Over Loaves of Bread

The morning sun is high in the sky as Zeke makes his way through the temple square. There aren't many people out this early, but that only allows Zeke the enjoyment of walking slowly at his own pace through the square. He takes his time to appreciate the sight of the fountain. The rising pillars of the temples themselves. This familiar location is filled with beauty to his eyes, and he often spends his lunch hour out here enjoying it.

He steps to the side as one of the people passing by comes close to him, but he realizes belatedly that they are coming up to him; not passing through. The woman looks up and up at him, squinting a little. "Are you Maksur?" She asks and Zeke stills, looking at her wearily. "If you are, your mother is looking for you! You shouldn't worry her so. Go visit!" The woman smiles, reaching out to gently pat Zeke on the shoulder before wandering away again. She doesn't notice at all the way he rubs his arm where she touched him, or the look of sorrow on his features.

The blue scaled sith clutches the basket in his crystal claw a little more tightly and turns toward the temple of Eluna purposefully, pushing aside his emotions and his concerns. There are more important things.

It has been a long, but productive night for Seldan, in the peace and quiet of a Temple he had not dared openly in months. When he does emerge, this time from the main door instead of the most hidden of the side doors as is this usual wont, he pauses at the bottom of the stairs, blinking at the flood of sunlight that assaults his eyes. Clad in armor toned down from its opalescent sheen, but otherwise bare-faced, and with a knapsack over his back, he stares across the temple square blearily, dark circles and weary lines across his face.

And then, he catches sight of Zeke, and the stranger - and even from this distance, the sith-makar's body language tells him a great deal, none of it good. Pushing aside weariness, he breaks into a jog to close with Zeke. "Peace upon your nest, kin."

The Sunguard Andelena is coming off an early morning herself, as many of her mornings are, and she's in the Temple Square just passing through when she spies the whole incident with the woman. Her expression from a vaguely tired one to like she'd gotten a whiff of very spoiled milk, and this continues even when she spots Seldan approaching. She closes in, too, walking briskly, the clink of her armor and Deliverance on her sword belt announcing her presence.

"Morning, you two," Andelena greets as she falls into step with the two. "Peace on your nest, Zeke." This would normally be the part where she asks Zeke how he's doing, but... she just watched a total stranger touch Zeke with no regard for his bodily autonomy and remind him of his mother. She has one good guess.

"Peasce on your nessst kin." Zeke replies back pleasantly, clearly glad to see Seldan. He peers at the other man though, noticing his tiredness and lifts his basket slightly. "Thisss one comesss bearing sssome-thing to break your fassst with. Come, sssit with thisss one and relax."

He nods politely to Andelena as she joins them and his tail shifts behind him pleasantly. "Peassce on your nessst Andelena. The light of the Dragonfather isss lovely thisss morning yesss?" He looks at Seldan, waiting to see if the other man responds positively to Andelena's presence before inviting her to breakfast with them.

"Sunguard, brightest of days." The response from Seldan is indeed positive enough to be going on with, a formal bow accompanied by a small if genuine smile. "You wish to break your fast here, then? As you will, or should we perhaps find a quieter space?"

"The light is good today, Zeke, you're right. Breakfast? Gods, yes, I'd _love_ breakfast. A quieter space sounds nice too," Andelena replies, her mood brightening just by having Seldan and Zeke respond happily to her presence. "Something where we won't be interrupted by people. But that call's up to Zeke. He's the one providing the good stuff, after all."

Of course, she gives the Square a sort of wary look, like she's daring someone to come up to Zeke and paw at them some more, because they might get the cat-swat of a lifetime.

Zeke glances at Andelena and the sith seems perhaps a little embarrassed, but he ducks his head politely and will lead the way over to the temple, talking pleasantly. "Thisss one knowsss jussst the plasce." He murmurs a thought quietly to himself, something about bread and they enter the temple of Daeus together. Many of the people here seem to know Zeke and he receives many waves from various individuals.

"Hey Zeke! Your mom is looking for you!" One of them calls out cheerfully and Zeke's shoulder hunch slightly, as if he might be able to make his massive self invisible.

"Sssa." He replies quietly, and ducks into one of the rooms. He quickly sets up breakfast wordlessly. There's bread that he made himself, two little brown loaves, and a container of mixed fruit. It's clear actually as he lays out the food that he'd made enough for two people who have a pretty good appetite.

"Thisss one will get sssome tea." He says as he lays out the food, and turns to go and leave.

