View source for Place of the Twilight Sky

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==Log Info==

*Title: Place of the Twilight Sky

*Emitter: Ravenstongue

*Characters: [[Ravenstongue]], [[Telamon]]

*Place: Ravenstongue and Telamon's house / Ravenstongue and Telamon's shared dream

*Summary: For their first anniversary, Tel and Lana step into a dreamscape sculpted from Lana's memories and dreams. The journey takes them to a possible future, with three daughters and a faerie castle... </div>

''Lúpecyll-Atlon home, afternoon.''

On this particular day in the season of winter, the gods saw it fit to grant the city of Alexandria a reprieve from the snow and ice. Daeus's sunlight dances in dazzling motions on the snow that has collected on buildings and homes and on the ice that's formed on the roads, and the wind brings a gentle, but cold touch that reminds one that, despite the blue skies and fair clouds, it is still the domain of winter.

But for one pair of half-elves, this is an important day. So much so, in fact, that Cor'lana Lúpecyll-Atlon put on her cloak and dress and left for the market. She returns on a pair of blue-violet wings, coasting through the air with a precious package in her hands, and lands on the front doorstep.

Pothy lands on her shoulder as she unlocks the door. "You sure you want to?" he asks. "I mean, he's attuned to that totem now, and..."

"We'll be fine," Cor'lana replies. "Just give us our space." And she pushes in the front door, smiling brightly. "I'm home!"

For his part, Tel has been reenacting a ritual he started with Lana's birthday a while back.

Namely, cleaning. Unseen servants and cantrips make it easy, but he's also methodical about it, making sure the floors and counters are all scrubbed, the shelves dusted, the fireplace cleaned out and restocked, and any leftover refuse consigned to the trash bin outside for later disintegration (Tel does not mess around with waste disposal, after all).

As the broom is being put away, Telamon puts on the kettle, and stretches, having swapped out his work clothes for a clean linen tunic and trousers. When Cor'lana opens the door, he looks up and smiles. "Oh, hey love! I've been tidying up, getting some of the cruft and garbage out of the way. How'd your market visit go?"

Cor'lana steps inside with Pothy, shutting and locking the door behind her. She holds the wrapped package in her hands, but doesn't draw attention to it just yet. "Aww, thank you for tidying," she says, her violet eyes twinkling already. "My visit went well. I got what I needed to pick up."

She draws over closer to Telamon and gives him a little hug, followed by a kiss to his chin. Then, she holds the box open. "This is what I planned on us doing for the day," Cor'lana says, with a little smile that suggests a tiny amount of mischief. "Go ahead and open it."

Telamon raises an eyebrow at the mysterious package, but he grins at Lana impishly. "So I assume this isn't ''just'' something for the bedroom, or you'd have never taken Pothy along." His eyes glint merrily in return. "Hmm. Could it be a vacation? You never know..."

However, he's too curious to keep teasing, and begins to open the package with a careful touch, evidently not wanting to damage what might be within if it's fragile. "I hope the weather's improved a little more. I was thinking of taking you out to dinner, but not if we're going to have to brave the winter wrath."

Cor'lana blushes a little, but she shakes her head. "No, no, nothing like that," she says. "Although I might have taken Pothy along anyway just to watch him squirm."

"Jerk," Pothy says, although it's quickly followed with a, "Love you too," as he flies off into the book study. Looks like he's giving them alone time, as Cor'lana requested.

Inside the box is... a potion. A potion that looks similar to the one that Telamon and Cor'lana have taken together before.

"I thought, for our anniversary... instead of taking a trip somewhere, we'd go somewhere almost completely imaginary," Cor'lana says, smiling. "Something that's only present in my thoughts and dreams. So I asked a potion maker at the market about it and she was able to conjure up something."

Telamon cradles the bottle with another arched brow, looking thoughtful. "Well... hm. As long as we're lucid and aware, we shouldn't risk any danger. It's an intriguing idea, though -- and now I'm curious as to what you dream about. Besides a singular cute half-elf boy."

He puts the potion back into the protective box. "Dreams are funny things, you know. We've seen things that are amazing, and some things that are scary, and things that are downright creepy. And yet... it's never hurt us so much we'd avoid them. I'd like to think I've gotten wiser, though."

Cor'lana grins. "Well, I won't lie, I do dream about you a fair bit," she says, "but I know there's plenty of other things in my dreams. I don't always remember them well when I wake up, but they're warm and wonderful things most of the time."

She takes the box back from Telamon. "Should we go prepare for another trip into dreaming?" she asks. "I could ask Pothy to watch over us, if you'd prefer, but I think we're probably versed enough in dreamwalking that we should be fine."

