Feytouched and Fey Friends

Log Info

• Title: Feytouched and Fey Friends

• Emitter: Telamon

• Characters: Ravenstongue, Telamon

• Place: Ravenstongue and Telamon's house

• Summary: Telamon arrives home from his journey into Quelynos in a bit of a frantic hurry, as he's been gone for three days, and finds Ravenstongue waiting at home for him. After a bit of a teary reunion, the two half-elves go inside and Telamon explains what happened to Ravenstongue, who is taken aback by the knowledge that her fiance faced off against the King of the Sluagh and lived. She's further upset when she learns that Telamon has to leave her again to, well, save the world, but Ravenstongue is an adventurer, too, and understands.

Three days.

Telamon didn't really grasp it till he'd stumbled out of the Round Table, the sun dipping down. "Crap," he mumbles. "Lana's going to be frantic." With that, he starts walking towards the University district... he just doesn't have the energy to run. Luckily, he catches a rickshaw not far from the Table, and pours several silver coins into the startled man's hand. "East Street, University District," before sitting down.

It's not too long before the rickshaw stops near the Lúpecyll-Atlon house. Telamon slithers out of the rickshaw, and the driver tosses him a cheery salute before taking off. "I probably overpaid him," he grumbles, before turning towards his house with weary feet.

As Telamon walks to the home, it's more than easy enough for him to spot Pothy through the kitchen window as there's a peanut in his mouth--who then turns around and calls to something further within the house. That something turns out to be Cor'lana, who has dark circles underneath her violet eyes that go wide as she spots Telamon through the glass--

And then she disappears, ducking out of view. It's only a moment later that the front door thuds open and Cor'lana rushes out--and she throws herself at Telamon, tossing her arms out to catch herself on him. "Tel!" she manages to say, before she breaks down in sniffles.

Pothy flies out of the house and lands comfortably on a nearby bush, staring at the two half-elf sorcerers. He just swallows his peanut as he watches this teary little reunion.

Yep, here come those wild emotions. Telamon was kind of expecting this. "Hi, honey," he says wearily. "I'm home." His arms go around her as she clings to him, and he nuzzles the top of her head. A happy little glow in his heart, as he embraces her.

He glances up at Pothy, and offers the familiar a little half-wave, before murmuring, "Can we go inside? I'm beat. It's been a long... well, three days, I guess, in Quelynos. Didn't seem like three days there, but you know how it is."

Cor'lana's arms curl even tighter around Telamon as he says he's home, sniffling just all the more. It's like she's hoping somehow this gesture alone will somehow keep Telamon from disappearing for three days ever again--or maybe she's simply relishing in having him home. Either way, she burrows her teary cheeks onto his clothes, as he's never minded the stains of her tears, and she comes back up a moment later with a nod. "Yeah," she says to his request--but she draws Telamon in for a long and firm kiss, first, going up on the tips of her feet to do so.

Pothy just watches this with a deadpan expression. "Hello, Telamon," he finally replies in his cherubic child's voice. (Thankfully, he's just close enough for Verna's wards to make his speech intelligible.) "Glad you're home. Lana soaked my feathers with her tears last night, so it'll be nice to not get rained on."

Cor'lana breaks off the kiss and looks at Pothy. "At least you didn't need to take a bath yesterday," she says, before she looks back to Telamon with a smile. "I... knew you'd be okay, but you know how I am... Come on, let's get you inside."

Inside, there's three boxes of sweets from the Cheerful Corvid shop sitting on the dining room table with Addy's handwriting in bold on them: "DO NOT TOUCH, POTHY. LANA'S ONLY. :("

Telamon kisses back, without any need to be encouraged. Happy to hold her close, even if they are standing out in front of the house. Oh well, it's not exactly scandalous. Once they come up for air again (although Tel doesn't feel out of breath), he smiles down at her. "I know. It's all right. It didn't sink in till after I'd left the Table, and then I realized 'Oh shit.'"

He follows Lana into the house, as she leads him in, and he gestures for Pothy to follow as well. His eyebrows rise at the three boxes of snacks, but then he grins at the note, trying to conceal it and doing so very poorly. "I'm glad Addy was by to keep you company." He unslings his haversack, setting it down by the couch before sinking into it. "Our trip was fruitful, though."