"A moment," Seldan, who had been following Zeke, turns towards the sound of the call, and strides in the direction of the caller, murmuring something quietly to them. It is at least a couple of sentences, but he did not bid the other two to wait while he did so. His gaze remains steady and calm, despite the tired look, and it is clear that he does not intend to be long.

When he is done, he turns away with a polite farewell and enters the room once again.

Once she's inside the room with Zeke (nodding approvingly in Seldan's direction as he leaves to speak with the caller, as well), Andelena looks down at the portions and seems to realize that the portions don't equal out between three people, as she squints at the bread--which looks marvelous, but she also knows what she's capable of putting away on her own. "I can get the tea, Zeke? Or go with you, at least," Andelena offers.

Zeke looks at Andelena, and offers her the sith equivalent of a smile: waggling tail. "You and Ssseldan can get ssstarted! Thisss one will only be a moment!" He nods to Seldan as the man returns and heads out the door. He will not be long. This gives the pair a moment to talk while Zeke gathers the tea, and also some more food from the kitchens.

Seldan returns in short order and gently pulls the door to behind him, his expression reasonably satisfied. He waits for Andelena to seat herself before doing so, and turns to regard her steadily. He does not yet touch the food, clearly planning to wait for Zeke to return to do so. "Has he yet been warned, aside from those who wish to remind him?"

"That his mother's here in Alexandria? That's kind of why I wanted to walk with him to the kitchen, just in case she pops out from a pillar, and I will be _so_ unhappy if she does." Andelena doesn't touch the food. "He knows she was in Mictlan and told me of it before you and I met her the other day. I already told him that he has my help, because he's a friend, and friends don't leave each other out to dry like hole-riddled socks on the laundry line."

She scowls a little bitterly, her gaze lowering down to the food. And then she seems to realize she's scowling at the bread and fixes her expression, lest Zeke come back in and think she's judging his choice of food.

Zeke returns very promptly, not wanting to leave the two waiting terribly long. He has to juggle his tray and the door for a moment, but he manages from long practice. The sith has a tray of food and tea. Another loaf - this one of white bread cut in half. And two bowls of breakfast oatmeal nice and warm. He seems quite pleased with himself, and seeing that they had not started in on the food that he had brought he seems to cheer up even more. "You did not have to wait for thisss one!"

The sith steps forward, and begins arranging the food for everyone. Oddly he does not arrange things evenly. For himself he takes one of the little brown loaves and a third of the fruit while he arranges oatmeal and fruit and half-loaves of both breads to Andelena and Seldan. Tea is next and he pours this out equally for everyone. He pours first for Andelena, then Seldan, and himself last of all. "Pleassse enjoy!"

Seldan watches the entire process, his eyes remaining steadily on Zeke the entire time. "The Seers saw to it that I ate, ere I departed the Temple," he tells Zeke, gently pushing his half of the brown bread towards Zeke. Up close, he certainly looks like a man who has been up all night, with dark circles under his eyes and a certain weary look. "We shall hunt soon."

With that, he picks up the spoon and tucks in graciously to the oatmeal, while it is still warm. "I am aware of Nonantzine," he adds, after his first bite, the tone holding an unspoken _and I am having none of her nonsense_. "I was raised to be respectful, albeit I only respect the people I ought to respect," Andelena says with a little grin. "Thank you, Zeke, this is a tidy-looking breakfast you've made for us."

Andelena murmurs a prayer of thanks for the meal before she, too, tucks into her bowl, listening to Seldan as he talks. She nods appreciatively at the unsaid portion, swallowing her bite. "Zeke, Seldan and I ran into her in the Square very, very recently," she says. "This woman's not gonna relent. Fortunately, neither am I, and I'm willing to tell her right off and take a long walk off a short pier if I gotta."

Zeke enthusiastically shifts his tail back and forth at Seldan's suggestion that they hunt soon. He subtly slides the extra bit of bread into his own pile and sits down, breaking the bread into smaller parts so that he can eat them more easily. "Thisss one would be grateful for a deer! Sssoon it will be ssspring and they will be migrating to here!" He seems happy with this thought - right up until Seldan mentions Nonantzine. He goes still. Like a snake viewing danger, so still that he might not have been breathing at all. Then his eyes flicker from Seldan to Andelena.

His tail slumps to the ground, curling around his chair and he shifts bits of bread between his claws. "Thisss one apologizessss. Thissss one..." He sighs. "Thisss one sshould visssit her." He hardly sounds excited at the prospect. He looks at Sledan. "You ssseem tired kin. Are you well?"