Telamon smiles back at her. "I don't have any pressing plans. I've got the house nice and tidy, there's nuts out for Pothy if he wants a snack, the kettle -- well, let me take the kettle off first. Fortunately it hasn't had time to warm up yet. But yes. I dream of you as much as you dream of me, I bet."

It doesn't take long to get ready, with the house secured and locked and the kettle moved off the fire. Pothy is soothed and food put out for him, while Tel comments, "I wish we'd had this warding the first time we did this. It makes it a lot safer."

Cor'lana has changed into a more comfortable nightgown and placed a salt ring around the bed, just in case, by the time Tel's got the house locked and secured and the kettle off the fire. She offers him a little grin as she sits down on the edge of the bed. "Me too," she says. "This might even be the safest house to do this sort of thing, save perhaps Ni'essa's own temple. But you'd know all about that, wouldn't you, my starborn king?"

She retrieves the potion from the box and pats the bed. "Shall we, then, my love?" she asks. "There's enough in here for us to have one dose each. I even fluffed the pillows a little, so we should be extra comfortable."

"I won't pretend to understand everything Ni'essa is saying. I'm hoping to figure it out -- eventually." Telamon smiles at Lana, as he sits down on the other side of the bed. "I'm sure there might be safer houses. Ones with heavily armed servants and grumpy conjured creatures ready to spring into action. But for this, I think we'll be fine." He strokes her hand. "Otherwise I wouldn't risk you at all, queen of my heart."

He takes the bottle once Lana's taken her portion of the potion, and knocks back his share. "Ugh. Tastes oily. I hope that doesn't linger..." He then kisses Lana, and smiles as he lies down. "See you in my dreams, darling."

"Maybe one day, you'll get that castle I joked that you could obtain for us," Cor'lana says with a wide grin. "That was so long ago, wasn't it. That was when we were still so... new at this 'being in love' thing."

Of course, she makes a similar face as she drinks down her dosage. "It's worse than the one you make," she says to Telamon. "And that's ''not'' my bias talking there." But she kisses him back and lies down with him, her hand finding his as her eyes already begin to flutter shut. "Mmm, see you in..."

...

There is nothing, and then there is... Light. The sound of laughter. Cor'lana's eyes blink open as she finds herself in...

"Grandfather's house?" she wonders aloud, her eyes catching the eternal twilight sky that hangs in Grandfather's portion of Quelynos. But no, it can't be, for her hands are holding the railing of a stonework balcony that looks over a sprawling sapphire sea. Her dark waves of hair, adorned with all manner of small violet jewels, is lapped gently by the sea breeze.

"Are we..." Cor'lana starts to say, but she looks up from the balcony and... That's a castle. Not a sprawling one, but a castle nonetheless, like the kind you'd see in a storybook illustration. And it's only now that she looks down at her dress and realizes that there's a long silk dress that shifts between blue and violet in a comfortable, almost lazy manner, as the twilight sky's light catches on the fabric.

She gulps. "I... I think this ''is'' a castle. My castle?" she wonders aloud.

For a moment, there's nothing. Then... stars, shining, whirling overhead. Telamon is... flying is not the best word. Soaring through the trackless void, singing in a voice that is no voice and hearing calls back. Looking out, there is ''something'' keeping pace with him. Bigger than a giant, a thing drawn from the ocean depths perhaps and granted the strength and will to traverse the empty spaces. Singing back to him, before peeling off to some other destination.

Tel finds himself streaking down through the stars, through the clouds, until he brakes hard, hovering just above the stone of the parapet. His robes are deepest black, shot with small glints like stars, and his spell-wings glow steadily from his back. "Evidently it is your castle," Telamon says, looking slightly startled. "Sorry, I'll tell you how I got here in a second. It was... strange."

Cor'lana reaches out to him with a smile, the long sleeves of her dress making her look rather regal. "It's okay," she calls out to him. "Come down here. Everything will be fine."

Then something seems to come to mind, as her violet eyes widen in fascination. "Wait, I know what this place is. Tel, this is..."

There's a sudden blush on her face now, coinciding with the gentle crash of waves on the rocks far below the balcony at the bottom of the cliffs. "This was the first book I tried to write!" she says. "I was about thirteen when I tried to write a long story. I made myself the protagonist--I was a lonely and sad girl living in an abandoned castle by the sea somewhere in 'the realm of the faerie'."

