<P> Dragon of the Family (Xun, Aska/Althai, Whist)

[mistalina13]

"It will be just fine, Aska. I promise."

Whisteria walked up the hallway with all the doors to the gods' private quarters, her hand in Aska's. It had been a few days since she had been to visit Lifewater last and had promised to come back. She had not mentioned she would be bringing her lover with her when she returned because she had not decided he should come with her until this morning. She stopped in front of a door with the likeness of a great tree carved into it, squeezing his hand gently. "Here we are."

With her free hand she knocked. Hopefully Xun was at home- if not, well, perhaps his servant would know where he was?  

[shibrogane]

Aska did not, in all actuality, think it would be just fine. Sure, he'd gotten along alright with Lifewater before everything with Whisteria, but he knew all about brothers and brothers-in-law and they were protective as hell. It would only be worse if brother was combined with dragon. Which it was, in this case. And he was being inherently irresponsible. He was going to die. And he knew he was going to die long before his child was born--and if by some miracle he managed to last that long, he would be certainly dead before the baby's first birthday.

It hurt to think about that, so he decided not to anymore.

"If he kills me ahead of time I'm going to be put out," he said, trying to make it a joke, and probably failing. Still, it was very unlikely that he would die ahead of that time... Being another God's host seemed to buy him a bit of leniency that way.  

[A Wandering Esper]

It was not long before Aysu came to answer the door and let the two of them inside. Only, since Xun Jiang was at least aware that he would have company, he had taken the time to prepare.

A few new shoots peeked up from the grass near the mageroyal, which would reveal that the seeds Whisteria had brought along on her last trip had already been planted. One of the nearby pillars of Everwood had been shifted to form a table of sorts, and the scent of tea would fill the air as the group came closer, as well as cookies laid out, ready for the taking.

"Ah, there you are." Through only a second after speaking, he noticed he was not alone. "Oh, and there you are, Aska. I was wondering when you would be able to come by." The tone was jovial and light enough, which revealed that the man apparently would be able to live beyond this day. There was the matter of needing another cup and a cushion if Aska wanted one, but Aysu was already tending to that.  

[mistalina13]

"If he tried he would have to deal with me first." She chuckled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Whisteria nodded to Aysu when he opened the door and followed after him. Xun seemed to be in a better mood today and that was certainly a good thing. "It took some convincing but I got him here." Though in hindsight she probably should have let Lifewater know beforehand. Oh well. The matter did not seem to be a terrible bother at least.

"See? Just fine. I told you." The words were whispered to Aska, but given Xun's hearing he might be able to pick them up anyway.  

[shibrogane]

Something in him rebelled at his pregnant lover having to deal with anything on his account, but that was a fight he had no hope of winning. He let it go, and so much the better, for a strange person answered the door and Aska had to spend time wondering why a purple dragon in human form bothered him less than a human with long ears who was, otherwise, completely normal. He followed after the stranger, sticking close to Whisteria's side in a manner that might have been protective if he had been any sort of warrior at all.

"Hello," he said, awkwardly, running his free hand through his curls. "Things have been... busy." Oh, and also? He got Xun Jiang's sister-in-law pregnant! And Aska was going to die and leave her to raise the baby alone! There were lots of reasons why he had found occasion to hide in his workshop recently. Most of them were related to the coming baby. Some of them were rooted in a deep desire not to suddenly be dead before his time.

The area around them was positively bursting with life; Aska had no names for most of the plants he saw, and he didn't even try to ask. He probably wouldn't remember them, anyway. Gardening had never been his thing, his thing had been more moving the rocks so that others could garden...

He smiled at Whisteria, and squeezed her hand gently. "I never doubted you for a second," he whispered back. It was not quite a lie.  

[A Wandering Esper]

The Dragon's lips quirked upward, ever so slightly - through what caused it was unclear. Had he heard those two tidbits all too well, or was he simply happy to see them ?

Well, he seemed content to let the mystery linger on the matter. Taj could likely use the amusement at this point.

Aysu returned with an extra cup and a cushion from Aska - Whisteria would be like him and would not mind sitting right down in the grass, he knew from experience.

