Stolen Honeycakes

When it comes to seeing Dolan, security at the temple of Daeus is tight. The Sunblades are posted to his room and to a checkpoint that leads to the room, and all permit only one visitor at a time, with no belongings to be brought into the room.

Andelena meets Dirk outside of the room as he approaches. "Just a couple of rules," she says. "No talking about Kol or vampires in general. And you can't touch Bry in any way, shape, or form. If Sunguard Zeke or I ask you to leave at any point, we don't mean it out of spite; we're just looking out for Bry, so don't take it personally. I think Bry'll be happy to see you again."

She opens the door to let Dirk in, following in after him.

Zeke then, is likely the large blue-scaled sith-makar whom is sitting at Dolan's bedside. There's not much in the way of things in the room. In fact it's quite barren. There's a bedside table with a pair of pots for tea on it. One small and blue, the other large and orange. There are three stools. Which means that there's just enough for Zeke, Andelena, and Dirk given that Dolan is in the bed. Zeke is of course already in one.

The blue-scale nods politely as Dirk enters the room. "Peasssce on your nessst. Would you care for sssome tea?"

Dirk is respectfully quiet when he enters Daeus' house, and immediately goes looking for Andelena. He lets himself be led, listening carefully to her admonishments. He nods his head, handing over his thunderbelcher, his cloak, and even his trusty old tricorne for safe keeping. But he's also carrying with him a covered basket. He lifts it up towards the Sunblade. "I made some honey cakes," he says in a quiet tone. "It's a'right if I cannae give 'im tae Dolan meself, but I do hope he can have 'em. If not... then the Sunblades can share 'em out, I'll warrant."

Quietly, he makes his way into the room behind Andelena, a gentle smile creasing his features. He looks over to Zeke with a friendly nod. "Peace on yer nest, Zeke. It's good tae see ye again. I'd love a cup, thanks. I brung honey cakes too. Made 'em meself, just this mornin'." He steps over to one of the stools and hops up to plump his hefty rump down, clasping his hands between his knees. He looks over to Dolan, to see if he's awake or not.

As it happens, Dolan has been busy today. The room is quite warm, but he is sitting cross legged on the lone bed in the sparsely-furnished room, his back up against the stone wall and the pillow to his left, blankets wrapped around his waist and a rather hefty book in his lap. His left hand rests under the book, and he turns the pages with his right. His artificial eye in in, the shirt he wears is tucked into the blankets, the front tied quite carefully at the neck. He'd looked up at the announcement, though, and the pages are no longer being turned - instead, his hand rests across it.

"Dirk!" he brightens when he sees who the visitor is, using one hand to push himself up a bit straighter against the wall. His color is good, he looks well-rested, and all in all much, much better than the last time Dirk saw him. "Nah, they're not letting anything into the room. Maybe once they let me out." He grins up at the trio in front of him. "One of you mind moving the book? Save my page, please."

"Yeah, sorry buddy, nothing in and out of the room besides yourself and the clothes you're wearing. Don't worry, the cakes'll be eaten," Andelena says with a slight smile. "I got the book, babe."

She takes the book and, as asked, saves the page using the cloth bookmark woven into the spine. "This is a heavy one, babe. You gotta be careful with this.--How's it been, Dirk?"

With Andelena hastening to get the book, Zeke focuses on getting some tea. He pours out a cup for Dirk, then checks to see if anyone else wants some more. A simple lift of the pot in Andelena and Dolan's asks the question without a word, and he pours out for those that want it. Himself last of all. Once the tea is handed out the blue-scale sits himself down on his stool once again; keeping quiet and to himself.

Dirk nods to Andalena. "I understand," he says with a warm smile. "Well, you all enjoy 'em. They're me mum's recipe, so they're good fer ye -and- tasty. An' they'll keep fer days so long as ye keep 'em wrapped!" He leans over to accept the cup of tea from Zeke, offering a nod of thanks. But then, he turns his smile on Dolan. "Lookin' spry there, laddie," he says with a chuckle. "An' here I thought they'd be keepin' ye bundled up in blankets from yer eyes downward. Only leavin' enough o' ye covered tae feed ye thin broth an' porridge! Hah!"

He tips back a swallow of his tea, nodding his head to Andalena. "It's been well," he says. "Had Missus Verna come out an' pay me a visit a bit back. Her an' Missus Auranar are fixin' tae strike the anvil." He looks back to Dolan. "Hope yer soon well enough tae attend. I do love me a weddin'. Gives me an excuse tae put on me Eliday best. -And- ye get free eats an' booze out o' the bargain!" He keeps his tone light and chipper, and that kindly smile never falters.

