Closed [Alements] An Open Door

[Aoren]

Dreamwalking sounded much like the name implied. An aloof and ethereal venture that by its very implication could only mean it was the gift of a god. So, Aoren was not the only man who had changed over the years. The revelation didn’t cause Aoren to look upon Caelum any different. Quite the opposite. It made him more interested to learn what exactly had transpired in the years since their first encounter.

“A lock of hair?” He echoed the request. Without a moment’s hesitation he nodded. “A lock of hair it is.”

A key to unlock access to the Chavena was not something Aoren was familiar with. It was not so far beyond his grasp that he couldn’t understand it however. As a Seer he required no such objects though often times they served to guide his visions in a more precise manner. More often than not he simply had to meditate. The rest required he walked the halls of the Chavena guided only by his faith in the Goddess of Divination and the idea of whom and what he sought.

There were even times when scenes from lives in days gone past simply made themselves appear with no journey into the Chavena other than Aoren’s witnessing of the event immediately. Those visions did not come often but when they did there was always irrefutable meaning behind them. He just had to find the meaning. That in itself was a journey.

“Yes. I…a lot has happened in seven years, Caelum. My brother being the most recent development. He is my twin. Why my father chose to split us up I do not know. But in the short time that I have known him…” Aoren’s words trailed off. His throat was suddenly tight with emotion. His chest felt heavy. A conviction welled up inside of him.

“He is precious to me. His name is Aizen. He is my double in appearance save for the marks of Rak’keli and Avalis on my skin.” Aoren’s thoughts turned briefly to his brother. His twin and he had parted ways upon leaving the ship but they would reunite later. The time apart was just as meaningful as their time together. Besides, after days on end upon a ship in close quarters it would do them both some good. When Caelum stated that both he and Aizen were welcome in the tavern Aoren blushed in humble embarrassment.

“Oh? Really? I…” He hesitated. Eventually they would have to find their own lodgings. They couldn’t take up residence and be a burden on Caelum forever. For the time being though? What was the harm. “…we would be grateful. I will speak with Aizen when we meet up later.”

With that Aoren turned to his bags opening them to retrieve a change of clothing. There would come a time later during his stay in the city that he would need to buy some winter clothing. He had no such opportunity to do so on the way to Riverfall despite making port in a few places along the way. When Caelum returned Aoren had his fresh clothes folded neatly in a tidy bundle tucked under one arm and a coin pouch on his hip. He reached down petting Isikai on the head. The dog radiated contentment.

Exiting Alements with Caelum Aoren again took in the grandeur of Riverfall.

“This is definitely nothing like Syliras or Zeltiva.” That was an understatement. His brief awe of the city was cut even shorter at Caelum’s thought.

“I am embarrassed to say this but horses I know not much about. When we parted way in Syliras I took up work as an apprentice to the resident Apothecary. I never did go back to my work at the stables. So my work with horses, as you can imagine, is still that of a beginner. I know enough to ride one without falling. That’s about it.” It was a small regret but one that he intended to change in due time.

“I will look into it. If you recommend her then she is a person worthy of time and trust.” Aoren spoke with surprising certainty. It surprised him. Never in his life had he so readily placed absolute faith in the word of another as he had in just the short time he’d reunited with Caelum.

“It’s probably just the journey. Then again, I have no reason not to trust Caelum. None at all.”

“So, the baths. Will they allow me to bathe my dog too?” Isikai was a few paces ahead of them. Happy as could be to be able to roam with more freedom than the confines of a ship.

.

[Caelum]

