Post by Relos Voden on Dec 30, 2016 11:45:02 GMT -7
| Early Evening, The 3rd of The Winter Storm, 5152 The Docks of Tarifa, Aissic His father really should not have come, but he insisted. A family reunion would be pointless if he was not there. Loark had managed to pool together all his earnings from both working in the mines and completing commissions in his own personal smithy to afford two tickets on the boat to Aissic. The boat trip was rather uneventful, as Relos chose to sleep through the majority of it. Even that was difficult, as the air grew colder the closer the ship as slowly approached Aissic. He could barely stand the cold, but he expected to spend the remainder of the month here. His father had managed to get vacation time off from the mines, and the smithy was his own. He set the schedule however he damn well pleased, and he had not left a single order outstanding before leaving. But he was pushing himself too hard. No matter how much treatment he could get, keeping himself like this would just make it all pointless. Maybe Relos' mother could talk some sense into him, but that would have to wait. He didn't want to make her worry. If anything, Relos would have liked an opportunity to convince her stay with them, but she had her own work to do. It had been over two dozen years, and still they weren't together. It wasn't like they were divorced or estranged or anything. They were married, and he was certain they loved each other, so why didn't they just live together? When the ship made port, Loark shook Relos awake. "We're here." People slowly - very slowly - made their way down the gangway and onto the docks. Relos and his father carried their luggage, with Relos dragging his suitcase on its wheels. "I hope your mom can find us in this crowd…" Loark looked up, and smiled. There were avian beastfolk, aasimars, people of all kinds whom had gathered to attend the Festival of Peace, but Loark could tell aasimar apart from the others. Even with her winter coat on and a scarf around her head, Loark could still see Luna, floating with her six wings. She was as bright in the night sky as her namesake, if not more than even that. Luna floated down, held her arms around Loark, and kissed him. "Hello, Loark." Loark's eyes were closed, his lips still perked out towards her. "Um, Loark?" "Oh!" Loark muttered, shaking his head to collect himself. "Yes. Hello, Luna." "And Relos, how are you?" Luna put her hands under Relos' middle wings, and she and Relos shared a hug. For a moment, Aissic felt warmer than Relos could ever remember. "I'm fine, mom." For a moment, he was angry. There was much more he could say, or make a snide remark about how they had to come all the way to Aissic. "A lot has happened, lately… I don't know where to start!" Not all of it was good. Just focus on the good things, then. Surely she'd be impressed to hear that Markus Woodrow was going to recruit Relos. Or concerned. If he was lucky, it would be a little of both. "Have you been keeping up with your studies?" asked Luna. "It would be nice if we could pay a visit to Italdi before the festival." Playing around and washing up graffiti wouldn't be a mother's idea of keeping Relos occupied. School was better than nothing, sure, but it could be… boring. Besides, he had found another opportunity. "Actually, I-" "It's getting late," Loark interrupted. "Let's find some dinner, shall we? With how cold this place is, I remember some of the restaurants here can cook up some warm meals!" Luna nodded. "Good point, and a few restaurants have set up here lately. They like the business that comes with travelers." Relos would have thought that the steakhouse had cooked their food in a furnace with how hot it was. It certainly warmed him up, and the nearby fireplaces had turned the snowflakes on his jacket into droplets of water. His mother was cutting her meal up slowly, eating tiny portions of poise as if she was at a feast rather than some ordinary restaurant. Even his father was just as slow with his meal, trying to look somewhat respectable. Relos, however, just want food in his stomach, and ate as fast as he could. "Okay, so… mom. I'm not sure how to exactly bring this up, but I got a job." "Well that's wonderful, Relos!" Luna leaned back in her chair. She rested her chin in her hands, paying to mind to Loark pressing a palm against his face. Relos lowered his voice. "Yeah. I'm going to be leading an investigation into Telon under Markus Woodrow, and-" "Markus Wood-" Luna pulled her hands back. "I'm sorry, Relos, that was… inappropriate. I'm just surprised you're working with him. Lord Woodrow does an excellent job patrolling the oceans, for one thing. I'm sure that Moann Herself watched over your voyage. Still, isn't Telon… dangerous? I hope you know what you would be getting into, Relos." Loark huffed. "I'm surprised you're not going to talk him out of it." "I imagine that you've already given him quite the talking-to. If he's still this eager, then I can't imagine either of us can change his mind." "It's not like I'm stubborn or anything." Relos took another bite from his steak. "I just… Lord Woodrow said I could do something good for the Sector, so I want to help. Besides, he said he'll be sending me some workers. They'll be helping me out. Senator Lirrae's had trouble, but Lord Woodrow promised he'd help." "Wait, you actually met Lord Woodrow himself?" Luna pursed her lips, trying to keep her voice more quiet. "Relos, I think it would be better if we saved this until we reach our inn for the night. This… isn't something we should be talking about in a public place like this." |