[Kallile]

Amala had barely gotten any of her words out before she was whisked out of the door by a strong arm around her waist. She got the feeling he’d only partially listened to her, but she grinned up at him regardless. His dislike of the pawn shop wasn’t going to be changed by a kindly old man, or her own reassurances for that matter, so Amala only shrugged and let him shake off the feelings it had given him.

She watched curiously as he fiddled with the small datapad on his arm, peering to the side like a small child trying to see what gift their parent was wrapping up. It flipped closed before she could make anything out (though she had serious doubts she would have been able to figure it out even if she’d seen it) and her eyes wandered up to Jaing. His pride at his accomplishment and the imitated voice brought a large small and soft laughter back to her. “What was I thinking all those years—waiting in lines.” She teased back, taking the arm he offered her gladly.

“A walk if fine with me—it beats sitting and staring at files and paperwork all day.” She said, leading them off. The glares and glances didn’t escape Amala’s attention, and she resisted the urge to childishly return them right back. Such event were becoming more and more common practice; routine, almost. But Jaing’s question was far from routine and Amala looked up at him worriedly. “Why would it bother me?” She asked quietly, squeezing him armored arm slightly. She titled her head as she looked up at him, smiling gently. “It can never bother me to be with you—the other people don’t matter. They don’t know you like I do.”

She told herself this, but she still had a hard time putting it into practice. She was getting more in touch with her inner courage day by day but that didn’t make her exempt from wanting some artificial courage as well. While pasing eyes didn't tend to bother her, large, staring group still had a way of working their way under her skin. Luckily, Jaing was the cause and also the remedy. Her smile became a mischievous grin, and she nodded to him. “And I think it might be. It does make you look quite handsome. Everyone’s intimidated by your good-looks.”

[38]