"So I have heard. Thank you, Aysu." The aoidei nodded and return and left to tend to other things, leaving the three of them to themselves.  

[mistalina13]

Aysu? She had not gotten the elf's name last time, so the information was filed away for later.

As to what had gotten the dragon king smiling like that she could not even begin to guess. Once they settled down the first order of business for her was to remove her boots. She was not particularly fond of the things but had gotten into the habit of wearing them when walking around in the market or when she visited Aska's shop. At least here she knew there would be nothing sharp or dangerous to step on. It was quiet and peaceful, she really liked it here. The druidess was more than content just to sit, relax and bury her toes in the grass.  

[shibrogane]

Aska settled on the cushion provided, because it seemed expected, although he kind of felt like an idiot when Whisteria and Xun Jiang sat right on the ground. He wasn't much of one for greenery, but he didn't like feeling like he was some kind of crystal egg that had to be guarded, either. It wasn't exactly something he could help, or change, though; he laced his fingers together in his lap, awkwardly silent until the awkward silence became unbearable.

So I have heard, what did that even mean? Those were like, the four most noncommittal words in the Common tongue. He had been busy! There were things to make (because like hell would he let his child sleep in a store-bought crib, those things, no one knew where they came from really. Certainly weren't as reliable as home-made things. He knew exactly where the wood for his child's crib came from. That was how it should be.) and things to do, and people to see, and he was just plain busy as ******** of voicing this, he said, "Wow, would you look at the oliphaunt in this room."  

[A Wandering Esper]

Yep. Whisteria's movements were perfectly expected, and not surprising in the least.

A what ? It took him a moment to understand what Aska was saying, but when he finally did, the Dragon King laughed. "Do not be so tense, Aska. I assure you there is no evil plotting here. Life god, remember ? I am not very good at plotting untimely demises."

Oh, he could be, but only when there was truly a need of it.

No, Whisteria would probably see to that herself, if she was anywhere like Illisia had been at her worst. Xun Jiang knew what a pregnant woman was like - he had been a pregnant woman, some thousand of years ago. He knew what went on in the mind of a pregnant woman. It was not always pretty.  

[mistalina13]

Whisteria snerked and glanced sideways at her lover. That was more or less Aska just being himself in an awkward social situation, though Xun would not have had time to figure it out yet. It was probably a fair guess that there was a lot more going through Aska's mind than he was actually letting on. The goal for today had been to (gently) drag him out of the apartment to do something besides work and enjoy Xun's company at the same time. Hopefully Aska would relax some when things were a little less quiet.

"So, any new grand adventures planned, Xun?" Okay, so, it was not the most original conversation idea but it was something. Also it reminded her of something else she wanted to ask about- Darnassus. She wanted to go back sometime, and take Aska with her assuming he wanted to go, while she would still be able to. She missed Typala and the kittens terribly.  

[shibrogane]

Laughter did not often precede homicidal rampages, in Aska's opinion, so he relaxed, letting the tension seep out of his shoulders. "I think I read exactly that statement in a serial novel once," he said, but he wasn't serious; he was grinning, and shaking his head. Still, Whisteria's introduction of a conversational topic was welcome. It meant that he had less time to brood on the various real issues surrounding his life, and more time to ask dumb questions like:

"There was an old grand adventure?" He turned an expectant gaze on the Dragon King, eyebrows arched. The idea of going off on adventures was foreign to him, but Althai seemed interested, and he wasn't about to steal the thunder of what would be, evidently, an interesting tale.  

[A Wandering Esper]

That seemed to do the trick, at least. "That is possible. Human literature is not my forte, through."

...And it seemed like this was going to be story time, if Aska's interest was of any clue. "Well, better start at the beginning, should I ?"

The tea was poured out in each cup, and cookies were there for easy snacking.

"I went to another world not too long ago, called Daelyth. There was a gem lost onto that world, and so we went to recover it." Yes, that was the short and sweet explanation. "I assume her host once dwelt onto this world, but... Daelyth had been blasted, hard, by the near end of the worlds." The Dragon King paused them, realizing that this was probably very confusing, and addressed Aska directly for the time being. "Do you remember when things suddenly went wrong, years ago ? Others acting strange ? That was something known as Gehenna." Althai might remember what it actually meant - Xun Jiang really had no idea, given how his own memory was made up of inky blackness.

