Werewolf Baby?

Log Info

• Title: Werewolf Baby?

• Emitter: Ravenstongue

• Characters: Harkashan, Ravenstongue

• Place: Ravenstongue and Telamon's house

Lúpecyll-Atlon house, early afternoon.

There's an undeniable appeal to the chill crisp of an autumn afternoon. Warm drinks taste warmer and hot food tastes hotter in a way that anyone who's mildly cold can appreciate. The rustle of color-changing leaves from the chilled wind is the sound that accompanies anyone headed down a certain University District street...

Until one gets closer to the Lúpecyll-Atlon house. Then it's two tiny voices exchanging rapid-fire comments at each other.

"Lily! Do not say that in front of our Lady!" comes a severe and serious feminine voice--or attempting to be, despite its high pitch.

"Oww! Don't smack me, Mirabilis! All I said was that there are worse love triangles to have a baby between!" complains a similar high-pitch feminine voice. "I mean, between Telamon and Zalgiman, the baby will be STUNNING--"

"I am going to throttle some sense into your head by next Eliday, I SWEAR!"

The two pixies fighting with each other by the front door immediately cease as Cor'lana opens the door, poking her head out. "What is all of that racket?" Cor'lana asks with a sigh. "Please keep it down--or at the very least, keep it to the garden and not the front yard?"

The pixies let out a shocked squeal. "We're so sorrrryyyyy~!"

Warmth drifts off of Harkashan. In the chill crisp air, there's a subtle 'aura' almost around him. This sense of warmth that radiates from him as much as it does from those strange markings on his body. That illussion of fire.

Approaching the house, he was told by Rune to visit and to check up on them. He'd not been given more context, but he'd seen in her eyes that there was more to it. Something pressing. But then, he enjoys going to Ravenstongue's house. He's always welcomed there. And today he doesn't come with any horrible news or shocking revalations himself.

Listening to the little voices near the entrance, Harkashan rumbles a bemused sound. "Good young day, Lily and Mirabilis." He offers to the two of the small pixies. Only for Cor'lana to open the door.

Harkashan touches a hand to his chest, and immediately halts to bow to her in appreciation. "Lady Ravenstongue." He remarks, before rising. He's carrying what looks like a jute bag of sorts. "Might you invite me inside?"

The pixies peer at Harkashan when he approaches, but it's (unfortunately) Lily-of-the-Valley who's the first to speak. "Oh heeeeey, I like your scales--"

"Please do not embarrass the Lady nor her house any more than you have by speaking any more," Mirabilis snaps back, clamping her hand over Lily-of-the-Valley's mouth. There's little muffled whines of protest as the pixie tries to drag her pixie-sister away from the scene.

Cor'lana, meanwhile, just smiles bashfully. "Of course," she says, opening the door a little wider. "Come on in. I have tea. Pothy's about somewhere; I imagine he'll make himself known in time."

Harkashan is glad that the pixies have already forgotten the 'fire breathing incident' from many moons ago. "Thank you. I like your wings." He answers Lily as he gets closer, nodding at her.

He then looks to Ravenstongue and steps inside, ducking his head down so he can fit through the door. Once inside, he politely closes the door behind him while making sure his tail is not getting caught, and steps forward.

"I imagine so." He answers with a warm rumble of his voice, "Though I fear I did not bring any snacks today." Once offered a seat, he'll sit down and put the bag on the ground with him.

"I hear congratulations are in order." He then rumbles with a warm and happy expression. "It is always good when the nest welcomes more Hatchlings."

Cor'lana smiles a little, but something about that smile is strained with the congratulations that Harkashan offers her. "We have a happy home," she offers merely in answer to Harkashan's words, before she leads him into the living room and takes up the teapot that's on the table. As ever, it's lavender-mint tea, the favorite of the Lúpecyll-Atlon household.

"I hope yourself and Leirune are doing well," Cor'lana says. "Please seat yourself. May I offer you a cup of tea?"

