This was only their second meeting but Hadama had a premonition - a hope - that someday Evie would be a friend close enough to share some of his worries with. It was too soon to burden a woman he barely knew with such weight, however. It would be a discourtesy to her even above the break with his people's traditional secrecy. The merman was content to let their friendship grow and root and blossom at its own pace...
If the War and their responsibilities would give them that time.
He waited while she unpacked her bag, patient and stoic though her words genuinely surprised him. A great deal had changed since last they'd met upon the strand, it seemed, and he considered her with new respect due her elevated position. "Congratulations," he offered, warm and solemn at once as he relaxed into the deepened tide pool for his personal use. Allowing himself a single, luxurious stretch, he pulled his own bag to the rim of the pool and began to remove the boxes and hinged-and-latched clam shells within, setting them on the sand.
It was strange, however. No matter how far up the sand the surf raced as it washed ashore the crescent of beach in front of Evie remained dry as a bone, not even spray reaching the woman in the unseasonable chill of the day.
"I know of this... haven," he said slowly, considering each word with some of the warmth fading from his eyes. "I was assured the mer would be welcome there. But... I am not certain that I trust it. I have advised my people not to go there." Though as a seasmith without a forge of his own he didn't seem convinced that his word carried much weight.
He considered Evie with concerned emerald eyes. "Will you be joining your people who choose it?" It would make a certain sense, that those displaced from Halo would need a leader in their self-imposed exile for as long as the War lasted.
If the War and their responsibilities would give them that time.
He waited while she unpacked her bag, patient and stoic though her words genuinely surprised him. A great deal had changed since last they'd met upon the strand, it seemed, and he considered her with new respect due her elevated position. "Congratulations," he offered, warm and solemn at once as he relaxed into the deepened tide pool for his personal use. Allowing himself a single, luxurious stretch, he pulled his own bag to the rim of the pool and began to remove the boxes and hinged-and-latched clam shells within, setting them on the sand.
It was strange, however. No matter how far up the sand the surf raced as it washed ashore the crescent of beach in front of Evie remained dry as a bone, not even spray reaching the woman in the unseasonable chill of the day.
"I know of this... haven," he said slowly, considering each word with some of the warmth fading from his eyes. "I was assured the mer would be welcome there. But... I am not certain that I trust it. I have advised my people not to go there." Though as a seasmith without a forge of his own he didn't seem convinced that his word carried much weight.
He considered Evie with concerned emerald eyes. "Will you be joining your people who choose it?" It would make a certain sense, that those displaced from Halo would need a leader in their self-imposed exile for as long as the War lasted.