"No, you should not," Seldan counters firmly, setting down his spoon. "Not without myself and Sunguard Andelena at your side, for this shall be a confrontation, not a reunion. Your nest-mother smells of evil, Zeke, strongly enough that she is possibly possessed, although not so strongly as to suggest a fiend in her guise. Naught have you to apologize for. We shall do what we can for her."

"As to the deer, I shall seek a buck for you, or perhaps we may go farther afield and bring down a creature of the plains, does that please you."

Andelena picks up her bread and slices off a bit--at an angle, of course, because perfectly cutting bread is not one of her talents--and she almost points it at Zeke as she talks, holding it in her hand. "If I wouldn't go visit my monster of a mother by myself, I sure as _shit_ wouldn't let a friend visit his mother-monster by himself," she says in firm agreement with Seldan. "You're not a hatchling anymore. You've got friends. And especially where that woman's going around with fiend-stench on her, I especially don't want you going alone. For all we know, could be cavorting with the same damn fiends my mother's playing grab-ass with."

Finally she shoves the slice of bread in her mouth, humming appreciatively. That's some good bread.

Seldan's words make Zeke look at Andelena, then his claws drop his bread and he covers his eyes with them. Huddling a little. No amount of talking about the idea of a tasty, meaty, treat can asswage him at the moment. "No kin." He mumbles, not explaining what he's saying no to. He makes a little groaning noise at Andelena's addition and sighs. "It isss...." His breath huffs over his tea. If Zeke could vanish by pure force of will, he probably would have in that moment.

Seldan lets out a small breath, unclasps his cloak, removes his swordsman's gloves, and offers both of his hands across the table to Zeke, an anchor point that he has so often offered without hesitation. "Kin. I cannot ignore one with the stench of evil that strong within the city walls. Well do you know that. Less still can I ignore it when it threatens a friend. I need your help. Tell me what you may."

"Neither can I ignore the possibility of demonic taint. I simply can't--not after everything I've been through and seen. Deliverance wouldn't _let_ me, either," Andelena explains. She'd offer her own hand, but given that she's in full armor and Seldan's offering, she settles instead for a look of compassion. "You are safe here. You're with friends. I promise."

Zeke does not take Seldan's hands, but he does lower his claws. Places them on the table and looks down in shame. He doesn't take Seldan's hands, because he could not bear it if Seldan drew away from him. Judged him for the truth clawing at his throat to finally be spoken. He can not meet their gaze. "Ssshe ssservesss the Dark Dragon." It's possibly the most difficult thing he has ever said. To admit that his nest-mother serves the deity diametrically opposed to his own.

Seldan merely waits, his own full armor a good bit more flexible and lighter than Andelena's - he seems to have no trouble extending his arms across the table. When the shoe drops, he merely inclines his head. "I see. That is no judgment upon you, Zeke," he replies, clearly taking this information in stride. "You have chosen to walk in the Light. That you do so, when the darkness seeks you, speaks to me of your strength and purity of heart. Indeed am I awed by you," he murmurs, eyes lowering.

GAME: Seldan rolls knowledge/religion: (5)+15: 20

"That's the path she's chosen, and that's _not_ the path you walk," Andelena nods in agreement with Seldan. "I feel the same as Seldan does. You rise above even if your mother is down in the pit she's chosen to be in. It's _hard_ to break away from what a parent does. There's so many kids who just grow up repeating what they saw their parents do--and you didn't. You broke the dark wheel."

She's abandoned her meal for the moment, looking thoughtful. "And if mother dearest's coming to try and fix it, she's got another thing coming."

Zeke looks up, surprised by the lack of chastisement. Seldan is on his left side, so Zeke takes Seldan's right hand with his left claw carefully. "Thisss one hasss known. For all thisss time, thisss one hass kept her sssecret. In sshame, in not knowing what to do. Sssshe wasss thisss onesss whole world Ssseldan. Sshe kept thisss one from tribe and cassste. From the People. Thisss one knew nothing but her." What he's saying is... extraordinarily strange for a sith-makar. To be raised away from ones tribe would be for a human like being banished.

"Thisss one does not know why sssshe iss trying to sssee thisss one. Perhapsss sssshe hass left the ssservice of the Dark Dragon? Perhapsss... there isss sssome way yet to bring her into the light?" He sounds hopeful and yet doubtful.

"That do I think unlikely," Seldan, too, has left his own meal forgotten, and allows Zeke to hold his hand as he will, showing no concern whatsoever for the claws. "Much is explained. I felt certain that she knew of your service to the Dragonfather. Why, then, did she not seek you in the Dragonfather's temple, I wondered. Now, I know. Now, the stench of evil upon her is explained." He sighs, but only lightly. "Fear, and shame, are dark roads indeed, an inviting path to hatred and destruction." His eyes remain lowered. "You have shared the truth. Let us learn her intent, for I think it unlikely to be good. This must I say, though, Zeke, that does she threaten you, or another, I will do what is necessary."

