What she offered was more than he had ever dared to hope for, and it seemed as though it wasn't so hypothetical after all. From what he was coming to understand, her people were secretive, isolated by choice, and some among them were hostile indeed towards outsiders - something his group had learned to their regret the day before. But as she was also proving, the Fae were not a monolith. Eliza was curious, outgoing, and brave enough to explore alone. Perhaps there were others of her people who held similar flexibility in their outlook on the world?
She was offering him a deal that rested on trust, and he bowed his head in gratitude for that, solemn and respectful of the weight of the burden she was willing to rest on his honor. "I promise to ask you for permission, and to abide by your decision, before I share any information that I learn from your Undercroft," he pledged, meeting her gaze with blue eyes that held sober earnestness. It was no different than other promises he'd made in the past, ones he had kept close and hidden in his heart even after being flung between worlds.
He bit back his impatient first response - not everything had to eat people! - forcing himself to breathe calmly. Eliza was speaking with him honestly (he hoped) and offering him information and the promise of more. She was not, apparently, one who had been involved in the ambush, and she was helping him as much as she could, given their situations. Snapping at her would help no one, and might do very real harm, and so Jigano controlled himself before her question caused him to furrow his brow in surprise at her question. She didn't have experience with being lied to? Well, if her people were close-knit and their settlement was even smaller than what lay within the Barrier, it was possible...
"I don't always know," he admitted, shifting position slightly to ease the tension in his back from holding his balance so high up in the tree. "Some people have obvious little signs, a nervous motion that they make when they lie. If you know someone well enough you can learn that 'tell' and many people have similar ones, so you know what to start looking for. Sometimes you have to gather information and compare what they have said in the past to what they are saying now, seeing if any details have changed that might be more than innocent mis-remembering." He hesitated, than grimaced a little. "On my world I had a good sense for it. Something instinctive, a sort of extra sense for sniffing out lies... but I've found it blinded since coming here. It made it very hard to trust people, at first. I am becoming less... guarded, I suppose, as I've found most people I've met here to be fairly trustworthy, though." He gave a slight shrug, and the ghost of a wry smile as he contemplated his fairy-winged companion. As much as he wanted to ask more about the tulmhainar, he saw the stubborn set of her jaw that warned him it wouldn't be wise to press further on that issue, at least not right now.
"What would happen to us, if we were caught sneaking into the Undercroft?" he asked instead, wondering how much risk Eliza was putting herself at with her seemingly-impulsive offer.
She was offering him a deal that rested on trust, and he bowed his head in gratitude for that, solemn and respectful of the weight of the burden she was willing to rest on his honor. "I promise to ask you for permission, and to abide by your decision, before I share any information that I learn from your Undercroft," he pledged, meeting her gaze with blue eyes that held sober earnestness. It was no different than other promises he'd made in the past, ones he had kept close and hidden in his heart even after being flung between worlds.
He bit back his impatient first response - not everything had to eat people! - forcing himself to breathe calmly. Eliza was speaking with him honestly (he hoped) and offering him information and the promise of more. She was not, apparently, one who had been involved in the ambush, and she was helping him as much as she could, given their situations. Snapping at her would help no one, and might do very real harm, and so Jigano controlled himself before her question caused him to furrow his brow in surprise at her question. She didn't have experience with being lied to? Well, if her people were close-knit and their settlement was even smaller than what lay within the Barrier, it was possible...
"I don't always know," he admitted, shifting position slightly to ease the tension in his back from holding his balance so high up in the tree. "Some people have obvious little signs, a nervous motion that they make when they lie. If you know someone well enough you can learn that 'tell' and many people have similar ones, so you know what to start looking for. Sometimes you have to gather information and compare what they have said in the past to what they are saying now, seeing if any details have changed that might be more than innocent mis-remembering." He hesitated, than grimaced a little. "On my world I had a good sense for it. Something instinctive, a sort of extra sense for sniffing out lies... but I've found it blinded since coming here. It made it very hard to trust people, at first. I am becoming less... guarded, I suppose, as I've found most people I've met here to be fairly trustworthy, though." He gave a slight shrug, and the ghost of a wry smile as he contemplated his fairy-winged companion. As much as he wanted to ask more about the tulmhainar, he saw the stubborn set of her jaw that warned him it wouldn't be wise to press further on that issue, at least not right now.
"What would happen to us, if we were caught sneaking into the Undercroft?" he asked instead, wondering how much risk Eliza was putting herself at with her seemingly-impulsive offer.
