Interlude: Homecoming

[opius]

The flummoxed wizard followed with a hint of wonder in his movements. His head kept turning to observe every little thing, studying and trying to make sense of it all. The place looked lived in, abandoned... Yet the sensation and feeling of being indoors wasn't unpleasant in the slightest.

Up a flight of stairs and in through a door. He stood by the doorway as Summer rummaged, and looked at her in surprise as she handed him the folded robes. "Wh- Summer, I... You didn't have to- You've got too much on your plate to be picking up souvenirs for me..."

He looked the fabric over, brows arched as he studied the fabric. "Thank you. This... This looks very special." He glanced back to her, smiling somewhat awkwardly. "I'm afraid I don't have anything to share in return."

[redcoat]

Summer looked up to him and gave him a wan smile, beginning to pull off her armor. "You jumped through a fairy door- that's plenty enough for me, Reg. And besides, I like getting you gifts- especially ones that will help you. Those robes have protective magic in them. And, they're spider silk, so you won't overheat in them."

Her boots joined her armor in the chest next to the bed, which she flopped onto- displacing several pillows.

"When we went to feywild, we... saw the encroachment. What Acererak's machine was doing to it. We ended up investigating a little too close, and got sucked into... this void. All we could do is float in the emptiness. And in the center, pulling us slowly towards it, was some weird eye."

She pressed her palms against her eyes, as if willing the image away. "We managed to claw our way back through the rift, barely. But that.... nothing... is eating away the feywild. And He hadn't even considered that I might fail."

[opius]

Reg's brows lifted at the mention of magic. Well, that explained the shimmer. "Spider silk... Wow." He looked genuinely impressed. This was a rare thing indeed.

But the wonder was short lived as Summer continued, a pressing sense of dread growing stronger and stronger the more she spoke. He grimaced at the mention of a thing, an eye, and chewed on that information for several moments.

"I... Gods, that sounds terrifying." He approached and took a seat at the edge of the bed, laying his staff across his knees. For all the praise of leaping through the door bravely, Summer would know the staff was evidence of his wariness of the whole situation. He shook his head. "Eating away... I can't say I understand what it all means. There's a great deal of magic that's just not my wheelhouse. But... I do know there's risks with extraplanar tampering. Things like bags of holding and handy haversacks- they're rare for a reason. A lot of terrible things can happen when you fool around with space and time." He looked up to the ceiling. He looked back to her and shifted backward toward her.

"It's a lot on your shoulders... Do you think it's, I dunno... Too much?" He watched her a while. "There's such thing as asking too much of a person. If this guy doesn't get it, I mean, maybe we have a chat with him and tell him he's crazy. Or..." He looked away. "I don't know. Reach out, find a way to stack the odds in your favor, learn more and somehow prepare for... whatever the hell you saw."

[redcoat]

"I can do it. I think. Hells, I think I'm meant to do it. I just came out of the fight with Tyl Regor cocky and confident... and this has shaken me a good bit." She shifted closer to him- though she noticed he kept his weapon handy, she didn't mention it.

"There needs to be a lot of that. Research, gaining allies. Gaining strength. Stacking the deck and rigging the game. I just... am more comfortable when there's a plan b. The idea that the answer is 'I fix it or the feywild is eaten by an endless void' is fucking terrifying."

"But... if I am being honest with myself, that isn't what broke me tonight. Cracked, probably, but... the other thing is harder to explain."

[opius]

He frowned and nodded, trying to make sense of her story. There were gaps in what he could relate to, but that look of being overwhelmed... he got that much. He turned to rest a leg on the bed, moving to sit beside her and gently rolled his staff to the floor. He tested the waters by placing a hand on her back, trying to bring her back to the ground and out of her headspace with something physical to focus on. He started rubbing in slow circles.

"You've been through a lot. A hell of a lot. Even despite all the good and frankly impossible deeds you've done... Even heroes get overwhelmed sometimes. That part's normal- you're not broken."

He let his palm rest between her shoulders. Firm, warm, and real. "If something's hard to explain, take your time with it. You can give it words at your own pace. I'll be right here to listen."

[redcoat]

Bones sighed softly and turned towards him, resting her head on his thigh. When his hand pressed on her back, she began to purr... and she was beginning to not be embarrassed by that. At least, when it came to him.

"I... haven't had a home that was truly _mine_ since my mother died. I lived with my Da, and with you. Rented rooms and stayed with my father's family for several months. But nothing... mine."

[opius]

Seeing her shift and get in his personal space wasn't surprising, but seeing her do so while reeling with so many emotions did give him pause. He continued to rub her back while moving his free hand to begin working through her hair. Purring was a good thing, right? It had to be a good thing.

"...I see..." nodding slowly he continued. "That... actually is pretty huge. Long overdue I think." He hummed and thought.

"I think I get it. I don't have the same history exactly... for a time I couch surfed, certainly, but nothing like what you've been through." He let his hands rest for a few moments before continuing.

"We can figure out what you want to do with this change of pace after you've taken some time to just... exist in the space and relax a bit. You do have some time to rest and just _be_, it sounds like. Right?"

[redcoat]

As his fingers buried in her hair, he'd be able to feel Bones relax, the purring getting louder.

"In a bit. At dawn, I have to meet with some devils to oversee handing over Tyl's things and restoring the ziggurat. Then we'll meet back up with the caravan- including Verdi and Biff, I hope. After that, back to New Haven to settle things. Make deals with the Red Clay clan about possible mining rights, design and begin construction on castle rock. Continue to work on my half of the paper during down time as well- publish or perish, after all."

She closed her eyes, counting tasks like some people would count sheep.

