Seeking the Warden (Honovi)

[Honovi]

Honovi was pretty sure Arley was flirting with her as she put her hand to his cheek. That was... interesting. Between her age, her broad assortment of scars, and her general lack of sociability, it wasn't something that happened often anymore. Or... well, at all really. When she was younger, sure - she'd been pretty once, even beautiful, and there had been a time when there was never a smile far from her lips. She'd even had a sense of humour that wasn't cutting, once. Time and the reality of life, however, had long robbed her of whatever virtues she might possess and she could only shake her head with a snort. Honovi had neither the patience nor the inclination to toss hints at a man a good decade her junior, and she had things to do.

Like getting him on the stretcher. Arley tried to help, but he was weak from pain and blood loss and Honovi mostly ended up lifting him onto it by herself. No matter. Arley was lighter than she'd judged, certainly no heavier than a deer, and if she'd been forced to she could have carried him a short way without any real difficulties. Not that she intended to try if it wasn't necessary, of course - she wasn't getting any younger and it was starting to show in more than just the lines on her face.

Nodding silently at Arley's request that she gather his weapons for him, she did as he asked and was just tucking them onto the stretcher at his side when he commented on the Seeker's identity. This Delphine must have meant a great deal to him if he was so upset to see someone who'd been so set on killing him dead. Arching a brow, Honovi glanced at him as she tucked her red lion cloak around him, fastening it to the stretcher to keep him warm and secure. "You didn't kill him, I did."

Perhaps that would ease his conscience, not that she thought it should need easing. No matter. Calling Makya to her with a few words in Chasind, Honovi picked up the head of the stretcher and headed towards a nearby river, where they'd make camp for the night. There she'd be able check his wound again, and re-dress it if need be. "Rest now, I will keep you safe." She could only blame her ridiculous, soft heart for the reason, but she'd do it all the same.

[Arley Voegeli]

"I know you killed him, but I would have liked to talk to him, Delphine was the one who made me a Grey Warden and she said she had a husband and a child. I had no idea he was a Seeker," Arley trailed off, he wasn't sad or anything it would have been nice to know someone who was close to her like he was. But he didn't to kill the mood, he chuckled. "I figured that you where Chasind, seeing how well you moved through the forest, its like I am in the city; fluid and masterful. But I would like to get to know you Honovi. What do you like?" Arley asked, he wanted to get to know the mysterious woman.

Still, he wondered though. Why is she still here? Helping him, she had definitely done more than her fair share for him, and had no reason to come any further. He figured it was because she had a big heart dispite the anti-social attitude. Though in truth Arley didn't mind her at all, she was nice to be around, and she listened, which he liked also. She moved him by the river and set up to make camp. She knew the Brecillian Forest well, which was something few people could boast. This forest will devour you if you let it, its as dark as it is beautiful. You could hear the wolves howl at the moon, it was soothing how the crickets churped. But you could feel the darkness of it all, and how corrupt it could be. You could feel the spiritual unrest. Arley thought to himself, 'I wonder if she will say anything...' He looked at her while she set the camp up. Honovi was strong and willed, and Arley admired that. Her age ment nothing to him, he hadn't met a finer woman since Delphine.

"You have been here a while haven't you? Do you ever go into any of the towns?" Arley questioned again, he talked alot and he knew it and he hoped that it didn't bother Honovi he didn't want to piss off the woman that had saved his life. He reached in his bag and pulled a small bottle, it was liquor, he took a pull of the whiskey and offered it to her.

[Honovi]

Arley did a great deal of talking even when injured, Honovi noted. Not that she should be surprised after the way he kept talking even in combat, but she'd thought that perhaps the discomfort of being dragged through the forest on a makeshift stretcher with a crushed knee might quiet him. No matter. It saved her from trying to supply conversation, not that she was likely to bother anyway, and she simply hummed in acknowledgement as he spoke of this "Delphine" again. She must have been very important to him if he regretted the death of a man who'd been bent on killing him for her sake.