Riverfall was immersed in the growing light. Shadows pooled but remained vivid in hues of greens and blues to reflect the sky, the sea, and all of the flora decorating the world between them. They passed the patio and dock attached to Alements to walk along the port road. Caelum strode loose hipped and almost lazy, hands caught in the pockets of his trousers and the long tails of his ancient jacket knocked back. He wore no visible weapon, but then perhaps it was not expected of a healer. "I'm glad you and your brother have found each other, Aoren. That is a blessing not many receive, to be united, or reunited, with their family." He thought then of Lillis of course, but instead of sinking into grim melancholy, the ghost of his wife was fleeting and he walked on. "I will talk to Cara. She and her twin sister Tara run the Moonstone Baths. I'll make it work." He had many ways of making things work. The sight of Isikai trotting happily ahead of them buoyed his smile though it remained almost intimate, more of a stolen affair as he guided his found-again friend through the city that had grown into a home for him. He did not garner as many startled looks or long stares as might be expected, but that was solely because he was by now a familiar sight. He had a budding reputation as a fine physician and a shrewd businessman, and there were still a few other, darker rumors that flew and fluttered about him. It was said he hopped in and out of beds, beds of any kind and a moment's notice. It was also said he kept even more secrets than he sold. Or did he sell secrets at all? Surely not. He was a reputable and dignified man. Wasn't he? Nonetheless, he received long and occasionally strange looks from time to time. He shone too bright, despite the simple cuts and plain colors of his clothing. It was increased today, too, because he walked with Aoren who was himself a curious stranger drawing the attention of even the more stoic of his neighbors. Now and again Calum would offer a polite nod or shoot a smile at someone he recognized, but if Aoren was sharp enough he might notice that Caelum also walked in such a way that he avoided entirely any accidental touches from their fellow pedestrians. In fact, he went out of his way to avoid it. At one point he even dropped back a step, crossed behind Aoren, and resumed walking on Aoren's other side so as to avoid contact with a seemingly innocuous looking Akalak who had done nothing but offer a polite inclination of his head in passing. Caelum said nothing of it, and instead pointed out a few of the more prominent residences, business establishments, and government buildings as they passed them. Fresh curiosity bubbled up as they trekked up to the second tier from sea level. "Maybe work at the Sanctuary would be a good space for growth," he considered. "Kavala is of the Denusk Pavillion of the Sapphire Clan. We follow many Drykas ways there. I have an apartment there above the healing clinic with my daughter and spend a good deal of my time there. You could.. Well." He spread out an arm arm as if to encompass the whole of the day. "You are in Cyphrus, Aoren Skycrown. Let us introduce you and your brother back to the true sea of your blood. Bless Laviku, but he isn't the god of the grasslands your ancestors favored. As for Kavala, I trust her implicitly. She is the closest thing to family I have."

[Aoren]

“Again, my thanks. I’m beginning to feel that simple thanks will quite simply not suffice. You are certain a lock of my hair is all that you want?” As he spoke Aoren ran a hand through that hair. The nervous habit that he had never been able to break. He watched his dog meander up and down the road either chasing a bug or simply rolling about just enjoying the freedom of movement. Like Caelum it brought a smile to his face.

“Aizen and I found each other quite by accident. One that nearly got me killed.” Aoren recalled the tumultuous night wherein he had first met his twin brother. The ghost that had possessed his body against his will. The fight that had ensued. It cast a dark pall over his mood for but a brief moment before it was replaced with the light that came when the clouds parted. Though their meeting had been one surrounded by darkness, Aizen himself proved to be a pillar of light.

As they walked Aoren took notice of those they passed. He took note of the fact that they noticed him. He saw whisperers. He saw odd looks. He saw friendly waves. Some of it struck him as odd. He gave a polite nod to those who acknowledged him. The normal aversion to the public eye was not quite as pronounced as Aoren expected it to be. He cast it off as simply enjoying being in the presence of an old friend. For that was what Caelum was. A friend. Caelum’s maneuvering didn’t strike Aoren as particularly odd. He was similar in that he was typically careful with his touches. Touch was something personal to Aoren. To shake someone’s hand invited the possibility that he might glimpse a moment of their past. Sometimes what he saw was touching. Sometimes not so much.

To invite someone in to be near his body beyond that? Almost unthinkable. Which was why the fact that he had so readily hugged the Ethaefal struck Aoren as slightly odd. However, he once again chalked it up simply to his good mood.

“Cyphrus.” Aoren spoke the word like a vow made to a long forgotten god.

“Home of my father and his people. Though I have met many Drykas away from the grasslands, never did I truly think that there would come a day when I was so near to them. It makes me long…” Aoren paused.

It made him long for old memories. For the scattered glimpses he barely remembered from his infancy. For the warmth of a blanket he’d never known and the love of a family he was still, in many ways, desperate to find.

“It makes me long for my people, Caelum. I want to know them. If Kavala is as you say, then she is a woman I am very eager to meet.” Aoren did not say that about many people. He looked up as their journey took them along the path to what Aoren could only assume was the bathhouse. Like all of Riverfall that he had seen thus far, it was just as striking and beautiful in its appearance as the rest of the city.