Not long after she offers it, the boyish sound of Pothy's true voice comes from the kitchen. "Harkashan's here? Oh boy!" The white-feathered bird takes flight from the kitchen, soaring into the living room and landing on the table next to the teapot. His bright blue eyes look up at Harkashan. "Hello!"

"Hmm! You do." It is very clear that Harkashan doesn't understand why anyone might refer to these rumors as negative ones. But then, the Sith-makar have a particular take on the whole relationship thing.

"Tea would be lovely."

When given said tea, he puts the small teacup to his muzzle and tries to sip as quietly and gracefully as he can. But compared to the massive muzzle, that tea-cup just looks like he could swallow it whole in one chomp.

"Hmm! Leirune is doing wonderfully. She got a bit hurt recently, so she's healing up. Turns out, Hags are rather nasty."

He then looks down at Pothy as he lands on the table and smiles down at the creature. "Greetings, guardian-of-snacks." He bids the pale feathered one. "Welcome to use my horns as a perch if you'd like." The Sith-makar offers, before his attention drifts back to Cor'lana. "I brought some gifts for the young-one-to-come." He then adds. "I wasn't sure what to get for the child of a werewolf and the family of fae though..."

Cor'lana takes up her own cup and sits down on the couch. Pothy, however, shakes his head. "I'm okay sitting here next to the teapot and my snacks," he says. It's the snacks that are most important, of course. "I hope Leirune's okay. I remember when I met a hag..."

Cor'lana looks like she's about to ask Pothy about his hag-encounter and offer her own condolences to Rune's recovery, but, well, then Harkashan comments on the child. She nearly chokes on her sip of tea. Somehow, by divine grace, she manages to get it down. "I, ahhh--the child--"

"The child is totally a werewolf. Rawr." Pothy giggles in his boyish way as he goes to crack open a peanut. This earns him a dirty look.

"The child is..." Cor'lana sighs deeply. "Harkashan, you are a dear friend, but if I tell you what I have to say, you must vow to never repeat it to anyone. Please."

Harkashan rumbles, and is already lifting up the bag. Pulling from it what looks like the bone that once belonged to a lizard. "I brought a bone of a Thunderlizard. I hear they make for good teething objects..." He begins, beforehespots the two of them looking at him.

Harkashan is not the most perceptive, but he's good at reading people. So when he notes Pothy's giggle and Corlana's sight and choke...

"Something tells me it's more complicated than that..." He rumbles, looking almost disappointed there may not be a Hatchling being added to this nest.

"Of course." He then remarks, awkwardly left holding the thunderlizard bone in one hand, and the bag in the other. A confused Sith-makar expression on his face. "I vow not to repeat this secret of yours."

"It's far more complicated than it would seem, and that's by design," Cor'lana responds, looking a little distant for a moment as her gaze goes to the windows, like she's searching for something outside. After a moment, those violet eyes settle back onto Harkashan.

"You remember the Corpse-Eater--and my sister Auranar." Cor'lana pauses a moment for a sip of tea that isn't threatening to go down the wrong pipe. "Auranar has concocted a plan to get rid of the Corpse-Eater once and for all. Given his tendency to prey on happy couples and to drive one of them to kill the other--and then themselves--we are trapping the Corpse-Eater. Announce that we are expecting--we are not--then plant rumors that the child is not really Telamon's. It's the thing that the Corpse-Eater thrives on. And we believe we've gotten him to bite. Someone claiming to be a cousin of mine approached Telamon the other day at the Shining Chalice and gifted him a 'vision' proving the infidelity--which was not a vision at all, of course, but Telamon's a terrific actor when he needs to be."

She smiles affectionately on the last part, but her face turns grim. "The plan is to lure in the Corpse-Eater to a quiet place outside of Alexandria, with the idea being that Telamon is going to confront me about my 'indiscretion'--but in reality, all of our friends are invisible and in hiding, waiting the signal. Then, we strike at the Corpse-Eater and end him."

