[ OOC | Aw, thank you! And psh, your posts are great! <3 ]
It wasn't like Kalev was a liar or anything, it was just... well, how could he ever explain? That he could see with his fingertips? Perhaps she'd be the type to think it was something marvelous too, something... grand. And this power, well, to even bring up the Foresight Aura and try to explain it, to Kalev, was like the pain an eldery would feel, trying to explain to a young one why they needed to take so much medicine. I need it to survive. And perhaps Kalev really was an old man at heart anyway, someone who had spent too much of his time seeing, and now, he could only sit back and reminiscence on the good old days, days that never even existed... So when she seemed disappointed, Kalev smiled wryly, shaking his head. "If only... I could actually see," he echoed in that same, thwarted tone, and realized that one day, karma would get him for this, this blatant, ungrateful lie.
And she spoke, and she said that if he knew what she had done, he wouldn't be talking to her right now. And he found it.. Almost puzzling. Was what she had done so terrible? And would he really stop talking to her, if he had known? He tried to think of the worst thing he'd ever known anyone to do — and all answers pointed back to Lelena, who had heartlessly stolen the one thing he'd ever needed. It wasn't like she was the only criminal he knew, no — he had told the fortunes of murders, seen them cry when he delivered news that they would, eventually, be killed by the family members of those he had slain. He had spoken to thieves and con-artists who'd swindled people of their last pennies — and still, Lelena topped the list. Kalev liked to think he'd still be here, unless she was Lelena in disguise...
But what did he know of the universe?
"For some reason," Kalev muttered silently, "Even if you were to tell me that you murdered a man in your sleep, I can't see myself walking away from you." The words were properly picked, calculated, so that hopefully they wouldn't seem offensive if she had done something worse. He had said them while he cleared the Aura to the best of his ability, so he could take her in fully — her dark skin, sleeveless dress, eyes that had recently been wet with tears — and so he could say those words and truly mean them. As a fortune-teller, he found himself saying a lot of things, telling a family with a bruised future in store that things would all be okay when really, things wouldn't, they wouldn't really... Lying to people, offering comfort he sometimes didn't even mean. But no, today was different. He could feel it, with all of his fragile heart.
Was it because she reminded him of Lelena? Was that why he wanted to be honest?
"Call me Kalev," he offered, "You don't have to call me 'sir.'" He said this with another small smile, shaking his head. She was so... strong, perhaps he had underestimated her. She chose this life, she had said, and she was the one who had to live with it... And while he desperately wanted to know, just what was keeping her from making another fresh start, desperately wanting to see if, perhaps, there was a way to fix everything... he knew that he, a stranger, didn't deserve, or shouldn't even be thinking about poking into her personal business anyway. After all, hadn't he lied? Hadn't he flat out lied to her, about the Aura?
There was no difference in the two affairs, really...
"Perhaps it takes more strength to stay, then to run away?" Kalev mused, attempting to understand. As a wanderer, what would he know? As someone with no home... what would he know? His smile grew a tad bigger. "In that case, you must be one of the strongest people I know. Ever since I can remember... I've been... well, people like me call it 'wandering,' but perhaps it is synonymous with 'running.' At least, at the end of the day, no matter your situation... you have a home." He paused. "Right?" He was one who always made assumptions, based on his own assumption that the Aura could read everything. Apparently... it couldn't.
"I wish I could offer you something more than just my simple words. You're so..." he groped for words. "... strong. I don't think I've ever met someone who sticks it out like you do. With everyone I've met, we all just... wander away, like ghosts on the scene..." What could he offer her? Would she like her fortune told? Why did, suddenly, fortune-telling seeming like such a paltry gimmick, just needless knowledge that no one could ever vitalize in their daily lives?
He stood up, suddenly, offering her a hand. "You said you never get to see the forest, right? I know it's quite dark out, but... would you like to talk a walk with me?" Just to show her the forest, that's all. And it sounded stupid as soon as the words came out of his mouth. The blind man leading those who could see perfectly... He bit his lip as soon as that realization dawned on him, smile faltering. "But you might have somewhere to go..." The wind played with the edges of his robes, almost laughing at him. As if to say, that perhaps, he really was a ghost on the scene. As the days past, he felt more and more like one...