An oud was the first instrument Amira had ever learned to play. There were others after, sure, but this one held a special place in her heart due to that and the boy who had taught her. What would Elias think of me now? She was a completely different person now, it seemed. She’d broken the last promise she’d made to him that night, had been breaking it since his death.
Shaking her head slightly, Amira’s playing slipped from the almost mournful lament it had become into something upbeat as she stood, tapping her foot to the beat. It started with that, growing into dancing that drew some of the younger children of the guild members into dancing with her. The haunted look was gone, and now she was grinning freely.
It was only when the song picked up did Nordali open his eyes again. He smiled softly at her, watching the kids dance around the fire. A few of the adults seemed to grow more joyous, and clapped their hands along to the beat.
But the leader did not join in. He continued to watch and observe the woman as she played, his hands idly running through Rolif’s thick fur.
Amira was, by far, not the best dancer. A bit wild and playing an instrument at the same time, she made up for lack of skill with pure enthusiasm and joy, looking like she would absolutely not rather be anywhere else. She continued to sing as she paused her playing to spin a little girl around, a happy laugh slipping from her lips. The first time she'd actually laughed in a while.
The runaway's eyes met Nordali's over the fire, and she worked her way around as she resumed playing. It wasn't quite necessary, since other musicians had now joined in the fun, but she was the one tying it all together somehow. She tilted her head and arched a brow, a silent dance with me?. Maybe to show a bit of trust, or maybe just because.
Nor laughed softly, making the stag nuzzle him again. He pushed the large creatures head away and smiled happily, tilting his head as she made her way over.
Truth be told, he couldn’t dance. His face went a pink as she neared, his eyes falling to the ground. It took him a few moments to decide and soon he was standing awkwardly by her side, offering a small smile. Only a few guild members noticed it, but those few who did stared intently. They had never seen their leader have any sort of fun for himself.
Amira fully let go of the oud when Zar stood, the strap keeping it hanging from her shoulders as she took his hands and tugged him closer to the gathered musicians. Her hair was everywhere, falling out of the ponytail she had it in, curly strands falling into her bright and strange eyes. Continuing to sing, she spun them around happily, her feet light if slightly un-graceful. They'd had a bit of a rough start, but music was always good at lowering the thick and tall built walls Amira kept up at all times.
Even the language she had reverted to singing in sounded musical on her tongue. Kehlaian was a richly spoken language, with upturned 'r's and a lilting sound if done right, and it was enthralling coming from her. That was one thing she'd always been good at, making her language sound like music even when just spoken.
He laughed softly, shaking his head as she brought him into a dance. Nordali let himself be led, finally picking up on her enthusiasm.
He could hardly believe someone had a voice so pretty. Her words filled him with a little bit of joy, bringing his mood up.
Amira stood on her toes to spin him, bringing him fluidly into a dip as she laughed through her singing. Small or not, she hid a decent amount of strength in her bones. Bringing him back up, she continued to dance along with the music being played, everything about her so much lighter than it had been as she swayed her hips to the beat.
The dip surprised him. He let out a soft gasp, his grip tightening on her. But as soon as they had come out of it a laugh left his lips. Up close he could really catch her scent, the gunpowder striking him as familiar. He worked with it quite a bit.
His own scent of sage was rather sullied by the stench of alcohol on his breath, but it didn’t seem to mask it.
The more she danced and twirled, the more he seemed to open up, and dance with her. Though awkward, he was surprisingly light on his own feet.
The more Zar opened up, the more Amira felt herself almost drawn to him. Maybe they could have been friends, in a different situation, but dance partners was alright for now. What was it Eli used to say? 'Kindred spirits', or something like that. It made a bit of sense. They had some similarities despite their glaring differences, little things in the way they carried themselves. This man is drunk. Another random thought switch, but it was surprising to note. She raised an eyebrow slightly, releasing his hand to spin around on one foot, mulling that over for a split second before catching his hands again.
Nordali grinned at her as she spun, tilting his head at the little eyebrow raise. She had noticed something, he could tell that much. Might be the alcohol. He waved the thought away and let out a lilting laugh.
For a man he had a surprisingly smooth voice. He blamed his Fae side, but his Valdorian blood still held that gruff and rough language. Though still partially elven, the Valdorians were heavier set and much rougher around the edges.
Her hands back in his brought a slight giddiness to his soul. She was a ray of sunshine upon their guild, upon him. Nor found himself hoping she’d stay around.
Maybe this wouldn’t be a bad idea. Sticking around, having a place to crash when things got too bad. A place to-
Amira cut the thought off quickly. She couldn’t afford to get that ahead of herself. You don’t get to think like that. There’s a reason you had to leave the only ‘home’ you’d ever known. Because you don’t belong anywhere.
The song came to an end a little bit later, and Amira drew to a stop. Breathing heavily, her eyes still sparkled, and she had yet to let go of Zar’s hands.
Nordali slowly relaxed as the song ended, his smile genuine for the first time in a long while. He glanced down at their hands, a light pink filling his ears. “That was a lot of fun. Thank you for the dance.”
He dipped his head down low, but made no move to take his hands back. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his mind from the light fog of alcohol. Had he really done that?
"Anytime. Music is a great way to let loose." Amira commented, slightly flushed from dancing. Almost reluctantly, it seemed, she released his his hands, her own slightly calloused ones resting on her hips now as she slowed her breathing to catch it gain. Her eyes caught the glow of the fire, the gold ring around her right eye glinting for a moment, almost like a spark. "Have you eaten yet?"
