Sleeping in a makeshift tent without a sleeping bag wasn't terribly fun. Abby was the only woman in the caravan so she slept alone but Blaise didn't entirely trust the traders so he set up his bedroll right in front of tent opening.
He said it would prevent any of the traders from getting any ideas. She couldn't argue with him and decided to let it go.
Riding in the bumpy wagon for another day was murder on her poor tailbone but she dealt with it. At least Blaise was talking to her again. She finally rembered to ask him how old he was after they had been on the road for a couple hours.
He blinked at her in surprise. "I am twenty years old. Why do you ask?"
Only twenty?! He seed so much older! Not because of his face but because of the way he spoke and carried himself. Abby was twenty-three but she felt way less mature than this younger guy.
"Curiosity," she said faintly. "I'm twenty-three and I thought you were way older than for so reason."
"You do not seem twenty-three. My sisters were all married with children long before then. Ahforgive , it is rude to inquire about a lady's marital status," Blaise apologized, seeming truly penitent.
Not that she cared. Her last boyfriend had been dumped a few months before Katie 'died.' Dating hadn't interested her since then but she supposed she would probably want to settle down eventually and live out the dreams she and Katie had about being neighbors and raising their kids together.
But would it even be possible to fall in love with a man from here? Katie admitted in the novel that she liked Al because he seed the most like soone from her world. Would there be another person like that for her?
"I don't mind," Abby said casually. "Ask anything; I don't offend easily. And just so you know, I'm not married because where I'm from people typically don't do that until they're much older."
Blaise frowned. "How old?"
"I don't knowtwenty-six to thirty-two? Hardly anybody gets married before twenty-five anymore. People are more focused on their careers than families in my world."
He thought this over for a mont before surprising her by asking, "What was yours? Your career, I an."
He said he didn't believe she was from another world and yet seriously asked a question about her life there as if he did. He was giving off very mixed signals. Even so, she told him despite it being tricky to explain graphic designer without using technological terms.
"I was an artist. People paid to create designs for them."
Most of her work consisted of making business logos and layouts for websites, advertisents, and brochures. She had always had a good eye for making things pretty, ever since she and Katie used to scrapbook with their mom.
Katie used to get jealous of how much nicer her spreads looked. After a few more tries she laughed it off and requested Abby's input instead of fussing over it. She wasn't the type to let things bother her for long.
"An artist?" Blaise asked curiously.
Did they seriously not have artists here?! There had to be so sort of equivalent "A craftsman. I was a craftsman but I only used a very specific dium that they don't have here."
There. That was really all she could say about her job using this world's terms. Thankfully he accepted it at face value and went quiet.
A few minutes later he spoke up again. "Then there was nobody courting you?"
Abby nearly choked. What kind of question was that?! Well, she had said he could ask her anything. She brought this entirely on herself. Once again, she had to try and find the right words.
"I uh...had so suitors before. But none of them worked out. I didn't leave anybody important behind when I ca here."
Blaise wasn't about to let the matter drop. "Why did you not accept them? What did they lack?"
Her first boyfriend back in high school hadn't known how to deal with her when she was grieving her parents' deaths so that didn't work out. The next guy her freshman year of college had cheated on her. The last one was a misogynist who didn't support her dreams so he was a no go too.
Technically speaking, the running thread here was that none of them cared enough. She could use that. "None of them really loved . I could never be with soone who didn't accept as I am."
It was ti to change the subject. See how he liked being embarrassed. "What about you?" Abby asked. "Have you ever courted anyone?"
Blaise's face turned slightly pink. "No. I have never been interested. Many Warriors do have wives but they usually choose to take on jobs that don't involve a lot of travel. I had never really thought about staying in one place."
That was fair. He was way too young to be settling down anyway. Let him be like one of those people who spend their entire twenties finding themselves before looking for a life partner. There was nothing wrong with that.
She patted his shoulder. "Nothing wrong with that, my friend. Go and see the world. Love can always co later."
He mumbled sothing under his breath that she couldn't quite catch but when she asked him about it he said it was nothing. By the ti they stopped for lunch, she had already forgotten about it. There was sothing about riding in a wagon that made her ravenous.
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