"Research into the arch fey that has my father- including a trip to the hells to look at any arbitration they have. Research into Acererak and his machine, and his history. Theoretically he's keeping his... pit fiend? Father prisoner."

[opius]

(DM reminder: before you left for Amberbreeze, Karn deployed a familiar to keep an eye out on the other party members. Bones can use that to her advantage when it comes time to plan the next day.)

"That's a lot..." Reginald continued to pet, frowning. The second hand dread was strong, and in the moment he struggled between offering advice and just listening. For a time he simply continued to pet.

"... So... I don't know the rules here, but if you want I can stay as long as you need me to. I mean- I can't forever, I have to let someone know what I'm doing- but if we can meet here with any degree of regularity, you know I'll happily inspect, appraise, and try to make sense of the stuff you find. If the Devils- gods is surreal to be saying this- if the Devils want the lions share and you want the more precious things, I can at least help you sift through the chaff. So... that's one problem maybe accounted for. As for the other magic things, I can reach out. I've made contacts off island, I could pull favors to try and get information on his keeper... it could take a while with mail, but it's an option."

He brushed her hair and considered investing in an actual brush. A nice one to keep on hand for times like this. "As for the town... I don't know, is there anything you can delegate? Only because, well, your plate is full, Summer. You've already maxed out on regular people stress and action. Now you're fully entrenched in politic and town stewardship. And on top of the kinds of stuff that would make a normal person crack you're talking about fate, saving fairies, and the super politics in the nine hells."

He gave her a squeeze. "I don't think I'm out of line to suggest you might need some help."

[redcoat]

Bones continued to relax- clearly not in any hurry to move. "Mm. We have twenty-four hours, I think, every time I cast it. And it's good to know that I can use the amulet you gave me to cast it. Rorr, Karn, Gallium, Lia- fuck I suppose everyone that actually doesn't need to sleep, which is everyone but me- is working on getting things moved and sorted. The small animal-people are as well."

"The devils are... the least of my concern, to be honest. Our end of all the bargains are done in the morning, and all that's left is making sure they hold theirs."

"The town stuff... strangely, is the relaxing thing, for me. Most of the work will be put to the dwarves in town, but I am invested in the designs. Organizing the people, with room to grow... is a very nice puzzle. Same with the paper- a distraction, from being knee deep in feywild drama."

She sighed, considering the feywild drama.

"Any information I can get on her, I would appreciate. My fight with her is personal, in ways that even going up against Acererak isn't."

[opius]

He nodded. "I was never big on politics and city planning. When I stumbled into stepping-stone mentality of intellectual society, I decided that was enough for me. You won't see me running for mayor. As for the fight with his ashen lady, that's understandable... She made it personal, Acererak's deal is more.. nebulous and out-there, in a way." Gently shaking his head, he continued to pet, easing away from damage control to just... think. Reflect.

"Still. It's hard to believe Cindar is alive. Before you were in my sphere, Cindar was just... Another unlucky scholar who got swallowed by the hungry ocean around Te'Kaal. Mister Daefaren, sociologist and frequent member of the footnote citation community." He let out a sigh. "Now he's... My girlfriend's long lost father who's actually a hostage to a fey lord."

He continued working her hair, keeping her placated. It was remarkable how much she opened up with the affection. On the one hand, he wanted to dance around the subject of feline-isms and not be That Guy. On the other... If it worked, it worked, and that was worth it.

[redcoat]

"I feel like politics and city planning... are a different school of magic all together- or perhaps just applied sociology, even. Taking what you know about people and scaling it up for a city. Making sure people feel heard, even if you can't give them what they want."

As talk turned to Cindar, she tilted her head into his hand.

"For the first years of my life, he was my primary parent. My mother was there, of course- but she was a ranger, and was often called away to guide scholars or rescue them- depending on how cocky the scholar had been."

She sighed.

"He taught me to read, to write. Not just languages but how languages work- as best you can for a wiggly four year old, I suppose." She smiled at a fleeting memory.

"When I was young, I wanted to write a book, like he did. I was obsessed with stegosauruses. He took me to the Anchorage and let me ask Teasonai a million questions about them. Then I very dutifully sat down at the kitchen table with my wax sticks and 'wrote' my first book while he worked."

[opius]

Crosp smiled, one brow raised a little higher than the other as he began to nod. "It makes sense. Kids don't just decide to be polyglots." With a laugh he shifted his hand to the top of her head, brushing back the fur on her brow before getting to her hair line. His fingers weren't the most dexterous, and certainly weren't the smoothest skinned, but his heart was in it.

"So then all of this, with the, uh.. Artifacts of him left behind here. I get why you need a moment to process that. This must be more like home than Amavasya or Nyanzaru ever was." He tilted his head. "...Though I'm surprised. In all of the time I've known you, I'd have pegged you for a Ceratops person."

[redcoat]

"My mother said once that he was determined to see how many languages I could pick up- and three was a compromise between them." She smiled at that.

"'A moment to process that' is a very delicate way of saying I terrified my friends by melting onto the floor and weeping for several moments." She said feeling her eyes start to sting again- and shying away to safer topics.

"Ceratops wish they could be as cool as stegos. Why have only a few sharp pointy bits when you could have a lot of sharp pointy bits?"

[opius]

Reginald shrugged. "I don't know. All the business in the front- a shield anda couple of swords to lead with? There's something appealing about the idea of charging into your problems head on." There was a chuckle that followed. He kept petting.

"We all have our vulnerable moments. Though when you're as unflappable as Councilwoman Bones Darkmoon Daefaren, I imagine it's a very concerning surprise." He looked down to her again. "...I'm glad you can be vulnerable. Lots of people just... don't. And they never learn to cope. It's rough, being... rough."