Obligatory Fanservice Episode 3: Return of the Fey

Log Info

• Title: Obligatory Fanservice Episode 3: Return of the Fey

• Emitter: Ravenstongue

• Characters: Ravenstongue, Telamon

• Place: Ravenstongue and Telamon's house

• Summary: Ravenstongue attempts to try and plant some seeds in the garden but fails fantastically due to wearing clothing poorly suited to the heat (that she then attempts to make summer-friendly). Telamon goes outside and tries to assist his fiancee, but the two are soon surprised by a young fey man who is one of the sons of the Matron Mantidalia, a minor fey noblewoman that has previously irritated Ravenstongue's fey ancestor. The two allow the man to stay in their garden in his mantis form and head inside, where they have an emotional discussion about faith.

-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=- Dramatis Personae =--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-                                    
Ravenstongue      5'0"     99 Lb      Half-Elf          Female    Short half-elf girl with violet eyes and black hair.                       
Telamon           5'6"     140 Lb     Half-Elf          Male      A platinum-blond half-sil man with dancing dark eyes                      
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-

Lúpecyll-Atlon house, afternoon.

It's a hot and hazy day, almost oppressively hot, with not much of a breeze to offset the angry, hot gaze of Daeus on the world. Cor'lana Lúpecyll, however, is outside and not inside for once, with a sunhat she purchased at the market (really, was bullied into it by a pushy saleswoman) drooping over her braided hair as she leans over the garden, shovel in hand.

"Okay... Gardening is easy. I've seen Tel do it so many times. It's really not that hard... I think," Cor'lana murmurs.

This sums up her attitude for about ten minutes until she finishes digging one hole--stopping to look at a packet of seeds she bought at the marketplace, of course, to see how big the hole ought to be--and then she's perspiring and panting. She'd worn a white cotton dress with long sleeves that went down to her feet, which seemed sensible enough... Until it suddenly felt like more of a deathtrap than anything else.

Cor'lana contemplates the quandary at hand for a moment, panting, and then she decides to do something brave. She pulls up the sleeves on her dress... And then she pulls her dress up her legs. Up, up, up, until it gets to the point of almost a mini-skirt in length, and then she ties the excess fabric into a neat knot at one end. "There," she says, rather pleased with herself. "Now I won't die of heat stroke."

And she leans over to resume her gardening.

It really is hot. The windows of the Lúpecyll-Atlon house are open, but there IS a breeze inside. It's coming from a deceptively simple mechanism Telamon purchased the other day; a box with curiously angled blades inside it, with a crank. Setting it up in the living area, he speaks, "Sisig bursag," calling forth an unseen servitor. "Start turning the crank. One rotation... hm. Every fifteen seconds." The crank begins to turn on its own, followed by the blades, and a cool breeze begins to flow from the magically-driven fan.

Tel grins -- at least the house will be somewhat tolerable before nightfall -- and he walks over to the kitchen, feeling disgustingly pleased with himself. Pouring a curious concoction -- 'chilled' tea rather than hot -- into a large mug, he sips the sweetened drink as he looks out the window. And then he coughs, unable to keep from blushing as... well, that was slightly unexpected to see. Pleasant, yes, but unexpected!

Red. The color of today is red. ...That's the color on Cor'lana's cheeks (the ones on her face) as she continues to work. But, well, she's going about it all in a rather amateurish and clumsy way.

Pothy cracks a peanut next to Telamon on the counter. He looks out at his poor mistress, and then just looks at Telamon with that almost glassy stare of his that he's taken to having these days whenever the half-elves do something that reminds him of his duress at the hands of Cor'lana's late mother. "Go help her or she's going to plant her head in the ground," Pothy says in a deadpan voice.

Meanwhile, as Cor'lana's trying to tear open a seed packet... A praying mantis lands on the ground next to her. She looks at it and blinks her violet eyes.

And then the praying mantis starts screaming. With a voice that sounds like a person. "OH NO. PLEASE DON'T EAT ME, FEATHERED ONE."

Telamon knocks back the chilled tea, before pouring another. "Gods' sake, Pothy," he almost growls at the familiar. "It's your fault and Nadina's." He sighs, rubbing his cheeks, which are still flushed. "Still, she needs some instruction..." He walks out the back door, holding the mug.

"Ah, love, why don't you stop for a second? Let me give you some pointers." Tel will save the lecture on girding one's loincloth -- or dress, or what have you -- for when they're back inside. No point in embarrassing his bride-to-be. When the praying mantis starts screaming, though, he jumps. "What the..."

