[Yael] While The Stars Bear Witness [Zekiel | Malta]

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

“You find yourself a pretty girl here and you learn how to kiss her like she likes. You do that, and you’ll be happy you did, you’ll see.”

Marleya’s words flit through Zekiel’s mind like a familiar wind chime, distant and unpredictable in its timing as the gusts, but back again repeatedly and reliably even after a long wait, stirring up a collection of well-thumbed-through thoughts.

He was still a young man, and it wasn’t as though his life was tedious or even slow moving. He had much to be doing from before daybreak to well into the night on most occasions, and it seemed ridiculous even to say that he was lonely, for how could he be? He had flocks of people in his life, from his brothers and sisters of the church, to his friends from all walks of life, to his churchgoers themselves and then all the villagers of his city—all of value to him and many of close importance, each engaging with him on a daily basis such that his affairs were as filled with interpersonal activity as they were busy in the general sense.

Yet, here he stood, waiting at the town’s edge for the company of a woman, and he couldn’t help but be aware, for all the noblest of his intentions, that — even if it was impatience, to wish for anything the gods hadn’t yet given him — he did wish, and want sometime in his future for a particular variety of closeness which was not the same as that he entertained with even his dearest friends. Something that he felt with Edeline, but no longer knew how to pursue, when he could not seem to locate her, and had not apparently recognized soon enough to keep her nearer to him for longer to begin with.

Something that would demonstrate to the gods his readiness for a family.

But perhaps that thought, too, belonged among those that he ought to pray for patience in. For this moment, he was waiting for a young woman he had now had many occasions to spend time with and who seemed to enjoy his company as much as he did hers. He thought it time he introduced her to the woman who’d come nearest to filling any motherly role in his youngest years, and if all went well, perhaps fate would unveil further opportunities from there.  

[DraconicFeline]

The Only Black Uke

Fortune - the gods - smiled on Malta - she was able to arrange a visit with Zekiel at the same time that Detraeus was ready to be ridden out into public. She'd managed to pass off the visit as a part of his training - which technically it was.

A Janarim on the road drew many looks and, riding on his back, she felt an odd sense of power. Odd, because she'd had so little in her years. He'd been well behaved - grumpy, but not snapping at other travellers or eating anything he shouldn't. He hadn't managed to carry her the whole way, but even walking beside him, she could see that he was making good progress in his training.

She couldn't think about what that meant, yet.

Either way, she got to her destination and, after setting him up in a beast pen owned by one of Yisette's 'friends'. There, after being cleaned off and thoroughly rewarded and praised, he had settled into an exhausted slumber... and Malta was free to tidy herself up, say a few grateful prayers to the gods, and... meet Zekiel.

She ached from the ride, but she moved with a spring in her step and a joy in her heart. Much joy, much happiness, much anticipation... she was open to whatever she was in for.

Seeing him waiting for her, she waved to him, unable to restrain herself - where her beast trainee had tired, she had filled with energy.  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Zekiel was not aware of Malta’s means of transportation. He had had occasion to see Detraeus and her progress with him thus far, but though he communicated with her then and via letter in the interim, he hadn’t learned yet of this particular development. Had he known, however, it would only have been all the more reason to feel a private wonder at Malta’s work. Beasts fascinated him as many things did, but he knew that the task of coming to understand them and work with them in a way so as to have them manageable with the daily citizen—this was a gift the gods only gave to some individuals, and not the task before him.

When he spotted her, he beamed, giving a wave in return as he approached to meet and catch her in a hug. “Malta, the gods have kept you well,” he said. “It is wondrous to see you…I hope that you have not had to walk too far to arrive. It is only a short way south from here and the path is small for a carriage, so if the gods have put energy enough in your step for it, I would walk with you.”

Despite the fact that she must have had to make it some distance earlier in the day, she didn’t look put upon, but rather as exuberant as she generally did—when not too busy fretting over the world’s concerns—and this, he thought was a good start.

“Marleya will be most pleased to meet with you,” he said as he began to lead the way.

Marleya was always pleased to see him bring a girl about, but on this occasion, it would different than on occasions past. Unlike as with Fallon, who had been a friend of his since their early years of training and would always be that—a friend—he had confided in Marleya recently that if the gods did not set forth any sign to dissuade him, he might take time to return to the Sanctum soon and make an inquiry before the council as to whether or not he might take a wife. It would take more than only their approval, of course, as there was no guaranteeing Malta’s interest in him in that fashion despite all the opportunity they had had to come to know one another, but with the consideration even on his mind, it seemed an apt thing to bring before the gods.

And a point of great interest for Marleya, in any case, who had come to insisting she would refuse to pass with the gods until she had seen the first child the gods gave him.

“When I was very small, before the Sanctum took me, I was with Marleya when I was not with Jevan, and she would show me everything I came to know then. She ages now and lives alone by the sea, but once, her home was filled with the children she tells stories of, grown now as we are. I have told her much of you.”  