With the book off of his lap and set aside on the end of the bed, Dolan accepts a cup of tea from Zeke with a nod to the pot and a, "Thanks," adding, "Didn't want it around the book." He leans back against the wall, watching the other three. He does laugh at the thin broth and porridge remarks, the mobile half of his face lighting up. "No, we're past that, thank all the gods above and below. Doing as much as I can, but they're being pretty careful." He motions with his right hand to the book at the end of the bed. The chuckle fades, though. "I don't know if I'll be able to go or not." He turns his eyes towards Zeke. "Andie's going, and she'll go for both of us if I can't. I still haven't been to His altar yet. It's up to him," he nods to the sith-makar, taking a careful sip of his tea.

"Yup, I'm coming to that wedding, hells or high water," Andelena replies with a smirk on her face. "Telamon even helped me figure out an outfit. You're not gonna fucking believe it, either, Dirk. I'm showing up in a dress."

She remains close by the bed, close enough to be in Dolan's grasp if needed. "Sunguard Zeke here has been instrumental for Bry's recovery," she says. "I've played my part too. I just am not in the business of blowing smoke up my own ass if I can help it. Bry's determined to recover. We've all got work to do, after all."

Zeke's green eyes flicker over to Andelena, sliding from her to Dolan and back again. Placidly he thrums low in his throat and watches them. "Thisss one isss merely acting to thisss onesss calling. Thisss one isss sshaman-cassste. Thiss one isss a healer." His answer defers the complement neatly. "Thisss one will act to be sssure that Dolan healsss asss well ass he can. No more, no lessss."

Dirk nods his head, looking between Andalena and Zeke with that cheerful smile of his. "An' glad I am of it," he says. "Why, I cannae be havin' one o' me drinkin' buddies get laid up fer too long, now can I?" He looks back to Dolan with a chuckle. Besides, I'm wantin' you all tae come out tae me cabin an' have supper some time! We'll be needin' ye on yer feet fer that, aye?" He tips back another swallow of tea. "Anything I can ever do tae help ye mend better, lad, you let me know, right?" He glances back at Zeke with another chuckle. "Assumin' yer good healer here dinnae mind, obviously."

"That I'll do, Dirk. You got to go back to the cabin?" Dolan brightens considerably at that, taking another long drink of his tea. "Don't listen to these two. I'd've been in serious trouble without these two's help." Never mind that he actually _was_. "They've both been outstanding, and I'm told Andie's cats are pawing at my pillow." He sounds skeptical. "Can't wait to get home. Can't wait to see that dress, either," and here, he turns a grin that holds something just a touch wicked on Andelena. "You're going to let me see it before you go, yeah?"

"Yup, /your/ cats are pawing at your pillow. They miss their daddy." Andelena grins just as wickedly as Dolan does. "Don't you worry Bry, I'll drop by wearing the whole ensemble for you before and after. It'd be a waste if you couldn't get a good look at it."

She looks at Zeke. "I think all of us are just grateful, Zeke, regardless of calling or not--we can still be damned happy that you're here and helping. And Dirk, Bry and I were just talking the other night about how his first sip of booze once he's out of here is gonna taste so damn good."

Then she looks thoughtful. "Either that, or it's gonna taste like horse-piss, but that's why anyone with a good semblance of sense in the head avoids the Ox-Strength Tavern."

Zeke chuffs in amusement, his tail shifting back and forth as he sits there. It's clear that he's amused with them. "Thisss one iss grateful for your gratitude, but Dolan issss working very hard to get better. The effort iss hisss; not thiss onesss. Andelena hass done much for hisss recovery ass well." He nods once and sips his tea quietly.

Dirk rumbles a deep chuckle at that, nodding his head. "Och, I dinnae think I've -ever- seen ye out of armor, Andie," he says with a grin. "So seein' ye all dressed to the nines'll be an interesting sight, won't it? Might not even recognize ye wi'out yer sword in hand! Hah!" He drains his mug of tea, holding it between his hands as he nods his head. "Aye, it's the TaRaCe ye'll be wantin', I'll warrant. Missus Irshaya wouldn't stand fer low-rent brew in her place. Not tae fret, me good lad. We'll make sure yer treated right proper once yer out o' here." He looks over to Zeke with a nod. "If there's aught I can find in the wood that might be helpful... any kind o' rare herb or somesuch... give us a shout, yeah? I'll track 'er down fer ye an' get it here straight away!"