Unfortunately, it seemed Honovi was not to be spared making conversation after all, as Arley asked what she liked. That was rather a vague question, but very well. She'd already decided to stay with the man, at least for now, so it was probably best to play nice. "Very little," she said dryly. Honovi arched a brow and tossed a wry glance over her shoulder at the man strapped to the stretcher, one corner of her mouth twitching upwards.

"I like poetry," she said abruptly, after several minutes of silence. It was an answer he'd likely be more pleased with, at least, and information that was both harmless and which he likely hadn't guessed. Most Chasind were, after all, illiterate. What else... "I like music, as well. And I copy my tribe's stories." Honovi chuckled. She had written the first history of the Chasind - did that make her a scholar? "What do you like?" Falling silent, she hoped Arley would be too busy answering her question to expect her to talk again for a while.

Once they reached the river, Honovi made quick work of setting up camp and putting some water on to boil. She'd make stew later with some dried meat she carried with her along with wild herbs and vegetables that were in season, but first she wanted another look at Arley's knee. That would have to wait until the water heated enough to wash the wound again, however, and Honovi settled down beside him to wait. Not surprisingly, Arley took the opportunity to start up a conversation, asking after her living arrangements, of all things. "I pass through the forest often as I travel between towns to find work. I know the Wending Wood in Amaranthine just as well, and the Frostback Mountains." Better in the wild places than the northmen's cities.

Answer given, and nothing else to say, Honovi took out her supplies and got to work making arrows as she waited for the water to boil. It was a very old, familiar task that required almost no thought at all and she leaned back against a tree as her hands danced across the shaft, adding the grooves for the fletching, now attaching the head, the feathers, and pulling another rod from the bundle as she hummed. Check it's straightness, check it for knots, and cut the grooves. Attach the head and fletching. Cut the nock. Mindless as breathing after all the years she'd been doing it, and she listened for the water as she continued to hum.

---

This is the song Honovi is humming.

[Arley Voegeli]

Arley was a little suprised she liked poetry, as most Chasind couldn't read or write, but music he could believe. But with a woman like her you never got the full truth, not that she was lying, she was giving the bear minimum, obviously she hated talking, but still Arley pressd on. "No, what do you really like? Daggers? Fighting? Arrows?" Arley asked as she started on an arrow. "I'm not a hunter usually, so I use serrated or barbed arrows, its a kill per arrow, and thats good when you fight darkspawn," Arley told her, no matter what he said she seemed to have no interest. It annoyed him a little in the back of his mind, but really made no difference, he had met lots of Chasind that where...Shy.

"I've been to the Frostback Mountians, and Orzammar. I hated it, I would rather fight the darkspawn on the surface. The tunnels terrify me, I guess you could say I am a little claustorphobic. Don't like small spaces at all, I cry like a little girl," Arley carried on, he couldn't have been boring, a Grey Warden crying like a girl because of small spaces? It was a little unheard of for a Warden to be afraid of the Deep Roads, but it wasn't the Darkspawn it was the small caves, he refused to go, unless ordered by a senior Warden, or during a blight.

"I like women, daggers, women, bows and arrows, its hard to say one, I like alot of things. Strong women, like you for instance," Arley flirted with the Chasind woman, he enjoyed her distance from conversation, it was a challenge, most people he said one word and they started talking for hours, like Delphine. She was part of the reason why Arley was so talkitive, she asked lots of question about his life, and his time before meeting Delphine; which wasn't interesting at all. It was quite boring, except for his father being killed by the Templar, and Arley killing him, it was totally boring. Though Honovi asked a simple question, it made him think about his past, like everyother question.

"Other than that, I fight darkspawn, I travel to Orzammar and fight rarely, I hate it there, as I said, I prefer Kirkwall, Denerim, or Starkhaven. I like the big cities, I work better. I use the crowd to hide in plain sight, I kill in silence, but not it the dark. Also, I kill for the good of Thedas. Most, dont, they kill for personal gain, and I dont believe in that. If you're going to kill a man, then why just get paid for it? Why not kill for a reason, like me." Arley babbled on. He not only killed darkspawn, he killed for what he thought was right, he wasn't killing kings, he was killing evil...

