At Noah’s insistence, Elann folded and took another piece of meat, nibbling on it and telling him she wasn’t really hungry anymore, then offered to feed it to the animals if he was done. In reply, Noah shook his head and exhaled a weightless breath, resolving to eat the rest of the meal quickly. With that failed, he went back to his thoughts and drew quiet again, unsure what to really say. He honestly wasn’t sure the motivation behind offering her some of the food she brought for him. Maybe it was a way to repay her back for actually bringing the food to him since he had no other way to repay her in his mind. It wasn’t as if he could hunt their dinner either, or gift her anything.

The dream in which Elann walked away spoke to him as a rift being formed between them, or the rift between them widening all the more for the various reasons they argued or tiptoed around one another as to not offend. Usually in these instances he would find something to gift her with, the feather shaped earrings or the fur blankets served as means to cement her affection a while longer when he thought it was waning.

Unlike Elann, Noah didn’t seek to talk about everything vocally. He dealt with things himself before bringing the subject up, if at all. He was dealing with his guilt, his concern, and his worry. He was doing it in his head, doing it alone because he wanted to. The shifting dispositions switched like the winds patterns or clouds moving in suddenly over a clear sky. His god understood the ever-shifting nature of his Stormwarden and how it was hard to sit in one emotion for too long because Noah didn’t know how to effectively deal with them.

The more he thought about it, the more Elann became to appear as the catalyst for such hardship for him. Before he met her, he didn’t have to sit and wallow in emotions, his interactions with others were fleeting and she kept trying to attach meaning to his interactions when they meant very little. The vendors for instance; she wanted him to be kind and courteous to the vendors, strike up relationships with them. He didn’t want that, nor did he care for it. He had already attached so much care to everything else he did, why did he need more?

Noah finished his meal, cleaning the plate and swallowing what remained in his mouth before setting the plate between them. “I’m finished,” he said in announcement, looking up at her and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He licked his lips afterwards.

“When are we leaving?” he asked softly.