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Ellandra watched Trystan in growing concern, but nodded a bit. "All right, but you're going to take a seat in a chair, and no going out dirnking now matter how much he begs. You're too tired for that, I think, after whatever happened outside." She smiled gently at him as she spoke, fully intending to keep him at ease as much as possible. "I'll go ahead and make the hot chocolate; it will help you warm up after being outside in the cold." She didn't add that she would pull out everything in her arsenal if Faolan decided to take a half-asleep and emotionally exhausted Trystan out drinking -- the poor man was in no condition to go party with the clowns!

Contessa yipped, upset that her new friend was being taken away by the feathered one. Play! Play! I'm not done!

On the couch, Rhian stirred a little, her antennae dimming as ark thoughts invaded her subconscious mind. "Mm... too... dark....."

Trystan growled at the woman for a moment before resigning to the idea that he was probably going to need to lie down before he fell down. That didn't stop his pride from getting in the way. "I'll remind you, Ellandra, that I dont need a surrogate mother too." He said with a dry voice now that his hackles had lowered and he wasn't as tense. Of course, he nearly fell out of his skin when Faolan showed up. He watched the other, wary for a moment of acting. The tingling amounts of pain still jabbed him from behind the soft blanket of relief. "Faolan." He said tiredly, in no mood to make himself seem angry or hurtful. He just walked over and settled his head on the other mans shoulder. "Its about time you showed up." He gritted into the others shoulder, but didn't budge. Rocks did not like to budge, after all. And then he peered down at Kelly with his inverted eyes and wondered if Faolan had been eloping. "Who're you?"

Crux flicked his ears at the idea of being tall and realized that he was at least a head above Zia. He leaned down and smiled in a reserved manner. "It makes up for how small I must have been before." He said. At the question his hackles raised and his ears shot back. The idea of the place they had been sent the wolf into an angry howling fit. "Lots of places. And then the manor." He said quietly, not wanting Trystan to hear them talking. "Trystan... has not been well. Both in mind and in physical form." He nuzzled Zia to relax him though, tail swishing from side to side. "Theres no need for worry now though, we're back." He said softly. "I'm interested in what we've missed though." He said with a hint of amusement.

He turned his head to the whining puppy and flicked his ears back. Pack mate. He told her in short. Will play. Not now. Mate. Mate. Mate. His tail swished eagerly - he showed her that he was eager to return to their fun later as well. Rhian's voice made his ears twitch as well and he glanced up. "Your sister is awake." He mumbled to Zia with a nod. How many people were in this house now, he wondered.

Ellandra sighed softly and took Kelly by the hand once Trystan was safely resting on Faolan's shoulder. "Kelly, would you like to come help me make some hot chocolate?" she asked, wanting to help the timid boy get comfortable again. Watching Trystan with concern, she added, "Why don't you two go have a seat and keep each other company a bit. . . .and Faolan," she added, stepping very close to her husband, where Trystan's head wasn't resting, and whispered into his ear the soft promise of, "I'll dance for you if you let Trystan rest and don't drag him out to drink tonight." Her voice was almost a purr as she said that last part, and she kissed the tip of his ear very briefly, before tugging Kelly off and into the kitchen.

Rhian wasn't truly awake, more or less reliving the painful feelings she'd been buried in while trying to help Trystan. "Dark....... it hurts......"

Contessa yipped and wagged her tail, accepting the promise and jumping up onto the couch, laying down onto of Rhian's chest and lying with her nose to the flutterby's chin. Upset. I'll soothe.

Faolan maneuvered Trystan and himself to sitting down at the table, close enough so Tryst could still lean on him. "Ain't too many kids, jackass. We like big families in th' clans. You can visit wi' them all properly tomorrow when you feel a bit better." He glanced up at his wife. "I think a hot meal an' some tea will do him well if you got some on th' stove."

Kelly let Ellandra lead him around, but his focus was clearly on the strange man in their kitchen. This was an uncle? He knew his father had no siblings and the man didn't look related to his step-mother either. Also, the man had brought along the strange boy that Zia was talking with in the other room. Was that boy an Essentic, too, and this man his uncle through a strange kinship the owners all had with each other?

"Lauss has been well and adjusting to Lee's marriage. He's hoping they have kids soon for him to tutor since Lee's almost done with high school and doesn't have much interest in going to college." Zia grinned up at Crux, silently wishing his sister would get it together and leave already to stop distracting the wolf-boy alter. Honestly, she always managed to pick the worst times to overextend herself and grab attention. It wished Lauss was here to fuss over her so everyone else could ignore her, or at least so Crux would ignore her. Zia hadn't seen Crux in so long, only to have the other's attention drawn away slightly by its annoying sister and her marvelous fainting spells. "I've been alright, mostly. It's not been as fun around the carnival without you here to go exploring with or hearing Fao and Trystan's laughter in the other room. I learned a lot about being the oldest sibling and that babies are not as easy to care for as they look. I could show you the twins if you'd like. They're asleep upstairs."

Leaning on Faolan and nestling himself into a comfortable position, Trystan closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath. It was slurred and wouldn't make much sense to anyone but Faolan, who was within hearing distance. "Stupid git." He mumbled with a sigh. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." He waved it off with a lazy hand, just enjoying the feel of a proper sleeping place. Not that Faolan was quite proper, but it beat the stone cold floors he'd been passing out on months prior. "How many kids did you say you had again?" He opened his eyes long enough to scrutinize the other demon before closing them again and thrumming a low note of lazy content. For the first time in a few months, he wasn't thinking about him.

Crux nodded along with what Zia had to say, his ears twitching every now and again. He listened to the girl on the couch, the wolf inside of him growling a low note. It didn't seem to like the distraction from his mate, but at the same time, it worried for her well being. The tear of emotions and instinctual pull was taxing, but Crux ignored it and pushed the canine into the back of his mind. "It seems as though they're doing well. Perhaps one day I'll see them again." He thrummed slowly, imagining Lee as a mother with a slight snort. "Lauss would indeed enjoy a kid of Lee's..." He murmured, snuggling into Zia's warmth. "He seems as though he's an intelligent essentic." He complimented, his void eyes tracing Zia's features.

Chuckling at the essentics reply to him, Crux flickered his ears. "I'll stop by more from now on, I promise. Trystan trusts me alone now, as long as I do not attract attention." He flexed his tail. "And I'll be sure to keep Trystan stopping by. He needs this sort of... family in his life." There was a growl on the end of the sentence as he remembered the 'family' they had encountered back at the manor. At the mention of children, Crux blinked. He'd never seen a young child before at a close range. Something akin to curiosity chilled him. "That would be... nice. I've yet to see young ones as you've described." He smiled at Zia, but flickered his eyes up at Rhian when she stumbled out with an apology. His ears flattened, his tail ceased its content swishing.

"Are you sure she'll be alright?" He murmured to Zia, the wolf ruling over his mind with its concern. "She seemed tired, shouldn't she still be resting?" He didn't want to distract himself from Zia, but the wolf simply growled from inside his body. Pack came first. Even though pack also meant mate.