Telamon lands with all the careful grace of a falling snowflake, coming to rest on the flagstones next to Lana. Taking her hand, as his spell-wings fold away. "...It seems you had a very vivid idea of what the castle was like." He pauses, then raises her hand to his lips. "I... know I've told you before, but I'll tell you again. I'm sorry you were so lonely. I'll happily spend the rest of my days making sure you're not lonely now."

He looks out at the twilight-illuminated world, placing a hand on the parapet. "Thirteen? Even then, you knew who you were, maybe unconsciously. I was still figuring myself out."

Cor'lana blushes a little deeper as Telamon takes her hand and kisses it. But she has a wide, albeit bashful smile on her face as she admits, "Well, in the story, I didn't remain lonely for very long. A mysterious and handsome stranger of elven heritage flew down onto my balcony, just like you did, in the very first chapter. Although I'm certain the dialogue I wrote for them was very, ''very'' bad."

She grins a little. "I think I was trying to figure myself out, too," she says. "I didn't exactly have any real boys to romance, but I knew if I could talk to anyone without fear that they'd hurt me, it'd be someone who was... perfect in every way--"

"Pothyyyyy!" rings out a little voice behind Telamon, coming from the room that leads into the balcony. "No fair! You can't just steal my toys! I'm telling on you~!"

And out storms a little lady with blonde hair and violet eyes, dressed in a light blue garment fit for a princess. She looks to be about six years old, and she huffs as she looks up at Telamon. "Papa, Pothy won't share toys."

Cor'lana... looks like she's about to be woozy. "This wasn't in my story," she eeks out.

<pre>GAME: Telamon rolls bluff+3: (2)+23+3: 28</pre>

Telamon laughs softly. "I did seem to come swooping into your life, thanks to Pothy in part, didn't I? But all I knew is that you were this lovely, fascinating woman who was also a sorcerer and a half-elf, and there was enough in common that I should try to get to know you. And one thing led to another, and well... here we are." He grins at her. "I'm happy we're here too, even in this dream. Maybe one day we'll build a castle like this -- or more likely, buy one -- and have our family--"

At this juncture his little speech is interrupted by... who? Telamon turns in surprise, staring down at the girl. Then his expression clicks rapidly into a small, genial smile. "Pothy doesn't understand sometimes. He's a child at heart too. Don't worry, I'll talk to him." He places his hand on the girl's head lightly, a warm gesture of benediction, as he shoots a look at Lana and mouths, 'just act natural'.

Cor'lana's mouth is slightly agape as she looks at this little girl, who happily receives Telamon's headpat. "Well, okay, but he better stop before Ri-Ri--"

"POTHWEE!" protests another little voice from inside the room, followed by the sound of loud sobbing. Out pads another little girl, even smaller than the platinum-blonde, with a mop of curly red hair that's the same color as Ariana's, her big blue eyes leaking tears. She's maybe about three or four, and her little dress is in the same color as the other little girl's. "P-Pothwee stole my b-b-lo-wocks."

The other little girl sighs. "Told you," she says to Telamon, before she goes to the littler one and wraps her arms around the little redhead. "It's okay, Ri-Ri, Papa's gonna talk to Pothy. He's just a kid like us. But feathery."

The redhead sniffles, but at least she's not crying so loudly now. "Di-Di is the best sissy," she mumbles as she folds in closer to the bigger girl.

Cor'lana looks at Telamon with wide, wide violet eyes. "I ''really'' didn't expect this," she mumbles quietly to him, but she kneels down. "Oh, c'mere, girls. Pothy's just a spoiled brat sometimes."

The two girls do as they're told, and Cor'lana finds herself hugging both of them. It's a rather sweet sight, even if Cor'lana looks rather bewildered by the whole thing.

Telamon covers his mouth to hide the smile. Yes, Lana looks bewildered, but there's something adorable and natural about seeing those two girls cuddling up to her happily. His eyes narrow ever so slightly, parsing the nicknames and... of course. "It's all right, Nadina, Ariana. Pothy and I will talk. He likes to play too, but sometimes he can be a handful to share things with." His eyes twinkle. "Remember, I had to get his approval before your mother and I could get married."

He lightly touches Lana's shoulder, and smiles at her gently. He doesn't want to break the dream's flow, but the look in his eyes says it all. This is what he wants for her: a family of her own.

"It's all right, I've got it handled," says a very familiar voice. Another figure walks out of the room, and this sight makes all of the breath leave Cor'lana's body: Nadina Branfeax, only a few wrinkles here and there on her face, holding a little baby with a head full of dark hair. This little one looks at Cor'lana and Telamon with dark eyes that burst into starlight as she sees her parents, smiling in that joyous way only babies can. "Go back to sleep, little Aryia, Nana had you nice and tired just a moment ago," Nadina tells her.