“You wouldn’t happen to be any good with a pair of shears would you?” Aoren needed a haircut. A haircut would also give Caelum plenty of locks of hair to work with. Whatever purpose he might have in unlocking his chavi, Aoren was not concerned. He trusted Caelum. But…why? Truth be told, Aoren didn’t care why. He was content in the fact that he just did.

.

[Caelum]

A riot of butterfly bushes and striated coleus plants boasting of brilliant autumn colors decorated the entrance of the Moonstone Bath & Massage. A few sunshine and hyacinth colored bugs bounced around the bushes from one swift fading bloom to the next. The air was growing colder and the wind was rising in Cyphrus in preparation for Morwen to come creeping on with footfalls of frost through the Grasslands and down the mighty waters of the Bluevein. Both the beauty and the cold, however, faded from Caelum's awareness as he drew to a halt a few short yards before the entrance to the baths. It was so that he could settled surprised, golden eyes on Aoren. "No," he said, and startled himself. "It's not all that I want. I want a great many things, but I can't remember half of them most of the time." Frustration limned him like the slowly aging light. The words he was speaking were dangerous, wild and deadly. They nearly blistered his tongue and at the bottom of him the chains were silent -- eerily silent. Perhaps they were listening. A sigh left him, unaccountably weary, and he rubbed a hand back through auburn hair, ghosting over the base of one downward curving, elegant horn. And he smiled, crooked and apologetic. "I will think of something," he told Aoren. It held the weight of a promise. "And when I do, I'll try very hard to tell you. That's all I can promise." He hesitated, feeling the pull of Aoren's great desire to come into the inheritance of his blood and to know the embrace of the family he had lost. Or that had lost him. Lost things, forgotten people, Caelum knew from experience, were not always found in time. "Come on," he invited, and something in his voice was almost abashed. He ought not to have spoken so directly, but the words were already uttered and there was no returning them to the secret-cache buried deep in his soul. "I'll cut your hair. Sure." A brief laugh murmured like a hearthfire between them as he headed into the Moonstone Bathe. "It won't be anything fancy, though. Wait right here. I'll be back in a minute." In short order, Caelum had tracked down the dark haired Cara and explained about the dog. Gold exchanged hands, plus a little extra for the trouble, and a promise for a particular concoction not for her but for her rather clandestine boyfriend. The mention of him had Caelum grinning, and he emerged back into the entrance to find Aoren. "Alright, I've arranged for a private bathing room. You can bring Isikai and there will be shears. Do you want me to come with you to cut your hair now or shall I wait out here?" He seemed perfectly comfortable doing either. Ledger- 10 gm

[Aoren]

The way that Caelum spoke, the frustration written on his face, the sigh that escaped his lips all of it told Aoren something a less observationally inclined person might not have noticed. Caelum was just as uncertain of what he wanted as Aoren. At least that was the impression Aoren received as he stared at the mildly disgruntled Ethaefal. To the weary display of uncertainty Aoren could only nod.

“I will be waiting.” That too was a promise. He followed Caelum toward the bathhouse a small smirk touching his lips.

“I don’t need fancy. I just need manageable. I’ve never been fond of wearing my hair too long.” He’d seen a number of Drykas men who did. Perhaps that was the piece of Syliran culture that had rubbed off on him. Where those men had worn their hair in braids telling stories with the shapes they could weave, Aoren typically wore his hair short. He wondered briefly if that would change with time. Adjusting the neat bundle under his arm he laughed almost wistfully. While Caelum went inside to deal with acquiring the bath Aoren knelt down clicking his tongue to get Isikai’s attention. The dog turned his attention to Aoren eyeing him for a moment before darting over from where he stood sniffing a plant.

When Caelum returned Aoren was calmly running his fingers through Isikai’s fur. It was with an almost therapeutic rhythm that Aoren repeated this motion. His gaze was distant as he stared out over the landscape in front of him. With motions that were obviously not the focus of his conscious thought he pet the dog and Isikai seemed to be, on some level, aware of this fact. The dog was sitting in an almost protective stance next to Aoren while the Drykas man drifted through his thoughts. Truthfully, there were none. Nothing tangible.