"Yes. I remember the Corpse-Eater. I recall finding out that he had a house or a 'place' near you." Something that touches at the edge of his mind. "Ah yes. We learned this from Karan'taara." He then adds, nodding his head. "I believe Rune or your sister already shared this information with you." He isn't certain, as he was not there. "But I remember the obsession with Auranar."

He then leans back a bit, thinking about what is being revealed to him. At its core, the plant most certainly makes sense. "I must warn, I do not have your husband's acting skills." He rumbles, putting the bone back into the bag, before leaning in a bit again and taking another swig of the tea.

It's already empty. He's got a big mouth.

"Do you wish for mine and Rune's presence during that mission? I have faced him before. And while I am not fearless, I feel I have bolstered my skills significantly since that time."

"Should you wish it, I would appreciate you and Rune accompanying us," Cor'lana replies with a small smile. "The two of you are fearsome combatants, which we will surely need in the fight against him."

Pothy looks at Harkashan for a long moment before he offers his input. "Harkashan? Can you do me a favor?"

Cor'lana blinks as she looks down at Pothy. "What's that?"

"If you can... Please tell Vardama or whoever's in charge of afterlife punishments to please send a thousand ravens to peck at Karan'taara's soul?" Pothy's boyish voice is far too calm and cool for such a threat. It even earns a blink from Cor'lana. "For what he did to Lana... And to everyone else, it only seems fair."

Harkashan looks towards Pothy as he turns to talk to him.

"Oh, I am not done with him yet. He is apparently enjoying his time in the halls and is torturing souls. I plan to travel to the halls directly and see why the Death Singing Dragon has not been able to interfere with this as of yet." He answers the Raven. "So... I will see what I can do. But if Rune come along, it may instead of a thousand stabs to the back - if that'll do." He croons to him.

He then looks back up to Cor'lana nad smiles; "Of course we will aid you. You are good friends. It is important to protect our tribe."

"A thousand stabs to the back is an excellent punishment," Pothy says with a nod. It inspires another baffled look from Cor'lana, who reaches out and pats Pothy's feathers. Pothy looks up at her with the gesture and says, "I'm okay, Lana--it's just... You know." His voice turns sad.

Cor'lana frowns and looks back up at Harkashan. "Quite some time ago," she says, "Karan'taara kidnapped me. He did so by breaking into the house and locking Pothy into the water closet. It was... traumatic for everyone involved."

She sighs. "I'm just grateful that we have more friends and allies now compared to then. You and Rune included. I am honored to be a part of this 'tribe' of friends--even if it means you have to deal with... well, everything that comes with it. Such as disturbing fey relatives."

Cor'lana takes a sip of her tea before she looks at Harkashan. "On a somewhat unrelated topic--how is everything with... I believe it was Thirku?--going?"

Harkashan bows his head. "I heard something along those lines." He answers Cor'lana, showing subtle sorrow in his expression. When he's around friends, he doesn't exagerate his expressions so much - making them harder to read for some, but more earnest to others.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all of that, Pothy." Harkashan rumbles. He chuckles as she mentions being grateful to have more friends. "I thought you always had a large circle of friends around you." He admitsto her. "You seem so... warm." He rumbles. "The Fey relatives are both a cost and benefit."

Then, the topic shifts, and he tilts his head a bit to the side. "Thirku..." Saying the name has his eyes kind of stare off for a moment, before he seems to come 'back'. "I am still learning." He expresses. "I think our bond is getting closer. I am getting to understand them a bit better... at least, what they need from me. And bits and pieces of the why. But most of all... I understand 'our' 'why' now." He explains.

A pause. "I mean, you were there. So I suppose you know. But there is comfort in knowing 'why' this bond exists. Even if it worries Rune sometimes when I stare out into the world because Thirku is not... 'subtle' when they share."

A sad little smile crosses Cor'lana's face then. "No," she says gently, softly. "I was not always surrounded by friends. For a very long time--it was just me, just Pothy, and just my mother. I didn't make my first real friend outside of Pothy until I left home when I turned twenty and came to Alexandria. I didn't even know of the fey connection until then, either."

