Sins of the First: Researcher's Respite

[Ancelas]

Mirrai nodded absently in agreement. After a moment she added, "I don't want to be alone tonight."

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin leaned towards Mirrai, his arm bumping gently against hers. "Then stay with me."

He kept looking out across the deck, not fully realizing what he said just yet, but also not moving from his position which was now a slight lean so they were in contact.

[Ancelas]

Mirrai leaned against Taliesin and nodded. It was a quiet admission, but one that felt like the most natural response nonetheless. Head tilted against his shoulder, she closed her eyes, simply existing in the moment.

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin shifted and leaned his head against Mirrai's. His mind had drifted and connected to a feeling. His eyes looked off into the sky and he started a hum and then sang a line from the lullaby he had been unable to remember.

"Dusk is drawn and the Green Man's thorn is wreathed in rings of fog. Siabhra sails their boat til morn upon the starry bog. A'Leanbhan, oh the pale half moon has brimmed her cusp in dew. And weeps to hear the sad sleep tune I sing oh love, to you." The tune matched to the song from Taliesin's music box.

[Ancelas]

Mirrai listened quietly, and Taliesin could feel some of the tension leaving her body. She didn't speak to interrupt, but instead urged him to continue with her silence.

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin closed his eyes and continued. "Faintly sweet doth the chapel bell, ring o'er the valley dim. Kel'Alaryn's voices swell, in fragrant evening hymn. A leanbhan oh, the low bell rings, my little lamb to rest. And angel-dreams till morning sings, its music in your head."

He hummed the remaining, leading the song to an end. He refrained from saying anything to allow the song to sit. He had felt the tension in her body ease in the first half and was eager to extend that as far as he could.

[Ancelas]

"...That's a very pretty lullaby," Mirrai said softly. "Is that... from your homeland?"

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin opened his eyes and tried to look down at Mirrai out of the corner of his eyes, but failed. "Yes, it's the song that my music box plays." He looked off into the distance again and refrained from adding additional detail that felt too much.

He took a deep breath and let out a soft sigh shortly after.

[Ancelas]

"Mm... would you be willing to show me your music box?" Mirrai asked, gently pulling away and taking a step forward. She kept hugging herself and glanced at Taliesin, ready to head belowdecks.

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin righted himself as Mirrai pulled away. He was a little confused for a short moment as he thought she had seen and heard it before, but he could have been remembering wrong. Or it was simply a pretext that gave an excuse. "If you wish it." He said with a soft smile.

He stepped forward and led her below deck to his placed doorway. Once inside he beckoned Mirrai follow and motioned to the stairs that started to the left of the common room door. "Sorry that it is such a hike."

~*~*~Scene Setting~*~*~
The Glade within was much the same as it was the night they were in the hot springs. What passed for Taliesin's room where his belongings were was at the top of the tree up coiling clockwise up stairs and along walkways. There was a door to enter, but once inside it was clear that one wall was fairly open with a railing facing out over the hot springs. The floors were covered with a green and gold carpet with the symbols of the Illyrian Tribes surrounding the elvish word for unity.

Instead of having a standard human bed there was a giant round flat pillow with other pillows surrounding the edges in a far corner. It was more an item of comfort for resting and meditating than an item for true sleep for Taliesin. Off to one side of the bed was an octagonal nightstand with his pack resting beside it and several items deliberately placed atop which included the music box, the ruby heart, the pipe of bubbles, and his mother's brooch. The walls had sconces that were not lit, but a small writing table beside the open wall held a lit oil lamp which offered more than enough lighting to see by.

[Ancelas]

"It's amusing to think that even outside of Sigil, one can simply step through a doorway and be in another world" Mirrai mused softly as Taliesin opened his room to her. She immediately gravitated toward the pillows, the site of them making her smile. There was something childishly delightful about sleeping in a nest of pillows rather than a fancy bed.

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin smiled softly at the statement. This whole situation and abilities wouldn't have been in his wildest dreams. "If you told me a few months back that this was a possibility for me I wouldn't have believed it."

"Do you mind storms?" He asked softly as he lifted his music box.

[Ancelas]

"Not at all. I find them relaxing, so long as you're not traveling in them." She shifted amongst the pillows, settling herself down.

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin turned towards the open wall and went silent as his hand twisted the key on the music box. His eyes glowed green for a short moment.

At first nothing seemed to happen after his eyes returned to normal. He set the music box down and it began to play. The petrichor blew in on a breeze. The smell of fresh rain and a delightful chill swirling to the bed in pulses. He took off his overcoat and shoes and settled onto the giant pillow not fair from her.

A light flash followed seconds later by a distant thunder as the sound of rain finally reached them. He let out a content sigh as the music box and the weather set a mood. "I don't mind traveling in it so much. But it is quite nice when I can rest and enjoy it." He turned his head and torso to look to her. He couldn't read minds, but he tried to read her body language to get as close as he could. ((Insight 11))

[Ancelas]

Mirrai seemed somewhat closed off, but it was the closure he had noticed back on the deck - a mind preoccupied, a gaze far away, a sense of self-preservation. She seemed a little more at ease than she had been, but still anxious. Drawing upon how close she had allowed him on the deck, it seemed like she desired his presence as a comfort.

Reclined amongst the pillows, she stared up at the ceiling and listened to the rain. "Mm... I don't like wet boots."