Nayan was gently startled from his thoughts by someone speaking to him. He released his knuckle-whitening grip on the rail and turned around, mildly surprised to find the voice belonged to a slender blonde woman in a floral print dress. She stood off a little bit, not coming to standing directly near the edge as he was but her tone held a rare note of kindness which was more than he’d been prepared to expect at the particular moment. He smiled quickly, pushing away his gloom with a practiced mental motion, one that he’d mastered in the last couple months, and moved away from the railing.
“I’m alright. Just enjoying the sun,” he said conversationally. He was, for some reason, made unusually aware of his accent. It had been so long since he’d listened to English unencumbered by any a regional warping of the words, being surrounded by native English speakers was throwing him off slightly. He drew a deep breathe, slipped his hands in his pockets, his grin quirking slightly to the left. “First time on a cruise ship is all, but that’s very kind of you.”
The woman in floral print was wearing a pair of dark sun glasses so he couldn’t make out her eyes in the tint of the lenses, but the remaining features of her face suggested she was quite beautiful. Her skin the sun was clear and pale and the wind snatched the wispy blond of her hair. She had one of those wide, expressive mouths that could distract someone with their shape on words. He held out a hand.