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"You didn't balance yourself with the energy around you," without any provocation, Than seemed to be launching into an explanation on what Lee's problems were; perhaps it was 'lesson one.' "You put energy into the ground, forgetting there's already energy there, so you activated a bigger output than you expected. It's an easy thing to do. You see the mountain range on your way over here, on the west side?" Than grinned to himself a little, before continuing. "Thanks to me...... you probably didn't." It was, in fact, Thanatos that had caused the massive disappearance and destruction of the nearby mountain, and thanks to the fact he was always gone and on his own for days or weeks at a time, no one was any the wiser within or outside of the citadel.

Having given more than his fair share of drama in his earliest days, Than was content to quietly follow Lee while he shed his piece. It wasn't like Lee needed to convince Thanatos of anything; Than was already more on his side than not. However, Than was bad at leaving internal conflict well enough alone. It wasn't Than's place to make any comments about Lee's former life.... either one of them, but he could follow up Lee's question. "I'm six years old. This is my childhood." Than's bodily destruction and other experiences were the make up of his childhood, assuming he'd ever had one. "So, no, really, I'd be lying if I said I knew, because I really haven't lived that long. But I kinda wish I did. Kai--" Than caught his breath and cleared his throat; once again, he'd found himself bringing up Kaiori without meaning to, but there was no point in stopping himself now. Did he really think about her that much? "Kaiori and I used to be close.... I think..... I have a feeling she wishes she could forget all the things you're talking about in her life. She certainly tries hard enough to forget about everyone from the BC now. So I wonder if she would be talking like you are if she did take that path. Point is, I don't think you actually gave up much, I think you just picked your poison and went with it. Don't think I'm not being sympathetic, though; think of it this way: if you were able to forget the life you started with, then you can forget the life after that as well. Who knows.... ask my dad nicely enough and he might do that for you."

Than didn't doubt Mastema had the ability to erase Lee's mental anguish, but he also doubted Lee was really suggesting he would take the opportunity to get rid of those memories if he could. For his part, Than didn't continue on saying what he'd planned to, not out of respect for Lee, but for who they were coming up to. "Front and center, pal." Without any real warning, Lee would feel Than's metal hand deliver and firm shove near one of his shoulder blades. "You're about to meet the citadel's little bundles of joy."

Before they'd had a chance to delve deeper into their personal problems, they'd come upon the same cross-street where Proto, Trilla, and Eecheb were chilling out, and putting on a more confident smile than his previous conversation would've allowed for, raised his hand and started calling out. "OI! Eecheb, Trilla, I'm back. No worries, I just ran into one of my old friends. Don't go hiding on me now." Still with a confident smile on his face, Than turned back to Lee. It seemed he'd done the man an undue favor by calling him an 'old friend.' "By the way, that's Proto. Nana put him together." Than pointed somewhere perpendicular to where he'd been shouting, trying to direct Lee to the tall, humanoid robot several meters away. Proto was white all over, with gold forearms, shins, and 'collar' if it could be called that, and a single green eye in his easily identifiable head. Right now he was equipped with a forearm-length shield on his left arm, but the droid still greeted Lee by raising its right hand, bringing himself to a saluting position.

"Proto." Lee nodded at the robot, unsure whether or not the machine could hear the soft, hardly audible words. Grounding the point of his broad, leaf shaped, spear into the ground he slowly lowered himself to one knee. Using his spear as a crutch, as the surge of strength his 'magics' had given him wore off. "Well hello there, Trilla." Lee smiled down at the little girl. Even kneeling as he was hi six foot four frame still towered over. His wolf fur mantle was pushed aside as he reached over to his left hip to open a buttoned pouch on his leather belt. What he withdrew was a small tin container with a simple cap that popped right off. Holding the tin with the fingers of the hand holding his grounded spear Lee pulled the lid off the container and reached in to pull out a single white flower with five broad petals connected to a yellow center so vibrant it looked almost ready to start shining. "Here, a pretty young woman should have a pretty flower." Offering the flower to the little girl.

If Trilla took the flower Lee would use the spear to help himself back to his feet and turn to Than where he would look at the boy expectantly. No doubt Mastema had sent his child to act as guard and escort for a former enemy. Well if Thanatos was willing to sit around and play with his siblings, Lee wasn't in that much of a hurry. The longer he could sit around and shoot the breeze the longer he would have to recover his discombobulated strength. (And apparently discombobulated is recognized by spellcheck as an actual word).

If the little girl instead chose to shy away from the proffered peace offering then Lee would return it to the tin container and place the whole thing back into the leather pouch on his belt. The flower would make a very effective topical analgesic when it was ground up and boiled with the stem to soak through. Either way he was going to push himself back to his feet.