"Yeah, if she wanted to get to you quickest--she'd just march her tail on in here," Andelena agrees. "But since she can't, she has to get people to come and harass you."

She purses her lips in thought for a moment. "She'd be foolish to threaten Zeke or anyone else," she says. "But if she's stupid enough to try, she'll get exactly what she deserves. Not gonna sugarcoat it, especially now that I know she's a servant of the Tyrant."

With the meal utterly forgotten by everyone, Zeke nods to Seldan. "It isss your plassce and duty to protect the innocent. Thisss one undersstandsss that well Sseldan, but you mussst know... Sssome-thing about thisss one drivess her... mad. Thiss one doess not under-sstand it. All thisss one asskss is that you do not harm her for thisss oness sssake. S-sshe hearsss hisss voisce in her mind Ssseldan. Ssshe isss not well." He shakes his head.

"That may be, Zeke, and well do I understand your desire not to harm her." Seldan's eyes narrow, but not angrily. Speculatively. The gaze remains otherwise its steady, sober, even self, and he nods slowly. "In this do I regard you as an innocent, Zeke. She is not well, and it may be that such voices may be cast out. All the same, I cannot allow harm to come to innocents because of her. I will not harm her unless I have no other choice."

There's a knowing look, a small nod, and the smallest sigh as Andelena exhales out some breath. "I get it, Zeke. As much as I hate my mother for everything she put me through--I didn't want to hurt her. Not until the moment I found out she was sending demons after Bry and I. We find out your mother's involved in something like that, then all bets are off."

Zeke nods his head low to both of them. "Thisss one undersstandsss. If ssshe givessss you no choisce, if ssshe hurtsss ssome-one innocent, thisss one would sstop her thisss onesss sself." His eyes harden somewhat. "Thisss one would not let her harm another. It isss enough. Thisss one will go to Mictlan and... find out what isss going on." He nods here very firmly.

Mictlan. Seldan draws a deep breath, and releases it, hesitation suddenly flooding his features. "Do we travel with you, will the People welcome us?" he asks, cautiously. "I would not have you travel without me."

"I don't think I've ever heard of Mictlan being barred to outsiders, but I wouldn't know. I've never been," Andelena replies, looking thoughtful. "If both of you are willing, I'd like to come along, too. A fellow Sunguard and one of your kin--two of the strongest allies you could ask for." She offers a little smile at that remark.

Zeke blinks at Seldan and shifts his tail in amusement. "You will be welcomed kin. It isss thisss one that they will find sstrange, and thisss one isss ssstill welcome none-the-lessss." He gives Seldan's hand a gentle squeeze. Then he nods to Andelena. "Your presssence would be mossst welcome Andelena." He hefts a sigh. "Thisss one will do thisss ssssoon. Thisss one musst ssend a messssanger in advansce to make sssure sshe isss returned and not sstill in Alexandria."

"Indeed. I would prepare a spell or two, ere we depart, and we should hunt, soon. Your nest-mother has waited to seek you longer than I have known you, and she may cool her heels for that much longer." Seldan's tone is firm, and he smile briefly at the squeeze on his hand, but he clearly still seems uncomfortable. "I would have you as company on the road, Sunguard Andelena, but - what of your patient?" He asks Zeke curiously, turning to him mid-word. "Mictlan is near on a day's travel from here."

"My man is no longer a patient here," Andelena says with a smile. "Thanks to Zeke, the Knight, and... Hell with it, I'll give credit to myself, too. He'll be fine enough on his own, so long as I give him the heads up that I'm going. He'll probably just grumble about being left alone with our cats."

"It isss asss ssshe sssaysss. He isss well enough to no longer require care." Zeke nods to her and for the first time in a while remembers his food. He picks it up and eats quickly enough to give away that he must have been quite hungry. "Thissss one isss curioussss kin, why ssso tired? Are you ssssure you are well enough to hunt?" He doesn't want Seldan to fall asleep out in the wilderness, or hurt himself.

"Good news indeed, then." Seldan seems satisfied with the answer, and when Zeke picks up his food, he resumes his as well, although slowly enough to suggest that he was not lying about having already eaten something. "I had much to think on, yestereven," he murmurs, lowering his eyes, and pausing long enough to take a bite of cooled oatmeal. "I kept vigil before the pool, last night." A sigh, and his spoon prods the cooled mass. He sets it aside, and with his newly-freed hand draws a simple sigil over the bowl. A single arcane word, and he wraps both hands around the bottom of the bowl, then frees his left to pick up the spoon and stir the oatmeal, which appears to be - warming up.

