At first he only looked at the hand with a distant frown. He'd seen the same gesture before, but he couldn't place where. The smile, the splayed fingers, and yet it was comforting rather than patronizing. Taking the hand, he let Fallon pull him up to his feet. Dusting away the dirt from his clothes he nodded mutely and followed the girl through the cold streets.
After a little while, he spoke, but it was low and drifting. Wren wasn't in Syliras anymore, no...he was caught in the illusions of memory, an eddy that had brought him bouncing to old Alvadas.
"Once upon a time," he began, beating a path through memory with a somber, wistful sway, "I had a lover." He glanced sidelong at Fallon, unsure what her own experience with love was. After the beat, he continued, "She was Svefra, but buxom rather than the sea-folk slim...and with the most vivid red hair. She was my first and we tore through the streets of Alvadas like hurricanes...the two of us." He smiled, remembering the way she had taken his hand in hers, almost absently...it was the thought of a thought that brought her to him, something almost instinctual.
"I thought I would stay with her, then...but I lost her on the sea. My ship never made the rendezvous on the island we had agreed upon." He stopped at the crossroad of two ways, looked both, and chose the right...winding away from the center of the city toward the outskirts. "My ship sunk, torn apart by sea monsters and I, alone, survived."
He shrugged, "The gods have seen fit to curse my path with fallen friends and lost lovers, dead siblings, and missing fathers. To dwell on it would be to lose myself, so I simply learned to move on."
Putting a hand down on his belt, he pulled out the slightly glowing flask and held it out to her, "And I had company, I suppose...my familiar, Zan. He alone has braved my every hardship and traveled with me. We are...unaccustomed, to traveling partners, so you'll excuse me if I seem a bit distant."
Another shrug rocked his frame.
"I can't afford to be crippled by loss anymore...I've spent too long mourning."
After a little while, he spoke, but it was low and drifting. Wren wasn't in Syliras anymore, no...he was caught in the illusions of memory, an eddy that had brought him bouncing to old Alvadas.
"Once upon a time," he began, beating a path through memory with a somber, wistful sway, "I had a lover." He glanced sidelong at Fallon, unsure what her own experience with love was. After the beat, he continued, "She was Svefra, but buxom rather than the sea-folk slim...and with the most vivid red hair. She was my first and we tore through the streets of Alvadas like hurricanes...the two of us." He smiled, remembering the way she had taken his hand in hers, almost absently...it was the thought of a thought that brought her to him, something almost instinctual.
"I thought I would stay with her, then...but I lost her on the sea. My ship never made the rendezvous on the island we had agreed upon." He stopped at the crossroad of two ways, looked both, and chose the right...winding away from the center of the city toward the outskirts. "My ship sunk, torn apart by sea monsters and I, alone, survived."
He shrugged, "The gods have seen fit to curse my path with fallen friends and lost lovers, dead siblings, and missing fathers. To dwell on it would be to lose myself, so I simply learned to move on."
Putting a hand down on his belt, he pulled out the slightly glowing flask and held it out to her, "And I had company, I suppose...my familiar, Zan. He alone has braved my every hardship and traveled with me. We are...unaccustomed, to traveling partners, so you'll excuse me if I seem a bit distant."
Another shrug rocked his frame.
"I can't afford to be crippled by loss anymore...I've spent too long mourning."
Great job, you two! 
You can't escape stare of Fallon the Journeywoman.
