The Only Title That Matters

               Hayatiento Aerie, Midday

A dark fog has rolled through the Redridge Mountains, though for those within the Hayatiento Aerie, it's just another Eliday. A low hanging cloud streaming on by, blanketing the windows and openings to the colorful Residential tunnels underneath. The Slibahgeiko Aerie has been settling in decently well, though their Khazad stubbornness streak had been hard to break. Many of the minor injuries have been tended to, all that is left is the most egregious: broken wings. And, another thing.

The vibrant and multi pattered decorations strewn up in the medical house clashes with the dour air and coughing drums of patients. Whatever illness that the refugees brought wasn't the most dangerous, but on their fatigued bodies, it causes some concern on its severity. Another aspect that has been gleamed, this flu-like illness, seems to be only effecting Egalrin. There's only so many healers at hand to help with this. One of which, leaving a curtained off group of fledgings behind her with a half used bowl of cold water in her hands is a somewhat plump red and black stiped egalrin in her middle ages, an apron with little depictions of flowers stitched into the front of it. A long sigh escapes her, looking quite tired.

The voice is soft, but warm. "Even healers must rest at some point." In the medical house, a corner has been set aside for an alchemical workbench. Jars of herbs and bottles of reagents are neatly racked, and a mortar and pestle is grinding up another mixture on its own, with no hand to drive it.

A half-sil dressed in casual robes stands next to the workbench, measuring liquid into a vial, checking the level before capping it and setting it aside. "You cannot tend to your patients if you are drained by fatigue." Telamon's starry eyes rest on the older egalrin, his calm mien a pool of serenity even in these troubled days.

The egalrin healer raises her head, reaching six foot and some spare change. "Yuh, I kno's," she hums languidly, stepping up to a barrel near the workbench and popping open the lid off. "But th' lil' babes need a lil' extra lookin'. Thems worryin' makes it none too easier."

She dumps the water into the joining with the rest of the barrel marked as 'hazardous' before she knocks the lid bad into place. "'least I can get /some/ rest thanks ta ya," she gestures to the alchemical setup with a smile in her own yellow eyes. "Ya tinctures been helpin' loads. Don' think we been properly met. Name's Jiranu. Lord Lupecyll-Atlon, yeah?"

"And if it's not medicine, it's stories," Telamon chuckles. "They've been quite insistent on me telling stories to them. Of my past, my adventures. I can remember being that young too, wanting to hear tales from my father or uncle."

At her compliment, Tel blushes lightly. "Antiplague," he says with a grin. "Nothing magical, just some alchemy and attention to detail." He glances at the mortar and pestle, still grinding away, and he checks it before returning it to its spot. At her choice of words, he looks up. "I... am unused to the title. Some call me that, yes." He rubs a thumb along his cheek.

Jiranu softly laughs, a rolling coo. "Oh fo' sho', sugar. Most of th' lil'uns ain't been outta the mountains befo', so loads is new ta them. Heck, I'm sure most of 'em ain't kno' y'all's ears can get pointy," she teases, gesturing to the man. "Any fun one's ya been yanked 'round ta tell again and again?"

She trots over, peering at the concoctions in progress. "Ah. I'm familiar wit' it, but it's a bit hard ta get a hand on th' ingredients. Bu'... ya keep tha' goin', I gots a feelin' this weird sickness will get knocked out sooner than later."

She blinks at him, then gives a closed eye smile, holding her hands up. "Tha's jus' wha' the grapevine been sayin'. I kno' of you. Sometimes the grapevine is insultin', but this didn't seem th' like. Would ya prefer somethin' else? Brewer? Stars?" she snickers and jokes.

"Alchemy takes a certain attention to detail. And I'm being doubly careful here, since I've no wish to make anyone sick, let alone children." He pauses. "Well, sick-er. You get the idea." Telamon smiles. "But yes. Bolstering them with antiplague should help to stamp this illness out, and it'll be past."

His brows arch at the grapevine, but he doesn't snap back, instead busying himself with starting to mix up a new batch of the alchemical remedies. "I never set out to be a lord," Tel says quietly. There's no animus or anger, just an admission. "And I've met some lords who ... well, the old saw about being too stupid to pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel comes to mind. Worse, the -arrogance-. Gods, the absolute conviction they're the center of creation." He takes a deep breath. "But... someone has to show a better face. Set a better example. And people keep asking me to do it, and... I can't refuse them."

Jinaru bobs her head as she steps to a wash basin, ladling in fresh water before going about washing her hands. "Heh. And fo' tha', we right appreciate. I kno' a lil'-" she pinches her fingers together, showing the amount before resuming cleaning, "-but that stuff is- phew. Yeah. Gross, but effective."

She listens quietly, drying her hands off her apron. "Pah!" she snorts. "There's some peeps like that. Met a couple fancy titled folk in my time. Wanted ta shove 'em off a cliff to see how well they fly."

