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This was...too much. Too unbelieveable. Szin sat, a incredulouse expression on his face. There was too much to absorb. Too much to try and believe. Certainly, Pella had been one of his Goddessess faithful. But she had never been to the surface. And certainly that other drow had seemed interested in helping him. Though it had turned out to be a very crule joke.

This could not possibly be a joke. There was just...too much. Far too much in this simple story for him to try and spin a lie from. While he had known and seen that Lird's magic was elemental. Of the sort one would not expect, he had not thought for once that such an association would have been possible.

Hearing that the other elf was no longer alive, it made it difficult to ask to meet him didn't it? And this other brother...

So many questions!

"I am sorry to hear about your loss. I would have loved to have met this friend of yours. He sounds much like the elves of my own village." Szin paused. Lifting a hand he pushed some of his lavender hair back behind one of his pointed ears. "It is...warming and comforting to know that you are familar with my world. It really does make me feel better. I would also love to meet this brother of yours. If he was a close friend to Felyn'na I am sure he must be a good person like you."

What next? Szin's head was still swimming with this knowledge. He supposed his own story would be told next but...but he just...Goddess!

"This is all so much Lird. I feel like...a fool. A terrible fool really. I am so sorry for how I acted when you first found me. I should have known... I've felt so...different when your near. I should not have questioned it."

It was a queer feeling. Szin suspected that Lird felt it as well. Thise sense of ease. The ability to speak with hardly any effort. To be able to share things that one might even hesitate telling their family even. Szin slowly lowered himself down onto the cusion, and folded his arms under his chest so he could look up at Lird while he talked.

Szin actually had a fairly good idea what had happened to this poor Kel fellow. If he was a faithful of Elistraee as well, and he was found out down here. It hardly took much imagination to leap to the conclusion the other male had suffered a terrible fate and was now well dead and gone. Szin thought to express more of his sympathy... but to repeat himself would make his words seem hollow and automatic.

"I would be honored if you would allow me to pray at his gravesite." Instead he choose to say. If he had died and was buried down here then it was possible that Kel had not recieved any blessings from one of his faith. Perhaps he could do a little bit of good down here after all?

The information about the brothers was indeed sad, and Szin bowed his head. The loss of this one elf must have really had a impact to have made them react in such a way. How would they recieve him then? Szin felt a small amount of unease. If this one brother was attempting to rebuild their House in the name of the Goddess Lloth...would they not turn on him in the hopes of proving themselves loyal to the evil goddess?

"There is...no need to rush. I mean...I am sure they are busy and have no interest in taking time out of their duties to meet some lost stray." Szin softly murmured.

Talk had been made of winged type creatures, and Szin eagerly grasped hold of that topic. His green eyes lit up slightly as he took a turn to speak. "The creatures I summon are not true moths actually. They are small wind elementals. They take on the physical shell of a moth to interact better with the physical aspects of our world. As time passes I will be able to give them different shells, but I have not progressed much since comeing down here. I am extremely fond of butterflies myself. Ah! And dragonflies. I find them to be very elegant."

Szin lowered his head down and shifted to rest his chin on his folded arms. "I have some questions, this is true...but it would not be fair if I did not explain some things to you as well." Szin shifted where he laid. Yet oddly it was not born of any discomfort. He...he wanted to tell Lird this. He wanted to open up and share some of himself with the other male.

Was it because of what had been shared with him already? Szin gazed at lird wonderingly before he began.

"I..suppose I should stat with telling you my real name. I am Szinaun Kenana. My mother was from the underdark herself, but she never shared anything with me about it. She said it was best if I never knew, that this life was behind her. My father is a drow as well, though I do not know who he is. Instead I was raised by a foster father, a high elf named Liril'dan that my mother grew incredibly fond of. They were...very good parents. They sheltered me a bit in the temple." His head began to shake slightly as he spoke of his parents.