Cor'lana, to her credit, doesn't jump, even as the praying mantis just keeps emitting a high-pitched refrain of "I DON'T WANT TO DIE, DON'T EAT ME, DON'T KILL ME, PLEASE," for a couple of seconds. She has to put a finger to her mouth. "Shh! Please! Calm down! I'm not the Feathered One, and he's not here right now!"

The praying mantis immediately stops screaming. It quirks its head. "Wait. You're... Not the Feathered One?"

And then it morphs, the form blurring until it takes its full humanoid shape--a skinny man, a couple of inches shorter than Cor'lana with a shock of electric-yellow hair that goes down to his shoulders and a light green hue to his skin stands nervously now in the backyard. Black insect-like eyes in his head dart around for any possible predators, and his mantis wings hang close to his body. However, he's dressed in rather plain clothes with some wear and tear to them. "I'm sorry! Please, I... I actually came here to ask for sanctuary! My mother, the Matron Mantidalia, wanted me to marry me off to one of my cousins, but... But...!"

He trembles a little more. "I don't want to die!"

Cor'lana looks at the man, and then at Telamon. "Well. Umm. I'm pretty certain marriage isn't a death sentence. For... most people."

Telamon tilts his head as the screaming mantis calms, and turns into a little fey fellow who is clearly rattled. "Well, if there's one place the Matron's not likely to send a servant... for now, anyways... it's here. What with the 'no trespassing' sign that Grandfather put up."

He looks at Lana with an arched eyebrow. "Ah, Lana dear, remember the mating habits of the praying mantis. And Grandfather did mention the Matron's predilection for killing her partners. Marriage in that household might very well be a terminal condition." He passes the mug of chilled tea to Cor'lana, before regarding the little man with his starry eyes. "Why don't we start over? Some call me Telamon Atlon, others the Lord Lúpecyll-to-be. What might we address you as?"

Cor'lana looks positively horrified with Telamon's reminder, and she slowly looks back to the mantis man. "I'm so sorry. I completely forgot that they do... That. In your family. Wow. That's... Awful."

"I know it is! You don't need to tell me," the man says, looking around nervously like he's waiting for his bride to show up any minute now and decide to just skip right to biting his head off. Then his eyes lock onto Cor'lana. "Sorry, that was rude! I'm just, so...!"

"You may call me Cor'lana Lúpecyll," Cor'lana says with a smile, her hand going to the curuchuil mark on her chest, which shimmers slightly with her touch. "I am a child of the Feathered One."

The mantis fellow shivers for a moment as Cor'lana confirms her identity. "R-Right! I-I'm Bois."

This knowledge serves to make Cor'lana's horrified expression just a smidge more stony. "She... Did she literally name you 'boy'? Or 'son'?"

Bois looks confused. "Yes. All of my brothers are named Bois. It's tradition," he says. "Don't they name all the boys in your family Bois?"

"No, because we don't marry our cousins and then eat their heads!" Cor'lana retorts--and then she looks like she immediately regrets that statement. "Sorry, that's not a slight against you, just... That's not how you raise people."

Telamon winces at Cor'lana's expression. "Sorry. I figured you would've remembered. In any case..." His eyebrow rises at the fey's declaration. "Bois?... no, you're serious." He reaches up to rub the bridge of his nose. "After all, can't have anyone getting too attached to them, can they?" His voice is sharp edged.

He takes a deep breath. "The fey courts, Lana. Remember, there's a reason Grandfather got sick of them and went into seclusion." His expression becomes pensive. "Alright, Bois. I assume you're actually here, and not just a projection. How easily can you remain on Ea? And what would you do, now that you're here?"

Bois blinks his insect eyes. "Wait. Umm. I... I need an anchor? I... I thought that spell I used would let me stay here?" He shifts nervously again. "If I can't stay, umm..."

He looks back at Cor'lana. "Can you convince the glorious and most handsome and most virile Feathered One to let me stay with him in Quelynos? Please. Please, please, please, please. I beg of you! At least until my love comes to rescue me. Mother won't let me marry him--he's the Marquess Tineafyn's son. She insists I have to marry my cousin and... die!"

He falls to Cor'lana's feet and kisses the ground next to where she stands. He also appears to be averting his gaze from Cor'lana's makeshift 'little white dress'.

Cor'lana chews her lip for a moment before she looks over at Telamon. "Well... I'd love to help, but the last thing we need is to get wrapped up in the ongoing conflict between Grandfather and the Matron."