The red and black egalrin affixes him with an eye before preening a few feathers from out of the pockets on her apron. "Sure ya can," she says simply. "No is a complete sentence, darlin'. We got a sayin' 'round here: even big wings snap in a hurricane. Ya an important lad, but ya ain't gotta do /everythin'/, ya dig? Tell my baby tha' all th' damn time."

Telamon smiles slightly. "Oh, I know. I can't carry the world on my shoulders. They're not nearly broad enough. But there are some tasks that... well, sometimes it takes a -certain- person to get them done right. Because they have the skills and the talent to handle it."

He finishes capping the last bottle, and brushes out what's left in the pestle. "Clean everything thoroughly," he tells the empty air, and the pestle and mortar... float away, as the unseen servitor begins tidying up. Turning his eyes back to Jiranu, he asks, "How is Slixvah, anyways? I know she's been busy, and worn down -- that's why I came, to help relieve some of the load on her. I might not be able to straight-up cure a disease, but I can load the dice in the patients' favor."

Jinaru chuckles. "And yet, sometimes ya only got so many efforts in ya ta do th' things tha' only you can do. And sometimes, ya jus' gotta look at it and give it a big ol' shrug, save it for next time."

The question get the matron to grind her beak subtly. "Baby Slivvie is... managing," she says slowly. The witch's medical tent that had been outside had been missing for nearly a week now, rumor has it that she blew up on a bunch of egalrin and shuddered her services. "I'm right glad my baby can do some magics ta work on stuff, but-- it's hard on her. With th' way folks treat her and whatever magic she uses... ain't easy on her noggin. Again, I reall' do appreciate ya comin' up here ta do all this fo' 'em."

Telamon exhales. "That was... what I had heard. I was afraid that would happen." He lays a finger alongside his nose. "I study people, more than anything. And I'm pretty good at 'reading' them. Slix was... desperately intent on trying to help fix things, and... it's easy to overextend yourself, both in a practical sense -- running low on spells -- and an emotional one. If she'd like to talk about it, please let her know I'd be happy to sit with her in a private setting."

He smiles, though, to show his spirits refuse to fall. "Still, it's very odd. I started out as 'Telamon Atlon'. Then I got married, and had to get used to 'Telamon Lupecyll-Atlon'. Then I was accorded the rank of archmage and people started calling me 'lord', so now it's 'the Lord Archmage Telamon Lupecyll-Atlon'. I fear I will need a new hat if my head becomes too swelled from the accolades."

The matron takes a stool, quietly grunting as she sits. "Aye. I'll let Slivvie kno' ta talk ta ya. I'd reall' appreciate that if ya can disarm her. She's...--" Jinaru lulls her head back, sighing. "Slix is... always been th' runt. We's a huntin' and trade Aerie. She ain't th' best at the former. Always tried th' latter, but wasn't the best at it. Ever since she rescued that little bird-- she's been hella good at it. Grand, even. Aerie's got a lot of superstitions, and afta all th' good deals came a bunch of reall' bad deals: debt, collections, old clan fights. She wasn't... ousted, per se. But they ain't look at her favorably. So she left a long, long while ago."

She rubs at her face, picking up her expression with a little cheery smile. "Jus' make it longer and make it rhyme, it'll make it a lot more fun ta introduce yaself to th' piss boot lords later!" she snickers. "That's always striked me as odd-- titles and what not. We've got two. Speaker and Elder. Tha's really it."

Telamon grins. "Sometimes, healing is more than magic or medicine. I'll talk to her. All will be well." He listens to the worry about superstitions, and nods somberly. "People... sometimes want to see things that aren't true, because they need an explanation. It's hard to keep looking, when what looks like a good answer is right there."

He laughs softly. "I have to remember this and introduce myself with it, you know. I don't want it to get -too- long. Besides, there's only one title I care about, and that's 'husband'. The rest?" He smirks. "Baubles."

Jinaru bobs her head. "It really is mo' than somethin' tangible." But at that, she rubs at her face. "Th' downside of livin' reall' flappin' long is grievances feel like yesterday. But--" she raises her head and smiles at the man. "Me thinks folks like ya here is just the shake up they need ta get a good, hard, look at themselves."

The matron snorts. "Amen! Baubles! I only care 'bout 'Mamaw'. Everyone's my babies, especially /my/ babies, all fourteen of the rascals. You's a good man, ya partner mus' be head ova heels fo' ya."

"Speaking as the son of an elf -- my father told me the key to it was to cherish every moment, every day. Because that's the only way you get through those long years." Telamon looks sympathetic. "But yes. It's important to change things up a bit. I suspect proximity to Alexandria will change the Aerie's outlook quite a bit."

He laughs softly. "Oh yes. Lana and I are bound together, through time and tide, victory and terror and adventure. I would not change one moment."

Jinaru gives a big nod. "Exactly. That's what my momma said. Sorta, except it had more kicking me out of the roost to go see things," she giggles. "But I agree . it's good for them."

