[PRP] Visitation (Nahm, Merry, Ahm)

[prolixity]

"After we get there," Nahm advised. "Let 'em get a look at you, first. Don't wanna seem like we're trying too hard, you know?" There was just a faint edge of anxiety in his tone, the tiniest hint that he, too, might be nervous about this visit.

He put his arm around her shoulders, resting his head against hers, his hand light against her side. "An hour, give or take a little with traffic around the city," he agreed. "Want a movie, or you just wanna hang out?"  

[prolixity]

The attempt at mutual comfort got a smile out of him, and he turned a little to study her face. "It'll go all right," he assured her, and perhaps himself as well.

He took a data stick out of a pocket in his sleeve, leaned a little forward to pop a screen up from the center console, and plugged the stick into the socket underneath it. "How 'bout Attack of the 50 Foot Human?" It was a silly old movie, one that they had ignored before, and would work just fine for background noise.  

[prolixity]

Nahm settled back down into the seat, sliding his arm around Merry again and getting comfortable. "Thought you might like it," he said, grinning, and nudged his knee against hers.

It was not quite an hour later that the car pulled up to the elaborate wrought-iron gates of an elegantly landscaped cemetery. Gothic crypts lined the main walkway, and outside one of the more elaborately scuplted ones stood a group of robed figures. "Looks like they're ready for us," Nahm commented, and leaned over to give Merry a quick kiss before disengaging.

The driver parked the car just outside the gates, gave the two passengers a quick, wry glance, and got out to retrieve the bags from the trunk for them.  

[Syrie]

Every inch of Ahm in official dress was exacting. This is what he had been bred for, essentially, this was his intended role within the Clanhold and he was very, very good at it. So he might have been sweating it out internally, there were no external signs of anything but calm decorum, as was expected.

He stood precisely a half-step behind and to the side of the Elders, to show deference in rank but also that he was the up-and-coming. His hands, thought they were not visible under the robes, were clasped just so. The only concession he gave to the arrival of his beloveds was a momentary change in the manner with which he held his head, a familiar jaunty c**k to his head as if to say "Ah, yes. Precisely on time and as expected."

Merry was a vision, as usual, Nahm looking delightfully respectable - save for his short hair (which had become quite the up-and-coming fashion statement among the younger Grue).

It was not Ahm's job to welcome Merry officially, it was not his place. Yet. He was merely to attend, to introduce properly. As such, he stepped forward, bowed deeply at the absolute correct angle for the precise length of time and then rose from the bow enough only to be able to direct efficiently.

"Esteemed Elders, May I present our Guest. The Chimera Mera, from the River Quarry tribe. And her escort Nahm deVarr of the deVarr Clanhold." While there was no real need to introduce his twin, it was polite to do so, in short form.

Beejoux

prolixity

 

[prolixity]

Nahm, too, performed a precise and respectful bow. The group was not a large one, nor did it comprise the entire group of Elders; this was a personal visit rather than anything diplomatic or political, and as such was business for immediate family rather than the clan at large. Still, this was important business for the twins and Merry, and they were treating it as such.

"Merry, please allow me to introduce: Elder Sikahn en-Iriah deVarr, Elder Second of the deVarr Clan, our great-aunt; Elder Chank en-Arhahnn deVarr, Elder Third of the deVarr clan, our grandfather; Lady Ekahn en-Arhahnn deVarr, our mother; and Sir Tarakk en-Arhahnn deVarr, our father." Nahm inclined his head politely to each of the figures as he spoke their names and titles.

The second-named figure stepped forward, nodding to Merry and studying her with sharp, slightly narrowed eyes. "Mera, of the River Quarry tribe. We greet you, and welcome you to Clanhold deVarr as the honored guest of Ahm and Nahm." He bowed, a shallower and shorter motion than the ones the twins had performed, but no less polite. He straightened again and flashed a brief grin, sharp grue teeth glinting from beneath the formal hood in a familiar way. "We hope that your time in the Clanhold will be pleasant."

The chimera seemed composed enough. She had dressed nicely, a suitable degree of formality, and she wore her scarf properly draped and displayed. Chank didn't doubt that the boils had instructed her carefully on that subject. His eyes lingered for a moment on the end of the scarf, and his tail twitched, though the motion was hidden under the layers of the formal robes. While it wasn't rare, as such, for a non-grue to be given a scarf as a mark of connection to a Clan, the stitching patterns that the twins had added to Mera's scarf were rather less common, a clear and rather bold statement of intent. Interesting. He wondered if they'd explained to her exactly what declaration she wore draped around her graceful neck. Time would tell; time, and her reactions to the ways that the grues of the Clanhold treated her in accord with the status she'd been granted by Chank's grandsons.

He unfolded his gloved hands from his sleeves; if she allowed it, he would take and kiss her free hand, an old-fashioned gesture. "We have heard a great deal about you."

Beejoux

Syrie