She looks down at her tea and chuckles softly. "Fate has a funny way like that," she says. "It brings people together. For better and for worse."

A sip of the tea and Cor'lana nods, looking back up at Harkashan. "I do know," she says. "I wish I could comfort Rune--at least in telling her how beneficial it's been for me. There are certainly odd moments, but there was a time where Grandfather defended me from the influence of a fiend invading my mind. Thirku may be able to do the same for you as your bond grows."

Harkashan rumbles, "I suppose that is why you and Rune bonded so easily. She would tell me sometimes, how she feels like an outsider because of her herritage. I remember, the first time we met. That look in her eyes. A recognition of a like soul." He answers Ravenstongue, thinking of their meeting so many many months ago.

He then takes ina deep breath, and exhales. Little smoky fumes coming from his nostrils.

"Fate indeed is funny like that. Especially when Eluna is involved." A name he speaks with some hesitation due to recent rumors - but then skips by them.

"And I think your words carry a lot more weight than you believe, Cor'lana. I am certain you could comfort her. But in the end, I believe that task may lay more on my shoulders. As you say, Grandfather has defended you before. When facing that Hag, Thirku aided me in reaching out, letting a spell of mine touch her in the midst of battle."

Cor'lana smiles a little. "Ni'essa Skysinger, despite all the rumors that have come about, is a deity of good nature--one venerated in this household despite the vilification that they seek to do to her." Maybe it makes sense that Cor'lana would be so eager to protect Eluna, given that her own odd reputation in Alexandria. "I venerate her in the same breath that I venerate Vaire, Lady of Inspiration."

She looks a little more amused, her eyes sparkling, when Harkashan mentions the spell. "Ah--I've experienced that, too," she says. "It's the primary way in which I make use of Grandfather's gifts, in fact. I feed my pact mark blood and ask to give me a little more power, a little knowledge to do what I need to do. You saw me do so when we all faced down Marsward."

Pothy looks at Harkashan. "Wish I could have seen that," he says enviously. It seems like he's heard about the villainous man turning into dust from others.

"Hrrrm. She has shepparded dear Rune, and given her new life. I will not speak ill of her." He answers Cor'lana as she speaks on the Skysinger, bowing his head in appreciation. It is always hard to tell what is going on in the hearts and minds of those in Alexandria, even those he counts his friends.

"Hrrm. I do not feed Thirku blood..." He then remarks. "Instead... there is ache." He moves his arm, showing some of those markings on his body. Some of them looking deeper, like they were 'dug out against a volcano' from the flow of lava. "It heals over time." He expresses. "But it is not pain Thirku desires. It is my memories. To see into the moment and watch things unfold." He explains, before putting his arm back down, and touching a finger over Pothy's head as he speaks up on Marsward.

"I am certain many would have preferred to be there." Before asking Ravenstongue; "Any news from the Werewolves in Alexandria? Are they settling in okay?"

Cor'lana peers at the marks that Harkashan shows her, violet eyes alight in curiosity as she inspects them. Even Pothy joins in, blue eyes and pale feathers leaning in closer to get a better look at the lines. "How interesting," Cor'lana replies after a moment. "Every 'mark' is unique, and every process is not always the same--especially in your case with Thirku. And it makes sense, really; blood was how I was linked to Grandfather to begin with, and... well, there's ancestral memory for you and your tribe."

Pothy purrs with the petting. Well. It's the best raven-approximation of a purr. Really, it's just that boyish voice of Pothy's humming.

"I'm not honestly sure about the settlement," Cor'lana replies. "I assume that it has to be well--Telamon has been helping, and I've, admittedly, stayed away so as to not get the narrative about my 'pregnancy' tangled up with that town. They're ordinary people with an extraordinary secret. They don't need rumors of Temptresses." There's a sort of self-effacing smile on her face now.

