Unexpected Gifts

[Zander Brogthamon]

"It's no trouble, really." He insisted with a sweet smile. Spending time with new people was never a trouble for him. Well, perhaps not never but very rarely. Hearing the chicks disgruntled cheeps of being moved around once again made him chuckle as they left the stall.

There weren't any places in particular he had in mind for what kind of food he wanted. There wasn't much that he would reject, so long as he got some sort of food in his system. When she suggested the pasties Zander nodded before looking towards Pearce to see how he'd feel about it. "Sounds fine to me." He stated with a shrug of his shoulders.

Greasy street food was always good. Perhaps not good for you but who was worried about that? It would also be good for the noble to get some food down as well. "How long have you been in Aralore?" Zander asked Celeste curiously. It was fairly obvious she wasn't a native but how many people exactly were? The redhead had met plenty of refugees in Aralore since he'd moved.

[Pearce Lockheed]

Pearce smiled reassuringly as Zander's words of encouragement. He liked Celeste. Sure he didn't her all that well but that was the point of the lunch together. If he wanted to be more comfortable with people he should spend nore tine woth them, especially alnost strangers. Zander was a major reassurance for him in that regard. Not only was the young man much more outgoing but his outward confidence was a boon.

"Meat pies sound...quaint. Why not?" The noble could be finicky with food but he had to admit that most simpler foods tasted wonderful. He gestured for Celeste to lead the way to the stall

Considering the country had moved only a few years ago, none of them were natives and all of them were refugees. But Pearce supposed there were...older families. He didn't make much differentiation. They all lived here now, they were all Aralore citizens. Still, he was indeed curious about people's origins. Who they were before moght jot entirdly matter, but it did color their character.

At the stall, Pearce ordered three of the pies and whatever else the trio needed before quietly paying for the three of them. He didn't carry a lot of coins on his person but street food like this wasn't very expensive.

[Celeste McCalmont]

Celeste might have argued with Pearce paying for her food if she'd thought about it, but she was too distracted with chatting to be paying attention to that. Zander was the first person in quite a while to ask her how long she'd been on the island, and actually...maybe the first at all if she thought about it. She'd had a couple of people ask what kind of accent she had, but that was usually about it. Not a lot of interest.

She'd leave out the upsetting bits of things, of course, but it was nice to have someone want to know something about her. Despite being a bit unsure of herself, and worried about being left behind as she had been before, she did enjoy being around people and having an opportunity to chat. She was allowed to like these two, right? And make friends? So long as she didn't let her hopes or expectations get too high. They had their own lives, and she had hers.

"Oh, that's a funny story. I moved to Aralore right before you--ah, we all--switched islands. I was living in Tresteria, before, with family. But even in a few weeks, I knew that Aralore was where I needed to be, no matter what island that was, I just liked the people and the..." She paused and gestured as if she was trying to pull the word she wanted out of air. "The energy? I think that's what I mean. A whole island worth of people looking for a fresh start. So I moved with all the rest. At least I didn't have much to pack!" She laughed.

"What about the two of you? Are you both from Aralore?"

[Zander Brogthamon]

Zander always really enjoyed getting to know people. Every person was different in their own way and there was a large part of him that found that fascinating. This woman, who loved chickens as much as he did and made pretty little trinkets, had a totally different life before moving to Aralore. Everyone did. It was like starting over fresh.

"Ah, I was born in Teronna. My sister and I came here not long ago to get away from the..." Murdering of his kind. Mystic wars. There wasn't exactly a nice way to put it. For a moment he paused trying to think of how to say it without ruining the mood. "The political issues there. Aralore seemed like the safest bet."

Zander could also protest on Pearce paying for their food but he knew that wouldn't get much of anywhere. Instead he settled on taking a bite from his food before Pearce handed it to him. If just to make him blush, as a different form of protest.

[Pearce Lockheed]

Her accent didn't sound Tresterian. But he wasn't too worried about it. She didn't come out and share it, so he realized there must be something about her homeland or her history that she wasn't very fond of. He understood that well enough. Sometimes talking about things helped. Sometimes avoiding them helped. Sometimes...you had to have the right person to trust. Pearce felt like he could trust Zander but...that didn't mean he enjoyed thinking about his past either.

