Much Ado About Pothy

Log Info

• Title: Much Ado About Pothy

• Emitter: Ravenstongue

• Characters: Ravenstongue, Telamon

• Place: Ravenstongue and Telamon's home

• Summary: Ravenstongue is at home with Pothy when Telamon returns from running errands. The two sorcerers discuss Pothy's challenge delivered by a Lord Folendel of the Queen of Air and Darkness's Court, and what possibly could have motivated the duel. The conversation then turns to happier things, and Jyndei and Pothy go raid the kitchen while the sorcerer-spouses are occupied.

Lúpecyll-Atlon home, afternoon.

It's a sunny day in the middle of winter, but the warm rays hardly mean a thing in the face of the cold wind that rushes through the streets of Alexandria. That's the primary reason why Cor'lana Lúpecyll-Atlon finds herself snuggled up on the couch with Pothy in her lap, a blanket drawn around herself and her familiar friend. "You make the best little heat source, Pothy," Cor'lana says with a wide smile and a twinkle in her violet eyes.

"I might be a skewered heat source if we don't figure out what to do against Folendel," Pothy complains quietly. He snuggles closer into Cor'lana with his words, clearly seeking out her comfort.

Cor'lana pats down Pothy's feathers. "I know," she says. "I'm doing the research, and so is Auranar. Everything will be okay, promise."

The weather has relented, enough for Telamon to brave the outside and run some errands. And now, the elegant half-elf is walking home, as opposed to flying -- easier to get a feel for things. He's carrying a book, and an oilcloth-wrapped sheaf of papers, and his feet carry him up the short walk to the front door. "This is such a mess," he grouses.

"Indeed, my lord," Jyndei is perched on Tel's shoulder. "But not an untenable one. Compared to the foes you and the lady have faced, this fae noble is... well, it is serious but only in the sense you cannot ignore it. I believe, should you turn your full attention -- and ire -- upon Lord Folendel, he might regret ever bothering you."

"I have some suspicions about how this just 'suddenly' became an issue," Telamon remarks. "No proof, though. Which is why we're going to take a different approach." He chuckles, unlocking the door. "Honey, I'm home!" he calls inside, stepping in.

Of course, the mere sound of Telamon stepping inside and announcing his presence makes Cor'lana's face light up in joy. "Hi, honey! Pothy and I are cuddled up on the couch, hold on a moment."

Pothy wriggles. "Wait, does that mean--"

"Yes. Temporarily." Cor'lana lifts up Pothy from her lap like he's an exceptionally large loaf of bread, and she puts him down on the couch. This earns her a little grumble from the poor bird, but it's a necessity, as she lifts herself up from the couch and walks over to the front door to greet Telamon, a hand keeping the blanket wrapped around her. (The commitment to keeping warm is a serious thing, after all.)

"How was your trip out with little Jyndei?" Cor'lana asks, right before she lifts herself up on her tiptoes and kisses Telamon hello. Once that's done, she gives Jyndei a little pat hello on his slender neck. No kisses for faerie dragons, lest one end up with a mouth full of glitter.

Jyndei happily arches under the petting, before leaping off Telamon's shoulder to glide into the living room. Alighting next to Pothy, the dragon unfolds a wing over the white raven companionably. "The lord Lúpecyll-Atlon has stated his intention to 'stomp a mudhole in this jumped up sprite-lord and walk it dry', one way or another."

Meanwhile, Telamon is hugging Lana and returning the kiss, before responding. "Somewhat productive. However, as Jyndei has so blithely commented, I am entirely uninterested in pandering to this idiot." He walks Lana back out to the living room, his arm around her, as he looks to Jyndei and Pothy.

"However... I do need to ask you some things, Pothy. And I need the truth, too. Jyndei has offered to act as a go-between for us and the draconic courts that hold positions in Quelynos. So we may have an option there to find out more information."

Cor'lana takes a seat on the couch when the two are back in the living room, although the two of them plus Pothy and Jyndei means it's a bit of a tight squeeze. She playfully opens up the blanket, inviting Telamon to sit down with her inside of the warmth and protection of wool's embrace. "That sounds precisely like my Tel to say when he's frustrated," she says with a smile.

But Pothy looks... a little unnerved by the prospect of questions. He looks off at a wall for a moment, light-blue eyes hollow. "I am... unsure of how much I can answer," he says. "Things were sworn. Word was given. I can try and help, but there's a reason why Cor'lana's been researching on her own."

Telamon settles himself into the pile on the couch, a warm and comforting embrace. "I understand. If there are things you cannot speak of, well, we'll work around it. I won't put you in a position to break your oaths." One arm around Lana, the other petting Pothy, even as Jyndei leans against Pothy as well reassuringly.

"I know there was a girl, Pothy. I ask: was any act committed? Emotions and feelings are one thing, but deeds are another." Telamon's expression is stern, but his touch is gentle, his eyes full of warmth.

Pothy looks incredibly reluctant to answer even that. Cor'lana offers him a reassuring look. "You said when we met with the dryad woman in our yard--all you did was love her. You loved her from afar? You weren't... Well, for lack of better word, intimate with her?" she asks.

