Mothers and Patrons

It's been not too long since Rune and Harkashan returned back to Alexandria - with a necklace that has fulfulled its purpose. Harkashan himself is standing at the little balcony of their rented room, looking out onto the market district. His tail lazily whipping left and right.

He seems rather relaxed, all in all. Arms on the banister, leaning down a bit. A bit of stress off of his back, now that Rune has managed to answer a question that has hung over them since... well, well before they've met of course. But to him, for as long as he's known her.

"How'd you sleep?" He rumbles back at Rune, wondering if her nightmares have gotten any less. Or of the presence within her own dream realm has made things worse.

Due to how badly Rune tends to sleep, it is all too common for Harkashan to be the first to rise. The half-sil is not a morning person, and usually tends to drag herself out of bed eventually. In this case, she stiffles a yawn as she steps out to join him, running a towel over her face to dry off some water she'd splashed there a moment before to help drive away the sleepiness.

"As well as can be expected." She answers, "I'm guessing my little owl-bear has been helping a bit." Though Rune doesn't normally remember her dreams or nightmares, she did vividly recall her trip to the dream realm and everything within it. "I think I'll always have some measure of that place. I think... it's less about what I went through, and more about whatever that spell was." The after effects of a spell meant to kill Harkashan, or so it seems.

Rubbing at one eye, Rune joins him at the edge of the balcony, leaning forward slightly on the railing. "Stayed up late talking to mom..."

Harkashan's tail slips instinctively behind Rune's legs as she gets close enough. His body leaning towards her as he offers her what looks to be a small bit of food in the form of a sugared sweet. They have been eating rather well lately, with Harkashan using his divine gift to... well... have better meals.

"I'm glad he has been. One of Brother's best gifts." He rumbles, nodding his head as he touches a horn to the side of her head for a moment, then draws back carefully. Don't want to go poking holes into the softskins. Even if she has scales sometimes.

"Something we'll have to look into. Though I fear I am not one of the more arcane. Though if it affects you even now, perhaps it was of a necromantic nature." He bids to her.

At the mention of staying up late talking to mom, he can't help but show a Sith-makari smile though. Largely expressed through his eyes. "I'm glad to hear that. What've you been talking about?" He asks.

The curl of Harkashan's tail is a familiar sign of affection that Rune can only return by leaning a towards the Makari in turn. She reaches out to snatch the treat with deft fingers and pops it into her mouth before nodding her agreement and her continued thanks for the gift from their kin.

The prospect of delving more into the dark magic that had nearly killed her, has Rune showing some signs of reluctance. They had only just now gotten done with a year-long quest to save her mother, and there were yet more dangers looming on the horizon. "It's... something we can look into another time." She hesitates.

Then, taking the opportunity to change the subject, Rune elaborates, "The past, mostly. She gets... confused a lot." Tapping her fingers slightly on the railing, "So I've been helping her figure out what major events occurred in this timeline. Talking to her about my father was probably the roughest part." She trails off. An adult child, having to break it to her mother, that her father has moved on... is rough.

"Agreed on 'another time'." He rumbles. "But with what I saw in your memories... it looks like we may have to deal with it through outside force as well. It seemed like the Charn were after me specifically with that attack - rather than you." He bids to her. "Though who knows for what reason." That much still eludes him.

As the subject changes, he goes along with it. "Hrrm... yeah, I imagine she would get confused easily." He then rumbles. "How many times did she go through it all?" He shakes his head a bit. "And your father is a whole other thing. Though I assume, based on softskin societal norms, she's probably more 'mad' at your dad for what they did to you, than for him moving on after she disappeared." He remarks thoughtfully...

Before he touches his own chest and playfully tries to help move the subject along. "Talk about me at all? I hope only good things." While giving her a bit of a derpy look.

"I know." Is all that Rune answers in regards to the Charneth, and whatever dark spell it was that had first ended her life, and now continues to haunt her nightmares. However, it is not something she seems inclined to deal with. Facing that trauma twice is two times more than enough.

Instead, she rubs the fingers of one hand with those of another, "Three or four times. It's... really had for her, but she's facing it head on. I wouldn't expect anything less." It's something that the two very much have in common. "I can't imagine having the memories of multiple lifetimes and trying to sort through it all."