The noble nodded. "Energy is an interesting choice, but you are not wrong." He smiled as she mentioned not having much to pack. "You've done quite well for yourself, Celeste."

Zander too avoided anything untoward in his explanation but the turmoil in Teronna was a bit more known. Not details, and certainly there was no open conflict, but it was well know that the King there more than just frowned upon magic. Pearce was more or less certain Zander had some sort of weather magic. Hence the refugee status that had brought him and his sister here. "There are problems all over the world. But all citizens are citizens here," he said hopefully. At least, he liked to think so.

He very nearly dropped the little pie thing when Zander took a bite of it in his hand rather than taking it first. "What-" he bit his tongue and turned bright red, eyes wide. If Pearce had ever questioned whether Zander got off on making him blush, he never would again. He tried to frown at the young man but mostly just looked very uncomfortable. And entirely speechless. He'd been planning to explain where he was from and his family and moving but...he sort of just stared at Zander mutely, trying find his voice. Not like his life was all that exciting at least so no great loss, he supposed.

[Celeste McCalmont]

Celeste nodded at Zander's answer. She didn't know much about Teronna, but she'd at least heard that the king there was convinced that some of his people were witches or something of the like, and that he was executing people for it--including his own wife. It was why she'd chosen to head for Tresteria instead. That, at least, had sounded more familiar.

She was turning to Pearce, next, as she accepted a pasty from his hand, but Zander's movement caught her attention instead. She looked almost as surprised as Pearce for a moment before she wound up giggling. Well, that answered that question--the two of them were more than friends, it seemed. The moment between them she'd just seen settled it. She was glad she'd had a chance to get a feel for their personalities, first, or she might have been a little wary because of it. Not because she had any problem with the relationship itself, but because she couldn't help being reminded of her ex-husband, and the reason she'd given up her son. It was alright, though. Pearce and Zander seemed like sweethearts, and if they were happy together, then she was happy too. She guessed that they were probably too kind to use anyone the way she had been--at least not without them being aware of the situation.

She just shook her head with a smile, and took a bite of her own food, sighing contentedly as the flaky crust seemed to melt in her mouth. "And thank goodness for Aralore, hm?" She commented and meant it in about a million ways. "A safer home for all of us."

[Zander Brogthamon]

It seemed that his little action had left both of them speechless. At least for a moment. Still he couldn't help the grin that crossed his features. He tried to hide it behind his hand but when Celeste began to giggle so did he. Zander couldn't help himself, Pearce just looked so cute. Though he tried to give an apologetic smile it only came out as playful as he took the little pie from the noble. "You were saying, Pearce?" He said teasingly.

Of course Zander loved making Pearce blush. If he couldn't make the man just a little uncomfortable where was the fun? He'd probably get an earful once the man found his voice again. "Fox got your tongue?" He stuck out his tongue teasingly before turning his attention back to their other companion. Her comment about Aralore being a safe home for everyone seemed more correct than he'd thought.

"I can agree to that." He said before taking another bite of his food. This time in his own hand. It was the safest place he'd ever been to. Of course there were still problems every so often. Not everyone was as sweet or caring as others. He'd met plenty of those already, but he still loved being in Aralore.

[Pearce Lockheed]

The noble smiled faintly as the pair giggled at him. He was aware they weren't laughing at him and just at the moment but he still managed to look a little weary over it.

He was saying...right. He took at breath at Zander's (teasing) encouragement and tried to recollect his thoughts which he had apparently dropped, unlike the pie. "I-" And then the redhead couldn't seem to help himself with the teasing. Zander was a cute fox for sure, and he wasn't wrong, but he was laying it on heavy.

It was a smile and nod moment. Well, not so much nodding. He did manage a smile though it was somewhere between a grimace and lots of self-conscious embarrassment, his shoulders falling a little. Pearce knew he struggled to speak sometimes. A lot of times. He also knew Zander was just trying to have fun. But it still hurt. Pearce tried to swallow that feeling as opposed to call attention to it and ruin the moment. He shrugged and took a bite of his pie. It was a little hot, but it did taste really good. Enough to distract him for a bit.

