continued - 14/14

"Oooh! Have I offended you great one?"

She stared back at him with shock before really slapping him and Joe chuckled, "Hey… let's keep the physical abuse down a bit."

She growled and turned away before turning back, "I'm sorry. But… you need to be … more firm in who you are. You offer much. It is not bad to simply know it. You do not brag about it, and that is … incredible to me. It is also very pleasant, to my surprise. But you do have a … position that affects the world around you. It would be wise to learn this."

Joe's smile fell a bit and he nodded, "Yeah. I know. But it will take me a bit of time to figure it all out."

Kilniara's smile grew at that, "At least you know."

"Ha! Of course I know."

She shook her head, "Then work to act like it… sometimes?"

Joe's smile grew, also relaxing as the tension faded some, "Yeah."

They fell silent and came upon their inn before Joe came to a stop, "Wanna stop by the counselors for a bit? Could have a chat?"

Kilniara stared at him, then smiled, "I have learned… much about you. I would really enjoy it."

Joe's grin grew and he nodded, offering her his arm before leading them on to the temple court and their counselors. The session this time was much more informal, the two counselors obviously a bit surprised to see them returned, but also happy to have them. The conversation was enjoyable, and lasted a time but they were much more informal and Joe was not certain he really liked it. He didn't say much, simply allowing the situation to develop but by the end of their session, he was feeling much better about the whole situation, the easy discussion and replies offered from both male and female perspective actually really helped him to see things in different lights. He did feel a bit 'ganged up' on simply because he was the singular foreign individual with more modern insights so had more difficulty explaining his perspective to the other three who were often dismissive of his comments. It took a lot of explaining and examples before they began to barely grasp what he was trying to describe. Concepts simply accepted by many back home were obviously very difficult here, and it was in that moment that he realized they were simply needing several foundational concepts before what he was trying to describe could easily be seen, let alone accepted and understood. With that, he began to really slow down, and try to offer intermediate ideas and explanations which proved a bit more successful.

Overall, it was quite an enjoyable conversation, and they were soon offering goodbyes before heading back home. Joe paused, taking a look around the plaza before looking at Kilniara carefully. I... it's ok...

"Give me a second?"

"Sure."

Joe smiled at the easy reply, staring down at her before quickly slipping up the stairs of his next temple he had planned to change his jobs to. He paused to open up his status but then looked back to see Kilniara looking up at him with a subtle smile. He grinned back… Ah… screw it… just get teacher… that'll maybe have some skills for the others as well… Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll have a 'char:' skill. Joe turned away and chuckled as he ran into the temple and quickly swapped over to the teacher job, the next on his semi planned list of jobs. Probably going to have to be serious about trying to get the job change skill, then… help Zilnek… maybe get some 'char:' skills for the teacher's skills, if useful… don't need to char the heal skill. No point. Can't level it… wait… maybe try to level it? Can I? Hmm… would it be that much better? Hmm… not a bad idea. Spam heal… haha! Maybe at night? But… then… double my times at the temple… that's… a lot of exposure… hm… maybe a plan for later… definitely a plan for later when I can change my own job…

Joe sighed happily as he walked under the stars, hand in hand with a beautiful young woman at his side. She was still struggling with some of the things he'd brought forward, but then again, so was he. But it was obvious she was trying, quite hard, and that brought a smile to his face. It's… not bad here…