Ri-Ri and Di-Di both look up at their grandmother and the baby, breaking away from Cor'lana's embrace as they walk closer to Nadina. "Is Yi-Yi okay?" Ri-Ri asks, certainly no longer sniffling as she gets on her tip-toes to look at the baby.

"We probably woke her up with all of the yelling," Di-Di replies, and she reaches up to hold little Aryia's hand. "Sorry, Yi-Yi, you need lots of sleep so you can stop being a sleepy baby. Ri-Ri, let's go play somewhere else!"

The girls depart back into the room and go down what sound to be a set of stairs--judging by all of the echoing steps and the giggling--as Nadina shakes her head and smiles at Cor'lana and Telamon. "So, hello again," she says. "In a manner of speaking. Has Lana never told you that she dreams about children?"

Cor'lana blushes vividly, her gaze lingering on the little baby in Nadina's arms. "No, I haven't," she says. "Because I want to wait on having them. But the dreams are... nice."

Telamon's eyes widen at the sight of Nadina, before pausing. Then he pastes on a smile again, as he watches the two girls go scampering off. Then, finally, he looks at Nadina, and smiles. "It's not surprising. She... was lonely for a long time. She doesn't want to be lonely again, and so she dreams."

Tel laughs softly. "But gods. Three girls? It'll be an amazing journey, to say the least." He looks to Cor'lana. "It'll happen soon enough. And I've made it clear when she's ready to hang up her cloak, I will too. It's... going to be a wonderful life for both of us -- even with everything that's happening."

"Well," Nadina replies as she walks forward, baby Aryia in hand, "it started with a dream Cor'lana had a while back. She had triplets in the dream, and while she woke up utterly bewildered, I got the sense she was rather taken with the idea of three daughters, so long as they weren't triplets. And perhaps you are now, too, Telamon." Her blue eyes twinkle with delight in the same way that her daughter's do when Cor'lana's amused.

Cor'lana blinks twice, and then she narrows her eyes. "I didn't know you had such... recollection of my dreams, Mother," she says. She goes to take Telamon's hand, but there's a certain sense of tension in the hand.

Nadina shakes her head, chuckling. "I suppose I should clarify," she says. "There is the me that is inside of Pothy's mind, the one that he's kept because he can't stand saying goodbye. And then there's me. The echo of me that lives in your memories and... in your magic. We become one and the same when dream walking involves all three of you. Hence why I said, 'Hello again, in a manner of speaking.' Does that clear things up?"

Cor'lana looks at Telamon. "I... think it does?" she asks. "Either way, I brought Telamon with me on an anniversary date. I... didn't expect the girls."

Telamon looks thoughtful. "It makes sense. You and Pothy are inextricably linked, Lana. Through Pothy there's... connection. I can probably sketch out the particulars when we wake up, if you're interested." His eyes meet Nadina's. "Though... if there was ever a chance to bring you back..."

Tel smiles. "It's like that book I read, where one of the characters called back one of his departed teammates to see his sister at her wedding. I'd do that too, in a heartbeat."

Nadina shakes her head. "No, what you have are merely memories and activated magic," she says. "Nothing you could use to resurrect someone. I get the sense that 'the real me' is likely slumbering peacefully in the Halls, or... Well, not sleeping, but we shouldn't go there. Not while the little one's awake." She pats down little Aryia's hair, and the baby nuzzles into her. "You know that these are dream-children rather than the real thing, because they are very easy to put down for a nap." Her lips curl into a grin.

Cor'lana smiles. "Well," she says, "I guess we should... explore this castle, shouldn't we? Unless, of course, you'd like to try and find our dream-daughters, Tel." There's a certain indication in Cor'lana's voice that she wouldn't mind that idea.

"You just want to see him play doting father with the little ones, don't you," Nadina accuses playfully. That makes Cor'lana blush a little. Guilty as charged, apparently.

A soft laugh comes from Telamon. "I wouldn't try with just memories and magic, Nadina. But..." He pauses. "Suffice to say that we have had experiences which suggest that drawing something... or someone... from dreams might be... possible." He heaves a sigh. "But I refuse to think about that right now. That's a problem for the waking world." 

He reaches out touch little-Aryia's cheek, studying her sleepy, curious expression. "Gods. She's got the starry eyes, just like mine. If this is how things play out, Grandfather will be over the moon." He glances at Lana with a grin. "You noticed how your eldest daughter had your violet eyes, too."