"Yeah, I sort of sent Pothy out as a messenger once I realized you weren't coming home for the night," Cor'lana replies, shutting the door behind them and locking it. She also sits down on the couch next to him, sighing as she puts her head onto his shoulder.

Pothy lands on the table next to the couch and just offers Cor'lana a flat look. "Yes, you sent me out at one in the morning and made me wake up poor Addy in her flat. You're lucky she loves you, Lana."

Cor'lana looks a little sheepish. "Well, you only have so many cousins," she says. But she gestures to the sweet boxes. "She couldn't stay with me today, because her assistant fell ill, but she made sure that I could eat."

There's not a single sweet missing from the boxes, however. They look entirely untouched, which draws Pothy's gaze back to them every so often. He longs for those treats.

"What'd you manage to find?" Cor'lana asks, looking a little curious now.”

Telamon frowns. "I told you we might be gone a day or so..." He sighs. "I should've asked Addy to come by before I left. In any case, I was still off by two days. Ugh." He puts his arm around Lana, stroking her hair, letting her rest against him. "Pothy, come over here for a bit. I want your input as well. Might as well put that repository of knowledge to use."

Tel focuses, brows coming together as he marshals his thoughts. "We shifted to Quelynos without incident initially. It was myself, Lysos, Dolan, Andelena -- don't think you've met her but she's Dolan's lady -- and Verna. Unfortunately, things kind of went off the track very fast."

"Honestly, I was hoping that you'd come back an hour later... It happens sometimes," Cor'lana replies with a shy little smile. "Sometimes people leave Quelynos and it's like no time's passed at all, according to the stories. Like there was one with a group of children I liked growing up..."

Pothy takes a peanut and cracks it open. "You're talking about that book Nadi read you as a child with the warlock and the closet? Totally made up. Nadi met the author once. She made a pass at him, too, but he said no, which upset her an awful lot."

Cor'lana just makes a face as she usually does when Pothy volunteers a little more than she needed to know. "Thanks, Pothy," she says, and she looks back at Telamon. "What happened? Don't tell me you were accosted by the nobility immediately."

Telamon looks sour. "No, that actually came a little later. This little dragon -- not much bigger than Pothy -- came down to greet us. Her name is Tanith, and she's cute, if... well, food focused. Like some I could mention." He smirks at Pothy, before continuing. "In any case, Tanith offered to take us to the girl, Phyrelia -- at which point..." His lips curl downward in a frown. "Verna started turning into a werewolf."

"I don't know what had happened -- if she was infected and didn't realize it, or what, but all I know is she started growing fur and a muzzle and freaking out. Tanith teleported the rest of us out of there, which is when I found out we'd jumped out of the pot into the fire."

Cor'lana's eyes go wide as Telamon says 'that came a little later'--and then, of course, Verna turning into a werewolf. "She turned into one?" she asks, pulling back as she looks at Telamon in shock. "When was she even bitten? Can you... turn into a werewolf without being bitten?"

"I hope not," Pothy says, looking between Cor'lana and Telamon. "Both of you would make awful werewolves. You'd be too busy f...rolicking under the moonlight together instead of trying to bite other people."

It takes a moment, but Cor'lana blushes at the word that Pothy almost said, but didn't. "Pothy, shush. Did... Tanith bring you to meet with one of the nobility?"

Telamon gives Pothy a dirty look. "Yeah. You know how I'd theorized the girl, Phyrelia, was hiding with the Seelie Court -- since they're ascendant, and would probably be more amenable? I clearly didn't know what the hell I was talking about, because Tanith dropped us into the royal chamber of the king of the Sluagh. She was taking refuge with him instead."

"That was tense. I think he was more curious than actually angry at the intrusion, but at least he let us make our case." He runs his hand through his hair. "At least I remembered not to say 'my name is' or 'I am'."

Cor'lana lets go of Telamon and actually slides back from him on the couch a bit, just staring at him with wide eyes. "Tel," she says, in absolute horror. "Tel, did you say the King of the Sluagh? Tel, he's the leader of the Wild Hunt. The most dangerous fey of them all. You could have gotten killed!"

