Alone Together

Log Info

• Title: Alone Together

• Emitter: Telamon

• Characters: Ravenstongue, Telamon

• Place: Ylvaliel - The Mythwood

• Summary: Ravenstongue awakens with a start and a scream, only to realize she's with Telamon in the cottage he's rented in Ylvaliel, his hometown, in the aftermath of their harrowing ordeal. Telamon calms her down and introduces her to one of the people that have been guarding the cottage: his childhood friend, Maria. After a brief chat about Maria's druidic abilities, she returns home and the half-elves discuss what's happened. Telamon lets his vulnerable self show to Ravenstongue in a rare display, and the half-elves share a tender moment--alone, but together.

Ylvaliel cottage, morning.

The sun creeps in through the curtains, and a soft breeze -- a promise of spring and summer, of life and renewal -- shifts them. The cottage is small, but well furnished, the perfect place for a vacationing couple... or for someone in need of a place to rest from their fears and anguish. Of course it's in the elven style, smooth lines and curves, with few if any sharp angles and plenty of dark, sturdy wood in the furniture.

In the bedroom, Telamon lies sprawled in the big, comfortable bed, his arms around Cor'lana to protect her from whatever terrors might haunt her dreams. His cheek against her hair, as he slumbers peacefully.

Outside, a soft 'whuffing' sound, like something sneezed, and then settled back down again.

There's a shiver in Cor'lana's sleeping body, the hint of distress in her face, and a small whimpering--

"...aaah! AAAH!"

Violet eyes snap open, and Cor'lana's hands immediately go up into the air--and then they fall as she pants, her eyes taking in the surroundings. This is not home. This is a cottage in Ylvaliel. There's no blood. No danger.

And Telamon is here.

"Tel," she murmurs, flipping over and nuzzling herself into his form, arms wrapping tightly around him. Her comfort is here. Her rescuer. Her savior.

Telamon immediately wakens as Cor'lana starts to flail, And he just hugs her back. "Shh. Shh. It's okay, love. You're safe." He nestles her into him, so she can feel him. The reality of her fiance, a rock to cling to just as he did in the past.

He kisses her hair, stroking her back as she quivers, letting her calm down. Closing his eyes for a moment, before asking, "Do you want me to call Pothy?" His voice is gentle, patient.

At the bedroom window, there's movement, and then a pair of paws rest on the windowsill before the head of a large dog peers in. Deep brown, soulful eyes regard the pair, and one might even swear there's a sense of worry on the beast's face.

Tel catches sight, and raises a hand to the dog, waving it off. As if... he knows it?

Cor'lana calms quickly in Telamon's arms, just holding onto him tightly for a wordless moment. That's what she needs to believe the reality of the situation--that this is not some dream that she's conjured to cope with what happened.

Finally, she shakes her head. "No. It's okay," she says, quietly. Violet eyes peer up at Telamon's face. She looks far more well-rested than when Telamon found her, the color returned to her skin.

She lifts herself up from the bed just a tad to look at the dog, confusion in her eyes--especially as she sees Tel just waving off the creature. She looks back at him, brow raised. "Is... Umm, is that your parents' dog?" she asks.

Telamon feels her relaxing, and lets her push herself up a bit. "Okay," he replies, looking back into those wonderful eyes. She may be enthralled with his starry gaze, but her violet stare is just as distracting to him.

When Lana levers herself up and sees the dog, Tel can't help but chuckle a bit. "No. That's actually part of the guard detail. I arranged for some extra security." He gives the dog a grin, and the dog lolls its tongue out, wagging its tail. "Maybe I should explain -- or she should?"

She?

This does nothing to alleviate the confused look on Cor'lana's face. She looks back at the dog and then back at Telamon as a look of a realized answer dawns slowly onto her face.

"...Druid?" she asks, finally. "They can change shapes, I think?"

Cor'lana looks at the dog, squinting at the puppy. "Are you a person? Or... Are you fey?" As she asks the second question, her hand goes to the curuchuil/pact mark on her chest, which shimmers in a subtle way as her fingers find their landing on her skin.

Telamon laughs softly. "You're right in one, dear." He looks to the dog. "I think you can go off duty now, Maria."

The dog barks, and then shimmers... almost going out of focus, until it resolves again into a human form. The girl is dusky skinned, with braided hair hanging around a cute, heart-shaped face, her dark eyes almost exactly the same as the dog's. She's not tall -- maybe an inch or too taller than Cor'lana -- and dressed in a simple brown woolen dress, as she stretches a bit.

"I still had an hour or so to go," Maria says in a soft voice, her eyes gentle. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Cor'lana. Tel and I grew up together, so I was happy to pitch in when he needed help."

Cor'lana's eyes widen as she recognizes the name and then watches the dog shift into Telamon's childhood friend. She smiles pleasantly, sitting up in bed. "Well, I didn't know we'd have a visitor first thing in the morning, but I'm glad I put a nightgown before going to bed," she says with a smirk. "It's nice to meet you, Maria--Telamon's talked about you. Please, just call me Lana."

