In truth, it wasn’t so much as Noah wanting to hear of their past as much as he wanted Elann to silently consider it. He didn’t mind her speaking, he even loved to hear her voice, but not everything had to be said aloud - in his opinion - to hold meaning behind it. Their past was what it was and it made them into who they were as separate people and as a couple together. He didn’t need to be reminded of what happened between them to appreciate it, he thought on it everyday, especially recently. What he wanted was for her to put herself in his shoes and look at her from his eyes, finding what he loved about her and how it went deeper than her brilliant eyes, creamy skin, dark hair, and shining smile. Once she stripped those parts of herself away, as he did, she would be able to see the core and meat of who she was, the heart inside whom he fell in love with.

It did hurt his soul to hear her seemingly ask for him to open his bond to her again. It was agonizing to him because it only continued to make him believe she wasn’t actually listening to all the meaningful words coming out of his mouth. Elann admitted to hearing only the love in his words for her, disregarding his own wants in the words until his reaction forced her to chew on them a second time. In that second time she came back with a confession of wrongness, partially blaming unknown reasons for her failure to communicate and understand his words. Perhaps his words were too loaded, or perhaps Elann was too used to them being spoken all the time to glean and properly digest what he said. When Noah spoke in words of meaning everything had to be considered, from his posture to the environment, even to the way his brows flecked in their expressive ways. He spoke with his entire being when he wanted someone to really hear something.

Elann pleaded for him to not be sad or disappointed, saying she didn’t mean her words as they were said. He sighed in reply and withdrew his bond once again. Elann managed to patch over the initial damage of her mistaken request but there were still doubts residing in his mind. To him, it was evident that words, at least hers, were often being laid out without being mulled over. Then, looking inwards, he thought perhaps it was a fault of his own for being too thoughtful in his words. It was because they weren’t needed to communicate in his household, and were only used weightlessly when out in the public. To trade his family spoke Fratava, and it got them what they sought. In trade, each word held meaning because you couldn’t run the risk of the vendor misunderstanding you. Socially, things were different and misunderstandings ran rampant, as seen in this conversation now.

Only a few seconds passed between him withholding his feelings and his moment of introspection. Taking a breath, he breathed out, saying, “Okay.”

Noah didn’t know how to teach her anymore than by example. Asking her to consider the wild they were in didn’t seem to be working, at least not yet, and there were so many other humans around the lessons were possibly being diluted. Getting around a racial block was difficult for the both of them, but one had been pressing the other’s world into the relationship while the one being pressed was being flattened beneath an overwhelming amount of information.

“Can I go to sleep?” he asked, looking to the lantern on the center post.

The Kelvic was exhausted and this, in addition to the events that evening, were more than enough for one day for him. Immobile, his ache didn’t bother him as much, yet he didn’t want to sit up to drink a dose of tea. He believed he could sleep until the noon hour if allowed and undisturbed, and mentally, he was beyond fatigued from the use of the stormgems.