"Hrrm, indeed. Interesting. Though I think Thirku needs to work on their introduction skills." He remarks bemusedly, before lowering his arm. "I have considered traveling to meet Thirku upon the Plane of Fire. But it is but one of many of my travel plans as of late." He expresses. "And I haven't the ability to make it safe for a large amount of people yet." Harkashan adds, before taking in a deep breath, and releasing it again.

"Still, a good note. I had not considered the ties to my ancestral memory when considering my bond with them." He rumbles, releasing Pothy's head from the petting.

Seeing that 'smile' of Cor'lana's, he shakes his head. "I do not like it when you say things and then show that face. Please stop being mean to my friend. She means well, and does not deserve to be made to feel bad."

"I say--go when you are ready, or when you feel ready," Cor'lana says with a small smile. "To the Plane of Fire, that is. Verna took Telamon and I to Quelynos before I could cast the spell to take us there--and it was an experience I will treasure always. You've been there; that nursery that was in the tree-home was meant for me when I was a baby." There's a wistful note in Cor'lana's words. Her childhood could have been spent there in another time and another place.

But her contemplation of that's ended by Harkashan's words. She blinks, and then she smiles far more genuinely. "You are too kind," she says gently. "It's an awful coping mechanism of mine, I suppose. When you've lived the life I have, it's... Well, you turn to odd ways to manage. At the very least, I'm not at the bottom of a bottle like others might be in my stead."

Harkashan can't help but mellow out his expression a bit as Cor'lana speaks with such sweet emotion on her memories. "Hrrm." He rumbles, as she speaks of the nursery, and crooks the edges of his muzzle to mimic a smile. "A wonderful experience. I know even just meeting your Grandfather and seeing his collection of books was a moment of wonders for Rune. Bring her to a library of fiction, and I think it may be a perfect date." He croons bemusedly.

"I do not know if I have such memories of the Plane of Fire. I do not believe there is a nursery for me there. But... in time, it may contain answers and a way for me and Thirku to connect on a deeper level." He rumbles.

Then, shifting back to that moment of kindness, he smirks softly. "It is healthier. But you may end up with a worse sense of 'Self' if you do such a thing. And I for one, like you as you are. None of us are flawless. The ability to forgive ourselves is difficult to train, but... I feel it is an essential one."

"Grandfather's rather fond of her, so I think you wouldn't have much trouble getting him to agree to having a date there in his library. Although if it's anything like when Telamon and I are there... He might try to be..."

"No he wouldn't," Pothy pipes up, looking at Cor'lana. "It's just you who he wants to have babies. That's why he's constantly like, 'Please have children. Telamon's mother isn't getting any younger. I'll even get out of the room if you want to do it right now--'"

"Pothy," Cor'lana says with more than a little bit of a flush settling onto her cheeks. "Please. Not now. Anyway, he likes to be helpful." She drinks her tea. Just a sip.

Then she goes to refill her cup. "I've had to forgive myself for a number of things the past year," she says. "But you're right--that's really part of just being kind to oneself, too. Is it not?"

"Hmm, I may have to take you up on that suggestion. I think she'd really like that... after getting over the idea of inconveniencing someone." He remarks with bemusement. It is hard for some people to be a bit selfish at times.

Though when talk moves towards Grandfather's behavior around these two, he bursts into a uproarious draconic laughter that lasts a good few seconds before he settles down. He can be loud sometimes. "Ah yes. He wants someone else to dote on then?" He inquires, while nodding in agreement on being kind to one-self.

"Grandfather adores children, particularly children of our bloodline," Cor'lana explains almost bashfully now. Certainly the little flush hasn't gone away totally. "Especially when considering that my paternal family tree is now rather... quite small. He's used to having someone of the family line living with him so that he does not go insane with sorrow and sadness--many of my ancestors were given to him as children for him to raise in Quelynos. Unfortunately, as time wore on, my family began to resent that and thought of him not as a loving patriarch, but as a monster who steals children."