GAME: Seldan casts Prestidigitation. Caster Level: 16 DC: 18

Andelena looks visibly impressed as Seldan warms his own bowl of oatmeal, and she glances at her own and... Well, she shrugs. She eats it anyway, even if it's cold, pausing long enough (when it's polite to speak) to say, "You must be exhausted, then, Seldan. Do you have a place to crash here in the city?"

"We can return to our ssshelter firssst. Then go hunting." Zeke offers. His own food is already quite gone. Having eaten it quite quickly while the others were talking. Now he sips his tea more slowly and watches them enjoy their meals respectively. "Thissss one will sssend a messsage before we head to Mictlan."

With a small smile, Seldan sets down his spoon and reaches to warm Andelena's bowl as well, if she will let him. "I can use a cell in the Temple, at need, but it is as Zeke says. I do not maintain lodgings here in the city." A sigh, and he withdraws his hands once he is finished or refused. "My situation is somewhat complex."

Andelena can't help but grin appreciatively as Seldan warms her oatmeal, too. "Thanks, Seldan," she says, lifting a spoon of warm oats.

Then the bite is finished and Andelena nods. "It's okay," she says. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. All I care about is that you're safe, and you're okay. Of course I'd prefer you were _happy_, but nobody can be happy all the time."

She points to Zeke with her spoon. "Same goes for you, my friend," she tells Zeke. "I know you knew that already, but it's the kind of song you don't get tired of hearing." And she takes another bite of oatmeal.

Zeke looks abashed by Andelena's comment to him. It's clear that he is about as used to such sentiments as is Seldan. All he can do however is shake his head in amazement and drink his tea. Allowing Seldan the space to explain his situation or not as he chooses. Seldan's situation is indeed complicated as he well knows.

"I do not recall the last time that I would have regarded myself as _safe_, Sunguard." A ghost of a smile plays around Seldan's lips, but vanishes quickly as he tucks, much more slowly, into his own food, and nudges his bowl of fruit in Zeke's direction. "Thrice now since first I saw Alexandria's walls have I been hunted, and they that hunt me now are the least dangerous of the three." A bite of food, and he adds, "The llyranesi are but spoilt children who have had a toy taken from them that never belonged to them." He shakes his head. "And yet are they not an idle threat, for they may in their selfishness hinder the task I have undertaken. I have chosen to defy them, and let the chips fall where they will. Do I vanish, funds for my resurrection have been left in the care of the Dreamer's Temple."

He rubs at his eyes, then pushes an unruly lock of hair from his face, smoothing it back over his hairline, and resumes his meal. "Allies have been few, and friends fewer. I pray that I have not in my caution offered offense."

"Offense? No," Andelena replies, shaking her head. "No, I'd never be offended. Just that _I_ consider you a friend. You deal with a lot. And... so does Zeke."

She snorts a little as she looks at her bowl of oatmeal. "I mean. I do, too. We've all got shit on our plates."

There's a moment before she looks up at Seldan and says with a little grin, "So it's a good thing we're eating from bowls instead. Thank you for the meal again, Zeke."

Zeke seems embarrassed, not because he's stealing the bowl of fruit that Seldan offered - if the other man has eaten already there's no point in the fruit going to waste - but because of Andelena's gratitude for the meager breakfast. "Thisss one isss happy to provide." He nods his head here and bites into the fruit. It's good to see him happy considering the fact that he'd been so stressed and unhappy of late. But it's hard not to be so, surrounded by friends and kin that clearly care about him.

"Thank you, once again, kin. For everything." Seldan echoes those sentiments, but now seems a bit more intent on his meal. "It is in my mind to return to the shelter and rest, and we shall hunt come the morrow. Zeke shall message us both when it is time to travel to Mictlan. Mictlan lies deep in the wilderness to the north, dress warmly," he warns Andelena, scraping the bottom of his bowl.

Andelena's scraping the bottom of her bowl now, too, as she was not about to let it go cold again when Seldan's already done her the big favor of heating it back up. She finishes the last bite and swallows when Seldan informs her of the climate, and she smiles. "Damn, I'll have to put back all of those swim-clothes I own, then," she says, before she laughs. "The warning's appreciated. I'll dress warmly."

And while the oatmeal's gone, there's still a bit more left to eat. The meal continues on a bit longer, over loaves of bread and fruit between friends.

-End