out and neither had been frowned upon as long as both people were willing to commit to any consequences of their little games.

@luke

[Deleted]

@virvatuli

he didn't want to explain his family to her just yet. he felt a little guilty but it was actually nice to meet someone who hadn't heard of his family. his uncle was harry potter, his cousin had been the minister and the rest of his aunts and uncles had made the headlines when they'd been around his age for various things and their stories were still being told and he'd always felt a little like it had been his last name people had wanted to know about him, not really him. plus he didn't know how to explain that he and one of his sisters were pretty much estranged. it wasn't an easy thing to talk about to someone who didn't understand how that could happen. so he had never tried.

he slid his hand to the back of her neck as she kissed him back, his hands soft against her as he pulled her closer, taking the time to enjoy the feel of her in his arms and the feel of her against his mouth. he hadn't thought he'd meet someone so quickly after leaving school. he'd been so focused on getting the grades he'd needed to do either career path he'd wanted and once he had, he'd focused on his job. then he'd met virva and things had shifted in the most subtle ways. he'd found himself searching her out at first, wanting her company. then it had grown from there and here they were, making out in the middle of the secluded woods with nothing but the fresh air and the birds for company.

when she broke the kiss he leaned his head back a little, tilting his head towards her fingers as they brushed some of his hair back from his forehead. he chuckled a little and leaned back on his elbow, keeping one hand on her waist, his fingers toying with the fabric of her clothes. "my intentions?" he said as his eyebrow raised, though the smile was still on his face. "i think i should ask you the same thing. are you going to kiss and run?" he said as his grin turned mischievous. "how about we work on filling out stomachs first? and then we talk about where we go from there." he said as he dropped his hand from her waist so he could lay down on the blanket, the pillow behind his head. he stretched one arm out on the blanket, inviting her to lay against him.

[Deleted]

It was interesting how neither of them really seemed to have planned for the way their life had gone after they had joined the ministry. She'd not considered love or romance at all, not even with him. She'd been distracted mostly by the other aspects of her life and hadn't been that quick to presume he was after her in such a way. Things hadn't really seemed to take that particular course until after they'd decided to hang out after work at some point. They'd ended up going to sauna and well, one thing led to another and now they were here, very much seemed in pursuit of a relationship, even if Virva wasn't quite certain that was the direction they appeared to be headed. She smiled slightly at the idea. Now while he was without a doubt a strange boy to her he seemed to have a good heart and she definitively enjoyed his company. She herself was often seen as weird but he was openminded enough to at the very least try and get along with her and her more peculiar ways. It meant a lot to her.

He countered her question by returning it to her, which was a very devious way to avoid giving an actual answer. She kind of liked it, even if it flustered her just a little. She wasn't fully sure how to proceed, except by impulse. The suggestion to fill their stomachs at least was a good one and she sat up and helped herself to some fresh bread and more fruits from their little basket. It was nature giving them the very best gifts it had to offer. She took a big bite and sat for a moment in silence, content just to taste and experience the taste of fresh bread that truly didn't actually need adornments if one was able to put them aside in order to enjoy the simplicity of the loaf itself. Then she glanced over at Luke and with her mouth half full she spoke back to him. "Well I wasn't planning on it." She stated simply before swallowing the bread and shrugging as she plucked another bite off the loaf with her fingers. "I wouldn't really mind whatever it turns out to be as long as you're honest about it. If you just want to have some fun that's all good but don't pretend to want anything more." She frowned slightly. "Ever since I got here I noticed men here tend to say what they think you want to hear rather than what is actually on their minds. Do you think it's because your society is filled to the prim with prudes and judgemental behaviour?" She asked in earnest, not really considering the fact it could be seen as insulting.

