The Pixie Card Game

Log Info

• Title: The Pixie Card Game

• Emitter: Telamon

• Characters: Ravenstongue, Telamon

• Place: Ravenstongue and Telamon's house

• Summary: Telamon heads back home from an encounter with a demon, where the pixies and Pothy are playing cards while Cor'lana waits for her husband to reappear. The tale is told about the incident involving demons, and Cor'lana is aghast about the whole ordeal. The evening dissolves into a typical evening for the Lupecyll-Atlon household: full of laughter and love.

Well, at least it's a nice night. Telamon is soaring overhead, having left the docks behind. Unhurt, unfazed, but... feeling unproductive. "Stupid demons," he grumbles. "Stupid exploding demons... well, at least Sir Seldan and his friend are all right..." He pauses in midair, and sniffs at his coat.

"Crap."

He heaves a sigh, and begins to descend... gliding downwards on wings of light towards a specific house in the University district. Smoothly, Tel alights on the doorstep, and unlocks the door, pushing it open.

And inside the Lúpecyll-Atlon house--

"I'm RAISING," Lily-of-the-Valley declares. The pixie and her pixie-sister, Mirabilis, sit on the coffee table, holding rather small playing cards. Pothy is sitting there, too, but he's holding a hand in... his beak. The strange scene is completed as Lily-of-the-Valley shoves a collection of small candies into the middle of the table. "No, screw that, I'm ALL IN," she declares.

Mirabilis just blinks at her. "Alright, well, here we go," she says as she pushes in a horde to match the bet. Pothy... pushes forward a small mound of candies from his own horde. It appears he's winning.

Cor'lana walks out of the bedroom in the meantime, wearing a long silk robe with a floor-length (well, for her height, that is) nightgown underneath. She just stares at the table and sighs as the hands are revealed... And Pothy has a royal flush, resulting in the pixies both crying out in agony.

"I hope Tel--" Cor'lana begins her remark, until her eyes spy the open door and Telamon in it. A wide grin spreads on her face. "Tel!" She strides forward and goes to embrace him.

Telamon has just enough time to take off the rather fetching broad-brim hat he's wearing, before Lana rushes into his arms. "Ooof. Hi hon, I'm home." Mental sigh. He knows she'll smell the smoke. Best to just get it out of the way now. Giving her a kiss, before he peers over her shoulder at the tableau. "Are they... okay, yeah, I guess they are."

He pushes the door shut with his foot, and says, "Sorry I ran a little late. I was making some inquiries and, well... ran into a little trouble."

And sure enough... There comes the nuzzle after the kiss. It takes the form of another kiss (this one to his chin) and a started attempt of burrowing into the happy place, until... Sniff sniff. Cor'lana's eyes narrow a little.

"Did you... Go to a bonfire or something?" Cor'lana asks, and it sounds like it's about to be followed with the deadliest of phrases for a newlywed husband--"Without me?!"--until she follows it up with, "No, wait. You said trouble."

Cor'lana pulls back from Telamon, just a little, and she looks at him with concern radiating in her face and in her eyes. "Is everything okay? You're not hurt, are you? If the Corpse-Eater hurt you, I'll..." The anger builds in her face and voice just at the very sentiment.

"I wish it was a bonfire, I'd have flown home, picked you up, and flown back with you." Telamon's eyes are starry, wry, and a bit amused. "No, sadly, it was nothing so cheerful. Let me get my coat off, and we can sit down and talk a bit."

Once Telamon's hung his coat and boots up -- a familiar act -- and locked the door, the couple find themselves ensconced on the sofa. "I was down at the docks, fishing for leads on our little friend the Corpse-Eater. Sadly, no dice-- but I ran into Sir Seldan down there."

"Sir Seldan!?" Lily-of-the-Valley exclaims from the table, having lost all of her candies to Pothy. "Isn't he like, the super-ultra-famous-Elunan-paladin hottie?! Man, I wish he'd moon me!"

Mirabilis facepalms. Lily-of-the-Valley pouts. "What, it was a joke. Eluna... Moon... Butts..."

Cor'lana just rolls her eyes, although she is grinning. She looks back at Telamon as she pulls a blanket into her lap and offers it to him for that all-desired comfort and warmth in the autumn season. "So you ran into Seldan," she says. "What happened then?"

Telamon's expression is torn somewhere between amusement and mild offense. "I... you know what, Lily, I'll ask him if he'll send you an autograph or something." He cuddles up with Lana -- hey, it's cold out there, and he needs his warmth! -- and continues his tale. "In any case... it seems demons are making their way into the city. Again. Still. Seldan picked out another one that was disguised and trying to offer a deal to a dockworker."

He takes a breath. "There was a one-eyed lady there, another paladin -- Kira is her name. When we proved to be less than amenable to making deals, the demon decided to get physical and... well, it didn't end well for him."

There's no objection whatsoever from Cor'lana about cuddling. She would be the biggest hypocrite in the world if she had one, judging by the happy look on her face. And while there's certainly danger in Telamon's tale, the worry that would normally be there on her face from hearing it has been weakened by Telamon's closeness. "Really," she says with a tiny huff. "A demon's met with a sorcerer of considerable power, a powerful servant of Eluna, and another paladin, and it decides to get physical. Are they..."