She also looks back to Bois and says, "And please don't call my grandfather 'virile', please. Just... ew."

Telamon reaches over and deftly undoes the knot that's holding up Cor'lana's skirt, letting it drop to its normal length. As if nothing had happened, he continues, "We really do need Grandfather's input on this. We have enough on our platters without adding the Matron into it."

"In the meantime, though... we could put him on the couch for the moment. I know there are some fey in the forests outside of Alexandria..." He rolls his eyes. "Gods-damned dryads keep luring the farmboys away. Which wouldn't be an issue except they want to hold onto them for weeks instead of for a day or two. Anyways, we could probably convince one to take him in till we get this sorted."

Cor'lana blinks when Telamon undoes the knot--and then blushes a tad. "Oh, I forgot about that," she murmurs quietly, before she looks down at Bois. "You hear that? We can put you up for a while."

"I won't even need a couch!" Bois says, and he turns into a praying mantis again--small, unassuming, could probably hide in a house plant. "See! I'll just hide in a little corner somewhere in your garden and be quiet. I'm good at that. Mother always it was my best quality."

Cor'lana looks at Telamon. "Well, I'm okay with that. At the very least, he can keep the pixies occupied," she says, giving a brief glance off in the direction of one of the favored hiding spots of Mirabilis and Lily-of-the-Valley.

Bois's mantis form hops up and down in an excited manner. "Yes! I can eat all the other nasty bugs in your garden! They won't know what will get them!" he declares--

And off he hops into a patch of lavender, to get hunting.

Telamon watches the little fey-mantis fellow leap into the garden, and exhales. "Well, he won't be very noticeable, that's for certain. But we need to talk to Grandfather. In the meantime, dear..." He turns to look at Lana with a rather impish grin. "You don't need to show off your legs to me, you know."

Now that's settled, he looks at where she's been digging, and fighting with the seed packet. "Well, for starters, you dug the hole too deep. Also..." He picks up the seeds, looking at the packet. "Alright, they are in season. But they don't need to be planted that far down."

Cor'lana blushes. "Was I showing off my legs? I thought it was fine. Nobody was looking," says. "Except for you, and you're an acceptable person to show them off to... Also, it's hot, and I'm a dummy who didn't realize I'd burn up while wearing this dress in this weather."

She kneels back down to the ground and looks at the hole she's made, pouting a little. "So... I need to do it all over again?" she asks. "I worked so hard, though..."

She leans over again and grabs her shovel. "Okay--"

But, she misjudges her balance--due to a combination of the heat and her own slight physical exhaustion--and she falls face-first into the hole.

Pothy's laughter can be heard from outside the house.

"Maybe we need to think about some outdoor dresses for you. Sleeveless, cotton, knee-length." Telamon touches her back gently. "It IS pretty warm, too. Don't forget you need to drink something and cool off regularly."

He continues, "Do it all over again? No, just fill the hole halfway, and then put the seeds in..." He pauses as she leans over, and then topples. "...Alright, I think it's break time, love." He firmly draws her back up out of the hole again, turning her around so he's cradling her. "When was the last time you had something to drink? I think you might be a little dry."

Cor'lana looks a little woozy? Yeah, she's not a 'strenuous-physical-activity-in-the-summer' girl. She looks up at Telamon with a somewhat stupid smile and says, "You're a tall drink of water, Tel."

"Oh, brother," Pothy says as he flaps outside, presumably to get a look at Cor'lana being a sunstruck idiot. "Yeah, get her inside and make her drink something. I don't think she's had anything to drink, even if she's all silly and loopy."

"No, I'm fine--I just wanted to flirt with Telamon," Cor'lana protests. But she's certainly not protesting being close to her fiance. "Inside does sound nice, though."

Telamon helps Cor'lana to her feet, and carries her inside. "You can't go out in the sun like I do, dear. I know you're not made of glass, but when it gets hot like this, you have to take care." Setting her down on one of the kitchen chairs, he pours each of them tall tankards of the chilled tea.

The fan, at this point, is blowing steadily, a delicious breeze flowing through the house. "You handled that little fellow very well," he says with a smile. "The last time we had a talking mantis in the garden, you almost closed a book on it."

Cor'lana practically melts into her chair as she is put into it, looking very relaxed as the cold air blows through the house. She looks even better once she has a sip of the chilled tea. "Oh, this is nice," she exclaims, and she takes a bigger gulp of it.