She looks at Telamon and says, "Right, I remember now. You said Maria's a druid! I should've known you'd get some friends to help out with..." It doesn't need to be said.

Telamon reaches out to stroke Lana's hair, tenderly. He's dressed in pajamas as well, slightly threadbare but functional enough. "We both needed sleep," he states. "Besides, after what happened, I wasn't going to take any chances."

"Exactly," Maria adds, her expression becoming resolute. "We guarded the house all night, just in case. And those three..." She pauses, trying clearly to not say something nasty, and settles for, "...prisoners are going to stay prisoners for a while. I hear that an Ashalveren investigator is coming down, in fact, and the Llyranost embassy's already making inquiries."

"You can call them what they are," Cor'lana says, smiling a little at Maria's searching for kinder words to describe her abductors. "It's okay. I'm just glad I'm safe from them and that I'm here."

She finds herself leaning into Telamon a little as she speaks about them, her eyes turning down to the blankets on the bed. "I don't remember much after the attack and... that spell," she says. "I do remember a sharp pain afterwards--and then I remember seeing you hold me, Tel, and I... knew who you were, somehow. I just didn't have the words. I couldn't think a thing. All I felt was this indescribable feeling that I was safe."

Then comes a thud at the bedroom door--followed by the bedroom door opening with a click as Pothy flies in, having somehow figured out how to turn the doorknob. He lands on the bedpost of Telamon and Cor'lana's bed. "Good morning!" he crows in Cor'lana's voice to the two lovebirds.

Maria smiles back warmly. "We'll have to talk at some point, Cor'lana, but I have to get home. Kordo stayed with the children and he always frets a bit." She gives Telamon a wave and a grin. "Always in trouble, Tel? Just like old times." With that, the druid ambles off away from the window.

Telamon shakes his head, before cuddling Lana back up against him. "Well... wizard's bane, or feeblemind, can't suppress emotions or memories. Victims will recognize friends -- and foes -- even if they can't mount a coherent defense." He kisses her cheek. "It was... tense, for a bit. Our friends... I'll probably spend the rest of my life, remembering that when I needed help they rode to the rescue."

The druid slinks away from the window and Cor'lana finds herself snickering a little. "Jeez. Imagine being a mom who can shapeshift into a dog--you'd never have to deal with kids asking for a puppy," she says, looking at Telamon. "Sounds like she has fun stories to tell about you, though. Maybe I'll ask her about them later."

She certainly doesn't object to being held, nuzzling into Telamon as she returns the kiss on his cheek. She's warm, a sign that she is alive. "I'm grateful to all of them, too," she says. "Aryia and I have had our disagreements, but... She really came through for me in a way that... I guess I shouldn't be surprised? But I am, anyway, if that makes sense."

There's a little sigh that leaves her. It's a content one. "I'm just glad you got there before anything else happened. And that Pothy is okay."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me, Lana," Pothy says in his true voice. "I can be summoned again. You can't just come back, though."

"I think she wanted to be something... protective. Nurturing. She's been like that for a long time." Telamon smiles, reminiscing a bit. "We were friends, but... Kordo was really sweet on her, and when I figured that out, I... well, I encouraged it." He looks wry. "It was for the best, since I'd started traveling with father already."

He looks up at Pothy, perched on the bedpost, and chuckles. "He was a brave little bird, Lana. And I'm glad to be his friend." Tel nuzzles happily at Lana again. "Friends do disagree from time to time, but that's nothing new. I'm sure we'll eventually disagree on something, at some point. The point is to never let it get between us."

Cor'lana snickers at the thought of Telamon playing matchmaker for his childhood friends. "And then you had the encounter with the oruch girl, and then I came along," she says, grinning in that way that lights up her face. In the end, she's the winner of the 'race' to catch Telamon's heart.

Pothy clears his throat. "Technically, I asked Telamon for snacks," he says, "and then you came after, Lana. You're welcome. Speaking of which, I do believe there's a great big bowl of peanuts with my name on it if you two are going to be mushy on each other."

The bird flies over to the doorknob, pausing to say, "But I expect plenty of hugs later, Lana." With that expectation given, he flies out of the room, pulling the door shut from the other side. A talented bird indeed.

Cor'lana snickers a little as she looks at Telamon. "I just hope the disagreement is... something small. Like, 'Oh, I thought it was your turn to change the baby's diaper.' Although if we're sleep-deprived parents, maybe it won't seem so small then."

Telamon looks innocent. "Is it wrong for me to want my friends to be happy?" He happily hugs Lana once again, rocking her back and forth a bit. "But I'm happy it turned out this way. For both of us." He strokes her cheek, looking at her face.

Tel rolls his eyes as Pothy flits out. "Gods, what a ham. You do need to give him those hugs, though. Me too, obviously, but don't forget him."

At the mention of disagreements, he shrugs lightly. "Could be a lot of things. But when I proposed to you, mother told me never to let anything come between us. Hash out any problems, get them out where we can both look at them, but don't let them fester. And never go to bed angry." He smiles, and presses her close, resting his head on her shoulder.