Aoren had simply lost himself in a stream of consciousness. His attention returned to the present only when Isikai shifted and emit a low bark in Caelum’s direction. It carried with it the note of a warning. Perhaps not in a threatening manner but it was there nonetheless. Aoren blinked roused from his drifting by Isikai’s bark. He eyed the other healer with a smile.

“I just spent a whole season crammed into a small space with a bunch of salty, sweaty men. Caelum, I don’t mind in the least. I think I might have gotten over my reservations about a need for privacy.” He laughed rising to his feet with a pat to Isikai’s head. The dog immediately walked up to Caelum giving him a much friendlier bark before heading toward the bathhouse turning back only to stare at Aoren.

“Shall we?” Following Caelum inside Aoren was impressed by the interior of the bathhouse just as much as he was the exterior. He did not let that marvel distract him however as he made his way to the private bath. When they reached it Aoren smiled and sighed in audible relief. He could already feel the warmth in the room. Patting Isikai side he nodded toward the water.

“Go on.” With a very, very happy bark Isikai darted forward sliding a little on the floor before jumping into the water with a splash. The dog was quickly submerged before rising to surface paddling happily. Aoren only shook his head.

“I feel the same way, buddy.” Meeting Caelum’s golden gaze Aoren felt the sudden need to clear his throat. He coughed rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Right then. Bath time.” Modesty be damned, Aoren wanted a bath. He set the bundle of clean clothes down on a nearby nook then sat down on a stone bench tugging off his boots. He set the worn leather boots aside then pulled off his vest. While slightly thinner due to the stringent diet of the Zeltivans and his journey at sea, Aoren was no less muscular given the disciplined lifestyle he lead. Years of training in unarmed combat, use of the quarterstaff and a healthy knowledge of how to stretch and use his muscles in creative ways had carved a physique even the Akalak could appreciate. For a human anyways.

With a slight blush on his face he finished disrobing standing up from the bench to lower his pants and his undergarments revealing long, muscular legs that were built to bear the weight and height of the Drykas man. He kept his rear facing the Ethaefal, casting only the slightest of self-conscious glances his way before folding up his dirty clothes then wading into the warm, delightfully comfortable waters of the bathing pool. Slowly he slid into the water until it touched his waist. He wiggled his toes a bit enjoying the heat. A very content moan escaped Aoren’s lips. Taking a deep breath he submerged himself completely beneath the surface of the water. He held his breath for a few ticks before rising.

Turning he faced Caelum giving him a genuine smile as he ran his hands through his now wet hair.

“Thank you. It would have probably taken me a few bells to notice or find this place without you as a guide.” Isikai barked which made Aoren smile even wider.

“He says thank you too.”

.

[Caelum]

Humor settled into Caelum’s face as he watched Isikai jump into the bath. Since the doom that had befallen Denval and all of the dust that had plumed at his heels, he had been particularly fond of dogs. They were invariably simple creatures. Their needs were never complicated, constituting of life’s basic requirements of food, sunshine, shelter, sleep, and love; and their desires were never dark or unsettling. They wanted to chase after a squirrel or roll around in the grass, lick a face or sniff a fence post. Ordinary things, well, if you were a dog. Their presence was calming and, at times, even better than solitude to sooth the raw and ill-used edges of him. They craved affection, honest and clean, and he felt it in the bones of him until it became a perfect symbiosis of cause and convenience. “I’ve spent a significant amount of time aboard a ship,” he admitted to Aoren while divesting himself of his jacket. He cast it absently over the edge of the padded bench rather than folding it as he might have in any other season. “You swiftly lose any shreds of modesty you might be holding onto. That was a long time ago now, or it feels like it is. It’s funny how seasons can shrink to moments in your memory but sometimes a matter of days encompasses an eon.” When Aoren started to undress, Caelum dropped to a seat on the bench. He swiveled around so as to slump vertically on it, one boot propping against the padded leather cushion and knee crooking with his other foot remained planted on the floor. Deep auburn hair stumbled into his eyes as he slouched, indolent and easy, and fished a small notepad and a charcoal stub out of one of his many pockets. These items remained unused in his hands, however, as Aoren drew his attention. Sunstruck eyes lifted to watch, and to enjoy. Autumn had caused Caelum to be a great deal more talkative than he had ever been in the past. He found himself speaking almost freely to Aoren and unhesitatingly explaining to him to about Nysel and dreamwalking which was supposed to have been a far more closely guarded secret than that. It was not the first time since summer yielded to the harvest that Caelum’s tongue had sharpened itself, and he had grown more bold in other ways as well. He watched, unabashed, as Aoren disrobed and entered the bath. Appreciation was writ in his expression and he stifled a sigh with a smile crawling up. Probably he ought to have averted his eyes and was being unforgivably rude; but he didn’t. He didn’t want to. “It’s nothing,” he assured Aoren, now heavy lidded eyes focusing on his face. A chuckle dusted the back of his throat as he took in Isikai’s antics. “Then he’s welcome too. Whenever you’re ready –“ He slid out a hand in wordless gesture at the set of shears placed on the shelf along with other basic toiletry items.

