Piece of Peace

There's a nice warm fire cackling in the fireplace, spreading its warmth through the familiar living space that is Auranar and Verna's home. The wild elf - as always - has outdone herself in preparation for their guest. There's fresh-baked bread, the scent of which is thick enough to make even an already-full stomach reconsider, cheese, and meat on a platter on the table in the middle of the space. There's fresh tea as well of course, and a special treat of little jam-filled cookies decorating the table. Auranar had even offered her guest a warm blanket as he'd settled into his seat, quietly laying the plush gray blanket wordlessly beside him to use or not as he desires.

Now though, she's comfortably curled in her chair with a soft smile on her lips and watching him and Verna with all the attentiveness that she is well-known for. Hunter is in her lap, too tired to sniff at her tea, but too energetic to actually sleep so he purrs away and demands his tribute pettings.

The table centerpiece is nearly too attractive to eat. Nearly. One of the previously-arranged cookies (or what remains of it) is in Verna's fingers, as perfect accompaniment to tea. Her other hand intermittently migrates between her cup of tea for a sip, or Auranar's lap to offer occasional tribute pets. Which include Hunter, of course.

"It has been some time, Dolan. It is good to see you again. I hope our hospitality is yet up to standard and you feel welcome?"

Dolan has, as he so often does, settled down in a chair near the fire, and the season of the year is quite clear in the fact that he'd accepted the gray blanket with a word of thanks and proceeded to roll himself up in it like a burrito, at least once he's gotten his plate of goodies. His right arm remains free to hold the teacup, although the plate by now is half full at best from its earlier piled state.

He seems, at least, to be in good spirits, sipping the tea rather than gulping it as he listens to stories. "It has," he replies to Verna. "Damn if it ain't good to see the pair of you again. I've got to admit that Andie and the cats and I had gotten pretty damned comfortable, just the lot of us. I was maybe kind of letting the rest of the world drift away a little, yeah?" He sets the teacup aside on the table next to him, grinning at little Hunter. "And the hospitality is never second best. Never has been even if I skip the door," he adds with a laugh and a cheeky grin.

It's good to see Dolan smiling, well-fed, and healthy. "It's easy to get wrapped up in spending time with ones you love." Auranar admits forgivingly. Her dark eyes drifting to Verna. "I think we've had our fair share of that ourselves. But it's good to remember that the rest of the world is out there and to reconnect with friends."

His words about their hospitality make her laugh a little, eyes shining. "The window did not appreciate your entry as much as I surely did."

"I regret naught of time well spent," Verna affirms, meeting Auranar's glance with a light smile before looking back to Dolan. "Neither should any other. Which includes the company of friends, as well, certainly. You are ever welcome here, Dolan, regardless of the manner in which you ingress. Yourself, Andelena, and the felines are all well, I trust?"

"Completely," Dolan answers, snagging a slice of ham off of his plate and sandwiching it between two slices of bread. A slice of cheese gets piled in with it, too. "Time well spent, but I got well told a few days ago that I don't get to retire yet." The cheeky grin is accompanied by a real sparkle in brown eyes, and the mobile half of his expression holds rueful self-amusement.

"You know," he muses, picking up the sandwich and staring at it thoughtfully, "I thought that after seeing what the Corpse-Eater was really all about, I ain't want Andie anywhere near that, and I ain't want you two or Lana and Tel to worry about us, so I kinda - stepped back, yeah? She ain't know, and that's for the best. She ain't like nothing to do with Quelynos or the fae, she wants no part of it. Thinking now, maybe that wasn't wholly the right move. After all, you're my friends too - and what kind of friend am I if I ain't help you out with shit like that?"

Auranar's dark eyes darken a moment at the mention of Corpse-Eater. For a moment her fingers still on Hunter's pettings and the feline - not understanding - paws at her hand until she is reminded of her duty and returns to petting him. He returns to satisfied purring. "You've the right of it Dolan. You don't want - or need - a creature like him haunting your family." She offers him a faint smile. "You've done more than enough to aid us, you are not less a friend for protecting your family with some distance now."

Verna's countenance firms and her brief smile fades at mention of that particular entity. She takes a moment in thought before she responds. "Friendship is bi-directional, Dolan. While we would welcome your aid in most any matter, and may well request such at times, we do not -expect- it. We would be poor friends to do so. I cannot fault Andelena for her dislike; I am not especially comfortable with most aspects of the fae. I may never become so, but I shall do what I must for the benefit of my family. You are free, and encouraged, to do the same for yours."

Dolan, who'd set the tea aside previously to pick up the sandwich, listens, chewing and swallowing a healthy bite of the sandwich. "Thank you, both of you. Just want you to know - mostly I'm shielding Andie from this shit, but - if you gotta - I'm here, yeah?" He gestures with the sandwich to both of them. "As for the window, did you actually _ask_ its opinion? 'Cause if it answered, I'll have to kick its ass."