She sighs. "Thankfully, we have ended that arrangement. Telamon and I will one day retire to Quelynos when we are old and have had enough of living in the mortal plane. Until then, we will visit, and he visits us--and knows that our children will welcome him in much the same manner."

Harkashan rumbles, "It must be difficult. It's certainly a difference in culture." He remarks, considering how others must have felt about the Grandfather. "And without a good connection..." He leans back again and stares down at the now empty teacup.

"It'll be lonelier here, when you two move to Quelynos." He admits. "But I am happy for you. That sounds like such a wonderful plan." He rumbles. "And if need be, me and Rune will of course take care of any children you leave behind on this side of the barriers between planes."

There's a bemused look there. "I see how Rune looks at children. I think she doesn't realize it yet. She's very protective for a reason. But I think she would also love to help care for one eventually."

"We would ideally do this only when our children have children of their own," Cor'lana says with a small smile. "So they have less need of us to be around. Oddly enough, Rune said the same thing--that the world would be a little less for us being here on this plane. I suppose that means you and Rune really are unified on that front." That gets a little teasing smile.

"Children are a big responsibility," Pothy says, seemingly of both Rune's inclination to have children, and Cor'lana's plans to have them. "... Speaking of which, I can probably make use of those toys, or you can donate them to... werewolf... children. You know. Just the average werewolf child walking around."

Cor'lana shakes her head. "I'm sure that there is a risk of a child born of a werewolf inheriting the lycanthropy too," she says. "Zalgiman did indicate that was possible..."

Pothy snickers, and Cor'lana shoots him a dirty look. "He told me that he was not born a werewolf, that is," she says, looking at Harkashan. "Gods. Pothy, must you?"

"Yes," Pothy responds. He has chosen torment.

"We think alike in many ways." Harkashan admits, lowering his head in respect for this observation being brought to light. "And she is a brilliant individual." He adds to that sweetly.

Topic turning to the werewolf children, Harkashan smiles. "I'll have to travel to... Teletown, was it?" Pondering this. "Though I hope my gifts will be received well, socially." He considers.

The subtext going between Ravenstone and Pothy seem to go over his head. Or perhaps, he has decided not to give Pothy more ammunition.

"I'm sure they'll find a use for them there," Cor'lana says, once Pothy's snickering has stopped. It only takes a little glare--certainly a terrifying glare to be on the opposite end of, all things considered, as Harkashan has seen what the woman can do when she's glaring--to do so. "Babies are babies, after all. Teething is a thing that's done with, ah, softskins, so something to chew on may be universally favored by a teething baby."

"Yeah, thank goodness you didn't pick Zalgiman. Can you imagine a teething werewolf baby?" Pothy says.

Cor'lana facepalms. "I hate to even contemplate it," she says, before looking at Harkashan. "I think I need to take Pothy out for a walk or something. Clearly he has plenty of energy to burn if he's sassing me."

"I do not see how such a matter is about 'picking' one or the other. Why can she not have both? It certainly would have been a wonderful way to remember him by. It is why I believed the rumors." He rumbles to Pothy as he finally decides to chime in on the topic.

He then looks back to Ravenstongue and nods. "Agreed. Perhaps he's been getting too many snacks. Maybe a reduction in Snack Rations will calm him down." He playfully remarks, before getting up. "Thank you for being a lovely host."

Cor'lana chokes again on tea as she drinks it. But this time she's just shaking her head and smiling. "I loved Zalgiman as a friend--not as a lover or a mate," she says. "But so long as I write poetry, I will think of him, and in that way--he always lives."

Her violet eyes are soft, and there's a moment where they look like they might shed tears. But instead she shakes her head, scoops up Pothy into her arms, and says, "I agree. A snack reduction is in order."

"Noooooo," Pothy quietly whines.

Cor'lana smiles warmly. "And thank you for being a wonderful visitor," she says. "I hope that the rest of your day is wonderful in every way that it could be, Harkashan."