House Guest

Daechir's home is a beautiful place, and yet, there's not very much personal laying about. No knick-knacks or paintings of people who might be relatives. This lack gave the home a sense of being unfinished, and perhaps a touch cold, but the warm breakfast that Daechir had laid out for his guest filled the gap somewhat. When it was apparent that his guest was not going to immediately join him Daed made things that would be fine out for a while. Fresh fruits, bread. Which was fairly much the extent of his culinary skills in any case, so the elf made some tea to go with it and settled down in his dining area to await the rising of his houseguest.

Barefeet can be heard coming down the stairs and across the solarium to the orangerie and then out to the patio.

"Not even in my dreams have I ever slept that well," says the Mul, who has obviously made himself very at home as he's only wearing his trousers. Or...

"I could not find my room once I made it to the lavatory...this is what I was wearing, huge apologies!" he says, taking a seat at the table--the one getting the most sunlight. He eschews any sign of table manners (having never learned any) but at least chews with his mouth closed.

"I will have to show you the way back once you have eaten then." Daechir seems amused with his guest, if the soft smile on his lips is any indication. It's in his red eyes as well, as he drinks his tea and spears strawberries with his fork. There's plenty of food, more than enough for the pair of them and Daechir is eating lazily. "It is quite alright. I am glad that you have found your accommodations to your liking."

Aetheras swallows a half-dozen half-chewed strawberries, nods and says, "It's going to be hard to sleep anywhere else!" He pops another berry in, "My gods, how can something with the skin of a mini red pangolin taste so good?" He closes his eyes to savour that particularly epic last berry.

With a sigh, he adds, "It is fortunate my love of magic will pull me back to the hallowed halls of learning, or you might be hiring some thugs to evict me in a fortnight." He grins and continues eating like it's going out of style.

"Do they /feed/ you there?" Daechir asks with seeming curiosity, but it's still amusement, and the man leans forward to pour a cup of tea for Aetheras, the tea is one that goes well with such a sweet repast as having fruit for breakfast. Then he leans back again comfortably in his chair and idly begins to peel another orange. There is some already unpeeled and ready to be eaten, but Daechir seems to want something to do with his hands so he works to unveil the citrus fruit.

Aetheras nods, takes a sip of the tea, winces as it burns, takes another.

"Aye, they do..." he says, slowing down, finally finding the folded linen napkin and wiping his mouth like one would wipe a smudge off a wall, then putting it back on the table. "But it's more, ah, utilitarian." He grins.

"What did you say your family name was? And is it in any way related to the world of the Mul'niessa or more to that of the human aristocracy?" he asks, with zero tact.

"Calithailin." Daed offers quietly, his red eyes watching Aetheras eat as he discards the bits of the orange that aren't edible onto his plate. "It is my father's family name, so yes." He smiles, but it's more a motion of his lips than anything warm. "I am actually only half mul'niessa. My mother is Llyranesi." He makes a motion with his fingers to indicate the house they sit in. "This home was given to me by her when I moved to Alexandria."

Aetheras raises both brows. "I had no idea, as your appearance is quite..." He frowns. "In fact I wonder now for the first time if I don't have a mix, given that we are both a fair bit taller than most." He shrugs a shoulder and drinks the rest of the tea, momentarily pensive.

Daechir laughs gently, a low chuckle echoed by the sound of a gentle bell twinkling. "I look like a full-blooded mul'niesssa I know. I'm told I look very much like my father." In spite of his laughter there's something almost hurt hiding in his eyes, but he covers it well by looking away and finishing with the orange. Little bits of it get eaten quietly. "I know there's no human blood in my genetics, on either side, but it's possible that you do. How old were you when you were taken from the Vast?"

Aetheras shrugs again, "I do not know my exact age, or even my name day, but I was about a decade old. That is why I can speak but not read--not well-- the language of my ancestors."

The red-eyed mul'niessa toyed with the orange pieces arranged on his plate. The outside was pushed into a corner and the rest of the pieces were arranged in a pleasing pattern that he was slowly destroying by eating. Now though, he simply rolled his long dark fingers over them and watched Aetheras. "That... is a shame. Perhaps while you are here you might be interested in expanding your ability then. I have a number of books in our mother tongue." He blinks languidly and shakes his head. "It is a pain to think that anyone would capture a child and take them from their home."