She practically wilts against the couch, just looking at him in utter disbelief now as she gives a huge sigh. "I'm not... upset with you, at all," she says, finally. "Just... Gods. I didn't think you'd be taken to him. That's about as bad as Unseelie get, and they get bad. Really, really bad."

Telamon exhales. "Yeah. The fact that he handed his name out kind of indicated he didn't see us as any kind of serious danger. Unfortunately, he also wanted to keep Verna." His lip curls. "Which... we weren't really super inclined to go along with. So we kept him talking till we got Phyrelia, the girl, close enough -- and then Tanith bounced us out to somewhere else."

He leans back, staring at the ceiling. "It was a room. I remember that much. But Verna was there, confined inside some kind of transmutation circle which had... undone her transformation. Some kind of fae magic, I guess. There was a very strange woman there, too, who had a tentacle for an arm. I was tempted to ask if she knew the Watcher, but we were a little rushed for time."

Cor'lana looks at how Telamon stares at the ceiling, and she scoots back up to him, nuzzling her head against his shoulder as she wraps an arm around him. She's gotten over the initial shock of her fiance meeting one of the most dangerous men in Quelynos and living to tell the tale, although she still looks a little wary of the rest of his tale. "A woman with a tentacle for an arm... And a transmutation circle for magic? I wonder if Grandfather would know anything about that sort of thing."

She mulls over it some more, looking thoughtfully up at Telamon. "Were you able to figure out why the woman was there? Was she working for the King?"

Telamon shakes his head. "As soon as we'd grabbed Verna, Tanith yanked us back to Ea, and the Table. That was when we'd found out three days had passed. But..." He pauses. "Phyrelia said something interesting, when we were all catching our breath. I... think what may have happened was that the fae cured the lycanthropy, but... um... it might've had side effects. That Verna would be more emotional now."

His eyes twinkle as he looks at Lana. "Sound familiar? I don't think it was anything as formalized as a blood pact, but... one does not simply walk out of Quelynos unchanged, especially in that state." He heaves a sigh. "Well, there are worse things."

There's a sparkle in Cor'lana's eyes, too, as she recognizes those words exactly. "So she's feytouched, then--like me." There's perhaps a touch of far more wonder than she should have in her voice, but it's a tone that Telamon can recognize, too--a sense of happiness at finding someone like her.

(He'd know that from anywhere, because it was how she was when they first met on that one day in the fall.)

"Which means Verna's probably going to need some guidance on how to handle going from being happy and dancing around the kitchen one moment and absolutely despondent the next," Pothy says. He cracks a peanut. (Of course he does.)

"I feel like that was an entirely reasonable response to pulling Grandfather's lavender cookies I made out of the oven, only to find that I burned them," Cor'lana says with a huff. She looks at Telamon and smiles, however. "There are worse things, and you all came back alive, so... I'd say it was successful. Even if you made me cry."

Telamon slides his hand around the back of Lana's head, pressing her to him. "I didn't want to," he says softly. "I love you, and I hate seeing you cry." He kisses her brow. "And we always promised to be truthful to each other -- which is why I'll be leaving again in a day or so."

Before she can protest, Tel continues, "The avatar of Eluna is trapped. In the Desolation. Surrounded by black and blue roses. We're going to rescue her, and anyone or anything that interferes is going to get hurt real bad." He looks into her eyes. "And then I'm coming back home to you again, and we'll get back to planning that wedding. Because I'll be damned if an invasion of undead is going to screw up our plans."

Well, of course Cor'lana's upset by Telamon telling her he's leaving again, but his affection and his words seem to soften the blow--while her violet eyes do well up with tears again, she isn't sobbing. "And I can't beg you to stay," she says quietly, her hands going to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Not when something so important is at stake."

She sighs and wraps her arms around him tightly again. "As long as you come home to me and we can have our wedding... It'll all be worth it. I'll be okay." There's little sniffles, but she's taking it well.

Pothy, meanwhile, just looks relieved to not have to be the one mopping up the tears this time. He just quietly eats his peanuts.

Telamon slides her back into his lap, and tucks her under his chin. Letting her nuzzle in, cuddling close. "I wish I didn't. But... it's who I, who we, are. Trying to set the wrong things right again." He kisses her hair, resting his cheek against her head. "I wouldn't be the man you love if I could ignore those things, and I don't think I'd want to be that kind of man."

