Taalia Giovanni

It was a strange thing for a young one to see an elder in a state of emotional vulnerability.

For Taalia, having grown up in an enviornment where such displays were a swift course to death, they had taken some getting used to. Gaulfredo was a man who wore his heart on his sleeve. But Cestie? He had always been stoic, more amused than excited. She could still remember when she had first mistakenly kissed him on the cheek at her debut festival, her ignorance of customs causing the older man to blush and laugh off what would have, had Taalia not been an unaware outsider, been seen as a flirtation from a woman a third his age.

But, in the following years, she had never seen him vulnerable. Madre had been, naturally, open with her feelings. Arianna and Gaulfredo too. Women were allowed this privilege, of open heartfelt displays. Men sometimes, but only if they were brave and stoic in other parts of their life. Men who let their emotions rule them, who turned to babbling, crying and hysterics as the situation overwhelmed them, Taalia had learned, were looked down upon. But to actually see it in personal, a stoic, grandfatherly figure who had 'seen it all', in such a state, was an alien and otherworldly sensation for the shepardess as she slowly approached.

Moving slowly, her heart moving up through her chest as she saw a grandfatherly figure in his emotionally susceptible state, Taalia couldn't help but wear concern and sympathy on her pretty, but scarred features. Swallowing gently, finally drawing close enough that she could move down onto one knee, her right hand coming up to Cestie's shoulder, she would speak gently with her sonorous, smoky voice.

"You do now..." she's remark affectionately, giving his shoulder a warm squeeze, "and take it from me: I'd be happy."