She didn't seem willing at first, this auburn-haired huntress with her cucurbit confidante, and Kel pulled back into himself as he sensed the inevitable refusal; one more coldly casual dismissal in a city full of them. He braced himself for the denial, fingers tightening once more on his quiver strap as he tried to compose his face to dignity, but Melita's sigh was a sudden shift in the weather, and he hesitated in uncertain hope as she pushed paper and charcoal towards him. There was a look in his eyes, wary and uncertain, as if waiting for her to snatch them back, but her casual question and return to her own work soothed him enough to take a nearby chair and set his own bow and quiver aside while he reached for the charcoal.
"I... yes. I do now." An admission with more than a hint of resignation, but his expression began to clear as he squared up the paper in front of him and let his hand hover over the crisp white page, the moment of endless potential lingering before the charcoal touched it and he began to enact his art in simple, sweeping lines. A head, a nose, pointed and sharp, and a sneering twist to a sharper-toothed mouth. "What about you? And... him?" He wasn't sure if gourds had a gender, but he kept sneaking fascinated glances at Fangorn, clearly baffled and curious by the odd vegetable in their midst.
"I... yes. I do now." An admission with more than a hint of resignation, but his expression began to clear as he squared up the paper in front of him and let his hand hover over the crisp white page, the moment of endless potential lingering before the charcoal touched it and he began to enact his art in simple, sweeping lines. A head, a nose, pointed and sharp, and a sneering twist to a sharper-toothed mouth. "What about you? And... him?" He wasn't sure if gourds had a gender, but he kept sneaking fascinated glances at Fangorn, clearly baffled and curious by the odd vegetable in their midst.