She looks up at Telamon with a smile to match his. "Well, you know what they say. You've seen one talking mantis, you've seen them all!"

"Nobody says that," Pothy quips. He's taken up residence at the table in the living room, eating peanuts as per usual.

"Well, I say it, so therefore, someone does. Take that," Cor'lana replies to Pothy, sticking her tongue out at him briefly. "Anyway, I figured it was someone from the Matron's court, and if it hadn't been..."

She sits up in her chair, her thoughts trailing off. Her violet eyes widen, and she grins at Telamon. "Wait. What if... I make an offer to the Matron? I could send her a letter with an offer to hire Bois for a while as a garden worker. And because she names all of her sons the same name, she won't know which one I'm referring to until it's too late. She can't go back on her word once she's given it. Fey take oaths incredibly seriously."

Telamon looks pleased at Lana's evident happiness with her drink, taking a sip from his own. "Yeah, I figured with the summer heat, you'd need something to cool you off -- besides a bucket of water, anyways." His eyes twinkle at the memory. "But that might've been overdoing it. Slightly. Or maybe not."

"At any rate..." His brow furrows at Lana's idea. "The only problem we have is that we don't know if she knows he's missing. If she does a count and comes up one short, she'll know where the missing one is." He leans back in his chair, thinking. "We could demand he remain here to make recompense for trespassing, and then before his 'sentence' ends, we ship him off to Grandfather's estate to stay there."

Cor'lana flushes a little as Telamon reminds her about a certain day not that long ago in the grand scheme of things--and then she gets a wry look on her face. "If you threw a bucket of water at me while I'm wearing this dress, though, you might have gotten a look at something nicer than my legs," she says, a bit of a flirty tone to her voice.

Pothy almost chokes on a peanut. "Lana, don't fool yourself, you don't have much in that department."

Cor'lana grimaces a little. "Just because I didn't take after mom in that aspect of looks," she grumbles a little, before she looks back at Telamon and seems thoughtful. "That's a better idea, actually. I can have Grandfather draw up the papers and have them delivered. ...I hope he doesn't kill someone to make his point, though."

Telamon tsks. "I like you just the way you are, dear. Don't listen to Pothy on that score." He strokes Lana's hand gently, as he thinks over her suggestion. "Confusion. That might be the ticket. All we need to do is sell Grandfather on the ploy -- I'm pretty sure he'll be willing to work with us, especially as he has such a low opinion of the Matron. Any chance to stick a thumb in her eye."

He exhales, looking contemplative. "At least it'll keep her off our backs while we tend to business. I've... some things to think about, as well. I want your opinion about them... about what we saw in the Desolation. Who knows -- it might help to solve some of your problems too."

Cor'lana nods to the discussion of the Matron, and then Telamon brings up the journey to Desolation. "Right," she says. "You came home and all you wanted to do was collapse into bed with me."

She smiles a little at the memory. "Not that I minded at all, of course--I do love cuddling up to you at night--but you were exhausted. Although... I'm curious. What do you mean about my problems?"

Her hand goes to the mark on her chest again, as it always does when she feels a little self-conscious.

"You've remarked before about how your life has... kind of led you away from Navos." Telamon's dark, starry eyes remain on hers. "Last night... we found her, Lana. The avatar of Eluna." His lips curl in an insouciant smile. "Awakened her, albeit a bit in a classical way."

"I'm not saying this is some magic cure for what ails you. But... I wonder if maybe we both should take a look at Eluna. I know I'm not the most... dedicated person, when it comes to religion. I pay heed to the gods but I'm not one to bother them." He runs a hand through his hair. "But when you actually meet one, or at least an avatar, it puts things into perspective."

The Avatar of Eluna. It puts a strange look on Cor'lana's face, something between flabbergasted and... confusion? "You met... a face of a goddess."

She looks thoughtful for a moment as she just leans back in her chair. "...Truth be told, Tel, I've been thinking about her for a while. I believe it was her I met in that nightmare that kicked off this whole mess--the one with the Tyrant. She appeared first. She fed Pothy some fruit. And... she talked about my mother like she knew her."

Cor'lana is quiet for another moment until her face contorts into a grave frown. "I... I was so mad then. I screamed at her to tell me where my mother was. What she knew about my mother. If she was a goddess, wouldn't she tell me? And... then the Tyrant burdened me with that knowledge."

Tears bead up in her eyes. "Why is it that the people who knew things... didn't want me to know? It hurt so much more when I did know. When I had to learn all on my own."