[Aoren]

“I, uh, I’ll wash up first.” His hair still felt coarse, almost greasy from the days spent without a proper bath or any real soap to clean himself with. Aoren waded through the water reaching for a bar of soap placed for convenience. He dipped it in the water before he began rubbing it over the surface of his body in an attempt to scrub away the dirt and grime of a season’s worth of travel. He winced as he stretched his arms around his body using muscles that had grown tight and less limber due to disuse in the cramped spaces of a ship. His thoughts turned to the life he was going to lead in Riverfall. Of the family that he had brought with him. On that note a thought struck Aoren.

“Wait…you said you had a daughter?!” Aoren paused in the scrubbing of his body to stare at Caelum. Isikai paddled by Aoren at which point in time the Drykas blinked. He took the opportunity to grab the dog who wiggled in his grasp with a bark.

“Hold still, you big baby.” A soft smile touched Aoren’s lips as he took hold of his dog bringing the soap to his fur. Aoren attacked the clumpy mess of fluff with soapy determination. The poor canine panted and squirmed in his grasp but the Drykas man managed to keep a hold of with a strong arm around his belly. As he scrubbed he glanced up at Caelum.

“I don’t know how I missed you saying that. My mind was wandering. It is good to have family. I’m sure she’s just as bright as her father.” It was an interesting thing to think about. Aoren didn’t know anything about the offspring of an Ethaefal. Would the girl have the glittering horns of her father? Would she be just as otherworldly and ethereal? He had no doubt that she would be an intelligent little thing. Someone of Caelum’s nature, Aoren was certain, would just breed more intelligence.

Finally he finished scouring the dirt from Isikai. He then released the dog who promptly paddled away from Aoren dipping below the surface of the water only to pop back up. Isikai hopped out of the bath shaking out his fur sending water droplets and residual foam in all manner of directions. Aoren brought up a hand to prevent soap from getting into his eyes. He shook his head as Isikai meandered over to a corner sniffing at the stone work.

“Happy as can be, that one.” Aoren finished cleaning himself paying attention to more sensitive areas. He set what remained of the soap back on its shelf then dunked himself under the water once more. Holding his breath he threaded his fingers through his hair scratching at his scalp to get as much buildup and dirt out of the locks. When he broke the surface again he took in a deeper breath of air brushing the hair out of his face. With that he picked up the shears wading over to the edge of the pool extending them to the man.

“Hack away, my friend.” He smiled at Caelum turning his back to him resting against the bath wall as the physician tending to his messy crop of hair.

“What’s her name? Your daughter that is. When was she born? And, uh, where is her mother?” Aoren recalled an Elise. Perhaps that was the girls mother? It occurred to the Drykas then that perhaps his questions were a little too personal.

“Sorry. You do not have to answer all of that if you do not wish to.”

.

