when all the pretty birds have flown, take a chance on me
He couldn't get a read on what they thought, on how they judged him. Only silence, raised 'brows, neutral smiles and judgements kept to themselves. It was all the more anxiety-stirring, but he had an anchor through it all - Kia, the whole reason he was here, the reason he felt he could bear it, could withstand whatever judgement they cast. He had her, and while that was true, he thinks he could withstand their judgement, good or bad.
-- (It's a lie, he knows he would crumble under a negative judgement from people who meant so much to Kia, and therefore, meant so much to him.) --
As usual, his expectations were thrown, as he assumed more questions would come his way, and they didn't. He would learn to expect the unexpected in this world soon, but he was still so fresh, so naïve, still seeing the world as a magical, wondrous place, still blind to its darker and more dangerous tidings. The perspective was thrown to Kia now, to hear what her thoughts were on him, why she was drawn to him - it was something he had been wanting to know as well, though he would never ask for fear of having her realise that he was unworthy after all, for fear that he would be proven insufficient, that she would leave him.
A soft, small smile is on his face as he meets her gaze, a hint of a blush colouring his cheeks as she speaks of him. It made his heart sing, made him feel more secure, even if he felt quite vulnerable and exposed before them.
Amalia poses another question to him then, and he appreciates it - he felt like he had done a lot of the talking tonight, and here she was, opening the door to him to ask questions in return. But what to ask? What to know, to seek, to investigate? Did he ask them to cast their judgement on him, here and now? Or did he hope that their silent acceptance of his presence counted as acceptance and welcome enough?
Was he reading them correctly? Was their silence indeed acceptance, or was it just a way of them being polite, waiting until after the dinner to reject him, to eject him from their and Kia's life?
"I am not usually shy in asking questions, and ask them as they come to me," he sought to assure, to promise that as questions arose in the future, he would seek them out, ask them - evidently hedging his bets that he was being welcomed to linger onwards into the future in all of their lives. "How about… How did you two come to be together?" Was it a chance meeting, like he and Kia? A random act of a bag of vegetables (was it fate?) initiating that first contact? Was it destined to be? Or was there even more to their story, disagreements, misunderstandings, drama, romance, adventure?
-- (It's a lie, he knows he would crumble under a negative judgement from people who meant so much to Kia, and therefore, meant so much to him.) --
As usual, his expectations were thrown, as he assumed more questions would come his way, and they didn't. He would learn to expect the unexpected in this world soon, but he was still so fresh, so naïve, still seeing the world as a magical, wondrous place, still blind to its darker and more dangerous tidings. The perspective was thrown to Kia now, to hear what her thoughts were on him, why she was drawn to him - it was something he had been wanting to know as well, though he would never ask for fear of having her realise that he was unworthy after all, for fear that he would be proven insufficient, that she would leave him.
A soft, small smile is on his face as he meets her gaze, a hint of a blush colouring his cheeks as she speaks of him. It made his heart sing, made him feel more secure, even if he felt quite vulnerable and exposed before them.
Amalia poses another question to him then, and he appreciates it - he felt like he had done a lot of the talking tonight, and here she was, opening the door to him to ask questions in return. But what to ask? What to know, to seek, to investigate? Did he ask them to cast their judgement on him, here and now? Or did he hope that their silent acceptance of his presence counted as acceptance and welcome enough?
Was he reading them correctly? Was their silence indeed acceptance, or was it just a way of them being polite, waiting until after the dinner to reject him, to eject him from their and Kia's life?
"I am not usually shy in asking questions, and ask them as they come to me," he sought to assure, to promise that as questions arose in the future, he would seek them out, ask them - evidently hedging his bets that he was being welcomed to linger onwards into the future in all of their lives. "How about… How did you two come to be together?" Was it a chance meeting, like he and Kia? A random act of a bag of vegetables (was it fate?) initiating that first contact? Was it destined to be? Or was there even more to their story, disagreements, misunderstandings, drama, romance, adventure?
CHULANE