Her eyes crinkle on a familiar, warm smile. "That's downright lovely, honey. You hold tight onto that. Hard ta find something like that, and it makes ya feel oh so very whole."

Telamon inspects the cleaned alchemical workbench, all the jars and bottles now racked and put away. Nodding, he grins at Jiranu. "That was... not exactly how father put it to me. But that's how I wound up in Alexandria -- to learn, to experience the world, and come back a better person for it." He looks wry. "I didn't expect to fall in love, tangle with werewolves, and help thwart an invasion, but... well, Coyote laughs at our plans."

"My wife and I, we... complement each other. Literally, in some situations, since Lana and I have learned to synchronize our magic. But she's taught me more than a few things, and I've taught her some things as well, and we've both been inspired to reach further."

Jinaru snickers behind a hand. "Oh you get into all sorts of tomfoolery when you set out ta learn. I was young once-- still am!-- an' I got inta all sorts of tangles and messes. These hands done more than just fixing boo boos, ya kno'," she winks. "Eventually settled down wit' my man, then that was that. I'll still punch a sucker if I gotta. Who knows, maybe he'll start barking my way and fuss up things fo' me- as if this here wasn't enough!"

The mother grunts as she gets off the stool, a thoughtful look on her. "Tha's... prett' neat, not gonna lie. I wonda what that feels like, ta do some kind of dance wit' ya partner ta make ya magic go better. Anywho', whatever it is, jus' keep at it. Bet ya gonna reach more than jus' mountains an' stars!"

Telamon snorts. "That's the gods' own truth. You go out into the world, you find yourself at a new place and you may not expect how you got there, let alone where you've come to." He tips his head back a bit, leaning on the workbench. "But it's good to settle down, too. Lana and I, we've built a home together, started forging a family -- that's all I want. The mountains will abide, and the stars will still smile down on me."

"As 'paired magic' goes, it's different. It took a while for us to match up -- probably because she and I do have different views on how magic works. Both sorcerers, but she practices a fairly pure form of arcane theory, while mine draws from the stars and the places between."

"It is good ta settle down-- when ya ready," Jinaru opines. "Slivvie was wafflin' too much on things, and I gave her th' same suggestion. She's still young, told 'er ta get out there an experience th' world." She grins. "Let them smile, Ceiwen bless ya clear skies fo' that, and Cernan ta bring ya food ta enjoy it."

She quirks her head to the side sharply, curious. "Now tha's right fascinatin', ain't eva hear two kinds of magic intertwinin' like that. Magic is so strange and supple. Like, --my boy Xezmire, ain't had a lick of magic in him. But time he got trapped in the middle of a terrible storm, Ceiwen bless him, tumbled out of it and ended up bein' able ta do a little bit of lightning. Then Baby Slivvie patched up a magic bird- boom! She's healin' people!"

"Magic does not play by rules. There are... guidelines, but every time some well-meaning sage or ivory-tower wizard has tried to codify things..." Telamon spreads his hands. "It just comes apart on them. The best theory I've heard is that magic's very nature resists rules because it involves tapping into raw chaos and shaping it to a person's specific desires. And since no two people think alike, no two spells are exactly the same."

"There's a part of me that looks forward to settling down. Worrying more about making sure the children got their baths rather than what's trying to eat my face today. But... miles to go before we get there." Tel offers a small smile, a touch sad. "I've dreamed of that sort of thing, of a quiet life with children. I'm not there yet. But someday I will be."

Jinaru shakes her head, smiling. "Oh absolutely, I can see tha'. Take the wind for example. It can't be controlled. It goes where it may, and any attempt ta force it ta do somethin', it'll just whip back atcha. Lookin' at Xez and Slivvie doin' they things is /completely/ different. Even if something sets something on fire," she grumbles in a happy sort of way. Sounds like several textiles has been charred in the house before.

Her eyes soften, and she reaches out to pat Telamon on the shoulder. "Like ya dad said, cherish every moment and every day. 'cause you gonna blink, and you gonna think, where'd it all go? It'll get there. Ya can go magic off to an island or somethin' and jus' make sure ya babes wash behind they wings-- err, ears."

Her softness turns cheeky. "Besides, two magic parents? Hah! Ya gonna have a hell of a time! Gods forbid they figure out how ta grab cookies off the shelf wit' tha' magic hand thing. And instead of things eatin' ya face, ya try ta make sure ya don' get zapped changing they clothes."

Telamon laughs. "Oh gods yes, I'm positively fascinated and terrified at the repercussions. I suspect the only thing that will save Lana and I will be our own skills with magic, especially if they develop their own 'talents'." His eyes soften. "But whether they have the talent or not, they will be ours. Beloved and cherished for who they are."

He stretches. "Alright, I think I'm going to go down and see what food's available. I offered to help cook but they told me I was doing enough with the alchemical assistance. Guess I need to make sure I don't wear myself out either." He offers Jiranu a smile. "Feel free to join me, ma'am. I'll be happy to share a meal with you."