They had warned him that the first night spent in a new place was often marked by restlessness, but Ber had hoped that the sheer relief of no longer sleeping on a rocking ship would supersede that. It did not. Obscenely bright sunlight greeted him the next morning, leaving him blinking and bleary-eyed as he stepped into the village that had slowly started becoming more familiar. With a yawn, Ber rubbed his eyes and squinted around for a moment before directing his steps to the mess for some breakfast.

Duncan had already started eating g, and when Ber slid into the seat beside his friend, it became clear that the other soldier had slept far better than he had. Still, as food began to fill his empty stomach and Duncan kept up a steady stream of excited chatter, Ber found himself slowly waking up and growing more lively as well. It was their first full day in Cambria! Though the enormity of the task that lay ahead tempered his enthusiasm, the novelty of exploring a new place eventually won out, and soon enough, he had started to return Duncan’s grins with some of his own.

Then Revna approached.

Somewhat taken aback by her sudden appearance and apparent intention to insert herself into the middle of their conversation, Ber glanced at Duncan before looking back at her. “Good morning,” He replied. “That’s nice of you. I think we both think it’s good so far, yeah?” The soldier directed the question toward his friend, who nodded.

Revna seemed pleased to hear that they were both doing well, and Ber offered her a quick smile and a nod, ignoring the confusion that flitted across Duncan’s face. By the time that Ber had reunited with his friend, his initial discomfort with standing out of the crowd combined with the awkward embarrassment of not realizing that Cambrians prayed before eating had faded, though he doubted that the other soldier would really have understood anyway. Ever the outgoing one who could befriend a tree, his friend rarely seemed to feel uncomfortable in any sort of casual, social setting.

“Oh.” The words were a little sheepish. “Yeah, well, uh, the feast was good, too. And I didn’t mean to cause any offense with the, uh, praying either.” He remembered the look on Revna’s face as she stood up there and eyed him for having eaten before being granted permission. “I’ll remember that next time.”

Personally, Ber didn’t think much of tradition. If there was a valid reason for something to be performed a certain way, then he had no problem following whatever method, but doing something a certain way simply because that was how it was done— well, that didn’t make much sense, especially when it could be improved upon. While whatever traditions the military held resonated in the hearts of many around him, Ber’s emotional investment tended to end shortly after going through the motions. But it wasn’t like he came from a noble family that placed significance on such matters; tradition had never done much for him. Still, he nodded agreeably at Revna and said, “I understand.”

Her question, phrased rather bluntly, had him pausing, and with a sideways glance at Duncan, who had thus far remained silent - Revna was really kind of pretty, the other soldier thought, with long dark hair like the witches back home - Ber offered a half shrug. “Uh, well, I mean, I’m sure there are people who know more than me.” In the grand scheme of things, he didn’t think it took that much. He’d gone to whatever briefings they’d held on Cambria, but late meeting times and the leaders’ tendency to drone rendered most of them something of a tired blur. “What else do you think I should know about?”

In response to her claim about the false confidence of Nevermerean soldiers, Ber paused again. Some little fragment of patriotic pride demanded that he defend his kingdom from such a claim. After all, Nevermere had occupied Cambria for… well, for some number of years now; surely, someone somewhere knew far more than he did about the territory. But she seemed rather resolute in her statement, and Ber found that he simply didn’t care enough to try to change her mind at this juncture.

He had just woken up. He’d barely started eating. And he had lived too much of what Nevermere didn’t offer to be blinded by what it did.

So the soldier simply shrugged and let the matter drop. Revna was quick enough to offer advice of her own anyway. Admittedly, when he’d asked the question, Ber had expected more religious guidance, something along the lines of praying before eating, so the Cambrian’s response had him casting a sideways glance at her. “Uh, yeah,” He said, a little awkward. “Okay.” It wasn’t like he was here to bed the Cambrians anyway.

“Wait a minute.” Duncan was more perturbed by Revna’s words. “That’s not your choice to make. You might not be interested, but I hear some women like us.” The resolve to just find someone who was interested went unspoken.