In search of... (part 2)

[bitterguardian]

After years of living in his subterranean home around the vault, Horvath is unused to being woken by sunlight. To fall asleep comfortably sunk deep in a plush chair is familiar, but the chair is not his own, and to wake with a cat sleeping on him, and another running around playing is familiar, but these are not his cats and there are more than two. Also he rarely has the foresight to pull a blanket over himself. To feel so much at home in a place that is not his home comes as a strange surprise.

Last night before he dozed off in the chair, however, he had a great deal of food and alcohol, and his body would urgently like to remind him of that fact. He's grateful for the new set of crutches in easy reach, and he hauls himself up on them and swings along off to the bathroom, letting the cats scatter in his wake.

Once he's tended to the basics, and ascertained that while he is hung over, it's not a bad one, he notices the note from his host conveniently stabbed through on a prong of the antlers around the bathroom mirror. She had some foresight, indeed.

Bonjour Max! I hope that your sleep was a deep, healing one and that you woke to a better day! I had an errand to run early this morn, and might not make it back in time to be there when you wake. So! There is food, coffee, tea - and I shall return with fresh eggs for breakfast if you sleep so long.
Mara

The towels from yesterday have been replaced with clean ones, his clothes are washed and mended on the bed, and there's the salve still waiting back on the footstool beside the chair in which he slept. Thanks to the ambient light of day waking him, it's not late by any means, so he takes time to wash, to put salve and a bandage over the blistered stump of his leg, and to dress in his own clothes once more. When he emerges to investigate the kitchen, Horvath feels more like himself than he has since his encounter with Shub niggurath sent him questing. Pantleg folded up and tucked neatly (a trick he learned back in the army hospital when he was first learning to adapt to the amputation), moving faster on the new crutches than he can with a cane, he murmurs to the cats, and seeks out a cup of tea to help drive away the vestiges of a headache that's not strong enough to dampen a good mood.

Comments

[sunandshadows]

"Were I a male, they'd still wish the bloodline to continue and my gifts not to fade. Had my brother lived, it might be different. But I was my father's only child." She shrugs, and lowers her head onto her arms, still quite content to lean across his chest for now. Mmm, warm. Comfy even.

"It is a matter of weaning the good from the bad, and then finding the right good man from those that remain. And of course, one who would be willing to share the gift of his progeny with my lover and myself. And our most unusual home." Mara adds the last sentence as an afterthought. She doesn't mind talking about it with Max, perhaps because it really hasn't hit home for her yet as anything other than just another topic of conversation between friends. As for that maternal clock ticking? Not for a while yet, not for her.

She goes silent then, the only movements are her chest rising and falling with her breath, and her eyes as they slowly close and open as he begins to discuss his childhood. Carefully, as he continues to pick and choose his words, she slides her hands up and places them under her chin, lowering her head to listen. It's not just his words, but his silences that she's taking in. Those subtle nuances in tone.

"Oh and all children come with manuals, ones that you've not read yet you mean?" The words themselves gently scoff, but the emotion behind them is warm and compassionate. "Maximus, you do what any of us do that care. You try, and you learn. And sometimes you falter, but you try again mon ami. We are not gods. We make mistakes. And our children learn from us, both the right and the wrong way to do things. Would you force a dove to be a hawk, or a pigeon to be peacock? They are, each of them different. You did - and you do - the best you can."

She kissed her forefinger, gently pressed it to his cheek. "And the world is better for it, I know."

[bitterguardian]

"You have a beautiful home..." His voice is growing softer, a little sleepy, and under her head the broad chest rises and falls in a slow, steady rhythm. He's a little sleepy, and the warmth of her against him only helps that. He's quiet a long moment, thoughtful, but his cheek rises under her finger with a smile.

"I know there's no manual. And... I appreciate the thought. Not all my apprentices ended up hating me, I suppose..." The ones that did just tend to stand out as such grievous errors that they overshadow the more successful ones. He turns his head slightly to kiss her fingertip before it pulls away.