It had been so long...so very long since he had last seen them. "They wanted me to marry a local elf. Start a home and family of my own near them. Neither approved of my interest in wandering, and I left with harsh words spoken between us. I was unhappy simply staying safe in the village and I wanted to help others who needed it. My mother strongly dissapproved. I miss them terribly. I feel like a fool you know. They were right, about so much. I've been very blind, more so concerning our own people."

Szin's lips twisted into a wry and sour smile. "I first met with true underdark elves almost a year ago. They were raiders and they attacked a village my friends and I were staying in. We tried to help the simple folk flee. I'm not certain if we won or lost that night... so many died in front of me. And when I was captured I was sickened by the cruelty I witnessed. The priestess who captured me claimed me as her prize and..I...well... until only a week ago I have fearfully served her. In my time I have only met two other drow who did not seem to be the same as everyone else. One is a lost priestess. She gave me some comfort and restored some of my hope. The other..I thought he was helping me but I guess he was only playing a cruel joke on me. That is why i was wandering alone in that tunnel and lost."

Szin's head tilted to one side. Yes, it was true. Not once in the begining was he able to believe that this world could be so radically different from his life above. He was used to the suspicion and the racism he had faced as a dark skinned elf on the surface. He had never thought that things could be even worse somewhere else. Not until he had been brought here.

"I... Well. I will do my best." Szinaun softly replied. This Fel seemed to have been very important to Lird and his brothers. It really made him wonder how good of a person he must have been. In order to positively effect these drow. To make Lird so warm and kind. Perhaps he even owed this Kel for his life indirectly. Who knew what sort of drow Lird would be if he had not met this other surface elf?

"I will need a bit of time to recall the rites I was taught. So perhaps no rush is really needed at all." Szin would again respond. He still was not so certain about this other brother but...if Lird did not believe him to be a threat then Szin oddly seemed conforted by this. "It's been so long since I've witnessed a proper burial rite for one loved by my Goddess. I am sure he is already with her of course, but it would still be nice to mark his grave and fulfil the ceremony."

With the topic being brought back around to the tunnel, Szin found himself unwilling to really address the event. He had been so completely fooled. And it really had nearly led to his death.I would...be grateful to never even step foot inside a cave. If ever I manage to make it home..I swear by the Goddess I will never leave. I'll stay as my parents wished and marry as they had wanted from the very start." Szin's head shook very gently, his voice becoming softer as he spoke. "I have had enough of the world. I thought maybe there was more to it. More joy and beautiful things under all the danger and unpleasentness. I should have listened to my parents. I do not think I have found anything that has made any of this pain, suffering, and terror worth leaving my home. I...I miss them so much. I just want the chance to apologize to my mother."

Szin had a exceptionally hard time lifting his green eyes from the stone floor in front of him in the next few moments as he felt a heavy bleak weight crushing down on his chest. He just...he wanted to be held. I needed some place safe to collapse into. To hear a soft voice telling him it was all okay, that things weren't really so bad. But he did not feel he would find that down here, and thus his heart ached.

"Please Lird. Call me Anon....I used to like my name you know...but after coming down here and having it spoken with such...vulgarness...It hardly has the same pleasent sound to it that I once heard it spoken with. I would rather you kept calling me Anon. it doesn't feel as soiled as my real name."

Szin's eyes remained lowered. They felt as heavy as his heart did at that moment. He should have known that the brief period of calm that he had felt would not stand for long in this darkness. Szin felt Lirds hand come down to rest upon him, but he felt no alarm of discomfort at having the other touch him. It really was odd wasn't it? He barely knew Lird yet...still he marveled inwardly at the ease that he felt. He did not even feel surprised when Lird pulled him a bit closer. The nearness was...a comfort. Goddess. Just that hand on him made him feel the muscles in his back relaxing as if he were in a nice hot bath right now.

Lird was attempting to encourage him, and in part he appreciated this greatly. It felt good to have someone care enough about you in some way that they would try to make you feel better over something that obviously hurt. Should he even be wondering anymore? Szin felt no more desire to even question his own strange reactions to the tall and muscular mage anymore. "Ah...Lird. Thats...it's kind of you to say this to me." Szin began to speak, to try and push the heavy weight out of his chest so he could continue the conversation with the other. It was about now though...now that Szin realized just where he was. Or rather what Lird was doing and he was allowing. Szin's eyes blinked at the touch of the fingers upon his hair tips. He felt a strange light buzzing traveling through his skull. The sensation was pleasent, and he found himself leaning his head against Lird.