[Caelum]

The ethaefal roamed to his feet at Aoren’s invitation and tucked the notepad and charcoal stick back into a pocket of his discarded jacket. He had been entirely too occupied with being an audience to work on any of his extensive to-do lists. Stretching, he raised his arms above his head and grimaced as muscles pulled. After a few ticks, he ducked back down to hook his fingers under the lip of the bench and haul it matter-of-factly to the edge of the bathing pool. He dropped to a seat directly behind where Aoren slumped back against the edge of the bath and collected up the shears. There he paused. Aoren’s questions were unintentionally heavy. They held the iron of meteorites in them and all of the consequence too. Caelum found himself studying the width of muscled shoulders while memories of Lillis were conjured out of the most private pieces of his soul. Starfish and gold painted windowsills. Fortunes and painting, tragedy and love and a desperate grip from fingers only the very foolish believed were as frail as they looked. It had begun in death, and ended in fire, but everything in between the doomed bookends of their time together had been blessed. “Yes, I have a daughter,” he murmured finally. “Her name is Lillian.” And in the slow swelter of summer or the cruel thaw of spring, Caelum might have stopped there and offered no more of himself over. So much of him was available for the taking, compelled as he was by the divine currents of ranuri, that he was in the habit of maintaining an incredibly private personal life. Even his best friend was known to despair on occasion of drawing him of his secrets and his shadows. He had enough compassion for the whole of the city and his warmth was genuine, but his smile was as much a wall as it was a welcome. He had learned to keep the focus on others so as to keep it off of the deeper aspects of himself. There was so very much of his history that he never spoke of, and that he refused to allow into the conversations of the present. The road he had walked was a long one, and he had shed the skin of himself along it time and time again. This season, however, was different. It was different enough that Caelum let the lure of ranuri sooth the sharpest corners of his memory and he relaxed into the tale telling. Long, clever fingers threaded into Aoren’s hair, combing out tangles and studying the darker hue the water had made of the blond strands. His touch was warm and magic rippled gently outward, a soft reminder of his guest’s desires. They were pleasantly simple things for now. “She was born in the back of a merchant’s wagon,” he confessed. These were memories that did not belong to him, but rather to his daughter, and to his dead wife, and also to the man who had actually fathered the little girl who now called Caelum Daddy. He had stolen them just as he had stolen Lillian, walking their chavi so as to better understand the events that led up to the death of Lillis de’Nerys. The shears snipped a soft susurrus as he went about trimming Aoren’s hair, fingertips at the nape of his neck and the back of his ears, sliding down his skull and pulling hair straight from a cut. It was an inordinately intimate business, cutting hair, and he relaxed into it. “Her mother was my wife, Lillis, who I mentioned when you and I met in Syliras. And her natural father was Gerald Tolliver. Lillis and I had been separated against our will in 508. The last I saw of her was then, in Zeltiva, and by the time I managed to find my way out of captivity there was no trail left for me to follow. Eventually, my path crossed again with my friend Kavala’s who I mentioned earlier. She was able to help me locate Lillis, but…” He trailed off and watched his hand brushing damp bits of hair from Aoren’s shoulder. “My Chevas mark had already become a lacun, and we discovered that Lillis had died giving birth.” The story was a long one, and he was even leaving out a great deal of the detail. Aoren’s hair was drying under his fingers. “Gerald Tolliver later died in the Djed Storm and Lillian was sold into Endrykas to help restock their bloodlines in the wake of the devastation. That’s where I found her last spring. She’s been mine since. She's almost five now and bright as a freshly minted miza.” And he smiled again, thinking of that.

[Aoren]

The heavy note of silence that followed his question was not lost on Aoren. The memories that were being dug up were painful ones. There could be no doubting that. Seldom did such a long pause preclude joyful stories. Nor was the fact that Caelum was sharing so much with him lost on the Drykas. There formed an intimate connection between a Seer and one who had born witness to their lives. And Aoren had Seen several of Caelum’s lives. Though that was years ago the echo that was left behind in place of that connection was still there. Without comment Aoren reached up bringing one of his hands to rest upon Caelum’s wrist. He gave the Ethaefal’s wrist a comforting squeeze and rub of his thumb before releasing it.

Loss was something Aoren understood. He’d lost everyone he’d ever held dear in his life. A father, a mother, brothers and sisters he’d never met but only had the barest hints of ideas about, a surrogate family lost to the cruelty of the world. He knew loss well and over the years he had learned to cope with it.

Or maybe he’d just learned to forget it?

Such was a question for another time. For the moment he closed his eyes settling in to listening to the tale that Caelum wove as he tended to the hair atop his head. He remained characteristically silent as Caelum spoke simply taking in everything the Ethaefal had to say. The feel of Caelum’s fingers tracing the contours of his skull or resting upon his shoulder as he threaded his way through the mass of hair was soothing in a way. Aoren did not often welcome the element of touch into his life. He shook hands here or lay hands upon the ailing while calling upon the gifts of either of his goddesses but seldom any closer than that.