[sunandshadows]

She smiles. What he has seen so far is her private retreat. What would he say to the truth, that she and Linette are caretakers to a Caern in California; a wellspring of power and healing; and a house that is home to almost a half-dozen shape-shifters as well as herself? Still, the truth of it is that house - a huge caretaker's cottage - is also beautiful, though rarely peaceful.

His kiss of her finger surprises her, and she pulls her head back a few inches to look at him, then her finger, then him again. And with a grin she then places that same finger up to her own cheek as well. Her kiss to him, his kiss to her. In her mind it makes sense, so she's going to go with it.

And then with that hand she's reaching out, tugging and pulling back one of the half-folded blankets, pulling it over the two of them and putting her head back down on his chest. He's sleepy, she could use a short nap before she goes and plays.

In the night if he wakes up, she'll be gone, and there may be the faint echo of giggling in the far distance, or snatches of song. But when he wakes up on the morning? She'll be curled up and either next to him, or half on him again and fast asleep once more.

[bitterguardian]

A busy home full of shapeshifters and noise probably wouldn't suit Horvath as well. He's not a man for crowds, and values his solitude and quiet spaces to read. He might not be surprised that she is at home in a place like that as in the house that he has seen, however, since she seems to have such a duality of spirit.

The return of the kiss to her own cheek evokes a sleepy smile from him, dark eyes half-lidded and crinkling at the corners. He's all too happy to settle in with the blanket over them both, an echo of how they spent the night before on the couch, and before long her living pillow is rising and falling at a slower pace, and a slightly noisier one. Sitting up he's all right, but sleeping on his back, he does indeed snore. Once or twice he stirs, roused by her half-heard voice and a vague sense that he should be more alert when sleeping in the woods, but knowing she's nearby he's quick to doze off again.

When the light of dawn reaches him, he wakes to the weight of her head and arm across him, and lies still marveling at how comfortable that is, and listening to birdsong. For as long as he can stand to lie still there, he will, and when nature calls he moves her as gently as he possibly can, hoping to leave her curled up warm in the blankets long enough to start breakfast for them both.

[sunandshadows]

Her only reaction is a soft mewl of complaint, and a faint pout that crosses her face for a moment before it evens out in sleep once more. It was a long, fun night for her; and she's not going to wake up until the smell of breakfast cooking has her rousing her head lazily up off the sleeping pad.

Blinking widely in the brighter light she probably resembles an owl as she swivels her head from left to right, back and forth until reality kicks in.

"Mmm, délicieux! Oh Maxim!" She launches into rapid French, only to stop, back up and speak in English once more. "How did you do all of that so quickly? I only closed my eyes for a few moments! You have magic talents you've not told me of, I see this all to well now!"

She starts giggling, pushes the blankets off her with her feet. "Do you need any assistance, or should I simply break down the tent so that we may leave soon? It should be a glorious day!" And with that she's up on her feet, twirling around on the forest floor with her arms spread out and and laughing in the morning sun.

"Oui, a glorious day indeed. We have a quest to complete!"

[bitterguardian]

Horvath gives a quiet snort of amusement, and a meaningful squint at the position of the sun. He's been up for half an hour or so, after all. Sliding out from under her without waking her was the far better trick, really. He's had time to put his leg back on, stretch and fetch water for tea, and build up the fire. Breakfast is lazy, food heated rather than anything newly cooked, and that's all thanks to her.

"Just for a moment, mm?" He smirks, then breaks into a gentler smile as he watches her leap and twirl. It takes him a little while to get going, most mornings, but here she is going from unconscious to dancing in under a minute. "If you'd take down the tent, I'd appreciate it, and the tea should be ready by then. You look well rested." So does he, actually, and he feels it too. The time before when he slept in the woods, it was sitting up against a tree, and that didn't do his back or neck any favors. A tent and a bed made for a much better night.