"Yeah." Dolan takes another sip of tea, this one smaller, his eyes on his teacup as if it holds something for him. It's all he says on the matter. "Don't know, it might be a little while before I try the TarRaCe. At least, the bathhouse." Another sip of tea. "Looking forward to that dress. Maybe she'll even wear one at our wedding, if I'm really lucky." A flash of a grin follows that, laughter in the lone brown eye. "Dirk, the camp. Found a little something. Demonic presence in the Felwood isn't anything new. Goes back to the Demon Wars. Whatever it is, it probably didn't just move in. It's been around a while."

Andelena barks a laugh. "Bry, if this whole 'wearing a dress' thing pans out, I just might," she says. "Frankly, I'm more worried about being able to memorize all the responses and all the parts of that ritual. We're gonna do a proper Daeusite wedding--and then we're gonna have the party at a pub somewhere, where everyone can get absolutely /sloshed/."

The demonic presence mention gets her attention. "Huh," she says. "Sounds like whatever's there is /old/ and ancient."

Zeke tilts his head at the mention of this demonic presence, since he's not heard anything about it from anyone as of yet. "Would you like more tea Dirk?" He asks politely.

Dirk's good humor quiets, but never fully leaves. He listens to Dolan, nodding his head in agreement. "Aye, I'm nae surprised," he says. "Even when I was a wee beardling, I knew that the Felwood was a foul an' evil place. That's over two hundred fifty years gone by now. Rot that deep takes time tae set in." He looks over to Zeke with a grateful smile, leaning over to offer his mug out to be refilled. "But... we'll get 'er sorted, right? We're the good guys. Sortin' out evil is what we do best, innit? You just focus on gettin' better. I'll be needin' me battle-brother at me side the next time a mud puddle gets a hair up its arse tae come after me." He glances back over at Andalena with a nod and a grin. "Well, if there's a pub-crawl in the offin', then I expect I can sit through a Daeusite service!" As if he'd miss -their- wedding.

At that, Dolan laughs openly at Dirk's remarks. "Next time, I won't sleep through most of it. We'll get it all sorted out," he agrees. "Something doesn't want us there, Dirk. Love to find out what, but it might be a while," he warns. The moment of seriousness is gone, though, at the mention of a pub-crawl. "We were thinking more about taking over a tavern and buying a few kegs. It'll happen, most likely spring or summer. Bet on us all getting completely wasted, like she said."

He turns his head towards Zeke, then. "Me and Dirk took a Guild job right before all of this happened. They wanted to build a camp at the doorstep of the Felwood. Something corrupted got hold of a mud elemental."

"We've all been through too damn much as of late," Andelena says with a nod. "Get a spring wedding when it's nice and warm again, get some kegs, go through the big formal wedding--and then get absolutely smashed. It's what Bry and I do, you know. We both know how to get business done, but we also know how to throw down at a party."

Andelena looks a little thoughtful. "I guess that'll probably be something we all end up investigating together at some point," she says. "The Felwood, that is. Can't let that fester more than it has."

Zeke blinks but nods at Dolan's explanation, pouring a cup of tea for Dirk and then setting the tea pot back down again since no one in the room had finished their tea nearly as quickly as the dwarf. Not even himself. The sith-makar listens pleasantly to the conversation, letting it carry on around him without comment for the moment.

Dirk nods his head firmly in agreement. "True talk, lassie, true talk," he says to Andalena. "After all we've been through, we deserve a little fun an' relaxation. An' the pair of you forgin' the ring is surely a good reason for it, I'll warrant!" He tips back a swallow of his fresh tea with a warm smile. "Think I know just what tae make ye both, too. As a weddin' gift," he says, tapping the side of his nose with a grin. "But aye, yer nae wrong there. Whatever's goin' on in the Felwood needs tae be rooted out an' washed clean, so the land can recover."

Dolan's let the teacup in his hand drop down to his lap, holding it absently as he listens. "We've been a long time coming, Dirk, and I'm damned lucky she'll still have me after everything I've put her through." The smile has gone down to a half a one. "We'll have to come out to your cabin, then, once you've got it all cleaned up, yeah? You heard from Patch at all? If you do, could you share what I said about the Felwood? Don't know that she'll want to come here." He shrugs his right shoulder, leaving the left relaxed. "You're going to Auranar and Verna's, then, are you not? I haven't ruled out going yet. It's just going to depend." Is that the mobile side of his lip twitching?

"Lucky? Babe, /I'm/ the lucky one," Andelena insists with almost a scoff. "A man as loyal and as driven as you are? There are women who'd kill to have that. I know I'm lucky every damn day. Even if you insist the cats are /my/ cats." She grins widely.

Andelena then pauses for a moment in the conversation to sip more of Zeke's tea, doing more chatting than sipping--so she's fixing that. Sometimes a good conversation's its own reward, but so's tea. Luckily for Dolan, she seems more intent on the tea then looking at the twitch on his face.