The entire scene was highly interesting to Proto, who had his eye trained on the scene the entire time. He was assessing every detail. A cursory analysis of the flower Lee presented made it obvious it wasn't a threat. He'd also caught Trilla's red eyes, a trait he'd seen before and didn't fully know the meaning of. He knew it was 'below average,' though. It was different from the other interactions that had taken place in the citadel, and provided him with plenty of new information he would have to take time to process. He was also preoccupied with the sound that now dominated the immediate area...

Thanatos was laughing quite loudly, louder than any other sound at least. It was only a few seconds before he calmed down, with an amused and relieving smile. "The straight up and flattering talk you use with other women isn't going to work right off the bat here, Lee." He chuckled again. Lee could get away with offering gifts and compliments to other women, like those at Kaiori's and Gankutsuou's galas, but they'd fall flat in this situation. Besides, didn't Lee realize that Than was permitted, even obliged, perhaps, to rough him up if he hit on his little sister? Than shook his head, realizing how much slack he was cutting this guy.

"It's okay, Trilla. His name is Lee; I know him pretty well. He won't hurt you; he just came to get some help." Than made a rather subtle change to the situation, but knowing what needed to done, it would defuse the awkwardness of the current setup. As he stepped forward, Thanatos leaned down and plucked the flower right out of Lee's hand; Lee might not appreciate the move, but it was for the best. A few short steps forward, and Than crouched down, not standing between Trilla and Lee, but still forward enough to be closer to his sister, and obviously able to protect her, which he knew he wouldn't have to. Than kept himself open, one arm partially extended to Trilla, with the flower held between two of his fingers by its stem. Holding his position, Than looked back in Lee's direction. "As you already know, this is Trilla, my little sister and the citadel's little queen. She and my father have a special bond, so if you're nice to her, you'll have a much better chance getting my father's favor. The same goes for my mother." Turning back around, he was again looking in Trilla and Eecheb's general direction. "And over there, once he gets back on his feet, is Eecheb, the citadel's little champion. With any luck, my last sibling will be here soon enough."

"Yes, I know of Trilla, Micha, and Eecheb." Giving Than a reproaching glare at his accusation of plying his 'charms' on his little sister. First: ew, she was like 6 years old. Second: He was still planning on hitting on Kaiori if she'd ever poke her head back in the Black Company. "But it's nice to finally meet you." Turning his attention back to Trilla he would smile again before casting his gaze over to the young boy trying to get a measure of the new comer to his home. "How's it going, Eecheb?" He spoke with an easy, calm, tone of voice trying not to patronize the boy by talking him like he was an idiot, but more than that he was trying not to talk to him like he was a young idiot. "Well if I'm going to have a chance to meet the whole family before I have to face your parents I might as well take it." Chuckling to himself he glanced back over at Than. No doubt the blind man knew he was being looked at, fricken 'aura' sight. The tone of voice he had spoken with gave it a very obvious 'I might as well meet them now before your dad tries to kill me.'

Than smiled back at Trilla as she took the flower and, as she should, expressed gratitude. Still, it was apparent Trilla didn't have any degree of trust in Lee, even after being introduced by Than and giving a peace offering; he could tell from the way Trilla had huddled up against him. Lee might momentarily feel a massive, almost overwhelming spike in power in the immediate area, but the entire sensation was gone within the same tenth of a second. Perhaps it was the shadowy creature that was apparently nearby that had caused it.... though the spike felt like it had some from Than's direction more than all around them.

"Come on now, be brave for me, would ya? Just be nice while he's here and I'll make sure we spend some time together when he's done getting help." Than whispered to her, before kissing her on the forehead, resting his cheek against her hair while he stood back up, holding her up comfortably with his right arm. Then he looked over in Eecheb's direction, disappointed in how difficult it was to get the kids to so much as introduce themselves. Nana was way too heavy on the skepticism. "Oi, Eecheb, nothing to be afraid of. You can check him out up close." It was Than's first time trying to get the kids to interact with someone else as well, but he didn't think they'd take such a quiet approach. Sure was Micha in here.....

Speaking of which, Thanatos was certain his other brother was watching, and he wasn't going to let him hide around either. "Micha~...... I know you're there. I can hear you staring. Come out in the open or I'll make sure Nana doesn't give you desert tonight." He chuckled to himself, not threatening his brother, but hoping the unpleasantness of the alternative would get him to out in the open. It was a wonder if Lee had caught him calling his mother by name. "Sorry this is taking a while. I wasn't sure how shy they'd be around someone new. Last person from the BC they met was Phia, way before she got hitched to Xol. Don't think they were this shy with her though.... maybe you're too male or something. Plus Phia probably smelled better." The comments weren't meant as insults - probably - but at least there were things Lee could work on to make himself more presentable while he stayed.

