Completed Rain Dance [Shahar]

[Naiya]

'Hmm?' The sound was little more than a soft rumble, but it was enough to spur her on.

For a moment she considered how to broach the subject, but after some consideration she realized that it wasn't a situation that she would be able to make better by choosing the right words.

"There is a man my family would see me marry." Reluctance tinted her words for more than just her dislike of the topic at hand. "He has come to my home, asked my father for permission to court me, and even returned to see me a second time."

A delicate disinclination shaped in her body and her hands, but she was careful to temper it with desire to please family and deeply ingrained obedience. "I don't have any doubt in my mind that he is not the man I would choose," She shifted, slowly drawing away from Shahar so that she could turn to face him, despite the pink that brightened her cheeks, "but I am growing old for marriage, Shahar, and my family would not see me turn down his offer."

Her departure from his contact left her all the more aware of the chill in the air and of the cooling paths the rain traced across her skin. She felt instant regret at losing the warmth shared between them, but it was more important for her to see him.

Her words trickled to a halt, her rain wet form filled with concern, seeking reassurance held in delicate balance with hopeful moving forward. She waited for him, taking in the shape of his body and the words she thought she might find there.

"If I could tell them of another suitor, then perhaps they would not push so strongly for my acceptance of this other man, for my marriage to him." The words hung as heavy in the air as the rain as she waited for his response. Unconscious eagerness had found it's way into her posture and it was when she noticed that that it dawned on her that she was placing a burden on him.

She had backed him into a corner with her words, and so she quickly sought a new path.

"I do not mean to force your hand, Shahar, I can find a life with the approval of my family to keep me content. I do not wish to force you down a path you are disinclined to take." She signed a phrase then, an in between of 'graceful retreat from a subject' and an offer to continue or ignore the topic of conversation at the other's discretion.

[Colt]

Rue paused for a moment, perhaps to gather her words.

“There is a man my family would see me marry,” she said reluctantly. "He has come to my home, asked my father for permission to court me, and even returned to see me a second time."

The shape of her body was distinctly negative in nature, speaking without words that she disliked the situation. Shahar knew well the weight marriage could bring to one’s shoulders, even the future possibility of marriage. And yet underneath her desire for something else, there were still traces of duty and inevitability; the family that Rue spoke of with such hesitance held influence over her, an influence that never ceased to leave Shahar baffled. If she did not wish to marry someone, it was almost incomprehensible to him that she would think to do it anyway.

"I don't have any doubt in my mind that he is not the man I would choose," Rue continued, pulling away and turning to look him in the face. "But I am growing old for marriage, Shahar, and my family would not see me turn down his offer."

Shahar was still confused as to exactly why, but he restrained himself from questions––she was poised with more to say, and her body was shifting into lines of a more specific nature, turning her concern towards him directly to seek reassurance and… hope for the future?

Shahar’s hands sketched out support, but they were hesitant and tinted with bemusement; she still had something to say, something that involved him. She looked like she was on the precipice of asking him for something altogether more than a gesture of reassurance, but exactly what that something was he had no idea.

"If I could tell them of another suitor,” she said, “then perhaps they would not push so strongly for my acceptance of this other man, for my marriage to him." Her body changed to eagerness.

A... suitor? Was that what she was asking of him? Suitor, he said, marriage, pursuit? Me, dazed inquiry? His signs were neither positive nor negative as much as they were simply contemplative; it was a large question she was asking him––at least, that was what he thought she was asking of him––large enough that he could not immediately wrap his mind around it.

After a moment, Rue backpedaled. "I do not mean to force your hand, Shahar,” she assured him. “I can find a life with the approval of my family to keep me content. I do not wish to force you down a path you are disinclined to take."

Path to take, he said, still having a bit of difficulty. Path marriage? Your desire, you and me, suitor? He tilted his head and looked at her blankly, hands moving through concept after concept more for his own attempt to talk through what exactly it was she was asking than providing any new information for Rue.

Path marriage, to be joined? Come together, is the meaning, family, home, strongest connection between. You, I? To share home, to share family, keep safe. Living close, together, same place. Eat, sleep, live as one.

He shook himself as he came to the end of his rambling, and his hands focused back towards Rue. That? he asked. That is what you wish? The rest of his body was on threshold of agreement, but he didn’t dare go beyond that until he was completely sure of Rue’s request.

