chakliux. elwood. cecil. rin. vaelora. tamaska. mithwyth. samo. elk charm.

but not ko-ga.

and not nat.

her eyes traveled up the side of nate's cheekbone and with each name, elk charm attempted to commit his expression. he was a man who held many things just beneath his surface, a blackberry bursting not with ripeness but with the things he did not say.

one day, elk charm wondered if he might speak, and to whom. against her own wishes, mind sorted those titles which might belong to women, and she began to compare herself in a way she had not for a long while.

i think they will come back, nate, the sharadoii agreed at last. her pawpads had been scratched in the gathering, but no more than she had received before. a movement indicated that she would walk now, for her burden was too heavy for more to be gathered, at least in this moment. in heart, they speak, hm? she had faith that such sentiments were proof of attachment.

Ears pricked at the mention of Rome. At the necessity of Samo to have possessed slightly more opposable thumbs to know what to call it. Nate blinked. Didn't miss the catch, either, where coming here sounded less like a walk through the fog and more like a buried thing risen again.

He gave an encouraging smile, Never been to Rome. But I heard it's a handsome country. Green hills. Ancient relics. Good wine. I came from the other side, across the Atlantic in America. Grew up in Tennessee, ended up in Texas before, well, this happened. A self-gesturing shrug.

It didn't quite occur to him that Samo might come from a time and place to not know about America at all.

I hope they will. He gave a grateful smile to them both that lingered on Elk Charm. Nate wondered if it would be impolite to ask why he'd never heard the name of this good friend off the lips of her of Chak. Was it the same reason he didn't speak of Eleanore?

They know what they're doing out there, all of 'em. Even if they don't land back here for a while, or ever, I'm sure they're safe.

Nate's answer, alas, only spawned a hundred more questions in Samo's mind. The other side? There was a world, across the sea? Unknown to Rome. Unknown to the Gaul, at least. And yet Nate knew of Rome.

Did he know of their customs, too? Did he recognize the brand on his face? No. No, he could not. Or perhaps he did, and only hid that knowledge to use against him later. No—no. Elk Charm had said he was a good man, and Samo saw nothing to interfere with that assessment.

Something he must consider later. For now Samo did not wish to interrupt the flow of conversation, eyes flicking quietly between Nate and Elk Charm. He was tired, he was realizing, and looked forward to laying his head down somewhere. Sleep never came easily to him. He doubted it would today, with all these new revelations milling about his head, but perhaps his limbs would be weary enough to drag him into something resembling quiet. He needed it.

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am cool to make this my last post! <3

rome. tennessee. america. texas.

words made pretty by her attunement to their sound. she was starkly aware of them both, and turned away in paroxysm of overwhelmed feeling. elk charm was great stag sharadoii, host clan to the others and those lanzadoii who made their way to gatherings. and open, always, to the seal hunters. the great stag were the first to adopt militsik and minor worship of oil father, an exchange equal to how their language had become more than pidgin among the saltwolves, how seal women married sharadoii men, and seal men sought the favor of sharadoii women.

this, different.

starkly so.

elk charm was warmed to be in their company, content, relieved. with a boldness she hardly realized, the caribou woman said: i think they will all come back to you.

her riverdark eyes stole away, to each, to the path ahead. i was born on one side of ice mountain. sharadoii there, in valley. lanzadoii across, in flat land. we are better than them, she dared to boast, to break up the moment into something lighter.

if welcomed, came now an explanation of their differences, her voice filling the space for nate's curiosity and samo's tiredness.

Nate smiled at Elk Charm's words, though he had less faith in the return. But she spoke with such confidence, for a moment he allowed himself to inhabit a space where that was true, and took comfort in the fantasy.

A skeptical brow raised to tease at her boasting, but Nate felt some relief to watch the subject of conversation shift to her people and the world she knew. The melody of her voice had been missed. Eagerness to learn burned bright in him, despite everything else, and he was content then to listen to all she had to say.

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good to fade here with Nate as well! :)