I hadnâ€™t thought about it before I had brought Marisa to sit with us but it occurred to me on my return that Marisa could have said any number of embarrassing and secret aspects of my life. I had told Katherine a lot of things I didnâ€™t tell most people, but there were things that these people knew that I didnâ€™t want her to know. The realization of what Marisa might have said must have been clear on my face since Katherine told me there was nothing to worry about. She teased me at first by saying she wasnâ€™t going to tell me, but she relented and did share what the little girl and her had talked of. I started to eat as she confessed.<br/><br/>I was gratefully relieved when she finished telling me the contents of conversation they shared. Marisa wasnâ€™t old enough to remember my grandmotherâ€™s death, and she wasnâ€™t even around when my parents were taken. She knew about my nightmares though. Her house was very close to my own and I knew I had woken her up more often than I cared to think about. Knowing Marisa she had probably asked her mother why the nice angel man was screaming. She probably got a fairly truthful answer too. We didnâ€™t sugar coat things here. I didnâ€™t mind if Katherine knew the gruesome detail of my life, but I knew that she would then look on me with pity the way so many people did. They hid it well because they knew I did fairly well even with my hardships and that I hated when people looked at me with pity. I couldnâ€™t stand if Katherine looked at me like that.<br/><br/>I scoffed lightly at her comment about being a good teacher and almost choked on my fish when she added father. I covered it with a cough. I tried to cover it at least but the entire village probably noticed my distress though few of them probably knew why since she hadnâ€™t spoken loud enough for anyone but the two of us to hear. She probably hadnâ€™t meant anything by it anyway. It shouldnâ€™t have shocked me most of the people my age in the lower brackets at least were already married. When you didnâ€™t know how long you had it was customary to marry rather young.<br/><br/>I tried to laugh it off as I replied. â€œI donâ€™t see myself with much of a chance to do either. I would need more education to teach anything of great value I doubt a school of thievery would be looked on with a kind eye. As far as a father?â€ I shrugged to hide my discomfort at the idea. I wanted children of course, but I wanted children who didnâ€™t have to deal with the things I had dealt with. I also didnâ€™t know if I could ever feel comfortable bringing children into the world knowing that some day I might get caught and executed for just having a magical gift let alone using it. I would be leaving them and their mother alone with no one to take care of them. That thought haunted my desire for children. I wasnâ€™t going to express that part of my fear though. Talking to her about serious things was dangerous after all. I instead decided to touch on the lighter side of no children. â€œI doubt anyone would be interested in a thief like me for their daughter. Besides I donâ€™t really have the time to court anyone in the proper way anyway. I think I am cursed to spend my life with other peopleâ€™s children instead of my own, but I am contented with my lot in life. I believe that caring for these kids makes up for not having any of my own.â€ It was mostly true, but it didnâ€™t mean that I didnâ€™t still want kids of my own.<br/><br/>I watched as slight pink colored Katherineâ€™s cheeks. I didnâ€™t know if it was due to what she was saying or thanks to the heat of the fire so near, but the slight flush to her skin was very appealing. I didnâ€™t find anything about her unappealing though so it probably shouldnâ€™t have surprised me that I found the slight flush very fetching on her. I probably should have been paying more attention to what she was saying and what was going on around us. Maybe if I had been paying attention to that instead of how pretty she looked in the firelight, her hair free, her eyes sparkling, and her face lit up with joy I wouldnâ€™t have been caught off guard when she took my plate and put it down so we could dance.<br/><br/>She practically dragged me out to the area reserved for dancing. It was the only way anyone would have gotten me out there anyway. I wish I had been paying more attention. She hadnâ€™t waited for an answer before deciding that we should dance anyway though. She told me to wait just leaving me there with no idea what to do while she went over to Marisa. I thought about sitting myself back down before she got back, but she was already coming over and I didnâ€™t want to cause a horrid scene. Marisa looked so excited at the prospect of dancing with us that I couldnâ€™t just leave. I wish she had at least waited for my answer though. I was now stuck out here holding hands with both Marisa and Katherine I would have been thrilled at the idea if I knew how to dance. As it was I was positive I would end up looking like the biggest fool ever. I saw many of the villagers eyeing me curiously. Great they all knew I had never danced just what I wanted was all the people that mattered in my life gathered together to watch me look like and idiot.<br/><br/>I hugged Marisa and stepped out so Katherine and Marisa could dance with each other. I hugged Katherine so I could whisper in her ear. I blushed and was so close she could probably feel the deep red heat in my cheeks radiating from my skin even if she couldnâ€™t see it. â€œI never learned how to dance.â€ I felt the color grow even deeper at the admission. It was the first thing we had done together that I had no skill or experience in. I started making my way back to the log where out fish was sitting half eaten. I didnâ€™t want to interfere in her fun with Marisa with my awkward hesitant attempts to dance. I would have loved to dance, but it had never seemed very important and so many things fell by the wayside in favor of survival skills for me. I could swim, steal, hunt, track, gather, and lie better than anyone else I knew but dancing . . . that was very far out of y comfort zone. I was sure that Katherine dancing would be amazing to watch though. If only I could have danced with her. Surely I could have found some small moment to learn at least the basics of how to dance in favor of . . . of what exactly sleep? No I had made the right choices of what to learn with the time I had, but still to do something that looked so free would have been a thrill Iâ€™m sure.