Family Matters

Aragos sits in the simple room silently. It's one of the rooms that is set aside for healing. Those who might be staying at the temple for a little while. He looks wildly out of place really, all black armor and a permanent scowl set onto his features. The bed is recently made, and the paladin of Vardama has a plush animal held in his gauntleted fists. Carefully. So that it is not ruined by the spikes that lace his armor.

It's a little wolf.

There is at the moment, no sign of the little girl whom he had brought here to this place to be cared for.

Abruptly, the quiet is broken by a soft knock at the door. A voice can be heard outside, calling. "Hello? May I enter?" Clearly, whoever it is, is overburdened with good manners. Or perhaps it's just wise to not go barging around in the houses of healing. Someone might take offense.

The paladin is on his feet in an instant, opening the door and pushing it to the side widely to allow entry to the room, the wolf stuffy in one hand. "Of course! Come rig-" He stares at the person at the doorway however, a frown forming quickly on his face. "Who are you?"

The man on the other side looks like he should be heading to a nobleman's dinner party, not ambling through the halls of the Temple of Eluna. The shaggy mop of platinum hair, caught back with a circlet of gold and silver, framing a patrician countenance. His tunic is a curious thing, shifting hues from blue to violet and back depending on how the light strikes it, tucked into riding trousers and leather boots delicately embroidered with the outline of trees on each side. His dark eyes meet Aragos's, and in them can be seen distant stars, twinkling.

"Well met," the half-elf says with a small smile. "I am called Telamon Lupecyll-Atlon. You must be Absolution Aragos -- a pleasure to meet you. I was asked by the priests to come meet with you over a private matter?" He sounds faintly bemused, as it's clear he wasn't filled in on everything.

There's a sound of a door opening just a bit from within the room that Aragos occupies, that little sound of a creak that's somewhere between the squeak of a mouse and the call of a hawk. A damp head of brown hair with golden eyes peeks out from the doorway.

"U-Um. Aragos? Is it safe?" she asks. Her eyes flicker onto Telamon from her doorway and... She shrinks away, just a little, leaving one golden eye to linger in the cracked-open door. "Who is he? Do you know him?" The fear is evident in her little voice.

Aragos frowns at the unfamiliar man at the door, as if seriously considering slamming the door into his face. "I don't prefer that title. Aragos does just fine." He grunts out, purple eyes flickering down to the girl and offering her the stuffed wolf he's holding. "Here Bela, go make yourself comfy on the bed? I'll make sure its safe."

Then he lifts his eyes back up to the half-elf who had introduced himself and frowns even more deeply at him. "What do you want?" He doesn't invite Telamon in.

This is a new experience for Telamon; being confronted by someone who is intensely unfriendly. Doesn't help he has to crane his head to look the man in the eyes. "I don't think it's a question of what I want, but what you want." His gaze flicks past to regard Bela with that same calm, inscrutable expression. "Or what she wants." The stuffed wolf doesn't go unnoticed, and he quirks an eyebrow.

"May I at least come in? I'm not used to standing at the doorstep like one of those cursed 'adventurer insurance' con men."

Bela quietly walks out from behind the door she's using as a shield from the scary (to her) half-elf man at the door to the healing room. She's dressed in a plain, but fitting sky-blue dress, something that oddly complements her golden eyes, with long sleeves and a skirt that goes down to her ankles. She's wearing just socks and slippers so that she isn't cold. Someone cared for this child.

She gives Aragos a big smile as she takes the stuffed wolf and bounds over to the bed, holding onto the little plush toy in her lap as she sits on the edge of the bed. Her hands smooth down the fur, clearly a little comforting gesture.

"Does he want to kill me?" It's the only question she has of Telamon.

Aragos stares at Telamon, as if the girl's question is a valid one. "Well. Do you?" He growls out at the man. Oddly, he's not actually trying to loom over Telamon, but he doesn't back down either. Clearly willing to fight anyone and everyone if it comes down to protecting the child in the room. "You might be able to come in. Depends on your answer."

GAME: Telamon rolls bluff: (10)+30: 40

The half-sil's expression doesn't change, but there's something in his dark eyes, deep and sad. "I don't even know you, child," he says honestly. "I prefer not to kill anyone -- there's enough bad things in the world that I don't like adding to the total."

He tilts his head, regarding Aragos. "I'm starting to get an inkling of -why- the priests sent me to speak to you, though. Can we talk about it?"