The Grey Wardens where commanded to do so, but they seemed to be relied on too much, which Arley enjoyed, he liked the fact that he was a "savior of the world!" But the darkspawn weren't just puppets to be played with, they where the real problem. It was the Templars themselves...Not the Chantry. All agree for an orginization that helps others, but when they enforce it with soldiers, well, it becomes an issue. They use their "god given rights" to opress the world, and Arley figured he would try to oppose them. The Templars where wrong weather the Chantry would believe it or not.

[Honovi]

It was truly amazing how much Arley could talk, and Honovi cracked an eye to glance at him. When did he breathe? Well, if nothing else he was cheerful company and she didn't need to add much to maintain the conversation. Indeed, simply by making some arrows she seemed to provide an adequate conversation topic, and as Arley talked about his arrows she cocked her head.

"Practice hunting squirrels. Fancy heads are expensive, and a simple pointy stick will kill if you hit your target in the eye." Unless it was a bereskarn. Those were very nearly immortal, but she didn't say that.

The water came to a boil as Arley kept talking, and Honovi retrieved it and knelt once again by his side. "I need to check your wound. It won't be as bad as before, but it will hurt." Warning given, she went straight to removing the bandages around his leg and cleaning the wound with hot water. It was already looking better, and if Arley stayed off his leg it should heal nicely - he'd always bear the scar, but she imagined he already had quite a collection.

As soon as she was done Arley started talking again as well, making poor attempts at flirtation as she cleaned up. Honovi arched a brow. He really was a very strange man to be flirting with a woman at least a decade his senior, but she'd take the compliment where she could get it. She may have been young and pretty once, but the years and her lifestyle had taken their toll. No matter.

Rather than making a comment she got some fresh water on the fire to boil, tossing some roots and dried meat into it to make a broth. Not much of a dinner, but she hadn't been hunting yet. Then again... "I am going to hunt. I won't be long." With that she melted into the shadows of the forest in search of prey. It didn't take long - between her hawk and her experience she was back in well under an hour with a pair of rabbits and a fat goose in hand, the broth bubbling merrily as she sat back down. A few brief minutes later saw the rabbits neatly skinned, gutted, and stewing in the pot as Honovi finished with the goose. Not long after that the goose was spitted and roasting, and Honovi scrubbed irritably at the dried blood from the wound on her cheek.

"I am going to bathe." Honovi stood abruptly, deciding that she may as well get herself clean while their dinner cooked, and strode to the river leaving a trail of clothes behind her. "If you are shy don't look, and do not let the goose burn." She had plenty of time before their meal was cooked.

[Arley Voegeli]

"Yes, the heads are expensive. But as a Grey Warden we kill darkspawn or other people, bigger targets, not like a rabbit whose fast. My arrows aren't simple, if I hit someone and they pull it out they die in seconds, if they dont pull it out they die in minutes, either way their dead. I shoot then walk away, not fuss," Arley chatted as if she where his friend. She started on his wound again, it still hurt, but he didn't wince when she put the water over it. That, and the throbbing stopped which was a plus.

She had told him she was going to hunt and wouldn't be long, he wished her happy hunting and she set out on her way. He was still wondering why she continued to help him, not that he was ungrateful..Because he was but there was a reason she stuck around and didn't let him bleed to death in the moonlight. She acted cold, and she was obviously anti-social; but Arley felt there was a soft, loveable woman in there deep, deep down. He felt that there where some things in her life that made her this way, unlike Arley, who tried to stay optimistic, she seemed to just except thing how they were.

