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 Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 9:09 pm
So much had changed, even about his home since he had been away. These days, however, he had been staying away from the house proper, as he had grown accustomed to more modest living. He figured it was better to grow reacquainted to the grandeur of the place in baby steps ... yes, that would be best for all of them.
So, he'd sought refuge in some of the smaller homes, closer to what he now knew was called Moon Haven. Tinania was gracious enough to allow that, and to let him wander the grounds there, as well. It might seem strange to some that he even felt the need to ask his dearest friend for permission for such things, especially since the grand acreage was really owned by their strange, twisted family tree (the Silmes, DarkAngels, and Natenhars). But, he felt like a stranger in the once familiar grounds, it was all he could do to even stay here.
But, the love he felt for this place had never left him. It might have laid dormant for a while, but as soon as he stepped his travel-weary feet over the magical barrier that surrounded Emerald Haven, he felt it all come rushing at him again. Even if he didn't allow himself the simple indulgence of wandering a bit. No, he'd gone in search of Tinania to catch up.
And, now here he was - standing close to Nani's home, his swords sheathed at his hip, his scaled hands clasped behind his back, his serpentine eyes staring up at the sky, his face thoughtful. He tuned out the chatter of his bonded swords, finding it easier now to do so, as he reflected on his present situation.
Yes, everything was very much alien to him, now....
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 10:48 pm
Unknowing of the young man's presense and, indeed, lost in her own thoughts, Phaerna knelt nearby. Her attention, seemingly, was focused on the rose-kissed white blossoms in the cluster of foliage before her as dark fingertips traced the petals.
She was here because Zhane had asked her to come. Which, in itself, had been a mixed blessing. While she'd seen little of her brother since he'd moved out, it was as though time had turned him into a stranger. He looked like the same Zhane with whom she'd shared a childhood. He sounded the same. But the starstruck, hot-tempered adventurer she'd come to know him as had, it seemed, died a quiet death.
Now he was a husband. Now he was a father. It was, in a way, like knowing him all over again. And as much as she knew it shouldn't have, it had felt uncomfortable today, holding Calvin and Danica as Zhane and Tinania had looked on.
And so, after some smalltalk, she'd politely excused herself for a walk. While she had intended this to be her quiet exit point, she had found that her wandering had not brought her far from the house at all as there was much more here than she had expected to see. The canopy of trees, the beds of lush moss, the scattering of ferns and flowers....
What an odd place, this Moon Haven. To find the familiarity of family it offered uncomfortable, and yet be oddly soothed by the things she'd not seen before.
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:04 pm
The slight rustling that he earlier mistook for a small animal looking for food continued. It wasn't a distraction, and it wasn't necessarily something to be troubled over, it did nag at him a little. He just thought of it as another aspect of the adjustment process. He'd spend the last two and a half years on alert for creatures that meant him harm, thieves, traps ... and more mundane things like fresh water and, on rare occasions, animals to hunt.
Damien pushed it out of his mind, trying his best to find the hawk he had been watching. Sadly, he seemed to have lost it. With a sigh, he turned his eyes away from the sky and unclasped his hands from behind his back. He rested his hands on this hilts of Naerdiel and Bregolien, hoping to quiet their bickering.
What was that? He quirked a brow, tilted his head, and allowed his keen eyes to take in the figure not too far away from him. The first thing that struck a cord in him was the dark skin. His eyebrows winged up while his eyes quickly swept the area. There didn't appear to be anyone else about, but he knew from experience that you could not always trust such things. How had a -
Wait ... the hair. It was unusual, but not unheard of. He was still unsure of this person he had somehow stumbled upon, but he was one to at least try to give someone the benefit of the doubt.... And, he'd met some of those folk who were decent enough....
He clasped his hands behind his back again, though his lithe muscles were itching with the energy that was being pent up. He'd be ready, just in case they meant him harm. Then, he cleared his throat to announce his presence.
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:11 pm
The reaction was immediate as Phaerna's head darted in Damien's direction, green eyes wide with the beginning glimmers of fright in them. She looked less like a young lady who'd been caught perusing a garden that was not hers, and more like a deer caught in the floodlights.
"Oh...!" she breathed, drawing her hands back to herself to leave the bush and its blossoms alone.
When a few seconds of awkward silence had passed, the urge to say something - to, perhaps, explain herself - began to rise.
"I--I'm sorry, I didn't--" she began, realizing at the same time she wasn't sure what she was apologizing for as she rose to her feet.