"A quest to complete, and a Nexus visit to plan." Horvath waves a fork vaguely, and checks the food. Just because the quest is over doesn't mean goodbye, at least not in the long term.

[sunandshadows]

"Rested, and refreshed indeed!" She stops in mid-swirl, her bright eyes meeting his. Enough, no more, her arms drop to her sides as she nods. The tent, yes. And then food, and cleanup, and quest.

She doesn't really want to think of the nexus visit just yet. That is the future, and she just wants to be whole and complete, luxuriating in the present. Besides, thinking of that leads to thinking of goodbye, even short goodbyes. Nope, nope.

However, thinking, or choosing not to think, won't take the tent down any faster.

She's just finishing folding up the blankets, making nice compact rolls that will go down in the bottom of the backpacks, when she stops, changes her mind, and puts them both into one backpack. Let him keep them. They are thin, warm, and she won't need them if she is out tonight. She'll take the garbage made on their trip so that nothing is left lying around.

Scattering the leaves around, she starts setting the camp back to it's more natural state, then skips off behind the trees to deal with her own call of nature.

"Is the tea ready? My stomach growls as loud as any beast around here!"

[bitterguardian]

"In that case, you'd better have more than just tea." Amused, he offers her the first cup, and dishes out breakfast while she takes a sip. They make a good pair, with her doing the more active work and him tending the fire and the food. The camping is far more pleasant, with her help, than he expected. Of course when they do wrap up to leave he'll be making sure they erase the traces of their presence, too. No garbage, no embers, all remains of the fire well buried under dirt.

Before that, however, he settles back against a tree with his own plate and his tea, and breathes in the morning. "I've missed this, I think. I've been too long in the city, buried under the subway... I haven't noticed feeling smothered or anything, but..." He's struggling a little to put words to what he means, but her sanctuary home gave him some solace and a touch of nature that he hadn't realized he needed. "I do hope I won't miss it so much it becomes unbearable, now."

[sunandshadows]

Even after being offered the first cup, she'll take a sip to be polite, and then wait until he has his ready before actually drinking any. And when she has her food, she finds a patch of ground that's still mostly grass. Kneeling, she soothes the skirt of her dress down around herself, then starts picking daintily at the meal, small bits of this and that. Nibbling, not gulping, in spite of her hunger.

"All in moderation, including moderation. Perhaps if you were too comfortable under the ground before, this was just what you needed to shake yourself up a bit, and reawaken your senses to what lies in the wild. I know I must ever return home, else I get to comfortable out here, and let the wyld of my nature ever closer to the fore."

And Maxim, you need not miss it so badly! I shall visit you, and I can bring some of this with me! Perhaps a piece at a time, and perhaps more; but you'll not be left for wanting. And too, I shall beg and plead, and you may yet find yourself on other days, doing just what you are doing now. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, these are good times to celebrate the outdoors. You shall see, I am sure."

"It will be alright, mon ami. I know this."

[bitterguardian]

"Outdoors used to be where most of life took place. For most of my life I thought nothing of camping like this... or with virtually no supplies at all. And look at me now..." He sighs and rests a hand on his stomach briefly, then sips his tea. "Holing up in the city, I've gone too soft. I can't sleep one night on the ground without waking up sore." He's a little bitter, but also resigned. "Yes, do prod at me? I need a good shaking. Getting out like this more often would do me good, and I just may be quick to fall back into my books and couches without a proper stick and carrot." He is enjoying being out here, he's just afraid he'll forget that, later.

He enjoys the breakfast, hungry after yesterday's hike, but he'll be first to move to clean up after, too.

[sunandshadows]

"If I, with all my culinary skills, with all that magic that goes into my meals - if I cannot be the carrot to your stick of self-will? I fear there be no hope for me at all."

"Indeed" She continued, after sipping the last of her tea. "If I cannot tempt you with word or with deed, with laughter and song, or my kiss on your cheek? If I cannot wile you away, for a night or a day? I fear there be no hope for me at all, and I should wither away like a leaf upon a broken stem. Sad. Sorrowful, and alone."