Trilla: | --__--

*When picked up, Trilla would lean towards her brother, hugging him around the neck. It was more comfortable that way, and if at any point in time she ran out of steam, she could sleep on Thanatos. As for Nana's skepticism rubbing off on the kids, was she really wrong? Save for a couple people seeming normal enough, most everyone else had tried to kill them, if inadvertantly through attacking the Citadel to kill Mastema. Even Lee, as his old self Tegral had tried destroying the place at least a couple times. Not to mention the last few times people were let inside, 'things' happend. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Thanatos would receive 'a look' from Eecheb, when spoken to. He seemed mildly offended, being told not to be scared. Scared... Pah!*

Eecheb: I'm not scared!

*The boy would puff himself up a little, making himself look bigger than he was. He was the one that should look scary! No matter how un-scary and snuggly he was. Shortly after Lee sat down, he might possibly feel his fur pelts moving about and even his bag on his waist. Micha-- had arrived, and was... exploring, even poking Lee with no fear. It seemed the lack of dessert was good enough to get him to move from where ever he was previously. The furs did make Lee look pretty daunting, so less may be better the next time yes*

Micha: . . . ?

Lee's brow arched at Than's comment. The idea of Mastema or even Nana forcing him to become a more powerful entity was one he couldn't fathom as Thanatos did. The whole point of him reverting back to a biological state of being was to reduce his over all threat level so he could just enjoy himself a little as a normal(ish) man. He'd get use to the barrier in time, maybe even devise a way to protect his vulnerable core of magical energy from the disrupting effects of Mastema's protective barrier.

What-ho?!

Lifting his left arm up, pushing aside the heavy cloak he wore, Lee looked down at Micha. "Well hello there, may I help you?" He inquired to otherwise silent child. Rummaging through Lee's pockets were likely to produce all sorts of ends and odds. Some bow string, a flint and a bar of steel, a small grinding stone that could have been found in any river, flowers and herbs of various size, shades, and coloration, couple of tinctures of paste or dried up powder. Nothing apparently dangerous, and nothing overly pointy for the young lad to p***k himself on. Lee was wearing a belt knife, a simple five inch blade of simple steel with a wooden, leather bound, handle, but that was securely fastened to his boot. Aside from that the only other apparent weapons on his person was the unstrung bow stave on his back and a relatively full quiver fashioned from tanned leather, bristling with goose feathers.

"I'm not overly concerned about the barrier." Lee said while still looking down at Micha, "Hopefully your folks will show me some trick to coming through without hurting myself once they trust me a bit more, otherwise I'll just need an hour or so of sitting on my bum until I can function again." All ready he was feeling his strength returning, a slow and steady pulsation that was growing steadily the longer Lee simply sat there and recuperated his exhausted fatigue.

"Well if you're still in one piece afterward, let's hang out sometime." It seemed to be an offer predicated on a less-than-50-percent chance that Lee would have all his marbles by the time his lessons were over. Than didn't know or care what Mastema had in store for Lee, assuming Mastema bothered to show himself at all. Than didn't trust Lee with sensitive information yet, but he was confident hurting the kids was not in his interests, so he wasn't on alert, not even when that weird shadowy thing was apparently around. It'd been around long enough without violent incident for Than not to worry about it.

If the drumming were quiet enough, it would suddenly be coupled with a rapid beeping sound coming from Than's direction. Pulling a small, cubic device off of his belt, Than hit one edge of it with his thumb. The rapid, regular beeping was replaced with a sequence of short and long tones that lasted no more than a few seconds. Than, having remained entirely silent even when the device went off, quickly shut it off before its message completed. "Well that's inconvenient, but it had to happen sometime." Taking a short stroll in Eecheb's direction, Than leaned over and softly sat Trilla down on the wall Eecheb was hiding behind. "Hey, something just came up that I have to take care of. Proto will look after Lee till I get back." With a smile on his face the entire time, Than gently took the flower from Trilla's hand, placing it in her hair by her ear, and he quickly kissed her on the cheek. "We can spend more time together when I'm done. Eecheb..." Than reached over the wall with his right arm, putting his hand firmly on top of Eecheb's head. "I'm counting on you to be a good big brother and protect Trilla if she wants you to. Thanks for the lunch." Straightening up and turning back to the others, Than kept a confident smirk on his face. "Micha, make sure he doesn't get eaten, at least until after he sees Mom. Proto, keep an eye on him until someone says otherwise. Lee, looks like you're gonna have to give your own introduction."

After his 'decrees,' Proto responded with what was apparently a question, to which Than replied with continued confidence. "Yep, hero time...." With that, Than gave little more than a passing wave as he took off down one of the streets like a bullet, to destinations unknown.

He probably didn't think much of the fact that Lee, being an ex-soldier would surely have recognized the morse code on his device. He had only allowed it to get to Activity detected: Tr before cutting it off.