Arley had taken a whet stone out of his pack and started sharpening his daggers, they where already sharp but he didn't like the knicks in his blades, it annoyed him profusely, he liked keeping his blades looking nice. She had gotten back a little bit later with two rabbits, and a goose in tow, she was obviously an efficent hunter, she had: skinned, gutted, and plucked the animals quickly, in the neatest fashion he had everseen. He was an amazing woman, that is why he did not care for her age, she was one of a kind.

She had started making their dinner, putting the meat in a pot of boiling water, he didn't pay much attention, he would eat it either way, and he hoped she was a good cook. Suddenly she stood and announced that she was bathing. She started toward the river and perked Arley's interest, as she left a line of clothes behind her. He was taken completly by suprise; her body was that of a 20 year old, her skin smooth looking, the beatuiful sunkissed skin, a nice brown color. Arley cringed, her shiny black hair...It was quite a sight to behold. "Heh wow...Obviously privicy isn't a big concern for you" Arley lauged, "Though it is a nice sight, you are beautiful," he added.

[Honovi]

"Yes, the heads are expensive. But as a Grey Warden we kill darkspawn or other people, bigger targets, not like a rabbit whose fast. My arrows aren't simple, if I hit someone and they pull it out they die in seconds, if they dont pull it out they die in minutes, either way their dead. I shoot then walk away, not fuss,"

It was stunning just how thoroughly people could miss Honovi's point when she was talking, and as often as it happened she really couldn't put it down to anything but a lack of clarity on her own part. "I am not suggesting you take up hunting," she explained slowly as she re-bandaged his wound. "A squirrel's eye is harder to hit than a man's - or darkspawn's. If you can always hit a squirrel in the eye you can do the same to anything else easily. Then your target will always die in seconds, and you will save money when you buy new heads as well, as I did with the templar and Seeker." Glancing at Arley as she finished tying off the bandages, she arched a brow. "No fuss." Never let it be said she lacked a sense of humour - people simply didn't tend to catch on to her subtle jokes.

That done, Honovi headed into the forest to hunt and when she got back she quickly set to getting their dinner cooking before undressing for a bath. It seemed Arley was taking the opportunity to admire her again, as well, commenting on the view as she stepped into the river. She snorted. "Why should I be worried about privacy? I have nothing you have not seen before." Stooping to grab a handful of coarse sand from the riverbed, she started scrubbing the day's grime from her body. "And thank you, I am very flattered. But it will not open my legs - in your condition I'd only break you." Turning, she tossed a wicked glance at Arley as she rinsed.

She bathed thoroughly but quickly, as she did with near everything, and collected her clothes on the way back to the fire - they could be washed later, but for the moment she was hungry. Taking her red lion-skin cloak from where it fastened Arley to his stretcher Honovi draped it over her shoulders so she wasn't sitting by the fire naked, and checked the food. Good, it was done. She dished out some soup and a generous chunk of goose to Arley then did the same for herself, sinking her teeth into the juicy goose meat with relish. Oh, it tasted good after today. Good enough that she wasn't even overly irritated by the juice that ran down her chin.

[Arley Voegeli]

Arley pondered her though on the arrowheads. "Well, money isn't really a huge issue to me..After my father was killed I took what was left of his life savings after all the ale he bought, while I don't get payed to be a Warden, I get paid by some people who I save from the darkspawn stragglers, or the missions I take for other....Intrested Parties," Arley trailed off, and noted her joke with a smirk, as she finished the bandages. She told him she would break him in his condition, Arley roared with laughter. "Break me? Obviously you don't know who you are talking to! Haven't you heard the stories about a Grey Warden's stamina?" Arley toyed, he knew she wasn't the joking type but he was making himself laugh with his comments.

Arley didn't know why he was being like this to Honovi, maybe it was her seemingly forigen mentality; Or maybe it was her pretty brown skin, he had no idea, but the more she talked the more he wanted to know her. Arley had been with many women, but none like this, he liked how blunt she was. She had patched him up, cooked for and fed him, he liked how attentive she had been. She had went out of her way to help him out and save his life, he still wondered why and he figured he would ask. "So....Why have you stuck around and helped me? You have no reason to, you hold no obligiation to me, you saved me not the other way around, so why?" Arley prodded, he didn't want to offend her but he had to know, it was bothering him.