"For what is a fairy song, with no mortal to beguile? Would it sound so sweet with none to hear the call?"

She stands then, starts collecting the few things that need to be washed. "Perhaps then, I should make gifts of reminders to you, and present them like pearls on a string. A song one day, a package of pastries on another, a third gift my whisper in your ear that the autumn apples taste the sweetest when plucked ripe off a tree? Would that then be proper appeal to your wilder nature to come out, to come sing and play?"

And as she is speaking she's skipping about the campsite, helping him to finish cleaning, and bring the land back to it's natural state.

"We are ready I think, and the day is bright and clear. We should make it to our destination in only a few hours of walking, which leaves you plenty of time for all that you would choose to do then." Mara's eyes soften as her frolicing brings her within arm's reach of the warrior-turned-scholar.

"If you trust not your self, knowing your dour aspects, trust in me that I shall not allow myself - or at least my cooking - to be forgotten!" She reaches up to caress a bearded cheek and press herself to him in a quick, impulsive hug.

"And if all else fails, I shall tell this Belshazar of yours what good time we had together, and how you bloomed under light of sun and moon, and forest air. With him at my side to convince you? I think you would not fall back to your couch too quickly!"

[bitterguardian]

Horvath is slower to his feet than she is, levering himself up with the aid of the cane, but he's less sore and stiff going about it than he was when first they met. She's still gotten more of the chores cleaning up than he'd like, but he pulls on his pack and brushes himself off, ready for travel at roughly the same time she is.

"I'm afraid your culinary skills will only make me softer." He smirks a little, and puts an arm around her to squeeze her gently against his side, returning the hug. It's a practical demonstration, in its way, but there's a solidity under the softness. He's no cream puff, even if he thinks he is, stronger than he looks. He's a warrior still whenever the need arises. "But you know you have me wrapped up in your enchantments already. You're welcome to come visit any time to renew the spell." His smile is genuine, if a little teasing. "I'll adjust the wards for you, and then you can come and go as easily as he can, and both pull me aboveground for some fresh air."

Well rested and in bright spirits, he'll walk as easily today as he did yesterday, the rocking limp showing energy and little sign of discomfort.

[sunandshadows]

"Oh non mon chere, my skills will make you strong, not soft. The blood will course though your veins at sound and scent and sight of what I create for you, and you'll not find rest within thy breast until you come out from underground, come out to feast and play with fairy maids!"

His arm is tight about her, and she in return tightens her hug as well. "If there be enchantments in the air, sorcerer; I think perhaps that you overvalue my finger-wrapping skills, and undervalue your own. But come now, we can speak of this and more, later. Another time, perhaps. Come, come the day will not wait for us!"

They only stopped to rest once, or was it twice? Both times felt left like taking a break, and more like simply standing or sitting to continue some conversation or another. A question of food tastes and styles came up, and that keeps her cupped, and in the here-and-now for a while as recipes are bandied about, and flavors, even textures are spoken of. And then she is back to her reveling, pausing to climb trees and swing on branches as they journey.

"Can you smell it, seeker? It is a bit delicate, the smell lighter than the leaves we crush beneath our feet, and the nuts that fall from the trees. We are close, and getting closer."

"Indeed!" She calls out to him, a few minutes later. "We are not close, we have arrived!"

[bitterguardian]

He tolerates her mode of travel as well as ever, keeping up his slow and steady pace while she flits around through trees, but he's glad for the conversation too, when she keeps closer beside him. He's not the gourmet chef she is, and she may be quick to pick up that he's a meat-and-potatoes sort by default. That should come as no surprise, with his hearty build and his origins in simpler times. He's not picky though, and has experienced a wide array of dishes from various cultures in his travels.