That much, Pothy appears to be able to answer. He nods yes.

"Well, at least we have that mercy," Cor'lana replies to Telamon. "Remember that woman's words, Telamon... She said that the girl loved Pothy back, but never told him. My guess is that this man is... related somehow? Maybe he was a jealous lover of the woman and found out she harbored feelings for Pothy, but not him. Or..."

She thinks a moment more, but doesn't say anything for the moment.

Telamon exhales. "Thank you, Pothy. I... know this isn't easy for you. I didn't want to think that, but... people can do foolish things." He half-smiles, and points a thumb at himself. "The point I am heading towards, though, is that if no action has occurred, there can be no violation of vows."

He sits back, tapping his fingers together. "More to the point, it is easier to paint this as something petty and contemptible by this Lord Fol-De-Rol -- Folendel," he corrects himself, but Jyndei is already giggling. The half-sil gives Jyndei a look, but it does no good.

"Anyways. I'm with Lana here. He's jealous, because she loved you and not him. And because..." He sighs. "She died, he only has one person to take his anger out on."

"No crime by our accounts, Tel," Cor'lana replies, her lips pressing together into a small line. "To love someone, that is. But in the Queen's Court, it's different. Aoichie said it herself: love is a commodity that my Grandfather's people are not allowed, particularly in the Courts. She loved Pothy back all along, although in a secret kept from him--and then she was married abruptly. Aoichie said that everyone suspects the marriage is because of the fact they loved each other."

Cor'lana's expression darkens. "After all, Her Majesty's greatest weakness is that her charms don't work on the presence of those in true love with each other. No wonder why she does not permit love. This nobleman challenging Pothy is just a symptom of the way she runs things."

Pothy sort of inches closer into Jyndei's winged embrace, leaning on his faerie dragon friend for support, and gives a wordless nod.

Telamon nods. "Perhaps. And if he had pressed suit while Pothy was still in the Courts, we'd be up the proverbial creek." His expression sharpens. "But Pothy isn't a creature of Quelynos. He's a familiar bound to the circles of Ea and his mistress. This Lord Folendel has no standing, and if he pushes his luck, I'll make him regret ever hearing the name 'Apotheosis'."

Tel continues, "What Her Majesty does in her court is her own business, and I'll not go on any crusades to change it. I've got enough to do here. But I will not allow this popinjay to cause trouble for my wife and my brother." His eyes have become icy windows into space. "There will be no duel. If he wishes to negotiate something, so be it. But Pothy -- and you -- will not live in fear of him."

Cor'lana frowns a little more as she considers Telamon's words. "Pothy being a 'guest' of the Court might make him part of it enough for the Lord Folendel to issue a duel, at least in the eyes of the fae," she says. "But... Ultimately, we need to know more before we can issue any kind of response. Auranar and I are working on it. I've asked the pixies to help, too."

But... She scoots just a little closer into Telamon, nudging him a little as she puts her head on his shoulder. A smile spreads on her face as she offers a little sigh. "There's not much we can do right this second... except be here for each other. Like you said, Pothy's your brother as he is mine. And, somehow by the quirk of fate, I am your wife." There's a playfulness to that self-deprecating comment. "We've all been through a lot lately. We deserve a moment to breathe where we can."

"You have more friends than you realize, my lord and lady," Jyndei pipes up. "You forget, sometimes, that you need not shoulder these burdens alone. That is what friends are for, to make heavy weights lighter." The faerie dragon looks to Telamon. "I will make inquiries through the channels of my kin. I would not expect them to act -- but they may dispense counsel."

Telamon nods slowly, his arms around his wife. "It's easy to feel that way. To feel overwhelmed. There will be battles in the future, but... one should take a moment, to find respite where you can." He leans down to kiss Lana's cheek, and brush his nose against Pothy's little fuzzy head. "I'll be here for both of you. No matter what."

Cor'lana smiles brightly as Telamon kisses her on the cheek, and Pothy seems reassured by Telamon's actions, too, as he mumbles a little, "Thank you, big brother," to Telamon.

"You know we feel the same about you, though, Tel, right?" Cor'lana asks, continuing to nuzzle into Telamon's shoulder. She looks up at him with adoring violet eyes. "You have been doing a lot lately. Everything with the totems, that vampire--that's why I wanted to have a totem of my own if we came across one that was free. Because, between the two of us--you've been doing quite a lot on your own."

She grins a little mischievously. "And I know that there's something to be said for simply keeping your morale up at home, but... I'm an adventurer too, you know?"

Telamon rests his brow against Lana's for a moment. "I know. I keep having to remember that. I... didn't want to give it to you, at first." The telepathic bond reflects the truth of his words. "I didn't want to ask this of you, especially as it was the Tyrant's totem. But... you and I, together. We need to face the Hound with every advantage, and ... yeah. It means we use something like that. I won't pretend to like it, though."

He smiles gently at Pothy. "Did you think I could do any less, brother? Remember, it was you who brought us together originally. In a very real way, you are the architect of this moment here and now."

