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Kayde was not, in fact, with the trope when they left. The day before they were scheduled to leave, he had finally confronted Murie about his decision to move into the city. As expected, Murie wasn't happy about it. Kayde was one of his best performers, he couldn't just up and leave. Especially not out of the blue, right before they were all finished packing to leave for somewhere else in Jauhar to perform. He was worried it might result in a fist fight, but maybe it was the proximity of the city to the group of wagons or the constant traffic on the road beside them. Because the actual parting was much easier than the young Leaf was expecting. With a wave of dismissal, Murie cut Kayde from his life and turned his back on the younger man, clearly removing any associations with him from here on out. Knowing Murie, it would be as if Kayde had never been a part of the performances.

To this, he just shrugged his shoulders. All the better for him. He was done with Murie. He'd miss some of the others but this had to be. He couldn't, and wouldn't, remain with them any longer.

He had found a place to stay not too long ago. A small boarding house where he could rent a cheap room. It was to this place he went to next, to drop off the remainder of his things. Than he went on a hunt for the one person in the city who now mattered to him. She seemed to be nowhere in sight. Not working. Not practicing in that large room, the last time he had seen her. Not wandering the streets, far as he could see. He returned back to his room disappointed, to pick up the search the next day. But once more, she was nowhere to be found. Not where she worked nor where she probably shopped. Already growing frustrated, Kayde had left for a walk in the woods to clear his mind, when he spotted the familiar figure in the distance, doing a twirl and catching herself on the trunk of a nearby tree. With little hesitation, he rushed up to her, calling her name loudly.

Careless. That's what you could call Kayde, as he ran forward to announce his presence in the most bold of ways. Especially considering every meeting of theirs had been negative, with her refusing to even speak with him beyond a few minutes and only that long because he'd refuse to leave her so quickly. He always believed things would work out in the end, so long as the people involved had love on their side. And they did. They always did. He wasn't being careless with her feelings. At least not intentional. He knew how she felt. The way she was melting against him told him so.

"Did you really think I'd leave you this time?"

"Is that the greeting I get?" Kayde joked, chuckling at her reaction. A lot of people found Elka haughty, selfish, and moody. He found her quite adorable and sincere. Rough around the edges she clearly may be, but she would never lie to anyone. That in itself should be an admirable quality in someone. But most people just saw the outside and not the all-too-obvious inside that he did.

"I thought you'd be happy to see me."

Kayde couldn't help bursting out into laughter, after a brief pause in confusion at what Elka had just told him, earning him a small scowl in return. Both surprising and unsurprising that she would say something like that. Head always in the clouds, the young Ice girl had always been a bit of a romantic. Running away with a traveling band of performers seemed like the most romantic thing to do at the time. This suggestion was no different, born from a spontaneous desire.

"And where would we go? I am just as much stranded as you are, now." And happier about it than she had been when it had happened to her, he would bet. Elka was a noble's daughter, born for an elegant mansion than the small room of an inn. She was used to having whatever she wanted and living in luxury, not living off the scraps she was earning now. He, on the other hand, didn't mind living simply. Quite enjoyed it, actually. It was easy to manage yourself and your space when you didn't have as much of it.

It wasn't a disagreeable idea with the young Leaf man. And maybe he would have done it had it been just a few years ago. There was certainly nothing wrong with wanting to spend your life with the one you loved. And, even back than, when he had been a fresh, young teenager, he knew he was in love. For he still felt the same way now as he did back than. As if his entire existence depended on the happiness of this woman. And it was something so unheard of, for a teenage love to last so long. They were both adults, now, she only a little bit older than himself.

But it also, of course, just wasn't practical. They really had nowhere to go. Or he didn't. Kayde didn't even know who his parents were or where they even came from when they dropped him off on the caretaker's doorstep when he was a baby. Had no interest in trying the impossible task of figuring out who they were. There were no clues from than, only that they were both Leaf, as well as his grandparents probably were. Though you never did know. One set of his great-grandparents might have been so in love that, even way back than, they didn't care about mixing different races in their children.

"It's a nice thought," Kayde responded, kissing Elka gently on the forehead. "But I'm not going anywhere anyway. I missed you."

That was a very good question. And one he had already considered many times before. It was true. He would miss it a little bit. But only a little bit. After years of constantly being on the move, he felt done. He was finished with the constant changes in scenery and was beginning to crave something more consistent. Familiar.

Kayde shook his head, the long hair on one side of his face swaying with his movements. "No. My mind was already made up long ago. I feel like I need a break, at least, from all the travel. Besides. Who is to say I'll never get to do it in the future?" Life changed so fast. Maybe an opportunity would arise that the two of them could leave Neued. Admittedly, he didn't want to stay here and he was sure Elka didn't, either. This city seemed to hold a lot of bad memories for the both of them, her especially. But it had felt out of his control back than. He could have ran back to the city to her, but than where would he stay? Would he have found the same kind of work that he had now, when he'd had the time to search calmly for it and plan in the months that the caravan had been set up just outside the city? He wouldn't have had any time to plan for a future all those years ago if he'd left as soon as he'd known that she had been abandoned.

"Just a small boarding house," Kayde answered distractedly, one finger of a hand twirling a curl. Her hair was always so soft. Even now, when life was more of a struggle for her, Elka still managed to take care of herself. He wondered what kinds of replacements she was using for the higher tier stuff she was more used to. "It's not too far from the inn, actually. Kind of....A main reason I picked it." Here the man blushed, the sheer amount of his devotion to this woman hitting him in the face finally. It was a little embarrassing, the strides he was taking to ensure that they stayed together this time. He'd always been an honest and sentimental person, but never to this extent. He imagined their behavior would be quite revolting to anyone on the other side of it.

As Elka giggled at him, he gently untangled himself and stepped back, looking around the clearing for something else to distract him with. His eyes landed on the book, sitting open on a rock. All but forgotten. He went over to it and picked it up.

"So you've been learning different dances?"