"Yes, that is very kind, but I will not take the volumes out of your library, it'll give me a good balance between books here and books there," offers Aetheras, continuing to eat all in his path. "Thank you for being so kind to me. It is rather unusual." He sounds grateful and polite but clearly is not convinced all of this won't come at a price.

"I have an ulterior motive." Daechir confirmed, his eyes on Aetheras but a smile on his lips that was at least somewhat comforting and he rolled his shoulder. "I'm lonely. There are not a lot of people in Alexandria who are understanding of my... family ties. People see a mul'niessa and the hardships between Charn and Alexandria are potent."

Aetheras leans back, then leans back some more, resting his chair on its hind legs. "I've seen that too, we all endure it differently..." He smiles, "Easy to get lonely. I'm sure there are others, and some half-Muls too. You have enough fruit and tea?" he asks, his smile doing the winking.

Daechir nods, and then looking at his empty plate nods again and rises to his feet to clean the mess made by their morning breakfast. He moves with a calm easy grace, his long braid swaying behind him as he moves. "I hope breakfast was to your liking, if you had gotten up earlier I would have tried for a more conventional meal, but in truth without my cook around..." He shrugs his shoulders and disappears into the kitchen briefly only to return a moment later.

Aetheras looks a bit confused and is standing there holding his dish, wondering what to do with it.

"Ah, forgive me." Daechir moves forward, taking the dish from Aetheras and returning to the kitchen with it. After a moment he returns and motions Aetheras to follow him. "Come, I will show you the way to your room so that you can dress properly for the day." He smiles a bit softly in amusement.

Aetheras takes a last sip of his tea after handing over the tea and follows Daechir through the labyrinth. "You have to forgive me but I did not have my own bed until four moons ago, and my own room is a whole new thing. I can't get used to it and end up sleeping in the common area, but that bed in there cast a spell on me." He chuckles, scratching absentmindedly at one of his many scars. "We were only given beds when we were injured and deemed unworthy of temple healing for a poor performance in the arena..."

Daed's eyes flickered toward Aetheras as he led the other man upstairs to where the guest rooms were. It wasn't difficult to locate once someone knew the layout of the house really. "Arena?" The word is a soft question as Daed opens the door to the room and looks curiously at Aetheras. "You were a gladiator?"

Aetheras laughs, "Yes, for a very, very long time," he says, extending his arms out, "How else do you think you get a scar collection like this...." and then he does a standing back flip. "Or learn that move!" he says, grinning up before standing up.

"I did not begin to try and guess in truth. It would have been rude to try and assume." Daed offers with some small amusement. Then motions to a room down the hall from Aetheras' guest room. "You might have some interest in that room there then, it is a dojo. I use it to keep my own physical skills sharp. You're welcome to it."

Aetheras looks between the room and Dae to see if he's serious, decides he is and jogs over to the dojo...

"HOOOAH!" he says, from within.

It's a room that Daed knows well, and he follows the other man into it. The walls are made of wood that has been shined so hard that they show a reflection. The floors are wooden as well, and very clean but not as reflective as the walls by any means. It's a large room, with more than enough space for sparing in. Daed moves to one of the walls and touches it to reveal that it swings out. Training equipment lays inside the pannel, things that could be used for weight training or other forms of physical activity including practice weapons. "It wasn't always a dojo, but I have little desire to spend much time at the colosseum so I made this room instead."

Aetheras walks around, running his fingers along the wood, quickstepping to test the give on the floor, picking up things and putting them down after a quick look. "It is an amazing room, Dae," he says, needlessly.

"Perhaps I can help you train as a token of my appreciation for your hospitality." He smiles and turns to examine the various training accoutrements.

Daechir lets out a soft amused noise, clearly pleased that the room is not found wanting. "I would like that I think. I enjoy training a great deal more than I even expected to." He looks around the room fondly and closes the hidden door smoothly. After a moment there is nothing there to show that the door was ever there. "Come, you should get dressed, and I should be attending to business for the day." There is much of the day left, and more yet to be done after all.

-End