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:21 pm
Was it a trick? He couldn't be sure. But, he studied the girl before him, trying his damndest to figure that out. The eyes, they were another oddity. Something was off about the knee-jerk assumption he had made. She even held herself differently. Even the best of the drow actresses he had met had been unable to hide their disdain and indifference, and - sometimes - hatred for the male race completely. There was always the faint taste of it around them, hidden in their posture, their eyes, a small facial expression that had slipped through the mask they were wearing.
"There's no need to apologize," he started, offering something that could pass for a friendly, if cautious, small smile. "You weren't doing any harm."
He didn't want to keep staring, it was rude after all, but she was an unknown. He didn't want to turn his back on her, that would be reckless. "Ah, and I hadn't meant to startle you." He probably should have just slipping into the trees and made his way to Nani's. If anything, he could have asked her if she had invited someone over that looked like the girl before him.
He knew he should introduce himself, his mother had pounded that into his head from the moment of his birth. It would be poor manners, again, if he didn't do so. But, he couldn't bring himself to divulge that kind of information ... at least not now.
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:48 pm
A tension seemed to pass out of her as his voice remained, if not friendly, at least polite. It was a far better cry than the picture her mind had initially painted for her of the stranger brusquely informing her that the grounds were off-limits.
Her mouth allowed a small, polite smile of its own as a hand reached up to absently brush aside a stray strand of brown back behind the point of one of her ears.
"Its all right..." she ventured at last, not wanting him to feel like he had to apologize on her behalf. Not when nearly everything involving interaction with other people set her on edge so badly. "I'd only meant to step out for a few minutes and..."
Her eyes wandered back to the bush and its plumage briefly before flicking back to Damien. "....and I got distracted." Her head cocked a bit. "Are you--do you live here...?" she ventured.
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 12:02 am
He started to relax a little. She might have been invited after all. As he relaxed, her turned his gaze away from her, toward the bush that she indicated. "Well, it's understandable, getting distracted around here. The landscape is quite engaging," he conceded, another small smile on his lips.
"And, I live here, in a manner of speaking," he replied. "My home is in Emerald Haven, but I am currently staying just outside of the Moon Haven grounds," he didn't elaborate why his living arrangements had changed, however.
Finally, he had relaxed enough to feel that he could safely give her his name. His smile turned apologetic as he bowed slightly. "My name is Damien, by the way."
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 12:11 am
"Phaerna." she said of herself, accompanied by a polite nod of her head as she made note of his name. "And yes...it is."
Her eyes swept the lush area around them, stealing another look at the rich greenery that was so very unlike the fields and woods that bordered her own neighborhood. "My brother wasn't teasing when he told me this would be like nothing I'd seen before."
An awkward chuckle escaped, trying to sound off-handed but falling flat a short distance from her lips. Talking while skittish was difficult enough. Feigning being at-ease was even harder, she found.
Her eyes dropped to the ground between them for the moment.
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 12:18 am
"A pleasure to meet you, Phaerna," he said. He was studying her out of the corner of his eye now, watching her movements and facial expressions. He decided that it had been best that he had kept his distance, for he thought that had he tried to bridge the gap between them even now she might run away. So, with that in mind, he gracefully lowered himself to the ground, sitting down on the soft grass. He crossed his feet in front of him, ankle over ankle, and turned his gaze on Phae once more.
"You've a brother here?" he asked, trying to strike up something of a friendly conversation. Perhaps she was a bit like he used to be and had to get to know someone to really start talking. "What's their name, if I may ask? I might know them."
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 12:34 am
"His name is Zhane." she explained, watching Damien carefully as he sat. As he studied her, trying to feel her out, so too was she doing the same with him.
Much like the other people she'd met here thus far, Damien seemed to leave nothing to object to. He was polite, friendly -- really nothing that ought to set her nerves on end. This was what her logic told her repeatedly in hopes that the rest of her might take it to heart.
"I hadn't seen him since the wedding." she went on after a moment, remaining standing for now as her arms folded over one another. "He'd wanted me to come and meet his and Tinania's twins."
She watched for signs of recognition....in hopes that, perhaps, he might have heard of her brother or his wife. Or failing that, that maybe he'd at least heard news of new arrivals to the haven. Something to give her a bit of credibility.
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 12:46 am
Zhane, yes, he had heard of him, but had yet to meet him. And, of course, Tinania he knew very well.
"Nani's told me about Zhane," Damien replied, smiling a little wider now. "She's my cousin ... well, more like a sister, and a cousin through marriage. Her mother married my uncle, Rinion, but Aunt Krista and Mum Lenore were old school mates," he said, falling back into Lenore's dialect, as was his habit, when speaking of her.
