Poor Nexus, indeed, because bright and cheery was Niamh's style. After all, she'd come from the desert and grown up a sun worshipper. She liked bright things! It made her feel alive and awake while dark things she just regarded as depressing and dreary. Of course, she had no idea about Nexus' apparent aversion to things that were too bright, and as for foul smelling things, well...Niamh did like her candles and incense. Such things were hard to come by and far too expensive for her family so at home they only had cheap candles made of animal fat that they used during special holidays for rituals and prayers. At the temple, however, she discovered the wonders of incense and scented candles made of wax and she fell in love with them. The temple could afford such things, of course. Everyone gave money to the temples.
Nexus could afford those things, too!
However, make their home to their specifications...? Er. There was a "they" in there, of course, meaning Nexus, too. While she'd stayed at inns with him and travelled with him and slept near him, and while she trusted him...she didn't quite know if she trusted his decorating sense! It could be...interesting. Then again, he might surprise her. He did have a thing for silk, she'd noticed, so maybe everything wouldn't turn out being all...weird?
Ah well, guess she'd find out soon enough one way or another. Wouldn't do anything to wonder.
Niamh couldn't help but finally laugh at Nexus, and she even shifted her sandwich to one hand so she could tug at a lock of her hair near her face, pulling it forward and pretending to examine it intently, eyes wide with mock awe. "Whoa, seriously? Oh, look at that, you're right! I am blonde! I never would have guessed that, I always thought my hair was red. Huh. Dunno about the blue eyes thing, though. I mean, it's not like I ever look in a mirror, I'm not sure if I trust you on that one," she answered back with a smirk, rolling said blue eyes at him. Light he was strange sometimes. But it was amusing at least! She didn't mind that, she rather enjoyed bantering with him--especially when he was, ahem, being good. Besides, it just suited her personality.
She always had loved banter, debate, and even arguments. She got into them often, too, because she never had learned to keep her mouth shut.
Shaking her head, Niamh went back to munching on her sandwich when Nexus started talking about curtains, but then she paused, swallowed, and frowned a little. "Hrm, alright, fine. But when I'm downstairs, those non-flimsy blinds are opening and the sun's coming in. Sorry, but when it's daytime it should look like daytime. But if you insist on keeping the blinds shut on the time, I guess I can just stay up in my room and out of your hair," she added with a teasing grin. She figured he should understand her reasoning for this. After all, she hated the dark.
It was probably a good thing that Niamh had just finished swallowing down another bite of food by the time Nexus said a certain little comment of his concerning guards or she might very well have choked. Then again, she probably wouldn't have choked because it took her a few moments to actually understand that he was saying something dirty. "Uh? That doesn't even make sense, Nex--wait, WHAT</I>?!"
It was that grin of his that clued her in. That certain grin that he always seemed to wear whenever he was being...bad. Grah! How did he do that, twist everything so it came out sounding wrong?! That certainly didn't help her blush any, nor did it help with her train of thought. What the hell?! Did he mean what she thought he...but...gaaah! That was just WRONG! "Not happening, Nexus! That's messed up!" she managed to choke out, still blushing furiously. Light above, ever since that damned kiss she didn't think the bloody blush had even really receded. And it was really getting annoying now! "But you're free to go handle them all you want! Just don't tell me about it!"
Niamh was actually a little proud of that retort, even if it did come out a bit strained. Of course, she also didn't realize that retort was also rather ironic, considering Nexus' plans for a certain guard which she was completely unaware of.
Stuffing more food in her face, she polished off the sandwich quickly, pushed back her chair, and started to rise. She just...needed a breath of fresh air, perhaps. Yeah. And then Nexus was off and talking about apprenticeships and that, indeed, he was going to be a tailor. He never missed a beat, going from one subject to the next seamlessly. It was actually kind of amazing how he could go from saying something innocent to something dirty to something totally normal in the span of a few seconds, sometimes even in the same sentence.
It boggled her mind. And she never expected it when it happened, either.
She picked her plate up off the table and turned to go take it to the kitchen. Her face still felt all hot. Damn him and his comments. "Ah...I'll think about the apprenticeship thing. I have to think about what I'd wanna do, I guess looking around town will help..." she said quietly, before hurrying into the kitchen, where she began to wash her dish in the sink. It was partially out of habit, because even wiith the Lumenari she washed all her own things, but it was also partially to give her a distraction and give her something to do--something in which she had an excuse for keeping her head down.
Light, this was really bothering her...and especially since Nexus seemed so...well...he seemed so unaffected! He'd sort of been staring at her face when she'd been blushing, too, she'd noticed...was he seriously oblivious? Maybe it just really wasn't that big of a deal to him. He was a hea--er, he came from a different culture, he'd lived a thousand years, it was probably all meaningless to him. He practically breathed innuendo, never once blushing. Over a thousand years. He'd probably kissed thousands of people. Er, probably not just kissing, either. GAH! Right, getting off that topic! Anyway, the point was...maybe he just didn't get it, and here she was, acting all weird still.
Ergh...she couldn't hold it in anymore. This was just going to keep eating at her until she got it out. Best to just come clean and clear the air.
"Um...Nexus...?" The dish was already clean, but she still continued to scrub busily at it, staring fixedly at it all the while. "This is...sorta off topic, but, ah...just out of curiosity..." She cleared her throat. This was going to be really difficult to get out...mainly because it was pretty mortifying. "Well, just outta curiosity...why'dyoukissmeearlier?" she finally blurted, hunching her shoulders and scrubbing at the plate even more quickly. Her words also began to come faster, as though she was trying to purge herself of them before she could chicken out.
"I mean, nothing about it, just curious because, ah, it was just very out of the blue and it took me off guard and it's really been bothering me because you understand it was actually the first time I've been kissed and...well...it's not really something to be taken lightly. I mean, not to, uh, Solisi and stuff and...ah...I mean...it has meaning and importance, you know, so you can't just go around doing that, and I guess I was kinda hurt because...um...it was just a joke and stuff. But it's not supposed to be a joke, it's supposed to be special...and it's just not fair to do that, stealing a kiss, and...and...I'm probably not making any sense. Anyway. Yeah. I guess that's it. I mean, I'm sorry about slapping you, too, but...you deserved it, and...yeah. That's just been bothering me. That's all!" She shut her mouth quickly and bit her lip before she could ramble on more.
Ergh...she wasn't sure if she felt better or worse coming clean like that. She felt better for getting it out before she exploded, but now she just felt awkward, her heart beating fast in her chest. And she was still scrubbing the plate to death.
Clearing her throat, she stopped scrubbing and went to rinse it instead, finally. Hoo boy.