Arley took a bite of the goose she cooked, she was a good cook, who knew? Arley wondered if all Chasind were good cooks. Honovi looked tired, but Arley didn't blame her, he was tired too, it had been a long two days. Running from and killing the templars, getting his leg half way cut off by a Seeker, running through unknown terrian, while trying to keep up with a master. She probably had as much trouble waiting on him as he did trying to keep up, Arley was a city-boy, he was alot better in towns: even if he didn't know them he could free run without getting hit in the eye by a twig, or getting smashed by a falling branch, OR tripping over a vine and falling into a sharp root portuding up from the ground. Arley hated having to navigate through forests. He hated forests almost as much as Orzammar and the Deep Roads.

[Honovi]

Arching a brow at Arley's question, Honovi tossed a sideways glance at him and swallowed her mouthful of goose. "Why not?" Her answer given, Honovi wiped the juice from her chin and kept eating, unconcerned. She had gone to a lot of trouble to rescue him from the templars, after all, and simply letting a city-man like Arley wander the forest alone was little more than a death sentence with a Seeker after him. And then simply letting the Seeker kill him, or leaving Arley to rot with his wounded knee would have been the same - after her initial effort and involvement in keeping Arley alive, staying was the only logical course of action. After all, simply letting him die would render her day hiding with him in the ruins wasted time and there were few things that irritated Honovi more than wasted time.

Once she was finished eating Honovi rose, letting her cloak slip from her shoulders as she collected her clothes. "Eat." She nudged what was left of the food closer to Arley so he could reach it while she was washing her clothes at the river. The man ate like a wolf, though admittedly to little surprise. Arley was hardly the first Warden she'd met, her vendetta against darkspawn being what it was, and she was well acquainted with Grey Warden appetites. If she hadn't been, after all, she would never have bothered to keep hunting after she'd shot the first hare to go into their soup.

Laundry was a tedious task, but a necessary one, and Honovi knelt by the riverbank to beat her clothes on the rocks with a hunter's easy grace. "Sleep if you can. I will have breakfast ready when you wake." That said, she started humming softly again as she bent over her task.

---

Link! to the song Honovi is humming.

[Arley Voegeli]

Arley was shoving his mouth full of food. She told him, "Why not?" and he left if at that. He wouldnt prod her about it anymore. He thought about his being a Grey Warden. He noted that there where a few noticable changes upon becoming a Grey Warden. First thing was his insatiable hunger, he could now out eat the fattest people. The second thing was the strange nightmares, they felt very strange; it was surreal. He noticed he became stronger, and faster, doing things that he had only seen from Kossith. He would become depressed from time to time, as he was alone alot and the nightmares only got worse.

He kept eating, he was never full and could eat for hours, but he stopped after he was done with what Honovi had given him. "I don't sleep much anymore, sometimes not at all," Arley told her, his mind was more on the breakfast, he was still hungry but it was contorlable. He looked at Honovi, "I have a question for you, answer or don't obviously its your choice to do so, but, here goes. I would like to know, what is it like growing up as a Chasind? Ive always been interested with your people." Arley asked, the other Chasind people he had met dont really like to talk to him, though they talked more than her. He also wondered why she had such bad social graces, but he wasn't going to ask her, he doubted she had an answer for him. "I'm sorry for talking so much I just want to get to know the person who saved my life, and you are interesting to me." Arley smiled at her though she probably couldn't see him.

She was going laundry, Arley hated washing his clothes, it annoyed him. But...he didn't like to stink, he would pay people to wash them for him, thats what he prefered to do, but he also wore armor, and you didn't really have to wash it, but it doesnt hurt to rinse it off. Though with leather armor he really had no issues.

[Honovi]

Honovi nodded grimly at Arley's comment on not sleeping.

