Almost childlike was the muscular Isur as she showed him her pearls, his face dappled with wonder. When he protested taking the black stone, Vern smiled at his chivalry, but prepared herself to refuse to take it back.
"Please accept it as it is yours," Vernadel told him, feeling rather shy all of a sudden. Maybe it was not right to bestow a gift, no matter how small, on someone she had just met. Did Niall think her too forward? Was it inappropriate? When she looked at his face and noticed the delight there, all of her inhibitions escaped her thoughts. Niall took the pearl and tied it on his upper arm around his defined bicep and Vern pressed her hands together under the table in pleasure. It was rewarding to think that something she had touched and treasured would be nestled against the Isur's arm. Offering her a chance to have her kindness reciprocated, Niall had no idea what he'd already given her this early fall morning. Benevolence, tolerance, companionship, and something so valuable that Vern had not been realizing she lacked it.
Vernadel was not used to making grown men blush. Few male Akvatari had ever even given her a second glance. She was not voluptuous and sultry like her mother or even some of her older friends back in Abura. Still, the attention was not unwanted and her heart warmed even more to the Isur sitting before her. Niall had struck a match of confidence in her, and a certain small sense of pride in her appearance, which she usually gave little thought. She had never smiled so much in one morning, but she continually found the corners of her mouth tugging upward today.
"I can show you sometime, if you like," she said to him, in an attempt to focus back on the conversation. "How to get pearls from the oysters, I mean. Do you like to swim in the ocean?" Niall was demonstrating how to eat the fish with his fork, so Vernadel picked her own utensil up and tried to emulate his actions. She managed to separate a small chunk of the fish and stab it and when she set it on her tongue and chewed it thoughtfully, she decided that raw fish was much tastier. The cooked meat was rather tasteless really, but she ate a few more bites, just to be polite. When only half of her meal was left, she put her fork down and finished her glass of water.
"Yes," she agreed with Niall about leaving the eatery soon as she remembered the chaos of the morning. Not wanting to part with him and run the risk of never seeing him again, she perked up when he mentioned looking for new clothes. "I could help you shop, if you want my company still," she remarked. "Akvatari are not really renowned for their fashion sense, but if I know anything, I do know color." In her mind, she was already draping Niall with light green and tan dyed fabric, picturing how the colors would work against his skin tone, his dark arm, and his multi hued eyes.
Vernadel pushed her plate with the remaining food away from her a little and reached up into her hair once more. As her fingers sought some of the few coins tucked into the ties, she watched Niall finish his own meal.
"You can have the rest of mine, too, if you want," she offered and pulled a couple of copper and silver mizas from her dark locks. There was a gold one too somewhere, if she could only find it.
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