"''Your'' eldest daughter?" Cor'lana asks with a slight grin. "''Our'' eldest daughter, my love--I don't exactly know who else would have made them with me. But she had your platinum-blonde hair, too. I didn't expect the red hair on little Ariana, but I suppose it could happen--both your mother and my father have red hair, after all."

She takes a moment to look at little Aryia with the starlight eyes. "Could... we hold her?" she asks. Nadina nods, and she carefully puts the little girl into Cor'lana's arms, where the sleepy girl rests her chin on Cor'lana's shoulder.

Cor'lana just looks down at her for a long moment, and... her eyes well up. "She's so small," she whispers, looking back up at Telamon. "She feels... real, but I suppose everything in dreams feels real until you wake up."

Telamon smiles. "Makes sense. Red hair on both sides of our family, it was bound to pop back up. They're all going to be wonderful children -- when we get there." He puts his arm around Lana as she cuddles the dream-child.

"This may not be how we expected the dream to go... but maybe it's a good sign of things to come. That someday, we'll be able to have this. Well, maybe not the castle... but there will be a home and a family."

He looks to Nadina. "Why don't we tour the castle, and you can offer us some commentary? I'm sure you have ''something'' to add, being as opinionated as you were. Are."

"I'm certain Lana could give you the tour, considering she wrote about this place for her little attempt at a romance novel," Nadina says playfully as she looks at Cor'lana. "But I would be more than happy to play tour guide."

"I only wrote about four chapters before I stopped," Cor'lana murmurs. "The romance was moving way too fast, and... I wasn't brave enough to write the first intimacy scene."

That earns a cackle from Nadina as she moves for the room that the balcony's attached to, gesturing for the two to follow. "It's okay. At least your spicier poems you write about Telamon are competently written. Now, here's... the royal bedroom."

As Cor'lana steps inside, ducking under the curtains that obscured the room from the outside, she blinks. It is, indeed, a royal bedroom. The bed is a massive four-post affair, with an awful lot of pillows and luxuriously sleek sheets and bedding. That's to say nothing of the bookcases that line the room, as well as the crib, where the little violet-eyed plush that had been waiting for Cor'lana in that nursery room in Grandfather's house now lies in wait for baby Aryia.

Cor'lana gives the crib a look for a long moment and mutters, "I don't want to put her down yet." Little Aryia yawns from her shoulder, and curls into the crook of her mother's neck. It appears she thinks mom makes a better bed than the crib.

"You didn't use a 'night falls' bit? I saw that in a couple of books I read when I grew up, where it was obvious the couple, ahem, wound up in bed, but there wasn't any explicit writing. I asked father about it once, and he commented some people just weren't comfortable writing -- or reading -- that sort of thing." Telamon's lips quirk up. "Ah well."

At the sight of the royal bedroom, Tel can't help but chuckle. "Gods and stars, you could get lost in that bed. It looks... detailed. You got this description from another book, didn't you?" He grins at Lana, before his eyes move to the crib. At Lana's hesitancy, he touches her back, hugging her with one arm again so as not to disturb the baby. "You have to dream of things that aren't real," he says warmly. "How else can we learn to ''make'' them real?"

Cor'lana flushes, of course. "I probably stole the bed's description from another book, yes. But... almost all of Mother's romance books were of the explicit kind--there wasn't any skipping over the intimate bits there. I thought I had to measure up."

"Phrasing," Nadina says with a large grin on her face as she makes her way over to the only door in the room. "You have to be careful with the intimate bits of men or they'll cry, you know--unless they're into that."

Cor'lana just... rolls her eyes, and she turns to face Telamon with a soft smile, leaning into him a little. "I'd be happy with just the daughters," she replies. "I don't need a massive bed and a royal bedroom, or the..."

Her eyes drift over to the door that Nadina's opening. "... Stairs?" Cor'lana asks. "I mean, it sounded like stairs, but I wasn't expecting a spiral staircase."

"You don't remember your own writing?" Nadina asks with a bit of cheek. "How else was your protagonist going to have these long inner monologues that completed by the time she got to her room?"

Ouch.

Telamon tsks. "Let's not be too judgemental here, Nadina. How wise were ''you'' at thirteen? I wasn't exactly the polished fellow you see today then either." He gives Lana a squeeze, hugging her. "Just as long as I have a bed and a room to share with you, I'm happy as well." 

His eyebrows quirk at the staircase. "You know, I remember someone telling me that sort of 'staircase leading directly to the bedroom' was pretty rare if not unheard of. Something about how you wanted a small room to receive people in privately, between the bedroom and the stairs proper, so you didn't have to bring them into the bedroom."

He pauses, and then continues, "Also, if you're going to kill someone, best not to do it in your quarters. It can get messy."

