Ridahne knew Darin didn't believe her about not knowing who she killed. She never would, so Ridahne didn't push it either. But she knew. She knew because she'd been there, and she'd also known the opposite. She had no regret for killing Khaltira-Sol, but for Takhun's death she would always hate herself a little. What would he say now if he could see her? Ridahne let it go. As important as it was to air the subject, it was also not the sort of thing to dwell on, and she was eager for the change in subject, both for herself and for Darin's sake. For her part, the thoughts about Takhun and the reality of what she'd done, the deeper reality beyond just doing her duty however ugly it was, hurt to think about, and she was already in enough pain as it was. 

So the elf laughed softly and offered very quickly with a the kind of exasperated groan of someone who'd thought long and hard about her answer long in advance, "Heat! I miss the heat! It's much cooler up north, and the air is...thicker. Wetter. This rain nonsense has me chilled to the bone--I can only imagine how you're getting by, soaked as you are. Home is dry and hot, but at night it cools down a lot. I miss the ocean. And..." Ridahne had to laugh a little at herself. "You're going to laugh at me," she said. "Either that or call me spoiled. You wouldn't be wrong, I was spoiled." 

The elf took a drink of water and took a bite of her chunk of bread. "You have to understand though," she began to explain as though she needed to justify herself first. "I grew up with next to nothing. We ate fish and whatever my cat and I could hunt. Sometimes we'd get goat milk. As a kid, I spent a lot of time either by myself or running around with packs of other scrappy children, and we were always scraped and dirty and dusty. If I wasn't covered in dust, I was salty from the sea. That's just how it was, and then when I became an eija, well...it's a much higher status than 'fisherman's daughter'. Because we were around the Sols and the palace we had to look the part, you know? We were expected to be clean and presentable while we were at the palace, and so they had these bath houses. Big pools lined with clay tiles, one for the women and one for the men. You would scrub yourself with soap and everything first in a separate spot, so when you go in the big pool you're clean. And they had these bottles of oils that were infused with fragrant herbs. We used to put it in each other's hair. I thought the whole thing was wasteful and excessive and silly, and they all teased me for it. But then I sort of got used to it, and I ended up really liking it. It makes your hair so soft, but more importantly, it makes you smell [I]so nice[/I]. Ajoran likes citrus, so I always used the one infused with lemon peel and sage. He always smells like juniper. And it's stupid, but I do miss that a lot." 

Ridahne smiled. "What's your favorite scent in all the world, Darin?"