There wasn't much said for some time as the cart creaked and rumbled its way home. Victor was very much lost in his own thoughts while being all too aware of the young lady's proximately to him upon the bench. [i]Tolerant.[/i] He mulled that word over in mind again and again. Was that how people saw him, as a person who 'tolerated' others with no room for friendship or understanding? The former soldier knew that he was not the easiest man in the world to get along with, not after years of what amounted to forced labor under deadly conditions, all topped off by callous betrayals from his so-called 'betters.' There were those foolish romantics who insisted that men in the rank of file made poor officers, not just because of their upbringing (or lack thereof) but because those soldiers wanted their officers to be full of grace. Better than them. It was nothing but strop. Soldiers did not want their own becoming officers because they would end up as right bastards, worse than those born to their station. Such living had made Vincent a hard man to get along with. But still... to be tolerated. To be thought of as someone who only tolerated others...

He reasoned with himself as he drove the cart along. If he only tolerated others, would he have shown up at the barn raising without being asked and given free drinks to everyone? If he was merely tolerant of people, why would he have let it be known that the fruits trees in front and to the one side of his house were free for the taking? The idea that Kijani seemed to think that the best he could do was tolerate her presence? It stung in ways he hadn't expected.

There was also the notion that she could so casually say that she was planning her holiday to last a month or more! As a soldier in the army, the best he could ever hope for was a week's leave once every two years! Once a month, soldiers were granted a three day leave, true, but since they were rarely stationed in the city or in any town of note there had been little to do anyway. Three days of freedom meant little when you couldn't do anything with it. And here she was, saying that there was nothing so great of import that she couldn't spare several weeks of time for her own leisure! It was an astounding revelation to wrap his mind around! Yet it also said so much more...

A month away. If she had a lover or a fiancé, would she stay so long away from him? Or her, for that matter? Was no one waiting for her back Verrun, not even her family?? In fact, she seemed to imply that she was in no hurry to go back at all! It brought a queer hope in his heart that Victor did not quite know what to do with. Where his mind failed him, his body reacted on its own.

"A month, huh?" He heard himself say. They drove beneath a low hanging branch, heavy with ripe and red fruit. Without letting go of the reigns, Victor stood up suddenly upon the footboards on his good leg and raised one arm to snag an apple. Even the snapping of the small stem from the limb brought forth a sweet, wooden smell that promised the fruit would smell and taste even better. The prize firmly in hand, he sat again and offered his guest the apple without looking at her.

"A lot can happen in a month." There was no keeping the curious hope out of his voice.