Gideon so humbly accepted her praise of Melee and Range and Nayru said no further on the subject. She knew that Conor and Bris had been concerned with the boy raising pups all by himself, and that was perhaps one of the reasons he had stayed in the Victorian home rather than joining her on the eastern edge. They had talked of it once, when the pups had first come, but Gideon had never made the move out there and Nayru had never questioned him as to why not. His presence wouldn’t have upset her, and even for a short time she had looked forward to his company, but when he did not appear she did not take his absence personally. Nothing had ever come between them before, there had never been any reason to doubt their friendship, and so Nayru did not think anything of it. He had his life here, and she there, and at times their paths would cross and Nayru would be grateful when they did.
The ebony boy rose and went inside the house, Nayru imagined her had left to fetch the sling shot. As he left her she stared off into the distance, the scene familiar to her but foreign at the same time. Living in this house she would often sit on the steps, but it had been a long time since she had done so and the snow and ice had set in, changing the landscape into a world she hadn’t seen before. So many details there were to take in Nayru could have stared all day, at nothing and everything all at once, but Gideon returned much more quickly than she had expected and she turned to see the sling shot, but was surprised to find something else thrust toward her.
Oh Gideon, what is it? No longer was Nayru unaccustomed to receiving gifts, but the items she had now had been bestowed on her for special occasions only. Bris had given her the anklet to mark her shifting, to mark her becoming an adult. Saluce gave her the dagger only as his apprentice, as a student to his craft and with the promise she would use it only for good and the benefit of Dahlia de Mai. Both gifts had been simple enough to understand, but as she reached out and took the box with slender fingers, she could not imagine why Gideon had chosen to give her anything.
Lifting the lid Nayru discovered the necklace. It reminded her of the anklet she wore always, but was simpler. The red of the single stone matched nearly perfect the brilliant hue of her eyes, and the clear crystal above it was nearly invisible against the white of her palm as she inspected the jewelry. To say it wasn’t pleasing would have been dishonest. Both the fact that Gideon wished to give her anything at all was pleasing, but the colors that went so perfectly with herself and the stones she already wore pleased the girl as well. Thank you Gideon, it’s lovely. She held it in her hand, unsure then of what to do with it. Then turning up to him, her eyes curious and kind, she smiled, hesitantly, unsure of if her next words were right or proper but not really caring. Would you put it on me?
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