Bela regards Telamon for a moment with those golden eyes of hers, still stroking the plushie wolf's fur in a self-soothing way. It's a long stare where she's evaluating the man. Not all that dissimilar to a... another child that Telamon's seen before recently.

Finally, though, she says: "I think he's telling the truth. Let him in, Aragos?" Her request is polite.

For a moment longer it seems like Aragos might not listen to the girl, but he steps slightly to the side. Giving Telamon just enough room to enter and then closing the door rather firmly behind him. The paladin doesn't wait for Telamon to make himself comfortable before he himself moves closer to the little girl, hovering nearby her for a moment and then leaning against the wall that is nearest her and fixing his purple eyes on Telamon. "So. Why are you here?"

Apparently he's very direct.

The elegant half-elf steps inside, as the door shuts, and calmly sits down on the chair, hands resting on his knees. Now that they are behind closed doors, he inquires, "She is a lycanthrope, isn't she?" Telamon seems at ease, even relaxed. He offers Bela a charming smile. "It's all right. No one is dying this day."

Bela's eyes turn down to the little wolf plush in her hands. She kicks her feet for a long moment as she mulls over Telamon's words.

"My parents said I'm a monster," she says. "Aragos says I'm not, though. What's a... Lie-can-trope?" Her mouth is clumsy on the word. She's obviously never heard it before.

Aragos's purple eyes silently judge every word that Telamon is saying. His face set into a stern frown. "She might be." He says slowly, his gaze settling on the girl for a moment. "I don't lie Bela, you're not. I would know."

"The priests mentioned as much." It seems Telamon keeps his cards close, until they are to be played. "But monster is... excessive, and wrong. They didn't use that word. Aragos will not. I will not." His eyes shimmer with that distant starlight.

"But it does present some complications. The scars from Marsward Seraquoix's campaign linger." His eyes rest on Bela, and there's no hate, no disgust, no fear. Instead: compassion, warmth, kindness. "There is a solution, but as I understand it Aragos is your guardian. So he must agree as well."

Bela blinks as she hears the name 'Marsward Seraquoix'. She looks between Aragos and Telamon for a long moment.

"I think... I've heard that name before," she says. "I think... my dad's friend said it?"

She smooths down the fur of her wolf plush. "My dad's friend bit me," she explains to Telamon. "Then my parents told me that I'm a monster. That's why... they left me."

It's said... distantly. Almost like it happened to someone else.

Aragos frowns at Telamon, though in truth the displeasure evident in his features is something that hasn't really much faded since the moment that he opened the door and saw Telamon standing there. "I've only heard a few rumors about this Marsward person, so I don't really know that much about it."

He lets out a sigh, his brows furrowing in. "They were the ones that did wrong Bela. No real parent abandon's their child. Not for any reason." This is said sternly, and without a trace of hesitation, the voice of experience resounding.

Telamon nods. "Aragos has the right of it. You were wronged, by such abandonment." He runs a finger down his cheek. "But... we are still left with the dilemma." His expression is sympathetic. "The sentiment against werecreatures is very strong here in Alexandria -- and not without reason." Telamon's eyes glitter suddenly. "Seraquoix was a monster. Note I say 'was'."

Then Tel's face clears again. "However, the future is not so bleak. The surviving werewolves -- and a handful of other werecreatures, as I understand it -- have settled in one of the towns deserted during Heth's invasion. It seems a mysterious benefactor arranged for the land and buildings to be purchased and gifted to them. A new beginning." His eyes twinkle almost impishly. "Imagine that."

Bela's eyes go wide as she looks up at Telamon. A settlement? Full of...

"People like me? In a town?" she asks, before looking at Aragos. She seems... hesitant in some manner. "But Aragos couldn't go with me. Right?"

She squeezes the wolf plush closer to her form. "If... there was someone who would be nice and take care of me there..."

There's a look in Aragos's purple eyes, as if he's weighing Telamon down to the bottom of his soul. His fancy clothes. His circlet. His hair. "You?" The world is empty in it's tone. Almost deliberately so.

Finally he shifts, moving so that he's squatting by Bela's bedside. "Is that what you want?" For the first time something gentle overtakes his features as he looks at the girl. "People like you? To take care of you?"

For all of Aragos's hard stare, it just... seems to wash over Telamon like a breeze. He offers Aragos a cheerful smile. "It seemed neater. And well... I'd rather solve my problems with coin than with blood and tears." His expression suddenly becomes serious. "I know not every problem can be fixed that way. But given a choice between peaceful and not? I'll always try for peaceful first."