As for her father, Rune sighs softly, "She loved him. My father. Even if he isn't the easiest man in the world to love." The half-sil chews on her lower lip pensively. "His current wife... was one of her closest friends. Not to mention that I'm pretty sure that he was seeing her while my mom was sick." Her shoulders hunch a little, once again avoiding a topic in the form of her father's treatment of her.

Instead, she looks over to Harkashan, managing only a ghost of a smile, "A little. She remembers you from the Golden Sands, and she knows you're my partner. I wouldn't be surprised if she wants a word with you later."

"It can be rather hard." Harkashan answers Rune. "You know how it was when Thirku's gift first started coming into actuality." He motions a hand slightly. "And I eventually managed to get Thirku to ease up on it, and learned how to tell them apart."

The Sith-makar notes; "I can maybe help her a bit, next time we hang out -- which she wants to do anyhow. If it's three-or-four, I think I can at least help her discern them a bit. But it'll take time and experience." He notes, learning sideways and placing his hip to the banister instead so he can look more directly to Rune.

"Eeesh. Seeing her while your mom was sick? I am pretty sure that's what softkins refer to as a... 'dick move'." He notes.

"You can at least talk to Thirku and try to reason with him when it comes to how much he assaults you with visions." Rune returns, "She's fighting with her own head. With her own memories playing over one another. It... seems to help when she's with me. Or with someone else that isn't from one of those timelines. They help to 'ground' her reality."

As Harkashan turns, Rune seems to avoid eye-contact, still looking out over the dawn as it crests over the city. "Help her however you can. I went to the ends of the worlds for her, and I still wish I could do more." She sighs, plucking at her necklace in that familiar way, even if it's quest is done, it is still a part of her.

"Yeah, well, no one ever said my father was a hopeless romantic." Rune rolls her eyes, "He's a pragmatist if nothing else. He's seen countless humans die in his lifetime, and he knew it was coming, so why not just start filling in that hole before she's even in the ground, right?" It's obvious Rune doesn't agree with this, at all.

"The worst part... is his stupid way of looking at people, at lifespans..." Her eyes finally look to him, then, "It almost kept me from you. Because I was too damn afraid that I was somehow 'unworthy' of being with you because my life might be just a blip on the radar of a longer life."

"I am not sure Thirku is so much a 'him'... or a 'her' for that matter." Harkashan remarks, rubbing his chin. It's clear it's a bit harder to tell for him. "They've never referred to themselves in that kind of manner. Though I'm sure I've referred to them by pretty much any gender at this point." It's an idle thought he has.

He then looks to her again and nods his head. "Either way. That's not the point. I can see if I can help ground her a bit. It can be hard." He then lays his entire muzzle onto the top of her head, since she was avoiding eye-contact anyhow. Then chuffs a bit.

"The biggest thing you can do for her, is to show her that you love her." He notes.

He then raises his head back up and bumps his nose to hers.

"On the scale of a world, our lifespans aren't that far apart at all." He then notes.

"Right... sorry." Rune replies, seeming a bit sheepish at the mistake. "It's not like I've ever met a dragon before, but most of the big, powerful ones in the old stories were males, so I just assumed. I'll be better about it in the future." She nods her head, clearly taking it to heart.

"With my own bond to Glasina, I really should get a better understanding of all of this." Seeking out the Blue Butterfly was certainly something Rune had mentioned to Harkashan, but perhaps not to any great extent.

As for the matter of her mother, Rune nods, still clutching a hand to her necklace, "I do love her. I may very well have broken fate for her. Having her back... it's a fucking miracle." One that makes her eyes get a little glassy at the thought.

So, when he leans in and nudges noses with her, Rune smiles a little. It's a warmth that comes from the steadiness that Harkashan has always offered to her chaotic world. "Maybe. But it was enough that I worried. An entire childhood of being made to feel inferior because you weren't full-blood Sildanyari will do that to a girl."

"I don't think Thirku exactly cares." Harkashan remarks, smiling at her as she apologizes for misgendering the ancient lava-dragon living in another plane. There's certain things that, in the Sith-makar's opinion, probably end up laying beyond the near-immortal's mind.

"Speaking of Glasina, how'd your meeting go with her? I feel like there's something... different about you. About your tattoos maybe?" He remarks. "But I can't put a finger on it." He notes - only for his voice to trail off as her eyes start to water up.

So he nudges his muzzle along her cheek and draws one of her tears away with his scales.

"You're more than enough for me." He tells Rune. "And I am certain your mother feels the same."