When she asks if he can scent the aglaophotis nearby, though, he gives a mild shake of his head. "I'm afraid I don't share your senses, love..." He comes to a quick halt when she says they've arrived, afraid of stepping on the subject of his quest by sheer accident.

[sunandshadows]

Its a bush on the smaller side, just coming up to her waist and as wide around as both their arms spread out. There are small shoots coming up out of the ground around it - it is simply a very slow growing plant. There is nothing to show that it's such a rare find - no grove of green surrounds it. Just a few trees, far enough apart to let in the light. The flowers are almost gone, the leaves themselves starting to turn red in the early autumn sun.

"Do you need root or bark, bud or leaf, seeker?" Mara asks as she shrugs off her pack, dropping it near one of the tall trees. "And too, I can fetch you other things from the forest. More fresh water, should you need it: or start a fire for you if you are to be busy for a while."

[bitterguardian]

How slowly it grows is just a part of what makes it so rare, and he still approaches with care, watching to make sure he doesn't tread on any stray roots or new offshoots. "Any part will do. Could you help me harvest it gently? I want to make sure I don't damage the whole plant..." He's only seen this alive and growing a few times, even in his long life. More often when he's comes across it as a spell ingredient it was already bottled or distilled, far removed from the original living plant.

Horvath levers himself down on one knee with a grunt, unslings his pack, and rummages for the thermos he brought to put it in. "It's rare enough sorcerers have learned to make a little go a long ways... but fresh and growing like this, it ought to be more potent..." There's more than one purification ritual he could use, in fact, and he'd intended to adapt his needs to what he could get.

[sunandshadows]

"Of course I can help you!" She tilts her head and gives him a strange look, one eyebrow raised. "Do you want the plant to give you branches, or perhaps a living root to grow your own?"

She goes around the other side, and comes back shortly with a handful of fresh branch pieces taken from all over the bush, piece of root, and a single, longer branch with several flowers still in the bud. It's quite unusual, but not unheard of this time of year.

"This is for you, Maxim, a parting gift." She smiles widely at him, holding the rare, red flowers out to him. But she's not looking directly at him, not any more. Her eyes slide away from his face, she can't disguise the sudden melancholy she feels at their parting, so she will simply avoid letting him see it altogether.

[bitterguardian]

"Oh, goodness..." He's caught in the act of pulling out a small penknife, but before the blade ever touches the plant he pauses. It's the crutches that come to mind, those works of once-living art that he's a little sorry to leave behind, even as much as he dislikes needing crutches in the first place. He wasn't witness to her shaping and growing those, but he has a fairly good guess that's precisely what she did. He was trained, in his youth, about working magic on plants, coaxing unusual growth or otherwise manipulating them, but never to such an artful degree. Horvath's best skills have always been with more inert matter, or raw forces of energy. Living things of any kind are not his strength.

"I... but I live underground..." His protest is quiet, overwhelmed. A new plant, a fresh propagation of aglaophotis when it's so rare and so needed, is not something to be turned down. The contrast between them strikes him hard, though, as he thinks of his cold dark underground lair, while watching this half-wild girl of sun and wind holding a living plant in her hands. "A new plant... would mean more than I can say, but how would it fare in the city, miles underground and away from any light but reading lamps?" Tenderly he reaches out to stroke one leaf with a finger, reverently, then lifts his hand to repeat the gesture against her cheek. They're equally beautiful and awe-inspiring gifts of nature, in his mind. Perhaps her melancholy is contagious, judging from the tone of his voice.

"Would it... survive at the home you took me to, do you think? I know it's often empty but for the cats, but... I can't take a living plant down to the tunnels under Brooklyn. I'd kill it. I couldn't bear that..."

[sunandshadows]

She holds the branch out to him, happy to help, happy that the plant had agreed, had offered when she asked. And happy that she could assist it, so that it did not have to struggle to pull forth new buds. Instead she called upon the magic in her blood to strengthen, and to aid in drawing forth new growth and life. Come next year after the winter rest and spring thaw, Max might be surprised if he ever came this way again.