"Neither do I."

Even ten years after the Blight her sleep was still plagued with nightmares, visions of death and blood and fire. They came less frequently now though, replaced by the faces of men she'd killed herself. Dead men with accusing eyes and rotting flesh, who swarmed her and clawed at her flesh. She suppressed a shiver.

It was good that Arley didn't choose to dwell on it, asking about her people. That was a safer topic, if bittersweet. Sitting back on her heels as she washed her laundry, she closed her eyes. Arley couldn't see it with her back to him, but she pursed her lips for a moment before speaking.

"Each of the tribes is different, but our ways are similar. That our manners are different from yours was the first thing I noticed when I came here. My people are very open, we do not talk around things like you do. And we are not as savage as your people believe, simply very direct. We all have a place, and we are all cared for, because everyone in the tribe is family. Blood means nothing to us. Everyone is brother and sister, aunt and uncle. Shamans are respected and not locked away like your mages, and the very old are valued above all but children. The chiefs who lead us have the greatest responsibility and the least privilege, the last to eat and the first in battle."

Draping her wet clothing over some bushes to dry she made her way back to the fire. "I will wash your clothes now. Is there anything specific you would like to know about m people?"

[Arley Voegeli]

That was the first time Arley got more than two sentances out of her, and he was suprised that she even spoke of it at all. She told him she would wash his clothes. He looked at her.
"Er....My clothes? So I am to lay here naked on the ground?" Arley laughed jokingly. "Very well they are starting to stink anyway," He started removing the clothes on his upper body as they were the easiest for him to remove, taking off his bracers then his blade straps, then removing his shirt and unclasping his armor peices revealing a light chaimail between his leather body and his shirt. His skin bared scars from darkspawn blades, they where all jagged cuts, as their blades were jagged too.

He started undoing his belt on his pants, then realizing he would need help. "Yes actually, there is something I would like to know, a few things actually. First, why do you not talk about things like we do? Two, why is it that they call you savages? I've met many Chasind and they where not necessarily the most talkitive folk, but they weren't savages by any means. Oh and I am not familliar with what a Shaman is, I know they are like spiritual leaders, but what is their main function? Also, could you help me with this? All the armor has buckles, but I can't reach without straining my knee." He said with an embarrased smile.

Arley was not used to feeling so helpless, as a Grey Warden people usually relied on him, he seemed to have the weight of Thedas on his shoulders constantly, but not today, and it felt great to be waited on hand and foot as Honovi had been doing for him. "I am pretty sure I thanked you already; but thanks again, I will find a way to repay you, and I will not take no for an answer. Actually I have a place I would like to take you, a friend of mine, a butcher, he is in Denerim and makes the best steaks and the most suculent bacon you will ever taste," Arleys mouth watered, he loved steak and bacon, and could eat a whole cow by himself it seemed. "If you will let me that is."

[Honovi]

Much to her chagrin, Arley answered Honovi's offer of direct answers to specific questions with several such questions in a row. Deciding to deal with last thing first, she knelt beside him to help him undress.

"We speak more bluntly than your people because we are practical" she explained as she removed his boots. "Talking around your meaning is only a waste of time, and hides your intent. If you do not wish someone to know something, it is just as easy not to speak at all. As for why your people find mine savage, I don't know. Perhaps because we still hunt and wear furs."

It took some work to get the rest of Arley's clothes off without straining his knee, but after a while she managed it. Draping her lion cloak back over him to keep off the chill she took the dirty clothes back to the river with a disapproving wrinkle to her nose. Ugh, they stank. Did he just never wash his laundry, or was it only when he was in the forest? No Chasind would ever allow his clothing to reach such a state.

Honovi knelt once more by the riverbank to finish the laundry, and to absolutely no one's surprise Arley started talking again. Shaking her head with a sigh she bent back over her work, scrubbing furiously at his stained and grimy clothes.

"You are kind to offer, but I prefer wild game." scrub scrub scrub Your farm animals are greasy and have little taste." scrub scrub scrub "What do you do to your clothes?"