"I know you didn't want to, and you're the sweetest man in the world for considering that aspect before giving it to me," Cor'lana replies, closing her eyes as she enjoys the closeness she shares with Telamon. "But... The Tyrant did give me knowledge. Even if he gave it to hurt. And now he has, in a way, given me another odd gift. I guess it's true what they say. The enemy of my enemy can really be... not a friend, but an ally. At least for the moment."

Pothy looks at the two lovebirds for a long moment. "I won't chalk it all up to me," he says. "I don't know very much about fate, because it isn't something I can eat--usually--but... I think you two are tied together, in a way. Like two stars so close together that, if your vision was blurry, you'd think it's one star. Does that make any sense?"

"There's a certain logic to it. If the world's destroyed, it's not just the gods of light and twilight that lose out. The gods of darkness lose as well, since they can't conquer and reign over it." Telamon makes a face. "Which is a really unpleasant way to look at it, since, y'know, it'd be hard on everyone on the world. But it makes sense." He sighs. "Learning about your mother that way... wasn't the way I would've wanted you to find out. But truth is always better in the long run."

Tel arches a brow at Pothy. "I... well. Maybe. When I first started courting Lana, the Watcher in the Stars congratulated me, but he didn't seem surprised by it. At the time I just figured he didn't understand, but with your comment to put it in context... maybe he'd predicted it. He'd predicted my coming, centuries ago, after all." He shakes his head. "Call it fate, call it luck, call it -- well whatever you like. I'm just happy to have the benefits of it."

That makes Cor'lana grin maybe a little too widely, opening her eyes to look up at Telamon again. "For him, it's probably like... Have you ever read a book with a twist in the plotline, but the author laid clues down in the text before the twist, so you figured out it was coming--and then when the twist happens, you're excited because it really happened like you thought it might happen?"

"I don't know if it's like that, Lana," Pothy says. "I think it's more like... Remember how you heard people discussing the plot of the Theatre District show that you and Telamon were going to go see when you picked up bread from the bakery with me? But you didn't tell Telamon about what you heard, and you were excited when that really happened in the story, because you wanted to see how excited Telamon would be? It's kind of like that."

Cor'lana snickers a little. "And thanks to our bond, I can't even hide knowledge of Theatre District show plotlines from Tel anymore," she says. "The cruelest trick of all, really."

Telamon's brows come together. "Not quite. It's more like... dealing cards, and you can get advance knowledge of what the next few cards will be. So you adjust your strategy for dealing with it. Or..." He pauses, thinking, his mind flickering in the bond. "A boy is playing, and tossing stones at a target. But he doesn't aim right, and the stone strikes a pie on the windowsill, knocking it off. But -- if the boy was fast enough, he could throw a second stone, deflect the first stone, and keep the pie from falling off the sill or being struck. It's a gross oversimplification, but it feels right."

He chuckles at Pothy, and nods. "Probably not quite so cut and dried. But still... we're trying to understand things we may not even have words for. It's a work in progress." At Lana humorously complaining about not being able to hide things, Tel snorts. "It was your idea, dear. The best I can do is dissemble, try to not think about certain things, and even then you can tell I'm doing it."

There's a mischievous grin on Cor'lana's face. "I like teasing you with thoughts about certain things, though--"

Pothy coughs. "I have to deal with that too. So does Jyndei, too. We're both right here. I know I can't complain because I'd rather you be in a happy and healthy marriage instead of sad and alone, but..."

Cor'lana lifts her head up from Telamon's shoulder and looks at Pothy. She thinks only one sentence:

(There are snacks in the kitchen for both you and Jyndei to eat.)

Pothy looks back at Cor'lana. "Nevermind, I don't remember what I was complaining about anymore," he simply says, and he takes flight into the kitchen.

Victorious, Cor'lana snickers, and then snuggles back into Telamon's form. "Maybe we'll never fully know. Maybe we'll get old and grey together, and pass into the Halls together, and then we'll know the truth about Fate or the lack thereof. I'm content, so long as I have you."

Jyndei covers his mouth in a small giggle at Pothy's complaints. "I believe I shall retire to the kitchen as well. I will soon have to return to Quelynos, so I might as well get a good meal while I'm here." With that, the dragon follows Pothy with a flap of butterfly wings.

Meanwhile, Telamon just shakes his head. "Yes, dear, I know you love putting all manner of things into my head. Usually at some inconvenient moment." He happily snuggles back with Lana, though. "I don't care if we find out or not, either. I just want to spend my time with you, love. Because as long as we're together, I think we can handle anything that comes our way."

Now that the two kitchen raiders are gone, and it's just two half-elves in love on the couch, the world just feels right. At least it does for Cor'lana, with the sort of fulfilled happiness that she associates with Telamon and his closeness coming into the bond. "Anything and everything together," she agrees.

And then she leans in, stopping short of Telamon's face only by an inch. "I love you, Telamon Lúpecyll-Atlon, and I always will," she promises, before she leans in for a kiss.

Crunch comes the sound of peanuts from the kitchen. "We should probably get our fill before they decide it's too cold to move from the couch and--you know the rest," Pothy explains, before putting shelled peanuts down his gullet. Time is of the essence!