"Still, a good idea not to offend extraplanar entities who could treat you as a crunchy snack if they wanted to." Rune answers, her voice teasing. She has little direct contact with the creature that dwells at the fringes of Harkashan's mind, so the truth of the matter is that respect is given where it is received, and she is not about to earn disfavor if she can help it.

As the question is turned on her, Rune lifts a hand to run down her arm. The tattoos had always been something she wore in remembrance, but now there is something different. It isn't just their appearance, but a feeling that they somehow 'belong' to her. "That's because they are mine now. Not just copies of my mother's tattoos, but really mine." Rune explains, tracing a finger over a series of loops that could very well be interpreted as the wings of a butterfly. Had they always looked like that? "I guess that's something my mother and I have in common as well. Dedicating ourselves to a Fey being."

Rune seems a little uncertain at that, though. After everything they had faced at the hands of darker Fae beings, she isn't sure what Harkashan might think of her choice.

Still, the nuzzle to her cheeck is enough to have her wiping away the tears. Rune is never one to let her father completely drag her down. That is the reason she walked away years ago.

"I agree it would not be a good idea to annoy the extraplanar entities from whom you are just a snack." Harkashan agrees, nodding in agreement. He then bumsps his nose against her cheek again, as she wipes away some of her tears - having given her some time to speak and for him to just... well... listen.

"I am certain that she will look over you well." He then answers. "And I am glad you feel those tattoos are more 'you' now." He is always pretty easy-going when it comes to such things. "We met her a while ago, and the first thing she did was protect us. I would be hard-pressed to think ill of her." He then adds.

The bump against her cheek has Rune giving her mate a side eye, but it softens a little into a smile. "If... I'm honest. Thirku intimidates me a bit." She admits, her fingers rubbing against the edges of her tattoo. "I can talk to Glasina, relate to her in some ways even if she is Fae. Thirku is... more like some all-seeing entity that sometimes flickers behind your eyes." She turns to face him, then. "It... scares me a little, like you aren't you."

Perhaps this is why she was a little uncertain as to what his response would be. She had other friends who certainly would have a mixed-bag of feelings about her choice, but his opinion matters more than most. "Blue, she... is the handmaiden of Tanithariairisixchel." Rune uses little dragon's full name, her hand reaching up to wrap around her necklace, the one that had always had that inexplicable connection to Eluna, the Sky-singer.

She doesn't elborate in that moment, perhaps expecting that Harkashan, with his vast knowledge as a cleric, would understand the connection.

"I mean, that's fair. Thirku is... intimidating." Harkashan admits. "Definitely harder to 'relate to' than Glasina." He has to admit. "The first time I saw my first glimpses of them, they scared me too. But I promise, I am me. I just... have a friend along for the ride sometimes who tells me things." He admits to her.

"So honestly, I am glad that that you made a bond with someone a bit more... I don't know? Ehm... personable?" He attempts. There's a nod then as she mentiosn Blue being a handmaiden to Tanith. "Ah, she must be the one who fishes for all the fish then." He teases, bumping Rune's forehead with his nose.

He then nods his head. He need not say anything. Indeed, he understands.

Rune seems quiet for a moment as she considers Harkashan's way of describing his patron. However, she has little control over the matter. Just as she had made her choice, so has he, in a way. "Just so long as he knows that you're mine, too." She raises a brow, almost as a challenge.

Then, she bows out a breath, releasing her necklace and using that hand to draw some hair behind one pointed ear. "I hope I'm doing the right thing. I'm not entirely certain all of my friends will be accepting of this, but it feels like it's what everything I've done has lead me to, you know?" The question doesn't really need an answer.

Instead, she pushes herself up off of the railing, "We should get some breakfast." She suggests. "Then, I have a few people I need to seek out. Seems like there's no better time than the present."

"I don't think they are laying that kind of claim on you." He answers her with a soft smile on his face. She knows very well that he didn't make the choice to have Thirku along for the ride. It was to save his family, a decision made by his family. And he's come to accept it, rather than pushing back against it.

He then shakes his head a little. "Your friends will accept your decision, Rune. Just like I am accepting it. You should give them a bit more benefit of the doubt on that." He rumbles to her, touching the side of her arm to try and cheer her up. Running his clawed thumb over her arm.

"And yes, second breakfast sounds good." He adds, and moves along with her, wrapping an arm around her back to walk with her.