Nanashi raised his head when Kegokec spoke and stared up at her, his ruby eyes soft with concern as he looked into hers. He could tell that she had been crying and upon realizing that is ears laid back a little. Sure he wasn't too thrilled with what she'd said and didn't see where she was coming from, but he still didn't mean to make her cry.

When she stood and started back toward the town he just needed weakly, climbing to his feet as well. He watched as she walked off without him and then fell in line behind her. Soon enough he had quickened his pace until he was walking beside her and this time he reached over to take her hand. He glanced over to her and offered her a weak smile, his ears still laid back in an apologetic motion before he glanced away.

"Forgive me... I did not mean to upset you." he whispered as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

Soon he nodded over to where a rickety sign announced the entrance to this village's little inn. "...It seems out options are limited..."

~Kegokec smiled a little when Nanashi grabbed her hand. She blushed when she looked at him. His ears were down and it was heartbreakingly adorable. She nodded that she forgave him and kept following the path.

When Nanashi found the sign, Kegokec sighed in dismay. "It's better than nothing though, right?" she laughed softly and entered the inn.

The inside was dim even with the windows open to let the sunlight in. Dust motes drifted lazily in the air through the patches of light. The inn had only three rooms, all of which were up a flight of shabby stairs that sagged under any amount of weight.

Kegokec smiled sheepishly as she paid for only one room, the owners not caring like others would though. She lead Nanashi up the stairs and into the last room down the hall on the right. She tossed her pack down and turned to smile at him a little.

"Er.." she started, nervously. "We don't really have the funds to pay for two rooms right now. You can have the bed though since you've had less time in a real bed than I have..."

She strode past Nanashi, out the door, down the stairs and out the door, not giving him the chance to protest.

Kegokec found more work than she thought she would. She washed clothing for most of the village, mended and made a few dolls for some little girls. The people paid her in money, salted meat that could be saved for the road, dried fruits and someone even gave her a bolt of cloth that she could use later.

Only once did she let her mind wander to Nanashi, wondering what he was doing. She frowned as she realized just how much she really liked the halfbreed. On the rare occasions that he smiled, it lit up her world. And he was heartrendingly adorable when he was sad or upset. She couldn't stand that level of cuteness for too much longer, she feared...~

Nanashi glanced around when they got inside the little inn. He could see the dust, as well as smell it as it went up his nose and his quickly had to cover his mouth and nose as he came dangerously close to sneezing. Once the room was paid for he followed Kegokec to the stairs, half afraid that they were going to snap under his weight; not that he was heady, these stairs just didn't look all that safe to him.

He looked at Kegokec oddly when she took him to the room, not even realizing until then that she'd only paid for one. "Oh.. Ke--" he started, but when he turned to face her she was already gone. He looked at the floor and sighed. He didn't want to take the bed and make her sleep in this nasty floor. He went over t the bed and ran his hand over it, coughing as dust rose from the mattress. That wasn't too much better.

While Kegokec was gone, Nanashi tried to clear the room of dust bunnies the best that he could and opened a window to fan some of the dust outside. He ended up sneezing twice in the process and toasted his hand a bit, but at least he didn't catch anything on fire.

Once he got the room pretty well aired out he went to sit in the corner and sighed, resting his head on his knees. By the time Kegokec returned he would more than likely have fallen asleep there. He would rather she take the bed since that was what she was used to sleeping in, he would do fine on the floor.

~Kegokec hurried back to the inn carrying her earnings. She wanted to trade a few other trinkets she'd come across for a meal for her and Nanashi at the inn. She decided it was best to save their money in case they came across a bigger village or town that might use currency more than bartering.

Kegokec managed to get up the old stairs without killing herself. She pushed open the door and gasped in surprise, nearly dropping everything she was carrying. She sat the load down in a corner and looked around in amazement. The room was nearly dust free! Nanashi had cleaned it himself, it looked like. He sat curled up in the corner, covered in dust, sleeping. She laughed softly and made her way over to him. She kissed his forehead and went back downstairs to barter for a meal.

She went back up about 15 minutes later carrying a tray that had two glasses of something like tea, two loaves of bread, an apple and some sort of roast bird. She pushed open the door and sat the tray down on the bed before gently shaking Nanashi awake.~

Nanashi hardly moved at all when Kegokec's lips pressed against his forehead. His ear twitched slightly and he shifted his head a fraction, but otherwise was pretty out of it.