It is, after all, how she got him those crutches. She had asked the tree, and then aided it in growing what she needed and how she needed it. It was only after she had received it's gift that she could no longer manipulate the crutches - the wood once separated from the branch had to be physically cut down and sanded to the right size, because she got his height wrong.

The plant she offers him is not very big, all things considered. Perhaps 20 centimeters overall. And a good deal of that is now covered in new buds of red with tiny golden stamens hidden deep within each tightly packed ball of petals. But of itself it is a living thing, not a piece of branch or leaf. This held promise and would grow into new life.

So she holds it out and smiles, but her smile begins to falter as what he says comes through the slight golden haze in her mind, the result of being more in tune with plant than animal - or human - life. He, he doesn't want it? He doesn't - what? But... but.

Mara watches his fingers as they stroke the leaf of the flower in her hand, watches as those same fingers reach up to stroke her cheek as a tear begins to trail from her eyes down to meet his hand. It helps to pull her out of her haze, his touch does. Back to the here. Back to the now.

"Of course you are right, Maximus." She tries to smile, it comes out crooked and apologetic.

Of course he is right. She had never thought ahead, she had gotten caught up in the now. He needed, she could help, the plant agreed. She never thought to think that he would not - or in this case could not - accept her gift. And she could not allow such a precious offering by the Aglaophotis to end up wasting away, far from the sun's light and nature's blessings.

Another tear starts to fall, but she rubs it away with the back of her hand, and her attempt to smile is a little less forced. "I shall grow it in my garden. In the sun, on the land. Yet another pearl on the strand to tempt you from your couch, and shadowed underground."

And with that, she lifts the branch to her lips, kisses the closest flower, and tucks it in between her ear and head, where it's held there by the weight of her hair.

"Come come, the day just wastes away as we two stand here and the earth moves beneath us." It's her game face she puts on now, but the more she speaks, the easier it is to start pulling herself out of her melancholy. Fairy's were not meant for sadness, after all.

"What else can I do to help, seeker? And more importantly, how can I too use this to aid others who were harmed by things out of time and place?"

[bitterguardian]

"Oh-!" She's crying. Just a few tears, but he's looking right at her, so he can hardly miss it. The night before last she cried, and that was awkward enough, but this time he's fairly sure it's his fault, and that makes it ten times worse. He's still floundering, guilt etched deep all over his face, as she pulls herself together and suggests moving on to the work at hand.

"I didn't mean-! Please don't cry? It's a remarkable gift, I'm only sorry I'm not worthy of it..." Now that the barrier has been breached, he's quicker to offer a warm hug, face full of apology.

"But... yes... I did mean to teach you how to make use of it. And having one more plant growing in the world does an immense amount of good. It's ever in short supply, and sadly there's always a need, in the world..." When he does let go of her, gently, he puts away his dropped penknife, and then pulls a very thick book out of midair with a strangely casual gesture. Perhaps she's not the only one who still has a few odd surprises up her sleeve. "There's not just one ritual or spell for it, but many... and they're hardly restricted to Merlinians alone."

[sunandshadows]

She's hugging him tight, with her arms up around her neck when she hears his apology. Mara sniffs, then starts to giggle. "Silly man, did you think I offered alone? I worked in concert with another. And if you are not worthy of this, then you are worthy of something at least equally precious."

He was such a combination of warm strength and comfort, of tremendous knowledge and wisdom coupled with a rare humility and self-depreciation. Mara tiled her head back and looked up to his face. "However, you are correct in one thing. This will not grow well, nor happy so far from the fresh air, so far from the light. So I shall be guardian of your gift, until such time as you have need of more. Is this fair to you?" Her smile is still tentative, but at least this time it's real.

Her smile widens, and so does her eyes when he makes a book appear out of thin air. "Ooohhh!" He can do that?

"I'd not ask you for the secrets you are bound to, that is not my way. But if you have knowledge to share, that I will happily learn, mon ami."

