She was beyond relieved for Ethan’s confession but Amal hoped nonetheless he hadn't noticed.  For years Agustin had tried to encourage her to be more sure of herself.  Timidity was not a sentiment she wore well, he’d say; but it was a cloak she would slip into often, familiar and recognizable.<br/><br/>To hear Ethan point out his friend wasn't much for teasing made the mage wonder if she'd been unfair to the warrior by misjudging his actions.  Perhaps it really had been Harris all along.  She was still very new to Amal.  As further evidence to support Ethan’s point, Amal had never known Chiron to wear a frown; he was always laughing or smiling.  So she had been a bit self-centered to assume, she decided, he’d been laughing at her.<br/><br/>The thought brought a faint smile tugging at her lips and she brushed a bit of auburn hair behind her ear.  Pale green eyes settled on the sliver of land stretching out before her and she allowed herself to settle into a comfortable silence beside Ethan.  Both of her hands fell forward to rest on the railing.<br/><br/>She thought of her brother and how different the two men were despite sharing such a similar background.  Ethan was so… so much the opposite of Agustin; different in all of the right sort of ways.  Not to mention he talked about the temples and the teachings a whole lot less.  Agustin had filled every moment of silence between them like it was his greatest joy in this world to preach at his younger sister.<br/><br/>'Like I'm the one whose soul needs saving,’ she closed her eyes so Ethan wouldn't notice her roll them.  At the same time, she wrapped both of her arms around herself like she meant to shield away from what she knew would be her brother’s strong sense of disappointment in her decision to leave.<br/><br/>Ethan’s words snapped her back to reality and she had to stare at him for a moment before she registered what he'd just asked.  Amal had no idea there was a Black Mage on Besaid; she'd never considered there might be any other than the one whose library she'd spent more than a decade studying within.  While considering her response, Ethan suggested it was her brother she was running away from and Amal felt the color drain from her face.  Was she really so easy to read?  H-how could Ethan have possibly figured her motivations out so easily?<br/><br/>But she was saved from needing to explain herself or her reaction by Chiron and his morning-what in Yevon’s name was he doing?  Quick to bring both hands to her temples like blinders, she huddled into herself and stared at the ground at Ethan's feet, muttering simply, “Has this man no modesty?”<br/><br/>Her cheeks were still on fire by the time Chiron came to stand next to Ethan and she was embarrassed enough to miss the first part of their conversation.  It hadn’t mattered because Harris emerged from the cabin looking fresh faced and awake like she hadn’t shared half a cask of stale beer with Chiron the night before.  She took a deep breath of the sea air before finding a place between Ethan and Amal at the ship’s railing.<br/><br/>“Not sure what I missed,” the Blitzer stifled a yawn with the back of her hand and leaned backwards against the ship’s railing, really stretching out so the linen shirt she wore exposed even more of her midriff.  She hooked the heel of one of her sandals on the lowest rung of the railing and turned to Amal as she finished her thought, “But it musta been good.  Your mage looks like a Fire Flan in a snowstorm with how bright her cheeks are.”<br/><br/>“Good morning to you, too,” Amal replied dryly, shaking her head in disappointment.  The color was gone from her face, however, and the woman supposed she should be thankful Harris had, for the moment, managed to help her replace her embarrassment with irritation.