Cor'lana snickers. "Well," she says, "I think I just liked the idea of having a set of spiral stairs between the bedroom and... everything else, and I certainly wasn't thinking about the best way to dispose of a dead body from a bedroom for my little romance book. Besides, Mother ''is'' right. It's one of those errors you make when you're young and don't know much about the world yet."

She carefully makes her way down the stairs, following Nadina down, but is surprised when... It wasn't all that long of a walk. Indeed, there's a little nursery here, with a smaller bed than the royal bedroom (although still larger than a child's bed has any right to be) covered in more luxurious bedding. But it's clear from the amount of carefully stacked block-towers and the small dresses hanging from the closet that this is where the little redhead girl lives and stays. "This is Princess Ariana's room," Nadina says with a little grin. She points to two more doors and says, "That door leads into Princess Nadina's room, and the other door opposite to us... Is more stairs, that lead down into the rest of the castle."

"See now, if we taught the children to ''fly'', we wouldn't have to deal with these stairs," Telamon mock-complains in a humorous tone. "Ah well. As you said, it was dreamed up when you were thirteen. But I kind of look forward to 'Papa, will you take us flying?' at some point." He rubs his chin, looking around the room. "Is it wrong that I have no idea what little girls would like for toys, aside from dolls?"

He ambles over to the other door, and opens it, looking into Princess Nadina's room to see what's there. Glancing back as he does. "I will clearly need your help when picking out Yule gifts for them."

Cor'lana snickers. "I could see you giving our daughters 'flight lessons', Tel," she says. "But I didn't write a nursery into the story, so I'll chalk that up to the dream being the dream."

"Little girls are much the same as little boys, believe it or not," Nadina replies. "I personally had fun with Gerald's hand-me-down toys as a young girl, but eventually I abandoned them for books. That might have been Pothy's influence at first, but I think he began to regret his influence when I found racier books as a young woman." She grins. "And then when I ran away from home at sixteen, my head filled with too many adventure stories. But I did fine."

The younger Nadina's room, however, is filled to the brim with plush toys and books. Many of the plush toys are large and excessively cuddly--and also look entirely handmade. Many of them bear violet eyes, which is a telltale sign of Grandfather's handiwork. Intriguingly enough, Pothy's book nest is in the corner, too, but Pothy isn't there.

"How sweet," Cor'lana murmurs as she pokes her head around Telamon. "That's just like him. I imagine he'd probably choose to be with the children from the moment they're born."

Telamon nods. "I suspect his own nature -- being something of a child -- he'd bond to them. Even if he'd be prone to causing trouble. But all children do that, really. Eventually, we grow up." He looks at the stacked children's books, and smiles. "She's also starting her reading career too... following in both our footsteps."

Tel glances up at Nadina. "I... are we in the dream, as our older selves? I was wondering. I didn't think we were, since the children reacted normally. But I can't help but wonder."

Nadina shakes her head. "This dream boiled into being around the two of you being here," she says. "It responded to Cor'lana's conscious and unconscious desires, which were to spend time with you, Telamon, and... to see her daughters. And me." Here, the older woman smirks. "The backdrop, so to speak, was plucked at random from her imagination, likely because Cor'lana wanted a romantic location."

Cor'lana looks thoughtful for a moment. "This really is a... 'dreaming imagination' walk," she says. "In our past efforts, Telamon and I have been going to places within the Realm of Dreams, reaching beyond what we know here on our world. Here, we... Simply are adrift. Alone together, with nothing but my dreaming desires. The children we're meeting here are... not necessarily the children from our future, because that would be preposterous. But it could be a sign of things to come."

She looks down at Aryia, who has certainly fallen asleep by this point. The little girl snoozes gently, only occasionally giving a little coo in her sleep. "I certainly wouldn't mind these little ladies," she says. "They'd have a wonderful father, for one thing."

Telamon chuckles softly. "Just daughters? It'll be amusing if it's three sons instead. But I won't mind either way." He touches the wall of the room. "I can't give her a castle -- well, not yet anyways -- but I can give her a home, and I can be the husband and father she'll need for those children." 

He looks over at Lana. "I wouldn't say adrift. Think of it with a boat metaphor. We're not sailing off into the unknown, but remaining in familiar waters -- everything here is from your head, primarily." He scratches his chin. "Though I wonder about what's rattling in mine. My dream started kind of odd."

A soft chuckle as Lana looks down at the sleeping girl. "They'll be wonderful children. Yours and mine, Lana."