[DraconicFeline]

The Only Black Uke

He gave the best hugs. He really did. "The gods have kept you well too!" she said happily, taking a moment to really take a look at him. Since their last meeting, she was fairly sure he had grown. Maybe not in height or in weight, but in personality. Or... how he carried himself? Being out here, with his own temple to care for... that must have been very good for him.

"I had a little help!" she said, "I ah... caught a ride." On Detraeus! she was about to say, unable to repress her pride in her favorite trainee for long. But then he mentioned Marleya - and that caught her interest. He'd mentioned her in his letter to her, but he hadn't gone into detail. And it could be said that Malta was curious.

Jevan, she remembered, was his blood-father. So, he had been raised by people not his blood family - by a woman who raised many children - and then moved elsewhere and... Malta dismissed the notion. Their lives were not similar - they couldn't be. He was chosen by the gods, the ending was therefore different. He was a priest, and she was a novice beast trainer.

"Y-you have?" her face colored -- it was odd to be talked about to someone, odder still to think about what he might have told her. "H-hopefully I can live up to whatever you've told her!"  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

DraconicFeline

“Oh? I pray the transport was safe.” Zekiel didn’t admittedly spend any time worrying about such things. It generally wasn’t in his nature to, as the path of fate was mostly in the gods’ hands. As of most recent events, however, many of their people were even more wary, and it wasn’t difficult to understand why. Besides, it was important to him that Malta at least took routes that left her with a feeling of security.

As Malta’s face flushed, Zekiel found himself smiling again, eyes this time alight with an almost teasing brightness. The color was such a peculiarly and reliably pleasing thing to see. “All wondrous things,” he assured her. “Mostly how impressed I find myself in your company and what you have accomplished with the animals of other gods…and how happy I am, to have been blessed with many opportunities to share time with you.”

‘Modest’ was a kind word for Marleya’s living quarters, but Zekiel never thought twice about it except, after returning from the temple on the first occasion he had opportunity, he had brought her fuller blankets, for her bed matt. The home itself was a hut among huts that doubled as her workspace in portion, but in the drifting hours of early evening, there were no customers to bother them. As it happened — perhaps in part due to her expecting them — the elderly woman was out as they came down the path, crouched before the scraggly collection of plants she had to the side of her net stacks.

“Marleya! The gods have been good and miss Malta is well from her journey,” he said as he greeted her, earning attention at least, a squint, and eventually — with some effort — the woman was pushing to a stand, tisking and surveying Malta as she dusted her hands dirt.

“So this is the girl, mm?” Her eyes had a particularly keen, attentive glow for a moment. Then: “Good hips for children, those are.”  

[DraconicFeline]

The Only Black Uke

Malta beamed, trying - unsuccessfully to hide her smile. She wasn't supposed to be this happy, was she? To hear that she'd been spoken about - about her animals no less - and that Zekiel felt... impressed... by her. Coming from Zekiel, it could only mean good things. She looked, embarassed to be smiling (why should she be?) and recognized the glitter in his eyes. "Are you teasing me?" she asked, surprised - and, equally surprisingly, not upset at all. Normally, teases came from darker places. Or, they were attempts to be friendly - she knew that was what they were - that fell flat and hard and became tinder for her own insecurities. With Zekiel... she wanted to tease him back a little, play a little, but her mind emptied. How did she do that?

And then it was too late, the moment had passed, and Malta kicked herself for taking too long. She bowed in greeting, not sure what to make of this woman, who looked like she was one with the wood of her hut. Some people looked like the place they were in, others like their animals. Did that mean, Malta wondered, that they were more in tune than others? "It-its a pleasure to meet you, Ma'am." she said. What else was there to say?

Except to squeak and blush a bright red. "I! So I've been told! Uh! Ma'am!" she sputtered awkwardly, red to her droopy eartips. And it had been said before. She didn't want to think about what they'd meant by the complement. But, more importantly, what was Zekiel thinking oh gods what if? She wasn't even sure, what if! What would the wrong idea even be?!  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Zekiel felt a pleasant warmth and calm to see Malta’s smile, though at the question, he blinked. Teasing her? He wasn’t sure about what, if he had been, but perhaps it depended on the sense that she meant the word. There was some particular breed of playfulness in him that he hadn’t thought to identify beyond that, and perhaps that qualified—but he didn’t get the opportunity to delve too deeply into it now, either.

Good hips for children.

Zekiel’s eyes flicked immediately to Marleya at the comment. He supposed it wasn’t surprising. The older woman had made similar remarks on past occasions whenever she saw opportunity to bring up the topic of children or family-making, and in this case, he had told Marleya of his interest in this woman in particular, though he had been careful to make clear there was nothing yet separating their engagement with one another from his other friends.

At Malta’s peep of abashed sound and comment, however — So I’ve been told… — he found his gaze flit there, to the topic of interest, quite before he could stop it. If it had been said more than once it seemed only all the more likely to be true.

But, that was not where his eyes belonged. That was a lesson he had learned some time ago no matter how natural the impulse, and so, redirecting his gaze with a subtler heat in his own cheeks, he shook his head. “I have not asked her to bear my children yet, Marleya, and she is easily abashed,” he said lightly. “You might be gentle with her.”