His voice had fallen again. To a soft whisper. Though it was not out of heartache or some low feeling. It was just...he felt such comfort right now. It was hard to muster the effort to speak louder then that small whispering. "I would like to have the fire and...I would like for you to stay near, if the light does not hurt your eyes too much. Even a small fire would be comfort enough. I do not like the darkness. I've become afraid of it again. I...I feel like such a foolish child Lird. "

He felt like he was loseing something. Though he was not certain what it was. It did not feel like a bad thing to tell the truth. Why was he here? Why? Why did he have this..utterly insane noton edging into his thoughts? He had been so close to giving up. But now...now he could have sworn it felt like Lird had been sent to deliver him into a place of safety.

Szin tilted his head upwards a little so he could look up at the mage. He wanted to kiss him. He didn't dare though. The thought was too frightening. So frightening but so tempting. He did not want to ruin this though, so he forced himself to try and hide the desire he felt to be closer to this strong mage.

Then the words he spoke. Szin had not felt so shaken before. Not even with all that he had suffered already. This...this left him feeling like his legs had been swept out from under him. He unconsciously dug the small points of his fingers into the arm that was wrapped around him. His green eyes lowered to stare blindly at the ground. Lird spoke with such...ease. The sense of friendship Szin could understand. But why did his chest sink at those words? Had he been hopeing for more? Goddess! he had! What a fool. What a....a horrible fool he was being! He was slipping into some form of...of...he couldn't think the word lest he feel more shame. Lird was the first genuinely kind drow he had met in a year. Of course he would be feeling this way. After so much hatred and abuse it only made sense. He needed to warn Lird though. It was only right...

"Lird..I...: He began with a soft quaver in his voice. He could not lift his eyes from the ground. Szin tried to push the arm around him off. But his limbs suddenly lost all strength. "Lird...I think this may be...What I mean is... You have been the first kind individual I have met in little over a year. YOur words are so...and... I find your presence so very.... What I mean is that I fear I may become too comfortable in your presence. I do not want to become a burden by clinging to you. I admitt that I only feel safe when you are near but..I do not want to become a intolerable presence that would make you regret bringing me here."

He couldn't stop it. He was mesmerized as Lird's hand trailed downhis arm. In it's wake there was the sensation of a thousand electrical sparks flickering on. The hair on his arm rose and a pleasent chill traveled down his spine. Inside of his head, he heard himself gasping. And...there was a definate feeling of a yearing. He wanted to return that stroke with one of his own. More though. He wanted to lean in and...Goddess... To melt into these arms and never leave them...

"I...t-thank..you..." He stammered in a soft voice. Lird seemed so..tender? The way he touched his fingers to his nose..and then brushing them against his cheek. Did he have any idea how this was effecting him? How badly now the desire to lean in against him and cling was..well....

It overwhelmed him.

Szin's eyes once more grew bright with tears as he shifted closer to Lird, his unheld hand came around to bunch his fingers against the warrior mages chest as Szin bowed his head and pressed his forehead against Lird. "Don't say that...don't say that...because I will. I'll make you regret it surely. I won't leave you alone ever. I feel safe and...and... I just...feel safe..."

Such comfort and kidness. It was like a warm blanket falling upon him after years spent in the bone biting cold. Szin wept. Bitter tears of the pain he had suffered and the hoplessness that he had ensured were purged from his heart. Those wonderfully strong arms encouraged him to sink into their embrace, and he did. Szin certainly did.

"Thank you...thank you...oh Goddess...." He whispered softly now into those arms. Szin's slight form relaxed with each breath he exhaled. After all the emotional stress he had endured, it would be no shock to find the slight pretty male drifting off. His arms loseing their tight grip on Lird the deeper into slumber he fell.