"You looked positively ''unnerved'' when you flew down earlier," Cor'lana comments, looking back up at Telamon. Without particularly realizing it, she starts brushing down the hair of her sleeping daughter with her free hand. "So I'm glad you're here and... not back there with whatever it is that was so disturbing. And while I would be fine with sons... In truth, I think I'm rather taken with the idea of you mobbed by little girls."

"At the very least, he could teach them how to dress well," Nadina says with a smirk. "That's something you learned from him, after all. Now, I think I know where to take you for that romantic little location you wanted..."

She leads the two half-elves down more stairs and... into a strange sight. An indoor garden, filled with trees and flowers. Cor'lana blinks. "An indoor garden? With... ''trees''?" She points to one tree that reaches all the way to the ceiling, its branches long and spindly.

Telamon shakes his head. "It wasn't disturbing, just... strange. You'd think I'd get used to strange, but evidently the world likes to toss an off-center ball to me now and then." He shrugs lightly. "Ah well, not worth worrying about right now." 

As the couple follow Nadina down the stairs, Tel lightly brushes his fingers along the stonework again, before they reach the... garden? "Well," Telamon remarks. "This is quite the display..." He cocks his head, looking around before examining the tree. "How are they staying alive? Magic? Or does the ceiling disappear?" He smiles at the notion.

Nadina chuckles, and she pats Telamon on the shoulder. "Gods, you are ''adorable''," she says, in that trademark Nadina manner where one isn't sure if she's flirting or not. "Putting logic to whim will drive you mad one day. It's a dream. If this place existed, it'd likely have to exist by will of the gods or very powerful magic. Here... it simply exists because Lana wanted it to."

She pulls her hand away from Telamon and scampers off to another door. "Wait here," she orders the half-elves. "I have an idea."

The dream guide leaves, and Cor'lana looks at Telamon, still holding their sleeping dream-daughter. "Well, I won't lie," she says, "it is... sort of a romantic place." Her hands gesture to the little sparkles of mana light hidden in the branches of the trees, lighting the room up in small measures. "It reminds me of the sort of dark and beautiful woods you read about in stories from Quelynos, just inside of a room."

She takes a seat on a rather large tree root and smiles sweetly at Telamon. "Come sit," she says, patting the spot next to her.

Telamon chuckles softly, "I like to think there's an underlying reason and pattern. It may not be obvious; it may not make sense at first -- but it is there, if you look carefully." He smiles at Nadina. "Still, I don't let it bug me too much in light of more important things. Like your daughter."

Once Nadina's slipped off, Tel ambles over to where Lana is seated, and takes his spot next to her. "It's a good place though. Safe and warm and quiet... a good place to sit and cuddle, or read, or think about how to handle the next big thing." He puts his arm around Lana, and looks down at the sleeping Aryia. "I hope we can measure up as parents when we do this in the waking world."

Cor'lana smiles widely at Telamon, her eyes sparkling at him. "I know. I... I almost don't even want to wake up," she confesses. "But I know we have so much more to do. We'll get there one day. That's what I used to say, too, about when we were having to wait on the wedding--we'll get there one day."

She adjusts sleeping Aryia in her arms, just a little so Telamon can get a better look at her. The little girl has his nose, and her little pointed ear is all the more adorable, too. "I think this... puts things in perspective for me," Cor'lana says. "We've been together for a year now, and that's amazing, but there's years more to go. And then we'll get to that time where we're going to have children. A family that's all our own. The first Lúpecyll-Atlon children. The first descendants on our new family tree."

She smiles brightly at Telamon. "I'm looking forward to all of that time yet to come, Tel. I love you so much. Happy anniversary."

Telamon gives Lana's shoulders a squeeze. "I know. But... this is just 'things yet to come'. It's not real yet... but it will be, eventually. Whether it's sons, daughters, a mix, or if it's a castle or just a happy, lively home in the Mythwood... it'll be ours. Our life, built and hammered together." He looks thoughtful. "Khazadi talk about how similar metalworking and marriage are. I find that viewpoint very apt -- we'll spend a lot of time hammering and alloying to make sure things turn out right."

He brushes his fingertip along Aryia's brow. "Gods," he says quietly. "You know our Aryia would probably glare at us for naming one of our kids after her... and then she'd go off and be insufferably proud of it, too." Tel grins at Lana. "But like you said, we're planting a new tree. I can't wait to see where the branches go."

It's the last bit that makes Tel blush, just a bit, and even reach up to brush his hand across his eyes. Then he leans in to kiss Lana, before whispering, "I love you too, Lana. Happy anniversary, and here's to so many more."