The older woman, for her part, huffed. “Oh, y’ don’t give a hard workin’ girl like that credit, boy…” She waggled a finger. “Watch, she knows her way about better than you do.”

Zekiel opted not to inquire where precisely Marleya was referring to that Malta ‘knew her way’ better, instead stepping past briefly to the side of the hut, where he fetched two empty pails. The rest of the ingredients and preparation for supper had already been seen to or at least put underway, but the last step Zekiel had chosen to leave for Malta to participate in. Only in retrospect did he hope again that she wasn’t already worn from travel, but the late afternoon sky was already beginning to show signs of coloring for sunset, and he thought it was excuse enough to enjoy it.  

[DraconicFeline]

The Only Black Uke

Bear his...

Ohhhh gods... Malta's instinct was to hide under something and cower there for approximately forever and He was looking wasn't he? Aaaaa yes he was! Was she too fat? Too thin? Did he have the wrong idea? Did he have the right idea? What was she going to do?

"I.. I don't, I mean, I..." What did she say to that? What on the god's chosen Yael did she say to that? She swallowed hard and tried not to talk about calving capramels or something stupid like that... so she bowed quickly and fled on Zekiel's heels.

"Wh-what did you tell her?!" she hissed frantically, not unlike a kettle cooling itself down. And then she noticed the buckets. "What are you doing?"  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Zekiel felt a pinch of abashment at Malta’s stammering. Though he wasn’t responsible for Marleya’s words, he probably could have afforded to say something else or nothing at all, and he probably oughtn’t have spent any time with his eyes on her hips. He still wasn’t entirely clear on why, since often positive attention was welcome, but he had come to understand that some things just were, and this was one of them.

“Only as I told you,” he promised. “How we have met and come to know each other, your talents, and how happy it makes me to have your company.” He extended a hand, offering over a bucket and managing to look almost sheepishly apologetic, though it still came with a smile. “As she ages she has become very interested in my taking a wife,” he admitted, quieter. “She misses her own children and hopes that I will manage to bring her some of mine before the gods take her from this world.”

He notched his head in silent gesture before starting out, away from the small hut now and down towards the near shore, where the breaking waves — gentle but rolling — could already be heard comingling with ocean bird call. It was ever both a calming and invigorating sound to him, inspiring a relaxed prickle of energy under his skin as he cast his gaze out, towards the sea, its breezes skipping up over the rocks to tease around them.

“She understands of course that all our lives are busy, and my duty is first to our people…” he said once they were out of earshot of the hut. “But it does not keep me from wondering if the gods will put such an opportunity before me one day. And it is encouraging that the thought pleases her, at least.”  

[DraconicFeline]

The Only Black Uke

"Oh, I..." I'm sorry I assumed. I'm sorry I freaked out. I'm sorry... But she didn't really have anything to be sorry for, did she. It was perfectly understandable, the whole thing - the concern that the woman felt... "I understand."

She took the bucket and looked out at the water, shimmering with color that could never be captured by hand or paint... and then at Zekiel. Some of that same light played out on his features, and it was beautiful - a truly beautiful sight. He was such a handsome man... such a good person...

It would be presumptuous of me... she thought, To think that I could be that opportunity. But it wasn't a bad idea, not at all.

Wait, she was holding a bucket. "Ah, what are we doing?" she asked, pretending as if she hadn't been thinking about children and herself... One day, perhaps, that could be in her future? Or would she just be a mother to beasts, raising them and training them.

That wouldn't be bad, either.  

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

DraconicFeline

I understand.

Zekiel smiled. “Good.” And, where Malta had seemed genuinely flustered before, she also seemed now to be serious about having come to a better understanding of and relaxation with the situation as it stood. She was not the first girl Marleya’s boldness had inspired blushes from, but suffice to say Zekiel was content that she seemed not to be offended.

At the latter question, though, his smile broadened. “Mollusk gathering,” he said, turning to begin leading the way out as he explained. “There are often many to be found among the rocks and tidepools of the shore when the water is low. Clams and small rock snails, they can all be cooked well and will make part of the meal.”

Sunset would be upon them soon after all, which leant a warm pink orange hue to the evening for now which would only grow more colorful before it darkened. They had some time yet of full visibility, and plenty of opportunity Zekiel thought to appreciate perhaps one of the most enjoyable memories he retained of his childhood here.  

[DraconicFeline]

The Only Black Uke

"Oh!" Malta said. She had heard of clams and rock snails in the city, and Zekiel had mentioned this. But she hadn't really thought about it requiring a bucket before. Or the tides, really.

But she was game for it. "Lead the way!" she said sunnily. After all, she knew her way around a good bucket. The ocean was beautiful, her companion was wonderful, and she was sure that the mollusks would be delicious.

But those colors... truly breathtaking. "It's really beautiful out today - look at that sky!" she commented, "Do you think it'll be a clear night too? Or will the weather turn? I can never be sure!"

Yes. Talk about the weather. That was a good a thing to talk about as anything! Yael's weather was always something to talk about.