[Naiya]

He seemed confused at first, then in what was more thought than intent he shaped out the deeper meanings underlying her words almost as though he couldn't put them together with the image of her.

It was worrisome, but eventually he came to a conclusion and then posed a question for her in return.

Strong agreement shaped her hands and body as his thoughts came to an end. She realized belatedly that her dancing around the question was not helping anything, and so with a steadying breath she spoke again.

"I would like very much to be joined, hand and heart with you, Shahar." Her hands danced between enthusiasm and mild inquiry. "That is, if you would be willing..?"

After a brief pause, she continued, her signs and words coming more quickly.Future, journeying. Beginning. The last came with extra emphasis. "I do not mean to say that we have to marry, I would not push you into something you do not desire just because I would wish for it, but perhaps we should consider the possibility."

She fell quiet once again, a shorter pause following as she grew mildly embarrassed "If that is not something you want, I don't mean to be burdensome, I just thought..." She was babbling, but she couldn't seem to cease the nervous outpouring of words.

[Colt]

She was quite clear in her response––his guesses had been correct, and she was asking for what he thought she was asking for.

"I would like very much to be joined, hand and heart with you, Shahar," she said, hands fluttering between multiple signs. "That is, if you would be willing..?" Future, journeying. Beginning. "I do not mean to say that we have to marry, I would not push you into something you do not desire just because I would wish for it, but perhaps we should consider the possibility."

Marry, Shahar echoed. It was a weighty word to him, one that did not often come into his thoughts. While Rue might have associated it with love and family and togetherness, to Shahar it was altogether different. To him, marriage was the contract with which one displayed the fact of those things. It was like… it was like the tattoo on his back meant to prove that he had bonded with a Strider. It was the means by which others could see the bond, not the bond itself. And marriage seemed similar, if not the same; the love was already in existence. Marriage simply proved that to others.

Rue’s pause came to an end, and she began to backpedal. "If that is not something you want, I don't mean to be burdensome, I just thought..." She trailed off.

I love you, “Rue,” Shahar said with utmost certainty. That was a fact. The sense of family and the desire to be near to one another, that was something they already shared, and that was something that would remain the same whether they were married or not. She was welcome in his home, and should she wish to live with him in the manner they’d been speaking of, Shahar would find great joy in it. She had only to ask to be his family, that much was immutable.

But asking for marriage was altogether different.

Asking for marriage involved more than just the two of them.

Asking to marry him was also asking to marry Khida.

You are precious to me, he said. You need shelter, I give you shelter. You need food, I give you food. When you need, I want to help. Always. You wish for suitor, I will be suitor.

And yet his hands still hovered on the precipice of something else, something it took a moment or two to figure out how to say.

Marriage… his next sign was something between possible and probable, although it was tinted strongly with hoping yes. It wasn’t that he was hesitant about his feelings towards marriage so much as it was that he didn’t know what Khida might think of it. And he could not act upon such a large step without her by his side, not even for Rue.

I am uncertain right now, he said, but not long. Wait for answer? Not long, then certain. Hoping yes, think maybe yes, but uncertain.

[Naiya]

She would not worry long, despite her tendency towards such things, because Shahar saw all too well root of the situation. It always surprised her, his depth of communication and understanding when he relied so heavily on sign as his own form of communication. Although, it may have been because of his preference for the deeper, non-vocalized word that allowed him to see so clearly the meanings of others.

Almost as soon as she began to doubt he chased away her fear with a phrase that lent her the certainty she needed, the spoken word of her name drawing her from the clutter of her mind to the clarity of his words -- the certainty in his signing.

'You are precious to me. You need shelter, I give you shelter. You need food, I give you food. When you need, I want to help. Always. You wish for suitor, I will be suitor.' All these things he said, and they filled Rue with a happiness she was nearly unable to express, and yet he hovered on something more he seemed to need to say.

Time, as it happened, was what he needed in turn, and after springing such a thing on him without a moment's notice, Rue could not blame him for asking such a thing. In fact, she hardly saw a reason to worry in his question. Only the hesitance to the topic was worrisome, but with a declaration of love preceding it, she thought once more of the family he may yet have without her.

It would explain his hesitance to speak of marriage, and it would not surprise Rue in the slightest to find she was not the only woman caught in his snare.