Tel rubs her back gently, letting her slowly regain her composure. "How have the pixies been doing? Staying out of trouble? Or causing some new flavor of it?"

Cor'lana is more than content to be put into her happy spot, to cuddle up so closely to Telamon and to have him--even if it's just for a moment. The tears subside and turn to a small and gentle smile. No amount of sadness that he's going to be gone again for a little while can keep down her happiness with him forever.

But then the question is asked about the pixies, and Cor'lana groans a little. "They're... Trying to be helpful. I sort of ordered them yesterday to leave me alone 'until my heart comes home' because Lily-of-the-Valley suggested if you'd... left, in any way, that she could find someone else for me. Mirabilis tried to apologize on her behalf, but I just wasn't having any of it."

"Cor'lana was sooooo mad," Pothy says cheerfully. "She was swearing up a storm and she even threw her cup of tea to the floor."

"I didn't even know I could get that mad... But I feel really bad for frightening them," Cor'lana says, shrinking even further, somehow, into that crook underneath Telamon's chin.

Telamon sighs. "They really need a wrangler. Someone with a bit more sense, because they don't have the wits the gods gave a firefly." He continues stroking her hair. "I don't blame you for being angry, love. I joke about sometimes leaping before I look, but sometimes I think they make me look like the soul of discretion."

He burrows his face into her hair again, letting the scent of lavender suffuse his senses. Then he grins. "Swearing up a storm, he says? Guess you've heard a few of the choicer phrases I've used on occasion."

GAME: Telamon rolls perception: (8)+12: 20

Cor'lana stays put underneath Telamon's chin--likely out of a sense of shame. "Yes," she says. "I'm sure I mangled the pronunciation on some of the oruch phrases, and I definitely didn't mean what I said, but I was just... consumed by anger. I suppose that's part of being feytouched, too."

There's the sound of tiny little insect wings humming from the backyard, and then it goes to the kitchen window--and then it stops with the sound of something being dropped on the windowsill of the kitchen window. Cor'lana doesn't seem to notice it, however.

Maybe it's been the tension of the last (three?) days, but Telamon is a little more aware. He lifts his head, his eyes immediately orienting towards the window. "What was that?" He looks at Lana. "Did you hear that? Sounded like... someone tapping? Is Grandfather here?"

He doesn't push Lana off his lap, but he tilts his head in the direction of the kitchen window. "It came from there," he says, brows coming together in a slight frown.

Cor'lana lifts her head a little and she squints in the direction of the window. She gets up (begrudgingly, obviously) from Telamon's lap and walks over to the window, where her expression blooms in clear and obvious curiosity as she beholds a purple hyacinth in full bloom just left on the windowsill.

"Looks like an apology gift," Cor'lana says over her shoulder to Telamon with a little smile. "It matches the color of my eyes, too. I kind of like that."

Telamon walks up behind her, and smiles as well. The flower really is quite gorgeous. He carefully opens the window, and retrieves it... and says, loudly enough to be heard outside by any faerie ears, "I think we can say 'apology accepted', hm?" He tucks the flower into Lana's hair, admiring her. "There you go. Now you look like a proper fey queen."

He gives her a soft kiss, before smiling out into the evening, clearly assuaged by the gift. "All things pass, darling. If I had my druthers I'd bring you along too, but moving five people into the Desolation is going to be scary enough as is."

Cor'lana flushes, of course, at Telamon's words. "I'm hardly a fey queen," she protests. "I'm not nearly so... awe-inspiring and fear-inspiring at the same time. But I'll happily settle for being the queen of your heart, as you say so often." She returns that kiss with an impish smile.

She looks out, too, beholding the way the setting sun provides that gradient of warm-into-cool that dances so playfully with the plants in their garden--which have clearly not been abandoned by the pixies. "Yeah," she says, leaning her head onto Telamon's shoulder. "Apology accepted. And don't worry, Tel--I know you'll come back home to me safe and sound."

It's a sweet moment that interrupted by two little pixie voices:

"Mirabilis! You're a genius! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I couldn't stand it if Lady Lúpecyll actually hated us!"

"Lily, I love you, but you're gonna make all of the petals on my dress wilt if you keep making me clean up after you."