Telamon slips out of his chair to kneel next to Lana's, taking her hand. "I don't know, love. I wish I did. I know there's the tired old 'you didn't need to know it then' but I don't accept that either." He presses his lips to her hand, gazing at her face. "All I can tell you is that maybe we can find out why."

He sighs. "And then make sure we don't make the same mistakes. That we're always true to each other, even though we may want to hide things or avoid unpleasant words." His fingers, interlaced with hers. "All I can offer is that everything I know, I will gladly gift to you."

"I just want to know why the gods seem to help so many people when it seems like I'm the one they shunned," Cor'lana says, tears pouring down her face. "So many people get by every day with love, and... I've been lucky to get familial love back. To get a whole kind of love I never, ever thought I'd experience, and to give it in return." Her gaze flickers down to her ring on her left hand. "I used to find comfort in Navos, but I don't anymore, and..."

She shakes her head and looks at Telamon. "I know I'm just whining. I'm just a crybaby. I always have been. But it hurts. And the only things that have made it feel better were Grandfather's love and your love."

The sound of peanuts being cracked open has come to a dead stop in the living room.

Telamon levers himself up, and then his arms are around Cor'lana, drawing her into his embrace. Pressing her face into his shoulder, as he cradles her. "You're not a crybaby," he whispers fiercely. "You had a long, lonely road to walk to get here. And I think it made you stronger than you realize. It wasn't fair you had to walk it, but you made it, Lana. You have Grandfather, and me, and Addy, and my family. All of us, who love you."

His fingers comb through her hair gently. "I don't know why things turned out the way they did. I always thought the gods could be inscrutable, but not petty. I just hope there's a reason for this, because if not, someone's going to catch hell for it." Giving her a squeeze. "And until then... you cry on my shoulder if you need to. I'll be your lifeline. I told you before, and I'll say it again: I'm not going anywhere. Not without you."

Cor'lana hugs Telamon tightly, crying quietly into the shoulder that he's ushered her to cry into. Her body trembles with every little sob and whimper. But his words seem to be having an effect on her, as her arms curl tighter and tighter around him.

There's the sound of wings flapping, and Pothy lands over by Cor'lana's feet, rubbing against her leg. "Don't forget," he says, in that cherubic little boy's voice. "I love you too, Lana. I was happy to be your best friend back in Rune."

Cor'lana nods, and she manages to eek out, "I'm... I'll be okay." The first part would have been a lie, and the second is a truth. "So long as I have everyone who does. I... I don't need the gods, but I won't reject them."

"We'll work it out, love." Telamon says to her gently. "We always do. Come on now... no more tears. I've so much to tell, and some of it I don't even understand." He can't help but grin a bit. "Besides, you know how we've been planning for our wedding, right?"

He draws back a little, just so he can look into Lana's eyes. "Well... Dolan popped the question to Andelena. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling they may be asking us for pointers on planning their ceremony in turn." His gaze sparkles with joy. "It was definitely something to see."

Cor'lana can't help but smile as she's reminded of the wedding--and then can't help but giggle when she's learned Dolan's engaged. "Wow! When did that happen? I didn't think you'd have time for that kind of thing. I was a total wreck when you proposed, remember?"

She wipes some of her tears away, but at least she's happy again. "To be honest, Tel... Every time you left the house, for about a week after you proposed, I'd look down at my ring and cry happy tears all over again. It just... made me so happy to know you really wanted me like that. Still does. So I'm really happy to know Dolan has that, too."

Telamon shakes his head. "Everyone's different. And I guess Dolan was... worried he might not come back from that jaunt to the Desolation. Andelena was with us, so... he seized the moment, as they say." He grins. "They make an interesting couple. But they're happy together, and that's what counts in the end. I've already told them we'd like invitations to the wedding."

He kisses her cheek. "I know you were over the moon when I asked you to marry me. I still am." His arms snug around her, as he takes a deep breath. "Whatever we do, it'll be together. Promise."

He glances down at Pothy. "Yeah, that includes you, Pothy. Package deal, remember?"

"Of course it includes me," Pothy says, puffing up all of his feathers so proudly. "You need someone to make the marks on your hands!"

"That's right, Pothy," Cor'lana says, smiling. She looks to Telamon and smiles. "You know what? How about we all stay in tonight and... Cuddle up on the couch, eat some snacks?"

"Now we're talking!" Pothy says.

And such is life in the Lúpecyll-Atlon house.