Nor almost regretted letting her take her hands back. It had been forever since someone had touched him so gently. He was touch-starved. “Yes it does, doesn’t it?” He asked gently in response, smiling sweetly at the female who had brought such light in such a small moment to his guild members. He actually really cared for them all, as cliche as it was, and liked to see the kids happy the most.
“Did I-?” He started, having not processed the question. “Ah. No. I haven’t. I’m thinking of skipping tonight. Don’t think I can stomach anything.”
Nor almost regretted letting her take her hands back. It had been forever since someone had touched him so gently. He was touch-starved. “Yes it does, doesn’t it?” He asked gently in response, smiling sweetly at the female who had brought such light in such a small moment to his guild members. He actually really cared for them all, as cliche as it was, and liked to see the kids happy the most.
“Did I-?” He started, having not processed the question. “Ah. No. I haven’t. I’m thinking of skipping tonight. Don’t think I can stomach anything.”
"Absolutely not." Amira stated matter-of-factly, grabbing one of his hands again, this time to pull him along. "You're going to try. This is the first time I've had an actual meal available to eat in…I think it's been about five months now, though I wouldn't really call that a meal, mostly just a lot of potatoes. What about some bread if you can't stomach much else? Bread is good for that kind of thing because it's lighter but still substance, and not too much extra flavor if you're getting more Westernized bread, or just specific types of bread. My people loved adding flavor to bread, but we've got a few more plain breads for people who can't handle the spices and whatnot." She talked like her brain moved too fast for her mouth to keep up, almost but not quite stumbling over her words and incredibly rapid paced. And the topic shifts followed easily, like she didn't even stop to consider that most people stuck to one topic instead of that many.
He looked a little confused as she dragged him along, shaking his head. “I’ll be fine. Ear as much as you’d like but I’m alright.” He murmured again, letting her speak her quick-paced mind.
And yet Nordali didn’t pull against her. Usually he wasn’t one for touching - even being as touch starved as he was - but this woman seemed so trusting. “I don’t need food.”
"Don't need food." Amira grumbled to herself, rolling her eyes. "Trust me, food is important. Go a week without more than a loaf of stale bread, and you'll be eating as much as you can. Are you a fan of spicy foods? I couldn't find anyone making kabsa, but Chavvi was making curry, and it smelled divine." She'd been talking with the guild members, it seemed, bonding and getting to know at least a few of them.
He scoffed gently. “I have. I’m an outcast too. First few weeks of being out on my own I couldn’t feed myself. Quite awful when you realized you were a privileged pig too.” He said rather bitterly, sighing deeply.
“I love spicy foods.” He replied, giving her a half-hearted smile. “Chavvi’s curry is the best around. No one makes it better.”
"Good thing I had experience with that already then." She said offhandedly, a concerning comment but one she didn't even seem to notice she had said. "It is? That's even better then. I was fully prepared to eat it even if it smelled better than it tasted, but I really was hoping for good curry. I wonder if she's got any pita bread."
“We have a small amount of pita bread if you’d like some.” He replied, concern having flashed over his face for her previous words. But he didn’t remark or expound on them, instead letting her keep her words uncommented on. “It may be a little stale. Bread is hard to keep fresh when it only arrives in our guild every so often.” He explained. He walked in silence for a little longer before something flashed in his eyes. “Ah. I’ve been meaning to ask you,” he started, pulling the vial of the golden substance from the depths of his jacket. “What, pray tell, is this?”
"Do you never make the bread? Dharia, the head cook in the kitchens, used to let me help make things. Making pita bread was probably one of my favorite ones." For a moment, a wistful look passed over Amira's face, as though she was a million miles away some place, back in the hot palace kitchens bustling with life and a flurry of activity. Then he was asking another question, and she blinked out of her thoughts. "Oh, that? Figured you could use it. It's an….explosive particle, I guess. I'll teach you how to use it at some point, show you, but usually you light a match to a little bit of the powder stuff, and boom. A little bit goes a long way though, so heads up."
“Carrying around the ingredients is… not preferable.” He murmured, shaking his head. “Not to mention hard to come by. We don’t steal from the poor. We don’t steal from the good. It’s the rich and wicked we target. They never seem to have enough of what we would need.” He explained, his eyes traveling over her face as she left to some distant memory.
“Explosive?” He looked down at it again before carefully returning it to the depths of his jacket. “Ah. Then it would be advised to keep it safe?” He asked in amusement, lifting a hand to hold his head for a moment. He was a little more drunken than he would have liked.
"Maybe." Amira teased, tilting her head back to look up at him. Her dark eyes twinkled with mirth, making it obvious she was amused. "Or, you could always go way out and blow up half a mountain. How much did you have to drink tonight?" And that was where something else entered her eyes. Just for a moment, a flicker of something echoed in her voice. Something like wariness, and she almost seemed to shift just a half step away from him as she released his hand now that she was sure he would keep up. Please say just a bit. A glass. Maybe he's just a light weight.
There was a crawling feeling in her gut, and it took everything she had to keep her breathing steady.
He laughed, grinning brightly. He was just about to answer when her next question hit him. His expression and mood immediately soured. “Most of a bottle.” Came the curt reply, something like guilt flashing in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to drink so much. Usually I’m much better at keeping myself sober.” He replied, trying to protect his pride.
“I was never allowed to drink for a large portion of my life. Now that I can I slightly abuse it.”