She pauses for a moment, her face screwed up in thought. "Crap. What's the word for someone who likes pain again?"

"Masochist?" Pothy offers between bites of candy. The pixies look highly alarmed.

"A masochist, yeah," Cor'lana says. "I mean, it is a demon we're talking about here."

Telamon shakes his head. "I don't think he had much of a choice. Sir Seldan had conjured up walls of force to contain it." He scratches his chin, considering. "In any case, I took to the skies so I could launch spells and stay out of Seldan and Kira's way, and... well, the demon exploded. That's why you smell smoke. Fortunately I wasn't hurt, and Seldan and Kira were able to heal themselves. It didn't hurt that that makari priest friend of Seldan's, Zeke, had come by as well."

Tel heaves a sigh. "And that, my dear, is what delayed me. A demon picking a fight and getting turned into a rapidly-expanding fireball."

"That's a rather productive walk, I'd say," Cor'lana responds with a little smile. "I'm sure it was tense and fraught, but..."

She leans in and kisses Telamon on the cheek. "You made it back home to me, like you promised you would," she says. "Even if you smell like smoke, I don't mind. So long as we both draw breath, then everything in this life is manageable." Her left hand goes to rest on his lap, her wedding curuchuil and her ring on display.

Pothy looks at the two for a moment. "So... Lana, you're not like, concerned about the demons?" he asks.

"No, I am," Cor'lana replies, and she looks back to Telamon's face with a smile. "But concern and worry are secondary to comforting my husband who's just witnessed a demon exploding."

Telamon still looks a little sour. "Maybe. Once we'd put the fires out, I headed home. I just..." He raises a hand, rocking it back and forth. "I mean, it wasn't wholly unproductive -- even educational, really -- but that's not what I was hunting for." He burrows his face in against Lana's shoulder, cuddling her.

"I'm glad I made it home to you, even if I probably wasn't in danger." Tel takes a deep breath, letting the scent of lavender wash away his worries. Lifting his head, he looks over at Lily, Mira, and Pothy. "So what were you three playing? And where did you get cards that small?" He tilts his head, peering at the pixie-sized cards.

A look of realization crosses Cor'lana's face with Telamon's last sentiment on the matter of the whole ordeal. "Oh, Tel," she says as she turns a little and wraps her arms around him, keeping him close to her. "I know. You're doing your best. We are doing our best. Don't let the threat of the Corpse Eater's existence consume you."

The pixies, meanwhile, look a little wry. "Made them," Mirabilis says. "Lily-of-the-Valley needed more productive outlets for all of her pent up energy, so I thought I'd teach her some card games."

Mirabilis pouts. "We were playing pocket," she says. "Pothy's too good at it. It's no fun to lose."

Telamon smiles, and kisses Lana. "I know, but... I do have to try. Still... maybe I need to talk to someone who swings a bigger stick, so to speak. Rogue fey lords can't be any more welcome here than demons." He grins. "That's what friends are for, after all."

He relaxes, though, especially with Lana cuddled up to him. He hrms. "Well, I'm not sure I'd have started with pocket against Pothy. He once thrashed both myself and Grandfather in rumrunner. Absolutely embarrassing." He smirks at Pothy. "And he's obnoxious when he wins."

All of Pothy's feathers puff up! "No I'm not," he complains. "I'm just a very enthusiastic winner." The pixies' pouting faces suggests otherwise.

"I can't believe Lord Lúpecyll has lost to Pothy at cards," Lily-of-the-Valley grumbles--and then she rallies as she clearly gets an idea. "But maybe the Lady can win! Pothy is her familiar, after all!"

Cor'lana sticks her tongue out at the idea. "I only play card games with Telamon," she says, "and they tend to involve betting clothes."

That, of course, was entirely the wrong thing to say to the pixies, because they just giggle in absolute merriment. "Ahh, wedded bliss for our lord and lady!" Lily-of-the-Valley opines, her voice absolutely dreamy. "Lord Lúpecyll, how have you been adjusting? Surely the Lady hasn't worn you out--"

Mirabilis clamps her hand over Lily's mouth. "Yes, how are you adjusting to married life?" she asks, more politely.

Telamon fixes Lily with a gimlet eye. "Really, Lily, you went there? A gentleman does not discuss such things." He leans back, offering Mirabilis a smile. "In some ways it's not too different from before," and here he winks at Lana with a grin, before continuing. "And then I turn around and realize everything has changed. I have a responsibility to her that I will not shirk."

He lets the heavy sentiment hang in the air, before his starry eyes twinkle. "Also, I occasionally catch myself almost about to introduce myself as only 'Telamon Atlon' rather than the proper 'Telamon Lúpecyll-Atlon'. Fortunately, I haven't made that mistake outright yet. In time, even that will fade."

He laughs softly. "Master Stiger told me it takes time to get used to marriage, and that I was still at the stage where if I turned too fast it'd squeak like an unoiled gear. I guess I'm still at the squeaking stage."