Dirk chuckles deeply at Dolan, nodding his head. "Aye, I surely have," he says. "It wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared. Everything's back tae normal." He gives his beard a thoughtful tug. "Haven't seen Patch since our wee little tussle wi' the mud golem. But I'll keep an eye out for 'er. If I see 'er, I'll make sure she knows."

"Thanks." Dolan takes a moment to finish his tea, then lets the cup rest in the hand that rests on his blanketed lap, before he turns to grin at Andelena. "You're doing all the work keeping them, baby. We'll see if they remember who I am when I get out of here. Just make sure I get to see that dress before you go, yeah? After all, if it's too smashing I might have to keep you all to myself." There's the cheeky grin again.

"That's good to know," he adds for Dirk. "Glad things weren't as bad as you'd feared. Know you had some worries. How's Thistle?" He shifts the cup entirely to one hand, and gently and carefully rotates the left shoulder, tilting his neck to the side as if to stretch it out. "She make it out okay?"

"Don't worry baby, when I come back from the wedding, I /am/ all yours," Andelena responds with a wide grin. She leans in and gives Dolan a kiss on the cheek before she looks down to the neck. "How's the shoulder, babe? Do I need to give it a massage?"

"Perhapssss more tea?" Zeke inquires carefully of Dolan, offering with one claw to take his tea cup.

Dirk chortles amusedly. "He. An' he's fine, the rock-brained dunce. Damned if he dinnae sleep through everything! Hah!" He smiles brightly, speaking no more of what happened that night. "All's well. I've already put new shingles on the roof an' tidied up. I'm all set tae receive visitors. You all are welcome tae come by any time ye like! I've a spare guest room as well if ye need a place tae stay fer a night." He taps the side of his nose with a chuckle. "Even got extenders fer the bed, just in case tallfolk need tae use it." Dwarves really -do- think of everything.

"Yeah, please, if you don't mind." Dolan offers the cup to Zeke, leaning forward a little and letting her kiss him on the cheek. "It just gets stiff if I don't move it for a while, baby." Nothing she doesn't already know. For Dirk, he just laughs. "They say ignorance is bliss. It's just as well. Glad he did so well. Sounds like an invitation that should come with a keg or something, yeah? It's pretty far out, though, right? I remember it being damn nice out there."

"Borrow a friend's spare room in his cabin and /not/ leave a keg behind as thanks? What are we, assholes?" Andelena says with a little laugh, placated by Dolan's reassurance that his shoulder's okay for the moment. "Glad the cabin's all good, though."

"Big pot, or sssmall Dolan?" Zeke asks gently, rising to his feet and making it the few steps to the nightstand. He thrums again quietly in the back of his throat, setting down his own tea cup in preparation of the need to pick up the pot.

"Small." Dolan carefully rotates the shoulder again, then lets the arm rest in his lap, grinning at Dirk in an expression that not only lights the mobile half his his features, but tugs at the other half. It's just a touch ragged around the edges, but totally genuine. "We'll have to make the time to come out, and we promise not to be too loud. For now, though - I'm out of the fight for the moment, my friend. It's up to you to use what we got. Andie's my proxy, yeah? You need me to do something I can do, ask her."

Dirk laughs deeply, nodding his head. "Well, I'll never say no tae a keg! So long as ye bring the good stuff, but I trust yer judgment, the pair of ye." He looks over to Zeke with a smile. "Yer always welcome as well, Zeke." He looks back to Dolan and nods his head. "Aye, I hear ye, lad. An' ye don't have tae worry. I've got her back, same as I've got yours. We're battle-siblings, the lot of us, an' dwarves never let battle-siblings down." He puffs up his burly chest and nods firmly. Dwarf-law has been spoken. He tips back the last of his tea, and sets the empty mug aside. "But I suppose I should let ye get back tae yer book, yeah? I'll be sure an' pass what ye told me 'bout the Felwood on. I'll inform Telamon an' Cor'lana, an' Verna too, if I see 'em again." He takes a step forward, looking ready to dispense a Dwarf Hug--but stops himself. Instead, he thumps his heart with a fist and lifts it towards Dolan's direction. "Gods love ye, Dolan. Andie, Zeke. Take care, yeah?"

Andie nods, smiling widely. "Brightest of days, Dirk," she replies in kind. "Don't worry too much about us. Dolan's in good hands. I'll call on you when we get things moving."

She walks Dirk out to the door and closes it shut behind him, laughing gently. "Nice guy," she says. "Now, Bry, let me help Zeke with that tea..."

All's quiet in the Temple of Daeus, for now. (But somewhere, a Sunblade snacks on a honeycake.)

-End