"Gehenna was The End, unleashed. You will have to forgive me for being so vague, but I was not... here when it happened." Auri had succumbed before then, as far as he could tell, which had left him weak and powerless, broken and utterly drained until Harmodius was himself once more to gather what was left of him. "It was not meant to be this way. The time had not been of my Master's choosing. The gods who lived back then found a way to stop the process, and Harmodius was reborn into his Creation aspect, leaving Destruction to recover from the blow he had taken."

"But yes... Daelyth was wiped clean of life, and now Forge had to be recovered. The land was harsh, once made up of many prairies but only sand and desert were left behind, with only a few exceptions. Glyph and I did what we could on the way, and hopefully now the world will recover and bear like once more." The Dragon nodded, pausing to drink some tea.

"We followed the trail the Spirit Guide could sense... and eventually we ended up in what once was the capital of the region we were in. And there..."

He reached into the pocket of his hakama, and took a round, rust colored gem out of it. Forge was always either in his or Glyph's presence, but lately, the task often fell on him as if lover was off tending the woods. "And now I guard her as she recovers her strength and calls for a new chosen."

A dragon was a good choice to guard treasure, and the irony did not escape him.

"As for your question." He glanced to Whisteria. "It is possible that there is another adventure planned, but once I would rather did not happen."  

[mistalina13]

Whisteria had more or less weaned herself off of sweets the last few years. Too long of eating magically conjured confections- its as if the magi of Azeroth did not know how to make anything else. Still, for some reason it was tempting. Hopefully she would not regret it later. She picked up a cookie and nibbled on it slowly as Xun spoke about Daelyth. He had mentioned some of this to her before, when had he dropped by her shop space for a visit, but now it seemed she would get to know all of it.

She eyed the gem and tilted her head, making a face after a moment. It was nothing against the Goddess who slept there. Trees just were never very fond of fire of any sort. Lifewater would probably understand and get a chuckle out of it- he had been a druid after all.

"Probably something dangerous no doubt."  

[shibrogane]

"The beginning's a great place," said Aska cheerfully, possibly irritatingly cheerfully, considering the topic that was immediately launched into.

Of course he'd always known about other worlds. With Worldwalkers being a real, tangible thing for him, it was hard to believe otherwise. Actually hearing about them was another thing entirely, and he nodded along at the mention of things 'suddenly going wrong'. The Dark Times, he figured, when the Psions were decimated. Right at the end he'd been thrown to this world, he didn't even know how Lampadas was doing in the aftermath. Had Heimgard held itself up as well as it might have? He carefully did not think of Embla. That was the past now; he was going to look towards the future, what he had of it. Aska slanted a glance at Whisteria and smiled a little, before returning his gaze to Xun.

The gem was a subject of both interest and revulsion. He didn't want another person to die in their rebirth, but nor could he begrudge the Gods their choice of vessel. Hopefully the others would be a little more intelligent about such things, and not make mistakes as he had. Granted, he was sure the only reason he regretted his involvement with Whisteria and the conception of their child was because he was going to die, but all the same--

"No doubt," he said. "Surely they'd let you sit one out?"  

[A Wandering Esper]

"Dangerous, indeed." The gem was returned to his pocket. The two's reaction did not go completely unnoticed, but he knew that Forge was still too weak to call a host. He would know if she was searching, or at least that was Glyph had told him.

Whisteria was right on the money, as she often was. "It is not that I do not want to go." He elaborated for Aska. "But if I have to go, it means that others will be in trouble, and that I and those who might be with me would perhaps be their only chance of survival."

He figured that made it obvious why he would prefer not to go at all.

"There are a few gods and mortals heading to a world called Aejiss to stop a powerful immortal who once tried to usurp Trickery's power. With the fading, well... She might very well have succeeded. A small group will go first... And if that group does not return in the time frame we decided on, I will lead the other."

It would make sense. Xun Jiang would do poorly in a stealth mission. His two choices were either a purple woman with wings and tail, or an actual dragon.

Neither form were too good at passing by unnoticed.