“Lillian sounds very much like a daughter after your own heart.” Aoren could only imagine what the little girl was like. In his head he saw a young girl with eyes wide with wonder and a mind so full of questions they could fill the entirety of the Wright Memorial Library. As Caelum’s story drew to a close Aoren felt that in the silence that followed it was his turn to share. He felt comfortable with the Ethaefal but that made the memories no less painful. Without prompting he simple started talking.

“I have…grown since our time together in Syliras.” Yes. He had. In so many different ways it baffled Aoren to think about it sometimes.

“Leoshan and Ileera have both been laid to rest.” Aoren left it at that. Going any further into the detail of exactly how both of them were lost was an endeavor that was still painful.

“The years that followed were little more than a grey haze where I threw myself into the only work that could bring me solace. I became a maker of medicines. If you remember the Stormhold Salves apothecary, I took up work there. I learned how to make the mundane work miracles.” He allowed himself a small chuckle at that. Aoren thought back on the long hours that he had spent toiling away in the workroom of the apothecary shop. He had made many medicines over the course of seasons ranging from balms, to tonic, to tinctures and all sorts.

“I started honing my mind. I learned how to work with magic from commanding the elements, to bending other magic with shapes and even reaching out to the dead to name a few. I have attacked every obstacle that has been placed in front of me until the road of that journey…” Aoren paused stepping away from the Ethaefal as the snipping of his hair died down. He turned and reached up taking hold of one of Caelum’s hands. He nudged the fingers open with a gentle sweeping of his thumb across the upturned palm. Cobalt eyes studied the lines that rest there before rising to meet golden irises.

“…lead me here. I have been called to Riverfall, Caelum. I don’t know why. Looking back though it feels as if every decision I have made for a long time now has been to get me here.” Aoren’s eyes became pensive for a moment before he quirked his head slightly. The only sounds in the bath being the lap of the water against the stone and Isikai’s breathing.

“There is something here that feels like home and home is a place I’ve been searching for.”

.

[Caelum]

The ethaefal peered at Aoren with a careful expression. Heat climbed right up from his fingertips toward his shoulder. It spread into his chest and through the rest of him, sinking lower with a all too familiar tightening when Aoren took his hand. The shears were looped about two fingers and set down on the bench beside him with a soft click. He knew they were not the type of weapon he needed here. No, not at all. "Ah," he grimaced, face contorting with swift empathy. "I'm sorry for the loss of Leoshan and Ileera, Aoren. That must have..." He trailed off because he did not know the right words and was unused to having to communicate his own feelings. Usually, he did not bother even trying, not with the harder, deeper emotions. He kept them close, tucked away with all of the other secrets stored somewhere between his shadow and his soul. "It killed a part of you," he finished finally, only really half a question. The words he found were from long knowing. "At least for a little while. It says something great about you that your reaction was to throw yourself into the art of helping people. That's what healing is, ultimately, and the very best healers I know are those who had had to fight incredible battles to heal themselves. Not just in body, but in the heart and in the soul." When Aoren's thumb swept across his palm, a smile stole across his mouth. It was a little bit wry. He closed his fingers, curling them over Aoren's hand even as he leaned slightly down toward him. Caelum pressed a warm, lingering kiss to his cheek. "Welcome home," he said simply, an intimate answer to Aoren's long journey. He meant every word. Leaning back, he grasped a soft drying towel from where it was folded on the bench beside him and pushed it matter of factly into Aoren's arms. He swung up to his feet and stole a small square of cloth from the linen pile and began gathering the clipped snippets of Aoren's hair into it. He brushed over the bench and even checked the knees of his own pants and stone floor, altogether careful not to miss a single stray strand. "Never leave pieces of yourself where someone can find them," he instructed. "These are for me, already gifted by you, but if they weren't you should burn them, just as you would anything that had your blood or even your saliva on it. If you plan to hang around me for any length of time, you could become a target of my enemies, and there are a multitude of terrible things someone could do with a single strand of your hair." His earlier smile sharpened into a devilish smirk, dangerous and clandestine, even as he tied up the corners of the linen to hold Aoren's hair clippings inside. "You might decide you want to search for something different," he warned.