He liked how she wasn't afraid by his presence, but rather welcomed by it. If she could see the rest of his face, she would see a smile. It remained hidden under the mask though, as it always had. The foreign words that rolled off her own tongue were translated directly after they were said. The fact that the girl knew more than one language was exciting for the monk, who had mastered a few languages on him own. The smile under the mask grew bigger, unbeknownst to the girl.
She told him her name and he sat down in front of her, inviting her to do the same, as he rested the staff on his lap. "Artemisia? What a wonderful name!" His voice sounded especially cheerful and excited. "After Artemis, no doubt. Just wonderful." Greek mythology was a must if you were from Greece, no questions asked. She asked about his word he used for her, which was really used as often as "sir" or "madam" for the layman. It meant "child" literally, but it was more used as a term of endearment for someone younger than you. If they were older or the same age, you would say αδελφός, or brother, unless they were one of the Elders, where you would say Λάμα. There were hardly any women around -- maybe a few to tend to the children, but they were mates to the Elders, and so were hardly ever talked to by the rest of the monks. "It's a name you use to greet someone younger than you," he explained. "My name is Athanasios Pace. Try saying that five times fast!" He chuckled, almost rocking back and forth with each breath. "But I'll let you off easy -- you can call me Thanos or Than for short. The Αδελφόι, the Brothers back where I come from, they all have to call me by my full name. Sometimes it takes them a while to say it right, it's really funny." He chuckled again at the memory of his brother tripping over his rather long name. It was a custom to call a brother by his full name, no matter how long or impossible to pronounce.
<style>
.circle .title { font-size:11px; text-shadow: 0.0em 0.1em 0.2em #000; letter-spacing:12px; color:#000; text-align: center; }
.circle .title2 { font-size:11px; text-shadow: 0.0em 0.1em 0.2em #000; letter-spacing:11px; color:#000; text-align: center; }
.circle p {padding:3px 0px; margin:0px; text-indent:25px; }
.circle b {color:#000; letter-spacing:-.1px; }
.circle .wc {text-shadow: 0.0em 0.1em 0.2em #000; letter-spacing:-.1px; }
.circle {font-family: arial, serif; font-size:12px; letter-spacing:.4px; word-spacing:.3px; line-height:16px; width:500px; text-align:justify; padding:60px 0px 10px 0px; }
.circle-border {width:500px; margin:0 auto;}
</style>[/html]