Cor'lana returns the kiss, just staying there in his embrace for a long moment. It's just them, the sound of their heartbeats, and the rustle of wind in the tree branches above them in a room that should have no wind--but does, by the singular grace of being in a dream. She only draws away when little Aryia in her arms coos a little, stirring momentarily to make her opinion on something known.

"I mean, it's a good name for a daughter," Cor'lana replies with a little grin as she looks down at the little baby. "Nadina, Ariana, Aryia--named after some of the strongest women we know. I'd want to do something similar for a son, although their name would have to begin with a 'Tel' like yours, wouldn't it? Perhaps I'll have to think on it... and write your parents for suggestions when the time comes."

It's at that moment that Nadina returns in the garden, holding the hands of both little Nadina and little Ariana. "Mama! Papa!" both of them cry out, and they both run over to their parents. Little Ri-Ri goes for Cor'lana, while Di-Di goes to Telamon, both daughters giving their parents tight hugs.

"Nana said you have to go soon, Papa," Di-Di says. But she doesn't look sad or upset. "So Ri-Ri and I wanted to make sure both you and Mama got lots of hugs first."

Telamon grins back at Lana. "Yeah. If we had four, I'd want to name the fourth Andelena. Maybe name our sons after our friends as well -- Dolan, Dirk, and so on." He laughs softly at the half-slumbering babe in Lana's arms. "I'm sure mother and father will have many, many ideas. Even Grandfather might have some suggestions..."

When the girls run in, and hug them, Tel actually... chokes up a bit. His arms go around Di-Di, hugging her close, and he takes a deep breath to compose himself. "Yes," he says a little hoarsely. "I'm afraid so. But don't worry, we'll be back before you know it." He presses a kiss to the little girl's cheek. "Thank you," he says with quiet dignity... though it's uncertain who he's addressing.

"No sad, Papa," little Ri-Ri says from the comfort of Cor'lana's embrace, pointing at Telamon. "Smi-ull!" That's the most ferocious command that a little girl of Ri-Ri's size has ever given, paired with an utterly serious expression, too. As misty-eyed as Cor'lana suddenly is, too, she smiles, too.

"You must always want everyone to smile, huh, Ri-Ri," Cor'lana says, patting down the red curls. "Well, I think Papa and I will take that advice to heart."

Di-Di squeezes Telamon just a little harder. "We'll meet again one day," she tells him. The words are... too wise for her years. "You'll be okay until then, Papa. You too, Mama."

"Time for bed, girls," the older Nadina says...

...

And Cor'lana's eyes open. The light of Daeus is still coming through their bedroom window. "I need that potion-maker to brew us a stronger potion," is the first thing that she murmurs. "So we have longer with them, next time."

Tel's reaction to awakening is... perhaps unexpected. His arms are still curled around himself, as if hugging something, and he lets out a small unhappy sound. "...I'm not sure I want to. That..." He takes a deep shuddery breath, and his starry eyes are wet. "That... felt too real. Like something you could fall into and never get away from." He reaches up to wipe his face, trying to drive out the tears.

"I know it wasn't... true. But... I didn't want it to be untrue. I wanted it to be real. But I know we've got miles to go before we get there."

Cor'lana scoots closer to Telamon, and she wraps her arms around him. She leans in and kisses right off to the side of his nose, as though she's trying to kiss the tears away. "It'll be real one day, Tel," she says. "But... you're right, I think. If we go in search of them again, we might forget about reality and... then they never will be real. I suppose that's the danger of being a dreamer. Sometimes you lose yourself and you don't see your dreams realized."

But she smiles fondly. "I won't let that happen, though. Now, more than ever--I want to be an adventurer. So we can make this world a safer one for those little girls to live in."

Telamon wraps his arms around Lana in turn, clutching her to him. "M'sorry," he mumbles. "I just... I ''wanted'' it to be real, and just for a moment... I think that's why Nadina ended it." He sighs heavily. "Hell of a way to find a flaw in your personality." He nestles in close to her, his breathing relaxing.

"Yeah. We have to build a better world, so we'll be able to walk around with those girls. Or boys, if the gods will it." Tel kisses Lana lightly, and he shivers. "Thank you for being here, love."

"You want to be a father, Tel," Cor'lana says gently, nuzzling against him. "That's not a flaw. That's an ambition that not all men have, which is one reason why people like me can grow up without fathers and not know why til they're older."

She returns the kiss, and her arms wrap just a little tighter around him. It's a similar sensation to when Di-Di held him, although her arms were smaller. "I'll continue being here so long as you need me and want me," she says. "After all... We ''are'' celebrating our anniversary today." There's a slight smirk on her face.