The Fellowship Grows, the Journey Continues (RP)

"Oh... Okay... Good..."

Ezme turns her face away from Theo, very careful to keep her expression neutral, but something in her stomach flips in synchrony with the false assumption now turned on its head. He admired her? Really??

The last time she had believed a boy liked her, it had turned out to be a cruel hoax... Might Daryl have goaded Theo, challenged him to take me on, just as Danfer and Eurick had done with Aarov? Staring at Daryl's still form, Ezme had a hard time believing him capable of such. Frankly, she had a hard time imagining Theo agreeing to something like that, either. But that would mean...

Not right now.

Ezme shoves all of these thoughts/feelings/memories back into the far corner of her mind where they belonged and turns her attention to the more pressing matter at hand: helping her companions and keeping them safe. She turns back to Theo.

"If you do not think me weird, then step in out of rain. You are getting all wet." Still hugging the blankets tightly about her, she gestures with her chin for him to come closer.

Not expecting the humor, Ezme blinks at Theo with confusion before realization dawns. A small, amused smile creeps onto her face before she shakes her head and rises to her feet. She reaches out and grabs him by the elbow. "Come here, you." She pulls him to her side, tossing her blanket over his shoulders, as well, to help shield him from the rain. As long as they are both standing, there is room for them together (mostly) under the tarp.... With any luck, the rain would cease soon....

Sharing the blanket forces Ezme to be no longer fully wrapped in it, but at least Theo's shoulder is warm next to her, and her shivering is starting to quiet down.

"You are warm... That helps..." Ezme comments, hoping to mask the awkwardness of the moment.

When he continues to stand there stiff and wordless, she lets out a long, shaky exhale through pursed lips, her mind grasping for ways to ease the tension. Finally, she speaks:

"When I was very little, I had silly argument with my mother. It was winter. I thought if other animals can survive without fire or houses or clothing -- that surely there was way for people to do it too. I wanted to explore how it could be done, but my mother refused to let me outside, as it was very cold that day. She took my boots away and put them out of reach. But I was angry and determined and went ahead and marched outside in just socks. She watched me go out into the drifts and thought, 'Oh well, she will be back in two.' ... Ended up curled up on boulder with slightly less snow on it, risking frostbite, refusing to go back inside and admit defeat...." Ezme closes her eyes, huffing a single self-deprecating laugh through her nose. She shakes her head, her smile fading, then opens her eyes again, her expression growing serious as she finishes the story. "My father had just come home. He had to put all his gear back on to come out and collect me..." She rolls her eyes in a manner which suggests that her father was not at all pleased about this development and that she'd never lived this down. She sighs, staring off into the night. "My mother would tell and retell this story. It was all the proof she needed that I was bullheaded from the start...."

She turns to look at Theo, studying his face. "... Do you get on well with your parents?"

Ezmaray frowns curiously. "Are you not his heir? ... Do you not want to take over?"

"Darker...? How?" Ezme inquires.

Glancing at her unconscious companions, Ezme suddenly realizes how dumb her question may have been. All the same, she gives Theo a chance to speak for himself.

Ezme's eyes dart off to the side and back. "Are the women... so... terrible here?" she asks haltingly.

Ezmaray is confused. This was some serious mixed messaging. "Why would being women make them worse...?"

Love it??

"It was... rather... jarring," Ezme says, her brow furrowing with the memory. Her shoulders hunch slightly, and she turns her face away.

Ezme turns back to Theo as he says this, taking in his regretful expression. For a moment their eyes meet. She notices for the first time that his are a warm, honey brown. Everyone in her family had some shade of blue. This was different...

Ezme feels quite warm now, but for a moment, as their eyes lock, her mind goes blank and time seems to freeze as still as Theo.

The trapper clears her throat and breaks the shared gaze as she eases out from under the blanket. "...Your sister will be fine," she manages to say. "Strong woman cannot depend on men to protect her, not if she is to change the world's mind about her sex."

Trying to hide her own confusion and discomfort, Ezme redirects their focus, stepping away and toward their companions. "I should check Lille," she says, unwrapping the hide blanket that enfolded both the wood nymph and Roald. She puts a hand to Lille's forehead and extremities. "She is chill, but not as bad as Daryl was."

Ezme observes that Lille and Roald's eyes both move rapidly behind their lids. They are clearly experiencing some sort of hallucination. She rolls both companions onto their sides so she can check on their venom pools. As she does so, Lille mumbles something in her sleep: "Roald..."

Hmm... Ezme checks the back of their necks. Her brows raise with surprise; she waves Theo over.

"Would you look at this? The venom on both of their necks has formed same image! Is that ... Is that some sort of dagger??" She shares a look with Theo, then dashes over to Albert to check him.