Then he shows his vulnerability, just a little. A tremble in his arms, and a stifled sound.

She smells like lavender. That's almost like saying water is wet for Telamon, given that just being close to her allows him to smell it, and he's been those close to her many, many times for many hours--but it's a scent that could have been taken from him forever. Cor'lana seems to realize this in that vulnerable moment, her arms wrapping around him as she puts a hand in his platinum-blond hair and just smooths it down.

Her violet eyes close as she pushes her cheek against the top of his head, much like he did for her earlier. "It's okay, Tel. It's okay. You don't have to hide anything for me or for Pothy, you know that, right?"

She nuzzles him, squeezing him just a moment to let him know that she's there, too, just as he is for her. "You were all I thought of until I couldn't think anymore. I knew you'd come to get me. I knew you would. You love me too much to do anything else."

Telamon shivers, holding on tightly. For a moment, he can't speak, and he clears his throat. "Gods. At... at first, I thought you'd been killed and some monster had stolen your body. Then I found Pothy, but..." He stops again, swallowing. "That dumb bastard left a hell of a mess at home when he grabbed you -- but it helped us track you. Seyardu scryed you at the temple -- that was how we knew where you were going."

He lifts his head, wiping away those rare tears. "He was expecting us." He shows his teeth in that expression which isn't a grin. "But he wasn't expecting us to stomp his ass and incinerate his zombies. I think I'll treasure watching Aryia tie him in a pretzel until my final days."

Cor'lana continues to hold onto him, opening her eyes to look him in the eyes. She doesn't have stars in her eyes, but what she does have is a deep empathy and sorrow that he had to endure all of this--that they had to endure all of this. "He... Hurt me. I've been stabbed before, but I thought he wanted to kill me with the way he was looking at me. He was grinning the whole time..."

She shakes her head. It's not useful to bring up that pain again, as she brings up her hand to Telamon's tear-stained face and just holds him in her hands. "Both he and Ainasse will pay for what they did. Although... I'm uncertain about my father."

Telamon puts his head against hers, taking a deep breath. "Yes. Give... give me a moment." His hands on hers, warm. Reassuring. "I figured he was a... sadistic little shit. I don't know what Ainasse was trying for, but I don't think he was on board or even cared. Just the chance to cause pain and suffering."

At the mention of Lana's father, Tel heaves a sigh. "Well... I don't think he was involved. When we got there and I found you, he and Ainasse were there as well. But he'd been... well, hit with feeblemind too. He had enough volition and memory to throw himself in front of you when Ainasse went for you with the knife."

Cor'lana listens to him, more than happy to give him all the moments he needs, her hands relocating to burrow into Telamon's platinum-blond hair and run her hands through it in a soothing way. She looks contemplative. "Why would he throw himself in front of Ainasse's knife for me, though, if he was hit with that spell?" she asks quietly. "I don't mean anything to him. I was just an inconvenience at worst to him and a solution to a problem at best."

She also sighs, closing her eyes. "I hate to say it, but I think we have to ask my father some questions."

Telamon smiles faintly. "Maybe he did feel something for you, after all. Even despite all his protests and complaints." He strokes her back, letting her presence suffuse him. The scent of lavender, the warm touches. "So yes. I think we need to face him, one more time. Together." He lifts her hand to his lips, kissing it. "I tasked the pixies with cleaning up when I left, among other things. So hopefully, the house will be in some sort of order."

"But yes. Before we go home... I think a conversation with Glorenacil is in order. I'll have to talk to some people first."

"Maybe he did," Cor'lana says, eyes still closed, "but... I don't believe that. I can't believe that. Not after the way he's treated me--and the both of us."

She draws back and smiles at Telamon, opening her eyes. The bitter note in her words disappears as she says, "Well, I am looking forward to going back home... But I'm in no hurry. Not yet."

She leans in and kisses him for a long moment, a hand still in Telamon's hair that strokes his tresses. It's a kiss like the one Telamon gave her before back on that one winter night over a pair of abandoned soup mugs, and after she finally draws away for a breath, she smiles at him with that look of adoration in her violet eyes. "After all," she says, "I don't want to be alone--but I do want to be alone together with you."

Telamon shakes his head. "We won't know until we talk to him, love. But... that can wait."

He looks back into her eyes, seeing the look there, the crackle of light in her eyes and he knows she's... well, she's not back, but she's getting there. He grins, rubbing his nose against hers. "Well, I've no appointments this morning, so..." He sweeps his arms around her, leaning her back into the bed.

Pothy, sadly, will have to fend for himself a little while longer.

...

>CRACK.<

"Sure didn't take them long," Pothy mutters darkly as he feasts on his peanuts. "Couldn't they have waited until breakfast and left me their leftovers? Sheesh."

Crunch, crunch, crunch. Down the gullet it goes. Then Pothy gets a thoughtful look in his blue eyes. "...You know what. At least they're happy. I... wasn't ready to say goodbye to Lana yet. I don't want to be ready. I never am."

Then he hears a noise and all of his feathers puff up. "KEEP IT DOWN. SHEESH."

He cracks another peanut to soothe his nerves.