Yes, You May Come

JP with Alexis, Gonyaul, Tarmen and Voah:

Alexis smiled, gently.
Good.
So he knew going with Voah was on the table. When he glanced at her, her hands moved.
Gonyaul had gotten around to show them a bit of his sign language by now.
Not very much, but enough for this.

Listen. To heart.

Sitting in his mind while the others spoke, he wasn’t sure where he would be and if Zane would even see any use in him.
Hearing Barrel Boy ask to join Voah, a small smile returned. Even in the middle of strife, love finds a way and the boy was smitten with it.

Gonyaul signed back to Alexis.

<Thank you for understanding, though I wish I could go with you too.>

Out of all of his hand flourishes, Alexis would have been able to maybe make out thank you … go with … you too. Signing took some of the edge off in the moment, giving him a feeling of normalcy. The beauty was you could speak, even when not verbally speaking. The past seven years he had to relearn that the primary mode of talking was audible. It actually felt good to sign instead of speak in this moment.

He looked back to Voah trying to read her body language and expression prior to what her words would be.

One thousand negative thoughts fluttered around her mind but the prevailing one was hopeful. Gonyaul was where she wanted to be... and if he chose to join her… they would face the storm together.

In for a copper, in for a gold.

“Yes, you are more than welcome to come with me, Gonyual.”

Gonyaul had a well constructed rebuttal if he was turned down. He was used to having a backup plan after being rejected by Alexis so many times. He wouldn’t have to use it though because Voah had said yes.

He smiled, completely oblivious to the certain dangerous situation he just got himself into.

Inwardly he was amiss for leaving Alexis on her own and for not going after Islana, whom he missed dearly.

To make sure he was making the right decision, he turned to Alexis. “You sure you fine to find Islana with no me?” He said worried for his friend.

Alexis smiled.

“I’ll be fine. You do what feels right to you.”

Gonyaul looked Alexis in the eyes and studied her response. She was a woman of her word and he believed she would not steer him wrong. Like every other time, he saw the strong bridge of trust built between them and was at peace with her words.

He nodded and looked back to Voah. “I’m yours.”

He meant he would be going with her, but it sure came out more romantic than that because of who he was speaking to.