Whining. "Mirabilissssss! You can't abandon meeeeeee! I'm your sister, practically!"

Telamon reaches out and very carefully closes the window, before he looks at Lana. "Yeah. They need a minder, dear. Next time Grandfather visits, ask him if he's got any ideas. You know I'm fairly flexible about things." His dark eyes sparkle. "We can work it out as we go."

He touches her cheek, before taking her hand. "Yes. Nothing is going to stop me from coming home again. The only question will be how much of a mess will I have to make to get back here." He grins impishly. "And you know... I bet you've not been eating, either. Have you had dinner?"

"Maybe I could find a third pixie for them? A boy pixie, perhaps, just to keep Lily occupied. She's the one who tends to have the worst ideas or says the worst things," Cor'lana says thoughtfully as she continues to look out the window. "Makes me glad I've only ever been crazy about you... and fictional boys."

Then Telamon asks the question. She looks over to the sink, which is completely empty of dishes to be washed, and she slooooowly looks back at Telamon with a look that suggests one thing: guilty as charged. "No," she finally admits. "I haven't been eating. Honestly, I keep forgetting to until people remind me. Food tastes alright--Grandfather's food is the best, of course--but I just... don't need to, I think."

"Nadi and I think it's that blood pact of yours, Lana," Pothy calls out from the living room table. "It's probably Grandfther's outsider influence rubbing off on you."

Telamon raises his eyebrows. "Well, at least you're not going to waste away from not eating while I'm gone." He hugs her tightly. "As long as you don't mind having dinner with me, I think I'll survive." He gives her a squeeze. "Hm. A boy pixie might not be a bad idea. Something to distract them. Keep them occupied. They say idle hands are a perpetual danger, and I suspect those two have a bit more time on their hands than they should."

He lifts her hand to his lips. "So, would you like to go out, or eat in? I'm not picky, either way... so long as I'm with you, I'm happy." His eyes are full of stars, sparkling and comforting.

Cor'lana can't help but smile, of course, as Telamon hugs her and squeezes her. She returns the favor, too--although she gets a mischievous look on her face as Telamon mentions idle hands...

And she reaches down and pinches Telamon's butt, grinning. "Idle hands are a danger," she purrs.

Pothy looks deadpan at the two half-elves. "Okay, I can take a hint," he says, and he just shovels a few peanuts into his beak and flies off into the study.

Cor'lana snickers, grinning with delight at Telamon. "Honestly," she says, "I think I'd prefer to stay the night in... and you all to myself." There's a tad of the fey possessiveness in there, but it's in Telamon's favor--so who's complaining?

Telamon jumps a tiny bit at the pinch. "That was revenge for the smack on the bottom a week ago, wasn't it?" he replies with a smirk. When Pothy flies off, he just shakes his head. "He's so easy to fluster around us." Looking at Lana, he grins. "Well, we should have... most of what was here when I left. I think we can probably make a simple meal. Some bread and cheese, with the cider."

He winks at Lana. "Dessert, of course, will be served in bed. You've earned it, going so long without me."

Cor'lana sticks her tongue out playfully at Telamon. "Of course it was," she says. "But it also was to get Pothy out of the room so we could have dinner all to ourselves." An underhanded way to make sure that Pothy didn't eat the entirety of dinner, but it worked.

She giggles and kisses Telamon on the cheek. "I wouldn't expect anything less. I look forward to tasting it later."

While the half-elves have a pleasant evening, the two pixies hold council outside in the lavender. Mirabilis has her arms folded, and she looks incredibly contemplative. "Lily, I think I heard Lady Lúpecyll discussing getting a third person for the garden."

Lily-of-the-Valley's nose wrinkles. "Really? Isn't that just like, interfering? Everyone knows you mess up a perfectly good thing when you add another person to the group."

Mirabilis shakes her head. "We're not talking about rewriting a Theatre District show. She's talking about hiring a boy pixie--"

"SOLD. DIBS. MINE FIRST," Lily says, grabbing Mirabilis and shaking her. "WE WILL FALL IN LOVE AND OUR ROMANCE WILL BE LEGENDAAAAAARRYYYYY~"

Mirabilis watches Lily fly off into the sky. She just sighs. The pixie will come back down... eventually.