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"Ellandra, may I please have some fluffy treat soon? It has been some time since I had any!"

If only a butterfly could use the puppy-dog eyes expression; if so, Ellandra would have been doomed. Fortunately for the brunette - who was trying without success to come up with some notes for a story, just for old times' sake -, Rhian was incapable of the dreaded pout of doom, and thus could only sound imploring. Not that it did her any good, as her owner/mother simply looked up at where her Proto sat perched on a rafter, and shook her head."No, Rhian, you know very well that you had some cotton candy earlier today; you don't need any more right now."

Immediately, the proto's antennae and even wings drooped, and she nearly flipped upside-down on her perch, but she quickly righted herself and fluttered down to rest on Ellandra's waiting arm. Tilting her head and fluttering her wings gently, the little proto asked, "May I help Ellandra then? Ellandra needs to spend more time outside, not in stuffy ticketbooth and vardo. Rhian would like to go outside too!"

At that, Ellandra sighed and patted Rhian's head. "I know you do, Rhian, but it's just not safe." When Rhian didn't respond immediately, Ellandra's thoughts turned to Faolan and she looked over at the door, wondering if he would come home soon; he wasn't working the fortune-telling booth tonight, filling in for. . . someone or other at something or other, she'd forgotten. He should be coming home fairly soon. . .

Well, maybe he just stopped to grab some dinner. One of these days she'd need to drag him out to a nice restaurant, get some non-carnival food in him. The only issue would be having someone stay with Rhian, maybe Ziazan would agree to watch her for an evening? Well, maybe. Either way, something would probably work out. Somehow. As for this evening, Ellandra just wanted Faolan to get home soon so they both could relax and just spend time together. Hopefully nothing too shocking or surprising would happen to disrupt this quiet evening.

Ellandra yelped when the door to the vardo slammed open, and a voice she didn't really recognize but that sounded familiar - from the ball, maybe? - called out. "H-hello?" she called in response, leaping off of the couch with Rhian still on her arm and edging to the bedroom. Not that it would be much refuge should this visitor mean harm, but it was better than just - just sitting here. The entire time, her heart raced rapidly in her chest and she watched the door, not really able to make out the person in the entrance.

Rhian flew up from her perch on her owner's arm and tried to soothe her for a moment. "Calm, calm, no harm is meant, just silly way of greeting, please, calm, stress is unhealthy." When Ellandra relaxed just enough, the butterfly proto left her owner's side and fluttered to the door to see this new person. "Hello? I am Rhian. I mentor, I help. You're scaring Ellandra; Don't stress Ellandra please, it's unhealthy for her and the babies - did you bring fluffy treat with you?"

Rhianhappily took the cotton candy and started to eat it, her antennae flicking about as she did so. "Yes, I live here; my purpose is to mentor, to help, Ellandra stresses too much - I keep her calm," the flutterbye said, flicking her antennae at Crux for a moment. "Do not worry, Zi is sibling only; no feelings like that for Zi-Zi! Sibling Zi will be back soon, as will Ellandra-husband-Faolan! Come in, be comfortable!"

It was a good thing Rhian was so comfortable, because Ellandra was. . . not. The brunette had been quite thoroughly scared out of her wits and was only just getting herself under control. "O-oh.... oh, yes, I - nice to meet you... um............ I'm sorry, it's just you startled me.......... Faolan will be back soon, And - thank you for giving your cotton candy to Rhian, I swear she's eating it constantly," she was rambling a bit and she knew it but she blinked up at this man, tentatively stepping a bit more toward the door, her heart still racing. When she saw him wince, however, her concern was ignited a bit. "Is - is something wrong?" She asked, her eyes darting to Trystan's shoulder, worry now overtaking the fear just a bit.

Faolan and Ziazan walked back across the grounds, having gone out grocery shopping at a nearby open market for the day. Each lugged a cloth bag of foodstuffs, talking idly about carnival life and things they'd seen around the city. Faolan had a present for his dear wife tucked away in his bag and couldn't wait to show her.

He noted the door to his vardo was open, but didn't think much of it. The door was usually open, after all. Stepping in, he saw Trystan and laughed. After setting the bags on the table, he went over and hugged the other man. "Hey, brother."