It wasn't until she came back to the room and started to shake his shoulder. He groaned softly and slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times before looking up at Kagokec tiredly. "...What time is it?..." he muttered hoarsely as he raised his head, rubbing his eyes with the base of his palm. His throat still hurt a bit from sneezing, but he didn't complain. To took him a moment to realize that there was food int he room, only after he smelled the meat. He blinked again and looked over at the bed, tilting his head slightly. "Oh.... er... thanks." He half smiled. He hadn't even thought about food, though he was probably going to be more interested in the drink before anything.

~Kegokec smiled warmly at Nanashi. He was adorable when just waking up. Actually, he was adorable no matter what. She strode over to the bed, picked up more than half of the roast bird, the tea, a loaf of bread and the apple. She moved in front of Nanashi and sat it before him, smiling sweetly. She sat down beside him and nibbled quietly on her loaf of bread and bit of bird.

"Thank you for cleaning the room, Nanashi," she said after a while. "I made a lot of money today and I got a bunch of things we can use later."

She glanced up from her food, studying his face. She wanted to make Nanashi smile more, but she didn't know how. She wanted more than anything for him to be happy.~

Nanashi smiled a little again when she offered the food to him. "Thanks..." he said quietly, immediately picking up the tea and drinking it, sighing softly as the liquid soothed his throat a bit. He glanced over to Kegokec again when she sat down beside him and leaned his head against her for a second. "...Don't mention it..." he said softly.

He looked down a the roast bird and tore off a small piece. "...Kegokec...you gave me more." he pointed out to her in a tone that suggested she take some back. He didn't want to take part of her share of the food, "You were the one that worked all day... I just flapped my wings and got my allergies all worked up."

He sighed softly and leaned back against the wall again as he took a few small bites of the meat. It was pretty good at least. He took another bite and then pulled off another small piece to nibble on. He was trying to eat slowly, even though he wanted to devour the stuff as fast as he could.

~Kegokec smiled sweetly at Nanashi.

"You eat more than I do. Elves don't eat much to begin with and I had a piece of fruit someone gave me during the day."

She laughed at his 'wing flapping' comment and refused to accept the meat and just sat, watching him out of the corner of her eye. He was so sweet! And so handsome. And adorable.

She stopped herself in mid-thought. "I can't get too involved with him. We're not to same species and...why would he like an elf anyway..?" she thought to herself.

She noticed Nanashi eating slowly and wondered why he didn't just dig in. There was plenty, even for him. She placed the apple on the plate next to the meat and smiled again, her eyes glowing in the dim light of the room.

"Be a good little boy and eat all your dinner," she teased gently and ruffled his hair with a laugh.

She hoped he would laugh too although it didn't seem to be in his character to be as playful as her.~

Nanashi didn't argue when she said that he ate more than she did. After their first day together he supposed he could understand where she could draw that conclusion. He continued to take little bites out of his meat until she messed up his hair. He blinked and then looked over at her. He only stared blankly for a moment, trying to figure out what she was doing, but then he finally smiled. "...I will." He said quietly, half wondering if she thought he was five.

He resumed eating the meat, eating only slightly faster after that comment, though he was still trying to make sure that he didn't make himself sick by eating it too quickly. The apple was the next thing to go before he finished off the remaining drops of tea in his cup.

~Kegokec blushed when Nanashi smiled at her. Her heart started racing and she had to look away, pretending to be examining the cracks in the walls.

"So, what are we going to do tomorrow," she asked when she'd finished off her meal, only slightly after Nanashi finished eating.

"I don't think we should stay here again tomorrow night. I doubt I'll find enough jobs since I did most everything today..." she mumbled, eager to leave again already although she was exhausted.

She leaned her head back against the wall behind her and closed her eyes.~

Nanashi glanced over to Kegokec when asked what they were going to do tomorrow. "...I...don't know." he said quietly. "I suppose we will just have to keep moving...and go on to the next town... or wherever we happen to end up." he looked over to her again and smiled slightly when he saw her leaned against the wall.

He shifted positions and stood up, stretching slightly before looking down to her again and then held his hand out to her, "Come on...you look exhausted." he told her, "Go on to bed...we can figure it out in the morning."

~She nodded and took his hand. She pulled herself up only to flop down on a pile made of the two raincoats for her bed and her backpack for a pillow. She'd made up her mind about letting Nanashi sleep in a soft bed, even if it was a little dusty. She'd put an extra blanket over top of the mattress so he wouldn't get all dusty and itchy. She'd also put the bolt of cloth down for a pillow for him. It was softer than the backpack, but not by much.