He sighs at Bela's very serious question. "I don't know if he could stay. The townsfolk there are going to be very... nervous, around outsiders. But that doesn't mean he couldn't visit." He looks at the girl with deep kindness. "Bela, there are many people there who know what it's like to hurt. To lose. To be lost. I believe, with all my heart, someone is there who will welcome you in, help you build a new home and find a new family."

Bela looks at Aragos for a long moment, her golden eyes caught on his face as she listens to Telamon's words and contemplates what Aragos is saying to her.

Finally, she looks away from them both. Back down to the wolf plushie in her arms. "I want a family," she says. "Someone that will... care for me. And love me. And I don't think my mom and dad..."

She curls a little tighter around her wolf. "Want me back. So I guess... I need a new mom and dad. And if they won't call me a monster... Then that's better than dying in the wilderness."

Her voice is so sad, so small.

Aragos nods, and though he hides it well, there's a flash of pain through his purple eyes. He smiles at her instead, patting the girl on her head. "Every kid deserves a mom and dad." There's something odd about his voice. Perhaps a hint of that pain leaking through.

He ignores it though, rising to his feet and looking at Telamon seriously. "I'd appreciate if if you made arrangements for me to go with Bela. So that she's not alone." There's a moment of silence. "If they won't accept my presence there though..."

His mouth twists in displeasure. "Then I insist that you go with her in my place." Aragos's eyes blaze with determination. "You'll make sure she gets to a good family." It's not a question.

Telamon nods. "I'll go first to test the waters. I don't want any surprises when Bela and you come with me." His eyes twinkle again, that irrepressible nature shining through. "Won't take more than a half day at most. Then I'll return here, collect you two, and we'll take a trip."

At Aragos's firm insistence, he nods, the joviality shelved for a moment in the face of the paladin's serious statement. "I wouldn't have it any other way, sir. But I think I'll insist they let all of us come for that first visit."

Bela looks up at Aragos with a smile as he pats her on her head. She seems to be quiet for the moment, watching their exchange, until...

"Aragos?" It's another small little question. It's followed by a too-long pause. "If you can't go... Promise you'll say goodbye?"

She looks down at the wolf in her arms. "I want a nicer goodbye than the one I had from my home."

Aragos looks down at the girl. "I wont say goodbye Bela, because we'll see one another again." His purple eyes are steady and firm. "But I promise, that when its time, I'll be there to wish you well on the next part of your journey. Until we meet once more."

"You still have some time together," Telamon offers gently. He stands up from the chair, walking over and taking a knee next to the bed, next to Bela. "I told a friend once to not say goodbye -- just to say 'until next time'."

Looking into the girl's golden eyes, the unflinching, starry gaze is warm, the promise of happy, peaceful evenings. "I can't promise it'll be perfect. But I can promise it'll be better."

It's clear Bela is trying to parse the idea that... this isn't necessarily the end. That she might see Aragos again after she goes. She looks down at the floor now, past her plushie wolf.

"I guess I'm just... scared. That it might all be a dream, because..."

She squeezes the wolf toy again. "I don't know," she admits. "My mother talked sometimes about hope. I didn't have hope after they got rid of me. Or when the dogs took care of me. It's hard to have it now."

Bela looks up at Telamon. Into his star-struck eyes, like she might find hope there. "I'll try, though," she says. Managing a small smile.

The paladin of Vardama pats Bela again. "That's all we can do sometimes. Try to have hope. It's okay." Aragos presses his fingers gently into her damp hair and then pats her again. "Come on. It's time for dinner. Let's leave sir Lupecyll-Atlon so that he can get to the important business of finding someone nice for you to turn into a family mmm?"

"It's alright to be scared, Bela. But I know about dreams." Telamon pats Bela's hand gently. "And this is no dream. You've had a hard road, but... I will try to make it easier." He smiles back at her, perhaps seeing another face for a moment.

Smoothly, the sorcerer gets to his feet, and nods to Aragos. "Indeed. I will try and bring word on the morrow, and then we will plan our next move." Turning to face the paladin, he says, "If you need me, tell one of the priests. They know me and can send word."

Bela opens her mouth to say something, but then her stomach gurgles. She looks finally more like a child of her age in that moment when she grins at Aragos. "I want food," she says, sliding off the bed and holding her hand out for Aragos to take. But then she looks at Telamon and...

"Thank you," she says. "For wanting to help me."

It's the polite thing to say. And with that, the werewolf girl goes with the paladin of Vardama, off to dinner.

-End