He nodded as Celeste and Zander suggested how grateful they were for their him. Thank goodness.

[Celeste McCalmont]

Celeste nudged Zander with her elbow when she saw how quiet Pearce had gotten. "Now, now, you'd better be nice to poor Pearce. He's putting up with a lot from us today. Plus, he went to all the trouble for me to make a little fox just like you." She didn't think that Zander had upset Pearce all that badly, but she did want to make sure that he was comfortable too. She hoped that part got across.

Oh, you know..." She plucked a little chick out of one pocket with her free hand and cradled it near her stomach so it wouldn't wiggle away and fall. "I bet this little lady could eat some of the crust, if you wanted to give her a piece, Zander." She smiled over at him, knowing that he was likely to be tempted into bonding with the little yellow puffball. She thought it might be a good distraction to keep him from picking on Pearce too much. She'd like to be able to hear from both of them, even if she did think Zander was quite fun.

While she waited for Zander to do that, she looked to Pearce. "You've always been from Aralore, haven't you? I know most of the nobles have."

[Zander Brogthamon]

Seeing just how upset he'd made Pearce made the redhead feel bad. Of course he loved teasing the man and making him flustered or a little uncomfortable but there was a limit to everything. He never liked to pass that limit. "I'm sorry, lo-" He caught himself before the term of endearment left his mouth. As much as Pearce wasn't comfortable being as open about their relationship neither was Zander. At least not this close to someone they weren't fully familiar with. While Celeste seemed like a perfectly nice and lovely woman you couldn't ever be too careful.

"I'm sorry, Pearce." Zander wasn't great with verbal apologies. He preferred being affectionate. Showing that he was sorry as opposed to saying he was. He reached over to squeeze his arm gently in some attempt to show his affection.

Still, as he pulled out the chick his attention was dragged away from the noble. The redhead broke off a piece of the crust and crumbled it a bit before handing it to the animal. As it began pecking excitedly at the crumbs Zander chuckled.

[Pearce Lockheed]

Pearce smiled appreciatively at Celeste and her amusing admonishment of Zander. It was enough to help him relax a little at least. So much for trying not to call attention. Normally he didn't mind teasing and could handle quite a lot of it, but it had been a specific case of who and what in this instance.

He appreciated Zander's apology even more, but it was hardly necessary. He smiled at the young man, doing a much better job at pretending he didn't hear the near term of endearment than he had at pretending the previous quip hadn't hurt his feelings. It wasn't Celeste he was worried about. They weren't exactly being discrete and she was still talking to them. "Quite alright," he said slowly once he finished his mouthful of pie and his voice came back.

Even he had to admit the chick was cute and watching Zander feed it was better. He glanced up at the potter's trail-roading of the conversation back to something more like a conversation. "Yes," he said, searching for a better way to elaborate. "My family was...stubborn." That was a nice way to put it. "Stubborn nationalists, anyway. Thankfully we've...done well here," he said. He couldn't knew other people had struggled a lot more than he had and it would seem everyone was glossing over trauma today.

"The, um...the p-pies are good," he added. Well, that didn't last very long. But there was nothing for it but to try and relax.

[Celeste McCalmont]

Celeste grinned and scrunched up her nose at Pearce in a little acknowledgment of her ploy, glad he’d noticed. She wanted both of them to feel comfortable around her. They were clearly sweet people, and she’d never want either of them to feel like they couldn’t speak freely. She caught the little term of endearment, but since it seemed like neither of them wanted her to notice, she decided to just let it pass as if it were nothing–and really, to her it was. They could call each other whatever they liked, in her mind.

She nodded at Pearce’s explanation of his family being stubborn. She felt like there was another word for that, but she couldn’t quite think of it. Something about being tough, sort of. Someone who could recover after hard times without giving up. She wished she was better at the language so that she could remember… Maybe it would come to her if she stopped trying so hard.

“Aren’t they? I love coming here when I forget to pack a lunch. Such comforting food.” She smiled warmly and was about to take another bite of her own when she remembered the word she’d been thinking of.

“Resilient!” she crowed triumphantly, then blushed. “Digo, that’s what your family is…what Aralore is. They are resilient.”