Noah struggled with putting his thoughts and behaviors of his family members into words. He understood them perfectly, knew them from what he remembered three years in the past, but couldn’t formulate a cohesive sentence enough to tell Elann what to expect from each exact member. He had done the same when she asked about his sister and mother when they were coming to visit. It was hard to explain a world he understood perfectly to Elann when she didn’t understand him entirely, he was supposed to be her glimpse into this new world. It felt like another language, and it was in more ways than one. He hoped for the best and felt as if nothing major would come their way. 

He didn’t even believe Ryon or his father would be a large issue. Elann was a female who would have to prove herself just like every other female had to in their home. What the was problem, in Noah’s mind, was going to be his protective sister and her disdain for outsiders.

Noah shook his head a final time at Elann thinking them violent. He wasn’t aiming to scold or chide her for thinking as much, just correct her thinking. “My mother likes you,” he assured. “It’s a good chance that if my mom likes you, my father will like you too. Really, that’s all you have to worry about with them.”

He drew quiet to listen to her tell him about her preferences for a home and what she wanted to do once they reached Zeltiva. He nodded a few times at what she said, imagining Zeltiva as it was in his memory.

“You’ll like it,” he said confidently, then he smiled in humor. “I don’t think we can have a farm, but you can have a garden if you want. There’s not a lot of land for farming. The houses are pretty close together but if you live on the outskirts you can have a bigger yard. I want to live close to the city though for the parades, so we don’t have to walk far.”

Noah paused, drawing a breath in the next moment. “I’m your family,” he said. “Remember when you said that in Syliras?” If they had never chosen to leave for Zeltiva they would still be in Syliras, it would still be the two of them, and they would still be the only things each other had. They would be one another’s family as she had said.

He creased his brows at her in question, canting his head off to the side as his lips played in a small smile of mirthful disbelief. “Why do you want a farm?” he asked. “That seems… random of you.”