Zia almost dropped its bags when it saw Crux, hurrying to set them on the table too before running over and practically tackling the combat Essentic. "Crux!"

Faolan looked over and saw Ellandra backing away into the bedroom. He moved to release Trystan and headed after his wife. "Assa, woman, don't run and hide now. Come on out and meet Trystan and Crux. Think of them as . . . a really strange part of our little family." He hugged Ellandra to him, voice softer once he had her in his arms. "It's alright, wife. Scared you some, did he? He's mostly harmless, really." He looked back at Trystan. "Ain't you, lad, eh?" His expression clearly said the answer to that question had best be "yes."

Ellandra shrunk against Faolan a bit, trusting her husband but unable to completely relax from her initial fright just yet. Things were decidedly out-of-routine for the moment - ad while it was nice to see how happy Ziazan was now that this other Essentic was here - she couldn't help but still be a little afraid of the man her husband considered a brother. It wasn't so much his intimidating appearance that rightened her, as his sudden entrance and his comment about her not being what he'd expected - well, the last annoyed her more than frightened her.

Just what had this man expected? Did she not measure up, somehow? She blinked up at Faolan, not really sure what to say to either her husband or Trystan. . . until she finally found herself speaking anyway. "Perhaps if the teddy bear was actually a grizzly," she said, her voice a bit wavery but steady, and she quirked a shaky smile even as she snuggled into Faolan's embrace.

Rhian, in th meantime, freed her arms from around Ellandra's neck and quietly retired to the bedroom rafters, sensing that she was no longer needed directly. . . and that, were she tto remain, she would cause tension to this Essentic who was so fond of her Sibling, and perhaps to "Zi" itself, and the last thing the butterfly wanted to do was cause strife in the family she cared for - even when she craved interaction. "I will stay in here," she said to herself, watching everyone else interact, her antennae twitching now and then.

At the girls next words, Trystans face faltered. Then he grinned a bit, and brought up his hands, as if trying to imitate bear paws - however, he only succeeded in making himself look more like a cat trying to wash its face then anything. "Rawr." He said in the dryest tone he could muster, a lazy grin on his face as he made himself into a bit of an idiot. Stroking his chin after he did that, Trystan thrummed a low note in the back of his throat and shook his head. "I dont think I'd make a good grizzly bear." He commented, pointing to Elle. "Sorry to disappoint."

Watching the two interact, he cocked a brow at just how intimate they seemed to be. Still, Elle was nowhere near what Trystan had been expecting, but he wasn't about to complain. Compared to assertive women he was around most of the time, this was like a breath of fresh air. Whether it was a nice one or not.... Well, he'd yet to decide that really. Cocking a brow at the man as he responded to him, Trystan shrugged and looked a bit cat like in the way his grin slid across his face. "Just... everything." He said straight out with a shrug. "Not that I'm complaining. She looks nice enough. Just...." Trystan sized her up and down with his eyes and raised his hands, giving a physical representation of their size difference. "Short."

When the other questioned him about why he had come, Trystan rubbed the back of his head. "Well, no clowns kidnapped me this time, thankfully. It was actually...." Not wanting to say the name out loud, Trystan pointed his thumb over his shoulder at Crux. "We ended up driving past and it just sort of... happened." The dry commentary was added by a natural frown in Faolans direction. "I also saw Gretel. She is associating me with you. She keeps calling me a heartbreaker, yet for some godforsaken reason, she wants to show me around Farstep sometime." Trystan smiled listlessly. "I agreed for a later date - shes actually not as bad as I thought.... hopefully."

Meanwhile, Crux enjoyed the presence of the other, hardly noticing that his little sister had disappeared. "A new spark from Banning...? Ah, is that so. She is.... interesting." Crux said in a soft thrum, amused with Zias abrupt end to talking about her. He wondered what Zia thought of his sister, but dared not to ask as the oher leaned in and placed a kiss on his muzzle. It was too precious a moment to ignore, and one he didn't encounter as often he would like. Returning it with a soft nuzzle, he tilted his head to the side, scanner shimmering softly.

Trystan cocked a brow at Faolan, wondering what he was looking at before turning his head and dropping his jaw at the sight. "I really, really should hit you for inadvertently taught your Essentic that." The man scowled a bit. "Lets just hope the butterfly doesn't learn how to do it too."