[bitterguardian]

Having the hug returned is reassuring, and from her reply, he starts to hope perhaps he hasn't mucked things up. Much of his humility comes from a deep-seated lack of confidence in himself, although it's something he's good at covering up on the surface, with anyone he doesn't trust. He's good at looking confident, most of the time, but she's caught him with his barriers low, and quickly worked her way past them. He gives a little squeeze before he lets go, but her reassurance has eased his worry some.

"There's more secrecy about some parts than others..." He opens the book apparently at random, squints briefly, and has to find his reading glasses in a pocket. The page it's fallen open to shows three riders on horseback, facing off against a mass of monsters and a sorceress. The book sits open on his knee while he finds his glasses. "Cleansing and healing rituals are some of the least secret. The world can always use a few more healers, so that sort of knowledge is best spread around."

[sunandshadows]

"But of course" There will always be secrets, always things to guard and protect - even from those who may be allies, friends. Lovers. She looks down at the page curiously, and her eyes pass over the picture, but are immediately drawn to the writing. It's old style, and in another language.

German perhaps? She immediately starts turning some of the 'f's into 's's, but then stops. Her eyes glance back up at the drawing once more. Slowly she tilts her head as she stares at the picture, at each individualized portrait - the three riding horses and the woman who they ride against. There is a slow blink, and then another as she raises her eyes up to the man next to her, and Mara recalls, oh so vividly what Maxim looks like in the astral.

"You look good with long hair." Is her only comment, as she looks down to study the picture once more. That then, must be the lady he spoke of, when he told his tale the a few days ago. And that? That must be Maxim's Belshazar. And that must be the Morganian - or is it the original Morgana?

And yes, she knows well the name he goes by now, but looking at the drawing? Belshazar seemed to fit. Although if she ever met the man, she'd call him whatever he wished, of course. Manners you know.

"I have some knowledge of the healing craft" She shrugs, downplaying her learning. "But that is for what pertains in this realm. What you seek to purify yourself from?
Comes from another."

[bitterguardian]

The rider in the portrait carries the greater width of his bulk across the chest and shoulders, instead of in his belly, but the beard isn't so different, the nose is impossible to mistake for another, and it's not so hard to imagine that the slightly unruly dark curls he has now would turn to rippling waves if he grew them out long again. "Hmm? Oh..." He glances down again, reading glasses on now, and pauses to study the old portrait with a mildly wistful expression. "I suppose I was hoping it made my face look thinner..." His gaze lingers over Veronica and Balthazar- ne, Belshazzar, riding closer together even in that illustration. The way Veronica is waving around a sword speaks volumes, that she was no wilting flower, but a fighter equal to her fellow apprentices. The way Horvath appears to be casually spearing some kind of dragon or wyrm without even looking is more than a little dashingly heroic, but he's unlikely to see it that way himself. His fingers stroke the page, once, then he sighs and begins to flip through to the section on purification rituals.

"Eldritch things aren't much discussed in the Encantus, but sometimes other sorcerers do summon things from Beyond without fully understanding what they're doing, and I've had to clean up the mess more than once. Knowing how to recover oneself and anyone else affected is important, because there's always some sort of fallout." The pages he settles on show a few illustrations of the very plant before them, with more detailed uses for the raw woody stems, as well as instructions on making potent distillations that are easier to keep and carry long-term.

[sunandshadows]

"I think that, perhaps those that taught me, taught me of the natural world around us. There was no sorcerous influence, no summonings involved. It was" She tries to find the words, but something distracts her, something tickles in the back of her head and she giggles, reaching back to scratch. And she finds another peony bud blooming out through her hair, the branch growing slowly and twisting under her hair toward the other ear.

"It was nature, of this world's hurts and ills? Umm" She can't think of the right words so she simply drops it, hoping that Horvath understands. She looks down at the page and nods. "Decoctions, infusions oh my!"