Kiyan blinked a few times at Zarak's explanation...and then suddenly laughed when he realized how some of what he'd last said might have been vague. "Oh! No! No, you definitely have to stick with one person once you find that person! I...I wasn't suggesting cheating on someone you're dedicated to!" he said quickly with a wince. "What I meant was being married to someone isn't going to make someone more or less dedicated to a person, that already has to be there. And forcing people to get married...I don't see how that could solve anything...it'd probably make it worse. That's why, I don't know...marriage seems kind of funny to me, I guess."
But even after that, and especially after Zarak's explanation, the rest of what Zarak said was infinitely confusing and seemed to go against everything else.
"Try...out...?" Kiyan repeated slowly, his eyebrows climbing. What...what did that mean? Try out women? But...but what about dedication? Oh man, if any of the elders heard Zarak now, they'd have a fit! And while Kiyan knew he hadn't been in love with Maricha, though he had really liked herâ€"and might have possibly come to love her, if certain things hadn't happenedâ€"well...he couldn't see doing that with someone you didn't at least like a lot, if not love. But, then again...even if he didn't agree with everything he'd been taught, especially after experiencing such things for himself, there were some things that did run deep. But maybe not everyone everywhere else thought that way? But...ack, he didn't get it. It didn't seem compatable with everything else that was said.
He gave a nervous laugh, still sifting his fingers absently through the sand. "Ah...heh...my tribe...well, with them, you do any 'trying out' and they find out, you'll find yourself married off to the girl you were 'trying out' with. I'm sure that threat doesn't stop everyone...erm...I'm a prime example...but it happens. Only reason I wasn't married to Maricha was she wasn't from our tribe, and she was already taken..." he said with a grimace and slight blush. It was still awkward to actually talk about it, and Zarak was certainly direct! Well, at least, more direct than anyone from his tribe.
"But...ah...this 'trying out' thing...I don't know if I could do that. There'd have to be something there. I don't know if I loved Maricha, but I really liked her, and I wouldn't have even thought of being with other people while with her, even if we hadn't gotten to the point of real dedication, so to speak..." That just seemed wrong. Even if his tribe wasn't the way it was, it still didn't seem right. Or maybe he was missing what Zarak was saying completely.
Agh, this was confusing!
In any case, he was glad of the subject change.
And, as promised, just as he'd spilled his secrets, Zarak was about to share some of his.
And the first one was...
Something Kiyan wouldn't have expected.
For a few seconds, Kiyan just stared at Zarak. And then the laughter kicked in as the hilarity of it all registered, as he thought back and remembered...remembered... "So that's why you kept coughing! You were trying not to laugh, weren't you? And here I thought you must be ill...and wondered how your sea-faring people survived so long," he admitted, scratching the back of his head and chuckling still. "Never seen a man in a skirt?" he asked incredulously. "Heh, well, if you came to our village, you'd be in for quite a shock. Everyone wears them, except hunters on hunts, then they wear what you do. Er, did. No one wears them where you come from? They all wear as many layers as you? The smaller ones?" he asked before he could help it, grinning. Well, it seemed they were equal there, then. Zarak found his skirt amusing, and Kiyan found those smaller clothing articles amusing, as well.
Well, in any case, that ice-breaker sure explained why he had looked so awkward wearing just that...skirt-like...blanket. Oh man...that was great!
He was still smirking when Zarak held his wrist out to him for confession number two, and Kiyan scooted closer to better see, then blinked. "P"? Kiyan recognized that kind of mark. Not the mark itself, but he knew what made it, and recognized it as an old burn wound. It was obviously not an accident it was there, and it looked like it had probably been highly painful, but "P"? He squinted slightly, searching his brain for anything significant to tie in with the letter. Erm...was he supposed to know what itâ€"?
Wait a minute. What...what had Zarak been asking him about when they'd first really started talking, a subject he'd seemed really interested in, which started with a "P"...
"...Pirate...?" he asked very slowly, almost cautiously, as he glanced back up at Zarak. "Ah...that what it means? You...got caught by one? Or...you are one...?" Maybe he was way off. But it was the only "P" word he could think of that would be remotely relevant, though he still didn't want to make any assumptions or jump to any conclusions.
Suddenly realizing how he must have sounded, he added quickly, shoving away his shock to make room for a more upbeat tone, "Don't worry! I won't tell anyone, even if there was someone to tell, even if you are or were one or whatever! I mean, I promised not to...and I trust you." Oh man. There it was. Zarak had been dead on when he'd said he was far too trusting, and it was true. But he had no reason not to trust Zarak... "I mean, if you weren't trustworthy...you wouldn't be telling me anything. And you're too nice, anyway," he added with a small smile. Gods, but wasn't that the truth; he hadn't known anyone like him before. "If you were dangerous, you could have done harm a long time ago."
Maybe it was because he didn't know much about pirates, save what Zarak had told him, but...even if Zarak was one, he couldn't see how that would change anything. He'd meant it when he'd said there was good and bad in everyone, and, well...wasn't it more important who someone was rather than what they were? And the man was nice, someone Kiyan had come to see as a friend. And hadn't he been mortified that Zarak would think differently of him once he spilled out his secrets? Well, Zarak probably felt the same.