Auranar smiles warmly at Dolan, lifting her free hand to sip her own tea whilst she engages Hunter with the other. "We appreciate it Dolan. And admittedly... I had a minor ulterior motive in asking you over today..." She glances down at Hunter. "Would you and Andelena mind housing Hunter for a slightly extended stay? Myself and Verna are planning a trip Am'shere to assist with a problem there, and I don't want to leave him all alone for that long."

Dolan looks up, startled, from where he'd been contemplating another bite of sandwich. "Am'shere? Yeah, of course. I ain't mind. I'll have to ask Andie, but I'm pretty sure she'll be delighted. Hopefully Patches and Spot won't mind. Can I ask her tonight and send word tomorrow?" He sets down the sandwich to take up his tea again. "You travel safe, all right? I'd love to know why, but it ain't none of my business if you ain't want to tell me." Siiiiip. He's still thoroughly rolled up in the blanket, with only one arm free, and shows no interest in unrolling.

"We would not trust any window that spoke, either," Verna assures. Her own cup is empty, and she finds the pot the same when she goes to refill. "I shall refresh the tea." She rises and takes the pot to do so.

The wild elf looks relieved and flashes a smile at Dolan. "That would be most appreciated Dolan. I wouldn't dream of imposing on Andelena, but... with us going away for a slightly longer than usual amount of time it doesn't make sense to have someone just check in on him you know?" She watches Verna go for a moment then returns her dark eyes to Dolan. "It seems that Verna's... birth-family may be caught up in some unpleasantness in Am'shere. I don't know a lot of the details really, but if they are, we'd like to offer what aid we can against them."

Dolan's gaze - both halves of it - follow Verna into the kitchen at that explanation. "Oh. Yeah." His suddenly shrewd gaze says that he's got a guess as to the nature of the _unpleasantness_. "Understood. I'll speak to Andie tonight." He sets his now-empty teacup aside, and reaches for the sandwich again. "I'm near-certain she'll be delighted to have him, but it's only right I ask her, yeah?"

He seems to be relaxing, a good bit, as he warms up, becoming more animated. "S'pose we all still help out where we can, yeah? Maybe not as much as I used to. I ain't been to the Guildhall in a bit. Most of the work they're looking for is too easy and doesn't pay enough."

Verna has refilled the kettle, but not yet put it to the fire when she turns from the kitchen to append, "My -mother-, to be precise. Or, perhaps, imprecise; I use the term only in the context of biological gestation and uterine ejection." Her ire may not be confined to her tone, as the metal of the kettle begins to redden and the wooden handle singe. "It appears that she is involved with, or orchestrating, a vile assault on The People of Am'shere. It-"

The kettle begins to whistle. "It appears the water is ready." She adds such to the prepared pot and trades it for kettle to bring such to set upon the table. She reseats herself with an exhale. "Indeed, we shall aid however we might."

Auranar nods herself in agreement to Dolan's words. "After.." She trails off a moment and shakes her head. "Everything, it feels like there's a need for peace. There's always going to be something that the guild needs, but there's plenty of adventurers to look after them. They don't need us."

She looks at Verna. Offering the other woman a gentle look. "What your... The word mother is not deserved by her. What that woman does needs to be stopped, and it will give me great pleasure to assist in thwarting her as I might."

_Got it in one,_ the expression on Dolan's face reads when Verna expounds a little on the situation that takes them to Am'shere. "Then by the Sunlord's bright sword and shield, chase the lot of them back to the pit they spawned from," he chimes in, at once. "The lizards have had more than enough of _that_ treatment, an' they ain't deserve none of it."

He takes another bite of the sandwich, chewing and swallowing thoughtfully. "If it helps, Verna? You ain't the only one with a shitty family. I watched a brother lure his brother into a trap and try to sacrifice him to summon a devil, just a few days ago."

Verna's forced neutral expression softens at Auranar's look, and she reaches over to pat the woman's leg. "She will be thwarted, love. I would not deny your joy, and even she could not resist your determination." A brief pet of Hunter is made after, to ensure she can retrieve her hand.

"My thanks for you and The Sun's blessing," she offers Dolan. "I regret to learn that there are other familial evils; I would prefer that there were none. Yet you speak of attempt and not success, which I will presume to be failure. That portion is helpful news."

Auranar's reaction to the idea that someone summoned a devil - or tried to - is much more extreme than is Verna's. Her eyes widen and she leans forward - nearly disrupting Hunter - and looks at him in shock. "What? Where? Who? Why?" Too many questions. Fiends! She _hates_ fiends.

