Violet eyes watched as he took notice of her actions. He paid attention to every single detail and sometimes it was a tad overwhelming but she told herself she did the same thing it was just that someone was doing it for her now too.

Tilting her head the braid followed the motion and she got up off her chair for a moment as her fey wings flickered as if they had temporarily fallen asleep. She was taken aback immediately by his words even before he pulled out the jar of pearls. She took them into her tiny hands and held the jar out so she could look at it. “Oh… Gerard… I…” She blushed a bit more.

“I absolutely love pearls… They are my favorite gemstone if you can count them as such. I love the way white pearls are against my skin… and how black pearls are in my hair.” She wanted him to understand how much this meant to her. “Will you… teach me how to dive?” She tilted her head.

She could tell from his movement that he was fidgeting and she looked back down at the jar and blushed. “I don’t have anything for you. But…” She placed the jar down on the table and came over as she helped him take off his overcoat. “You can get comfortable… There’s a lot of pearls in that jar so a lot of stories.” She gave him a big smile as she gently took one of his arms in hers and hugged it. “We can… um… Lay on the bed and talk about it I guess.” Her blush came back and she gave him another smile. “Since you are staying tonight… I mean…”

For a split second shock came across her face and she let go of him so she could run over to what looked like a jewelry case of some sort. She began to dig through it and finally found a leather corded necklace with an abalone shell pendant. “I… It isn’t much but…” She blushed a bit and smiled up at him. “Abalone shell means calming, commitment, compassion, love, harmony, and compromise.” She blushed a bit more. “Under pearls… this is my second favorite.”

Before he could argue with her she floated up using her wings and put it around his neck before kissing his forehead. “It’s the least I could do for the jar of pearls and the stories that they bring with them.” She landed on the ground with grace and smiled up at him. “Perhaps now we can share the stories of the pearls? Or… whatever…” She blushed a bit more now. “I will be honest that I’m not quite sure how this all weeks and I’ve been winging it for a little bit now.” She chuckled.

When she asked him if he would be willing to teach her how to dive, he nodded. "I would be my pleasure. There are so many places where the waters are more beautiful below the surface than above." As she helped him take off his coat he did his best to keep still. He understood what she meant when she spoke of pearls and how she liked coordinating those of different colors. The contrast of milky white against her tan skin, the dark gloss of black pearls against her white tresses. For him it was the same with silver, pearls, and the occasional turquoise or aquamarine. 

She then suddenly went to find something, and he had nearly figured out what she was doing when she draped a necklace around his neck. "I… It isn't much but… Abalone shell means calming, commitment, compassion, love, harmony, and compromise. Under pearls… this is my second favorite." Taking the iridescent pendant into his hand, he was given another surprise when she kissed his forehead. She said she wasn't sure what to do, so that made both of them in the same boat. It really was a marvel how they were peas in a pod. "That makes two of us. Let's start with the stories then." He smiled, as he took a seat on the bed. The jar of pearls was carefully poured out, and he spread them out on the bed's surface. 

Where should he begin? His gaze went over to one almost pure white, smooth like a miniature moon. Carefully scooping it up he held it for her to see. "This particular pearl is one of my favorites. I remember finding it back when I still lived in Jasumin Lake before moving across to Canelux. It was in a small grotto off the coast of the Baltil coast, and I had nearly run out of breath from staying under for so long. I surfaced in the nearest place I could, and found a little niche of creatures who had made their home there–isolated from the rest of the world. There were fish without eyes, and shrimp transparent like glass. A few clams were on a rock where I had come up for air, so I checked them and found this. When I held it up to the light, it seemed to glow whiter than the purest snow."

Setting it back down he then took a green-tinted one. "Now this piece is an interesting one. I found this close to what is now called Sidhiel. When dry, it has a light green sheen, however if you put it in water it turns a rich indigo. I've never quite figured out what causes it to do so, but I was hoping to find more of the same size to make a strand of them." 

Talise nodded and moved to sit on the other side of the pearls. She was so light the bed almost didn’t move from her weight as she looked down at the multi-colored pearls between them. Her violet eyes were studying each one before he scooped one up. She leaned over to the small moon and smiled at it. “It’s so pretty.”

Talise listened with interest as he told her about the pearls. The half fairy moved the pearls apart and started to ask about different pearls once he was done showing her his favorites. By the time that they had gotten done the sunlight had vanished completely from the windows and the night creatures of Feeorin were alive with lights and noises.

“It’s so late.” She moved across the bed on her hands and knees as she opened a little window by her bed. Blue light from the Burrberry tree flooded in. “Looks like we spent all night talking about pearls.” She chuckled a bit as she moved back over to him and helped him clean up.

Her movements were slow as she had them get off the bed. She pulled back the covers and looked up at him. Her dark cheeks softly flushing red as she crawled to the inside of the bed and patted by her. “You must be tired from all the running today. Well… all the excitement that my mother put us through and… That stuff." She chuckled a bit and closed her eyes.

Gerard shook his head, rubbing his eyes. "No, it's fine. I've had worse. I've been run ragged a few times, but this wasn't one of them." Sighing, he returned to his seat on the bed. "It's already dark? Time's flown by, hasn't it? Almost didn't realize it until you brought it up." The jar of pearls was safely resting on a shelf, as he leaned back and laid on the covers looking up at the ceiling. He told himself he was closing his eyes for just a moment, but ended up falling into a deep sleep. It seemed the tiredness had finally caught up with him, and his head rolled to the side making his black hair drape over his face like locks of dark sea grass.

It was clear he wasn't awake anymore as he became still, and the hand at his side fully relaxed. A hush came over the burrberry berry house as the soft blue light tinted his silk shirt a pale periwinkle, and gave his hair an indigo sheen. When he was soundly asleep like this, it was hard to imagine the sarcastic, sardonic nokken as he normally was. He hadn't spoken so much with anyone for such a long time, that it probably took more out of him than he had expected. It was a rare sight seeing him outside of the strictly-maintained, impeccable neatness of his attire and hair he rarely ever let loose.