"As for me... I don't usually plan ahead. I'm more likely to see where things go. If we keep getting along this well I see no reason to discontinue whatever it is we're getting up to." She didn't know if she ought to call it a relationship. Back home this probably would be considered flirting mostly, with a possible outlook to things developing in a more serious direction. if parties would be seeking that. With all the people back home she didn't consider that too likely. They were all free spirits like her and she had such a good friendship with most that turning things into relationships just didn't really compute in her mind. Maybe that was because nature had a different path in mind for her. If she was to stay with Luke for a longer period it would make some form of sense, although she realised looking for sense might not be the most sensible thing to do. Just one step at a time, she supposed. For now she just was curious about his reply and views on the matter.

@luke

[Deleted]

@virvatuli

he smiled when she said she wasn't planning on kissing and running. neither was he but he couldn't give her that answer all that easily. there was something about the wondering, the question and the anticipation on whether someone could be courted or not. he shifted his head against his hand as he looked at her and he nodded his head slightly. "i don't make a habit of lying." he said as he reached the hand that wasn't tucked under his head to rest it on her lower back gently, hoping the honesty was felt through the connection. he thought about what she said and he shrugged one shoulder slightly. "i think that's because some of us just want what we want and we don't care what we say to get it. now all of us are like that." he said as he looked up at the sky and thought for a few moments.

"i like the not knowing too. the unknown of tomorrow." he said with a smile as he looked at the clouds that were slowly filling the clear sky above them. "i've never really been a planner. it took me till graduation to know what i wanted to do when i finished school and even then it was at the last minute." he knew he couldn't really compare what they were doing to finish school but it was one of the only comparisons he could think of at the moment.

he sat up with a little bit of a grunt, stretching his shoulders as he did and he crossed his legs as he sat facing her, reaching into the basket for the other piece of bread that was sitting there. he ripped a little bit of it off, mirroring how she'd been eating hers just a second ago and he looked at her. "so i'm happy just seeing where this goes." he said as he put the piece of bread into his mouth. "that is my intention."

[Deleted]

She felt his hands on her body and she believed that he was truthful. She saw no reason for him to deceive her, not any reason for her to counter him to begin with. In a way he was everything she loved about home, but combined with a whole lot of excitement and unexpected twists and turns. She could never really be certain what to expect from a mainlander, but he tended to surprise her in good ways. He had a good point about saying whatever it would take to get what one wanted. It sounded like a mainlander kind of thing to do at least. She considered it and saved it to memory, primarily for the purpose of keeping it in mind for future interaction with mainlanders. They could be so .... deceitful. "I'll keep that in mind." She muttered as she considered the possible implications of what he'd said. It was definitively good to know.

She chuckled slightly as he mentioned not really being a planner. She guessed she wasn't really one. She just lived from goal to goal half the time. How to accomplish it wasn't always clear until she was doing it, but it worked well for her so far. She was quite the free spirit. Despite knowing her cousin considered love to be firmly grounded with roots she wanted something more exciting. She knew she needed that kind of a rush to move her forward and keep her passionate and engaged in things. She could imagine a calm and quiet life with a singular partner, that definitively wasn't the issue. She just couldn't imagine a life without at least a little excitement and some unexpected twists and turns. A life that was mundane and fully peaceful just sounded... boring to her. She needed more than that. "My cousin says love is like rooted and grounded and stuff." She said thoughtfully for a moment. "I don't think it goes for me. I think it's more like a ride on a hippogryff or something. You know you can trust the creature so it's calm, exciting, terrifying and wonderful, all at the same time. I like not being prepared for everything because I like being surprised and to feel that rush of adrenaline. If you can see everything coming from miles afar there isn't much left to surprise you." She wasn't sure why she was telling him this, but it felt like the right thing to do somehow.

He was happy seeing where it went and she grinned as he ate the bread in much the same way as she did. No need to cut everything into neat slice and top it with decoration when bread alone could be quite the treat, especially when freshly baked. She took another bite herself and nodded. "To where this thing goes." She muttered then, holding up her piece of bread as if in a toast before taking another small bite of it. This, this was good.

@luke