"Seen it too many times, Auranar. Andie's own family tried to sacrifice Gale to V, yeah? I ain't know none of 'em real well," Dolan explains, sitting back with his sandwich. "You know that Crimson Circus they were toutin' all over the city a few weeks back? Well, I was gonna take Andie to see it, but she gets a last minute call to the Temple, and I was gonna just stay in, but I kinda had a hunch, yeah? That maybe I ought to go check it out? I ain't know why, things like that are way more fun with your partner, but - I did anyway. An' - that's what happened. The devils all got sent back, and ain't nobody permanently injured, although Harkashan did have to bring the ringmaster back." He shakes his head. "Nothing that couldn't be seen to. Damned glad they were there, though."

With Auranar leaning forward, Verna can easily rest a hand lightly upon her shoulder. "All is well, Aura. They did not succeed," she can now affirm after Dolan's expounding. "I was aware of the planned spectacle. My obligations to the temple are fewer in number, now, but they yet exist and did so that eve. I venture that The Sun's guidance and blessings were upon you and borne with you, Dolan."

The wild elf relaxes by inches. "I... I'm glad you were there Dolan. That's... That's terrible. I'm glad everyone is alright." She shakes her head at the thought of someone trying to sacrifice their family member to a fiend. In front of a whole circus? What was the world coming to? "Guess you've more than earned yourself a day off and a sandwich or three mmm?"

"Aura," Dolan counters, grinning. "Have you learned nothing from Verna? In the service of the Light, there aren't any days off. Wouldn't have it any other way. Just His way of telling me I ain't get a rocking chair yet." He takes another bite of his sandwich, and nods vigorously at Verna, although he doesn't respond right off, not until he's swallowed. "Best believe it, and grateful I was to have 'em. I take it you two haven't had anywhere near as much adventure as all that. Keeping busy?"

"All has been quiet for the majority," Verna affirms as she relaxes back into her own seat, "for which I am grateful. I also counter that one can yet make time for matters outside of duties, even if those obligations never vanish completely. I have made every effort to do so. Auranar deserves nothing less. That and I much prefer to be kept busy by her than much more threatening and unpleasant matters."

Auranar has the grace to look embarrassed. "We've been mostly keeping to ourselves it's true. Save the matter of family affairs. There's more than enough there to keep us busy after all."

Something in Verna's comment prompts Dolan to throw back his head in a peal of delighted laughter, belly and shoulders shaking with mirth. It takes him a minute to recover from that, enough to wipe the back of his free hand across his flesh-and-blood eye and manage to speak. "I'd wager you do, Verna!" he roars, setting his sandwich aside on the plate.

Once he's settled down, still chuckling, he nods. "Of course you can make time for things outside of one's duties. I've told you I've taken up carpentry, right?"

Verna is surprised by Dolan's sudden laughter, though is not offended by it. She nods and offers a polite smile with her agreement to his roar. "Certainly." To the latter portion, surprise turns to consideration and perhaps curiosity. "It is possible that you did inform me, yet I did not recall such off-hand until your mention. It is a most practical interest, in addition to whatever satisfaction you gain from it. I find much joy in cooking, baking, and some dabbling in artifice. With bias upon the former two due to my irreproachable instructor..."

To whom her eyes shift. "Optimistically, these family matters will not occupy us endlessly; not the unpleasant events, at the least. I fully intend the rest to comfort us the remainder of our days."

Not for the first time in her life, Auranar is glad of her dark skin to hide the flush of her embarrassment on her cheeks. "Carpentry?" She inquires curiously, then looks embarrassed again. "You've picked up on cooking very quickly Verna. I think it's good to have a hobby, or three really. To give you someplace to put your mind and hands. I know that watching the people I care about enjoy the fruits of my labor is one of my greatest joys."

"And I assure you that I do appreciate the fruits of your labor, Aura," Dolan is quick to chime in. "The pair of you lay a spread that would blow Mama away, not that she wouldn't tan my hide for saying that." Warm affection lights the lone brown eye. "Yeah, I've taken up carpentry, there's a man who serves the Temples who's teaching me. I enjoy the work, and it's a fallback, yeah? I'll still have to support our kids. They're a ways off yet, but -"

It is now Verna's cheeks that color at the compliments, and her complexion is far less conducive to obscuring such. Some of this flush is utilized as she smiles to Auranar. "You shall never lack in that joy, that I and my stomach assure you." She then nods once more to Dolan. "Enjoyed and practical make such a perfect hobby, or eventual profession. I believe that Andelena and yourself shall excel at parenthood, moreso given that you have the foresight to prepare."

Auranar smiles at Dolan. "I didn't know you two were intending to be parents." She smiles slightly. "You'll have to be sure to let us know when your first is along the way so that I can make some plans to spoil the dear child."