Of course, he'd fallen back into his usual pattern of speech as quickly as he had slipped out of it. "One day, you'll have to ask Nani to show your our family trees. They are ... well, interesting," he said, managing to turn his friendly smile into a slightly sheepish one.
"Have you had a chance to meet the twins yet? Or, was that where you were stepping away from?" He honestly couldn't blame her if that were the case. It wasn't that he didn't like the little dragonflies, they were charming, but it can get a little cramped when infants are concerned. Conversation can get pretty ... strange.
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 1:04 am
The smile which had only ghosted at her mouth before became a bit more genuine as he spoke. It wasn't at anything in particular he'd said per-sey, but only at how fondly he spoke of his extended family. It had reminded her of the same animated way Zhane had spoken of Nani before he'd moved out to live with her.
Things weren't quite that way in her household. Her parents were loving, but they did so in their own, aloof way. During the usual status quo, everyone in their family seemed to value their own personal space and gave one another a wide berth.
"I've met them." she told him, at last lowering herself to sit in the grass a polite distance away from the young man. "They're beautiful children, and Tinania is....well, she's very nice."
It was really all she could think to sum her up at the moment. She HAD been nice, if distracted. And tired. But who could blame her, really, with two new infants to chase after?
"I was...I was a little surprised at how much like Dad Danica looks." she admitted, another laugh escaping her, this one seeming to ring on the air a little more clearly. "Zhane and our father...they never got on very well while we were growing up," she quickly explained. "He seems to think Dani's going to end up being his divine punishment for it someday if she turns out to be just like him."
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 1:26 am
Oh, this piqued his interest, the last tidbit. But, he didn't give that away, however, and he wasn't about to pry. If he was meant to know about Zhane and his family life before Tinania came along, then it would be told to him in some way. He wouldn't go ferreting for information.
Instead, he stuck to safe conversation at first. "Yes, Nani is one of the nicest people I know," and forgiving, he added internally. "A true friend," he added with a firm nod.
"Well, Danica does seem like she is going to be a handful. Though, in all honesty ... she reminds me of Tinania when she was younger," he confided. "I'm older than her, though it might not appear that way. I was around when she was born, and she was exactly how Danica is. Though, I've never met your father, so you'll have to let me know, when your sure, if Danica has more things in common with him than appearance." He grinned. "You never know, the twins could turn out to be both of their divine punishments, as well as their little blessings."
Damien then glanced off in the direction he knew Nani's house to have been. Honestly, he had chosen to sneak by the place when he was sure Zhane was not around. Partly because he and Nani had a lot of catching up to do, and partly because he was worried about how they would get along. The last thing he wanted was for them to be unable to be in the same room together.
"You look like the trustworthy sort," he said, eying Phae a moment. "can you keep a secret?" he asked, his tone a bit conspiring.
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 2:57 am
"I'm sure if Danica started behaving like our father, Zhane would see it first." she assured him, still smiling. "But he can be stubborn. He'll love them no matter how crazy they drive him."
The half-drow blinked, seemingly taken offguard by the question, but then straightened up a bit, nodding once. It seemed strange to her that he'd want to entrust her with anything so soon after meeting her, but yes, she'd become rather good at keeping secrets over the years.
It helped, of course, she had few people she spoke to on a regular basis.
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Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 5:13 pm
"Such is the way of the parent, unconditional love," Damien agreed as he thought over how to phrase his 'secret' properly. It wasn't a huge one, but it was one he definitely didn't think Tinania should know. It would give her an unfair advantage in the months to come, even if she used it against him in jest. And, Uncle Rinion would think he was being silly, and tell Aunt Krista, and it would end up with his cousin, anyway. "We've all given our parents some amount of grief, I think, am I right? I don't know how they do it ... it must be a chemical thing." He was getting sidetracked, now, wondering if he could dig up some studies on the subject ... his mind went off in its own direction, plotting out where he would search for this information, and speculating over -
Stop, he finally thought, and brought himself back into the present. What was he talking about? Their family, parents, the twins.... There, it was coming back to him.
He smiled, again, and started, "Don't worry, the secret isn't life or death," he'd notice the blinking. "It's just something I'd rather not have get back to Nani." Again, he thought about to how he would phrase it. Finally, he settled on, "I'm a little worried about when the twins get older. You know, when they're able to speak and demand things. It's already hard not to scoop them up when they demand attention, imagine what power they'll have over their family - meaning aunts and cousins and such - when they get older." Was he kidding? Maybe, even if there was a speck of truth where he was concerned. And, in any rate, his twinkling eyes gave his joking away.
(( har har. Actually, I was joking with Krista about how they were probably going to have Damien wrapped around their fingers when they get older. >> ))
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