Kegokec grinned to herself and rolled over to face the wall away from the bed.

"Sleep well Nanashi. We're going to leave early in the morning so we can get out unseen and get an early start. I think it will be hot tomorrow, so we'll have to find shelter before the heat becomes too much out on the path."~

Nanashi blinked when Kegokec flopped onto her pack and then sighed, "Kego..." he said softly, shortening her name for the first time. He shook his head slightly when she rolled away from him and then glanced back to the bed.

With a nod he went to the bed slowly and sat down before laying down on his side and rolling over, trying to go to sleep. "...Good night...Kegokec." he said in that same quiet voice as he closed his eyes.

He wasn't very worried about the heat...he actually preferred the heat well over anything else. He was born to a sort of desert area with a very hot climate, so naturally the heat was of little consequence to him...though he would stop if she needed to.

It didn't take him too long to finally doze off and once he was asleep, he remained that way for the rest of the night.

~Kegokec blushed when Nanashi shortened her name and was thankful she was facing the wall. He'd never shown any real attachment to her before.

She drifted off to sleep almost as quickly as Nanashi.

She woke early the next morning and shuffled around quietly, gathering all their things. Kegokec wanted to let Nanashi sleep for a while longer. They did need to leave soon though.~

(OOC(Uber short! I'm sorry! Minor case of writer's block due to too much thinking. Planning out my Spring Break. xD And I want to go walking but can't till I have somewhere to go/someone to go with.))

(cont.)
~She gently shook Nanashi awake as the sky started to lighten to a dusty pink.

"Nanashi. We need to go.."

She brushed her lips gently against his forhead, smiling to herself. She half drug him out of bed and started out the door with all the packs. She stopped a few times to make sure he was coming before she walked out the front door of the inn. She headed down the path on towards the next village. It wasn't a big village, Kegokec knew, but it was bigger and nicer than the one they were currently in. It would take all day to get to the next village, especially since they had to stop, as it would be too hot to continue in a few hours.~

Nanashi groaned quietly when Kegokec started to shake him and then opened his eyes. "Mm..." He yawned and sat up, not having a lot of choice int he matter as he was dragged form the bed. "...Morning..." he muttered as he rubbed his eyes. He followed her out the door without a fuss even though he was still pretty tired.

Once they were outside he started to rub his eyes again, trying to get used to the light again. He was quiet until they were actually out of the town and then glanced over to Kegokec again. "...Now where are we going?" he asked softly, "Or...are we just going?"

He stretched out his wings and tail as he raised his arms above his head for a moment and then lowered them, letting his wings fold against his back again.

~Kegokec laughed at Nanashi's question and shot him a sideways smile.

"We're basically just going. I don't really have a plan as to where to go next. We just need to go in this direction."

She pointed down the path, smiling again.

"I didn't mean to drag you so rudely from bed, but I really wanted to get out of that village. Besides, if you're tired, you can sleep at noon when I have to stop from the heat."

Kegokec glanced up at the nearly cloudless sky, frowning.

"You'd think that being an elf would make me resistant to weather. But, I'm not."

She smiled shyly and looked at her feet. Elves were normally found in shady forests in cooler areas than where they were. Elves tended to like colder weather than warmer.

The two walked a good distance before the weather became too much for Kegokec. She hated to stop, but her skin was starting to burn. She found a shady spot a little way off the main path and settled down to relax for a little. She handed Nanashi the pack to use as a pillow after she dug two apples and some bottled tea out for them.

"We can leave as soon as the sun dips behind the trees."

Kegokec pointed at the tall trees that lined the whole West side of the path.

"It should only be about an hour past noon then."

She smiled at Nanashi and ate her apple in silence, watching him as he lay beside her, trying to nap.~

Nanashi shook his head when she mentioned dragging him out of bed rudely. "...It doesn't matter." He didn't say too much as they walked unless he was spoken to, as he usually wasn't much of a talker, anyway.

When Kegokec decided to stop he sank down on the grass beside her and yawned again, placing his hand over his mouth. He sighed and glanced over to her as she took out the apples and then handed him the bag. He wasn't entirely sure what she wanted him to do with it. "That works for me..." He said simply when she said when they could leave.

Finally he laid back on he pack, looking up at the trees. He wouldn't have minded taking a nap, but he was pretty awake now. He simply shut his eyes and lay there in silence for a while.