Dolan's warm grin remains firmly affixed to the mobile half of his features, and even stretches the scarring on his right a little. "Thanks, both of you. It's a bit off yet, I s'pose, but they'll happen when we're both ready to lay down our blades. Our children deserve to see their parents, and see their parents healthy. The road ain't no place for a kid." Some of the smile fades.

"I'm sure you'll know when we do," he adds, chuckling, and seemingly brightens up again. "I'm guessing you two have no plans in that direction."

Verna's smile melts back to neutral and she shakes her head. "Not in the same manner," she admits. A breath later, her hand moves to Auranar's lap and pets "Yet we do have young Hunter Lupecyll-Atlon. He requires endless feeding, demands constant affection, and pays almost no heed to our direction... Thus not so different from any other child, correct?"

A flash of something flickers across Auranar's face. Pain, guilt. Then Verna's on her leg and she smiles at the other woman, laying her hand on the hand that touches her. "We'll have nieces to dote on soon enough." She says softly.

The expression is not lost on Dolan, whose good humor immediately melts into concern. "You ain't gotta if you don't want to, Aura," he tells her gently. "I ain't mean nothing by it, and I ain't aiming to upset you." He lets out a long sigh, and looks down a bit forlornly at his empty teacup. "Nieces? You thinking Lana and Tel's kids, when they have 'em?"

Aura's smile is returned warmly, perhaps even moreso than usual in assurance as Verna comments for Dolan, "No upset intended, no apology necessary. I presume Aura refers to Telamon and Cor'lana," a brow lifts some in inquiry before she adds, now looking to Dolan, "or perhaps she loosely referred to your mention of your own children?" Her eyes shift back to Auranar, realizing how specific the comment was and wondering if she, herself, overlooked something.

Auranar shifts, forcing Hunter out of her lap, and pours Dolan a new cup of tea. Silently refreshing the others while she is at it. "I should put this in the kitchen." She says softly, Hunter meowing loudly in protest that his seat has up and vacated to wander away. The wild elf doesn't respond to the question about nieces. She's gone for several long moments.

Dolan looks after the abrupt stand, and wiggles the fingers of his free hand on his lap in Hunter's general direction. "I think we'd better drop it, Verna," he mutters quietly. "She ain't like the topic." He picks up his refreshed tea, all trace of good humor gone, and sips at it, watching the kitchen door keenly.

Verna watches Auranar rise and depart the room, now going quiet herself. Now evicted, Hunter looks between the remaining seat-warming options before deciding to wait... or busy himself with his tail. Verna eventually nods to Dolan, takes a sip of her tea and ponders. All whilst her eyes attempt to follow her wife in concern while also attempting to not be blatantly obvious in following her. A feat she is ill-equipped for.

Yes, a change of topic is in order. Thus she puts her conversational talents to the test and attempts to do so. "You mentioned carpentry. What was your most recent discovery in handling wood?"

It doesn't take long really for Auranar to rally. To get her emotions and her expression under control and rejoin the others. She doesn't say anything about her exit, but curls up on her chair and lets Verna direct the conversation for a time.

The person behind the counter blinks. Then _leans_ forward to try and get a look at Thoth only for Gramarye to step forward. The man frowns in mild irritation but only blinks again. "Belongings of 'Thoth'?" He inquires then turns around and fiddles with a few baskets behind the counter and then nods. "Here we are."

A large round orb is upheld with piece of paper attached to it by adhesive of some kind. "Mmmm seems I'm supposed to verify your identity." The man peers down at Thoth.

"Are you sure you're Thoth?" Good question.

"Oh, I'm still just an apprentice. I do the grunt work still." Dolan continues to watch Auranar, reaching again for his cup of tea. "Wood's heavier than you'd think. It's hard work, but - I think I'm starting to get it. No two pieces are exactly alike. They've all got their own personality."

The man blinks at them. "Um. Sure." He clearly ran out of care about his job probably six years ago after dealing with the sixteenth request for a cat to be rescued from a tree. "Whatever." He hands the orb over to Gramarye, mostly because Thoth is too short to easily hand it to, and then slides a piece of paper to the edge of the desk. "Just sign this with your name. So I don't lose my job."

"You are more knowledgeable than I regardless," Verna notes to Dolan. "That is most intriguing. It is logical that there would be variations given the source, yet I never considered how unique one piece might be from another." As Auranar rejoins them, Verna offers her a direct smile before claiming a fresh fruit-topped cookie from the table to nibble upon.

Hunter puts his paws up on her chair, and Auranar leans forward to pull the needy cat into her lap again, petting her fingers over his fur. Listening to Dolan chat about his carpentry. "I'm sure you'll pick up on it quickly Dolan." She says gently to him. "It sounds very mediative really."

The conversation fades back into nonsensical and largely unimportant things. In short, it's exactly what their often-times far too exciting lives need. A little piece of quiet.

-End