"She wouldn't be Lily-of-the-Valley if she didn't go there," Cor'lana says with a little giggle. But her eyes twinkle similarly to his, even if they lack his starry nature. "It's like he said. Things are certainly different--but it feels like it did before, just... moreso. I no longer merely have my soulmate with me here--he is bound to me, and I to him. The mark of our marriage is forever on our hands--rings can be stolen, but flesh cannot be so easily altered."

She does look sheepish for a moment. "Honestly, Tel, I... My journals have an awful lot of me practicing my new signature in the margins when verses fail to come to me for poetry. I wanted to make sure I got it right the first time around on a document where it mattered--the marriage document."

Lily looks like she has something she really wants to say. Mirabilis shoots her a warning glare before she takes her hand from her pixie-sister's mouth. "OH MY MAJESTIES, YOU TWO ARE SO CUTE," Lily-of-the-Valley exclaims.

Telamon snorts. "Someone who steals our rings had better run fast and far. There are some offenses I will not take kindly or well, even if we can replace the rings." He settles down again, and reaches over to run his fingertips along the curuchuil on Lana's hand.

"Oh, you're doing that too? That's what I was doing in the study yesterday, working on practicing my signature." Tel grins at Lana. "It sounded so different -- but right -- when I introduced myself to Kira. 'Telamon Lúpecyll-Atlon, at your service.' And before you ask, I'd just watched her use her bare hands to pummel a fiend -- she said she was a Sentinel, a priestess of Althea. I'm curious as to what kind."

At Lily's heartfelt declaration, Telamon just laughs softly. "Yes, well... you've watched us grow together, into a single tree as it were, Lily. You've even had a small part in the growing."

Cor'lana flushes a little as Telamon reveals he's been doing the exact same thing. "Aww, I didn't realize," she says. "Thankfully, our new name rolls off the tongue pretty well. Sildanyari is like that, I suppose."

Lily nods, although she looks like she's about to rocket into the air and buzz around frantically like a bee in search of a flower. "It's just... So... SO... AAAAAAHHHHHHHH."

Yup. There she goes. She flies out of the open window in the kitchen. Mirabilis just sighs and smiles. "Cute aggression," she explains to Telamon and Cor'lana. "She'll be fine."

Cor'lana laughs a little, and she kisses Telamon on the cheek. "I mean, that's the second extreme reaction we've had this week? Patch did threaten she was going to be sick."

Telamon watches Lily go flying outside in paroxysms of delight. "Well, that was... expected," he quips. "It's going to be fun when we finally settle down. Our kids are going to grow up in an amazing household." He rubs his chin. "Patch is more enthralled with the story of it -- not surprising, she IS a bard. Plus..." He pauses. "I think... she likes happier stories."

He squeezes Lana. "Hopefully we can do what we can to give other people a happy story as well. After all, I sure wouldn't mind coming to weddings and what not with you as guests of the bride or groom."

"Our children will, at least, never complain of boredom--although I fear of the trouble that pixies might get them into," Cor'lana says with a snicker. "Fair warning, however, my love--because I am feytouched, I anticipate they will be feytouched. That... means they'll be even more emotional than the average child."

She smiles warmly at Telamon as he squeezes her. "Does that mean you want to start playing matchmaker?" she says. "Like Aryia or Grandfather? Although I credit Aryia merely as a prophet. Grandfather was the man who put the two of us together."

Pothy finishes gathering all of his candy... and by gathering, he's eating it... and he quietly flies back to the study. This leaves the two half-elves alone.

"Or perhaps they'll find the same connection with the moon and stars that I have, dear." Telamon replies with a smile. "Regardless... they'll be ours, and we'll love them unconditionally, raising them under our roof. Emotional, feytouched, star-touched, or whatever."

He chuckles softly. "Well, I do have a reputation to uphold as a negotiator and middleman, as well as a diplomat. Who better to arrange things between two people who might do better together?" He casually gestures at the open kitchen window, causing it to shut, before nestling in with Lana. "And I'm learning all these new things about what a new bride might desire as well. Practical experience is very useful in these matters. Oh, I know everyone is different, but still -- it helps."

"I could help, too," Cor'lana suggests. "I am getting better at reading people, after all. My problem now is that I'm overthinking what people might mean, sometimes. Like a man at the marketplace--was he being friendly? Was he genuinely flirting? Was he hoping that if he flatters me, that I would spend more money? You get how it goes."

Cor'lana stares at Telamon for a moment. "Hmm," she says playfully, a grin cracking on her face. There's that feytouched delight of hers--that almost dangerous sort of whimsy alight in her eyes. "I'm curious--what would you say a newly married bride might want?"

Telamon nods sympathetically. "I've had that problem too. Overthinking it, assuming someone is more complex than they actually are. It's kind of embarrassing, really." He grins. "We'll both get through it. Together."

At her expression, Tel's eyes glint. "Well now, having had some experience in this matter... I think I can make some educated guesses. We can narrow it down right here, too..."

And so the night goes on, in the Lúpecyll-Atlon household.