They were terrible. Really and truly terrible. Clothing should not be left unwashed until they started to smell. Certainly not until they started to smell like... like... ugh like stale sweat and city. Honovi made a point of never wearing the same set of clothes twice in a row, staying close to rivers for the sole purpose of maintaining her mildly obsessive level of cleanliness. Sometimes it seemed to her that northmen, for all their supposed civilization, had an unfortunate habit of letting hygiene fall by the wayside.

Still, after what Honovi thought was an inordinately long period of time scrubbing Arley's clothes into complete submission, she sat back on her heels with a satisfied nod. Stains were little more than accidentally dyed fabric, and all traces of sweat, blood, and human stink were gone.

She rung everything out as well as she could manage and hung everything but Arley's pants to dry - they still had a very large tear in one knee where he had been wounded. Settling herself bu the fire across from her companion, she reached into her pack for a needle and thread and started to stitch the torn fabric back together. Another tedious task, but at least the fire was warm.

[Arley Voegeli]

"We still hunt for our food, mostly, unless your a noble, I am no noble, though I hunt deer, I do not like rabbit that much, it is to lean. Also, there is nothing wrong with conversation, I hide no intent. I am not a liar, I will tell you anything you wish." Arley smiled at her with his usual look to her. Her next words offended him a little, "They are not tasteless! He uses the finest spices, and herbs to flavor his foods, even uses marinades! It was an offer, you could have just said no," Arley snapped at her, not meaning to he checked himself. "I'm sorry...I did not mean to snap, I just wanted to repay you at least a little." He murmured.

"Well of course my clothes are dirty, I have been running for days, the only water supply I have had was the rain water off of the giant leaves. If it bothered you that bad you didn't have to wash them," Arley chuckled dryly, as he started to wonder why she wouldn't atleast have dinner with him. He was just trying to be nice, but she was Chasind, she probably wasn't keen to being in a city in the first place. Arley had been fighting Templars for a long time and he had to learn to blend in with the crowd, he became one with the city just as Honovi had with the forest.

He watched her patch up his pants.."You know I am not so helpless, I could have done that myself, one of the things Delphine taught me was how to sew, she also taught me how to knit my own clothing too, like that black and red shirt I wear, I made that myself." Arley had a since of pride in that, in the time he knew Delphine he learned so much, especially how to fight. "Though....I know this is off topic, but I have a rather....strange question. Have you ever been in love? If so, what does it feel like?" Arley asked rather quietly half-heartedly hoping she didn't hear him, but he had never experienced it for himself, the closest thing he has felt to love would have to be this, though he knew he wasn't smitten, he was attracted to Honovi, even if she seemed to kind of dislike Arley. Atleast thats the vibe he got from her. With that he chuckled nervously.

[Honovi]

Honovi raised an eyebrow as Arley snapped at her, more amused than angry. He could claim that his manners were as straightforward as those of a Chasind, but they weren't.

"No need to be sorry, I know my manners are different from yours. I was not refusing or I would have said no, I was simply offering an alternative. There is no need to repay me, however, you did not ask for my help."

A spark of amusement lit her eyes as she scrubbed Arley clothes, his plaintive defence at her frustrated exclamation making a smile tug at her lips. She was washing his clothes precisely because they were bothering her. No matter. They were being washed, anyway, and she made no reply but a quiet snort - then another as he said he could have fixed his own pants.

"As you say. But I was already holding them."

Stitching the torn edges together went quickly, but Arley's next question halted her progress for a very abrupt moment. Honaw had died entirely too long ago for him to still reasonably be a touchy subject... but perhaps she had loved him too much. So much that more than a decade after his death her jaw tightened when a young man made a careless question about love. She finished the last few stitches in silence and tied the thread off, snapping the thread off with a sharp pull rather than cutting it neatly as she usually would.

"I have. And it feels like dying, but it never goes away. Now sleep."