It seemed just like how he would come when beckoned by her, she did the same when beckoned by him. He held her there in his lap, his hands coming together over waist facing around from him as his arms pulled her into his warmth and bare torso. He listened quietly to her explanation, watching her lips as they moved, drifting to her eyes, and then leaning in enough to smell her hair subtly, playing it off as a passing kiss on the temple, as she recounted the stories about unfaithful men in her tribe and how their mistakes could mean dire consequences.

Noah’s head inclined upwards a bit as her hand came and grasped at jaw. “Mhm,” he hummed. It was reassuring to hear her say it was because of her own cultural and religious reasons for not wanting him to go, it was necessarily for a personal reason, he didn’t believe. Then again, the more he thought about it, went back to how he found it hard to tell where she began and Yahal ended, he wondered if there was a personal reason at all. It was then he made the assumption that Elann personally was almost defined by what her culture was or how Yahal would view something, it had shaped her after all.

“It makes sense,” he said earnestly.

Playfully, he pulled away from her hand and angled his head down to nip at it. He knew he wouldn’t go unless asked out by his friends, if they remained in Zeltiva any longer. He sought to change the topic now, to bring lightness to the heavy thoughts that nearly soured the good time between him drawing her and going through his drawings with her. She did inspire him to draw, her striking features, the ones that captivated his interest without fail, were jewels to him and he felt as if he wanted to capture them, encapsulate them on the paper so she could see what he saw.

In teasing his hand threatened to tickle at the side he was holding her on but they stopped, hoping they at least drew a smile from her. Afterwards he kissed her caringly on the brow, squeezing her a little in his hold.

“What else do you want to maybe do in Zeltiva?” he asked, opening himself up for more questions to what exactly could be done there and what couldn’t.