There wasn't a trace of hesitance in her response, responding to his instead with reassurance and understanding.

"I have come to you with such a worrisome topic, and given you no notice of such problems as I described. Yet, still you still seek only to reassure me." Gentle happiness shaped her body and softened her words. "I will wait as long as you need, Shahar."

She felt different now, rather separate from the rain and the squishing of grass and mud beneath her feet, separate from Shahar. It was an interesting thing, as though she had pushed it all away while she worried about his rejection, but now that it had passed and he was still here, she wasn't sure how to fix it.

"For now I can content myself with the season's first rain and enjoying it in good company?" The lit of question raised the end of her words, mirroring the rise of her hand out towards Shahar, an offering to reestablish their connection from before.

[Colt]

"I have come to you with such a worrisome topic, and given you no notice of such problems as I described. Yet, still you still seek only to reassure me. I will wait as long as you need, Shahar.”

Shahar’s shoulders eased in relief at her answer; he knew how large of a question it was the Rue had asked of him, and he knew that such a large question was not an easy one to ask.

But she would wait, and that gave Shahar happiness; he would ask Khida today, when she felt it was time to rise, but that was something for later. Right now, he would enjoy the weather with Rue.

She seemed to be having precisely the same thoughts.

"For now I can content myself with the season's first rain and enjoying it in good company?" Her hand extended in offering.

Shahar peered at the limb, not quite sure what she wanted him to do with it, but deciding eventually to chance a simple joining of his own hand, fingers curling around hers under soundless words of acquiescence, cheerful, joy to be together.

Be that as it may, Shahar had little desire to move or really go anywhere; the rain would not be any thinner or thicker somewhere else, although if Rue chose to move then he would follow. But until she did, he entertained himself with the hand he’d been offered, bringing it closer to examine absently. Should she let him, he would turn her hand over, examining her palm and eventually coming to trace the lines that that there. Then his attention would move to her fingers, separating them one by one and tracing patterns, gently folding and unfolding joints, not really accomplishing anything beyond simple, curious exploration of her hands.

oocApologies for such a short reply after such a long wait.

[Naiya]

He took her hand, accepting the offer of her company, although he did so with less readiness than she. It left Rue to wonder if he did not associate her touch with the same reassurance and comfort that she perceived in his.

She would ask him about it some time, explain to him even, if that was what should be needed. Perhaps then he would not peer at her so oddly each time she invited his touch. Not today, though, when already the discussion had been heavy and difficult. Now was a much better time for peaceful contemplation and quiet company.

Shahar seemed content to examine her hand, turning it over, tracing her palm where he was sure to find the fading callouses from her bow work, and perhaps even the ones formed of many hours spent with a needle in hand. The cuts as well may have caught his attention, littering her fingers, small and most of them healed, but some turned to scars - reminders of lessons learned at the cook fire, or more truthfully mistakes made. They were rather embarrassing to her, though not enough for her to pull away from him.

Slowly, gently, the rising light of Syna began to touch the land, less notable than on a clear morning, yet a subtle brightening of the sky that bespoke the breaking dawn. With Syna's light came clarity for Rue as she saw what she had failed to address in the conversation before.

"Shahar," she turned her hand taking the moment of distraction in saying his name to close her hand around his, momentarily halting his exploration and hopefully gaining his attention.

"I love you, too."

[Khida]

Rue Nightsong

Skill	Points
Observation	+1
Persuasion	+1
Rhetoric	+1

• Persuasion: a gentle, diffident suggestion
• Rhetoric: laying out the facts
• Socialization: a curtsey in respect and in play

I awarded the Persuasion and Rhetoric for laying out the case for Shahar to become a suitor. I didn't award Socialization here because Rue is already Competent and it didn't really move that forward, but I'm making an effort to be better about related lores, so you get one of those.

Shahar Dawnwhisper

Skill	Points
Rhetoric	+1

Awarding Rhetoric for the nicely wordsmithed and nearly poetic pledge made to Rue.

Notes

Not a lot here as skill usage or lores go, but this thread is as lovely to read the second time as it was the first. Please let me know if you think I missed something in the award.

Remember to deduct expenses for Winter 514, both of you.

Finally, Shahar, please edit your request to show this thread has been graded.