Waking from hibernation

[bitterguardian]

Amarante's first visit to Horvath's home was brief, but the place makes an impression. Deep underground, buried in metal and concrete and layers of wards even his old master would be impressed by, Horvath is an old dragon huddled in a subterranean lair. He may have mentioned 'the vault', and he's told her before of how he guards something the Morganians would gladly kill him to get. His home is a bomb shelter, and he keeps it very tightly under lock and key.

Inside this fortress, he's made a grand space, though. His library fills most of an abandoned train station, with a cathedral ceiling that's mostly lost in shadow and rows of bookshelves that stretch further than can be seen from standing in any one spot. There are throw rugs, plush antique chairs and couches, desks and tables piled with books and papers and knickknacks, and a few display stands and cabinets that hold bizarre and impressive items collected on his travels over the ages. Lamps scattered throughout the place cast just enough light to give a warm and cozy glow to the place, without making it too bright. It's a far cry from the sanctuary Mara took him to, but the place has been molded around him like well-worn clothing or a favorite chair. Every inch of the place is very him.

Winter sent him curling up close to home, in the kind of retreat he tried to warn her he so often falls prey to. The cold has begun to creep into his bones, the past few years, and he hates to even risk slipping on the ice. It's far easier to stay down here, in the warmth and comfort of his books and his cats. He feels a little guilty for it, but with spring, it seems time to make an effort to come out of hibernation. His invitation is tentative, since she's been busy serving her Lady over the winter, and having her visit him isn't much of a step outside himself, but he's trying. With a table laid out for tea, Horvath awaits his guest, while the cats demand his attention simply because they can sense his quiet anxieties.

Comments

[sunandshadows]

Oh, if only she knew that she could get him to tell more stories, she would be trying so much harder right now to tempt him into coming along with her. But right now she's blowing into her teacup, cooling the tea a bit more and taking sips between bites of her food.

She doesn't bother to mention that she won't be wearing rain boots, or any shoes really. He probably knows that anyhow. She had spent time outside during the longest night this past winter, dancing in the snow on bared feet, a little rain and a few deep puddles won't hurt her at all.

Mara perks up at the idea of going through his cabinets to check out his stash of medicinal, possibly magical herbs. It was a game to her now, what name did one culture call a plant, as opposed to another culture's word for it? Was there anything new on his shelves that she couldn't identify? This whole nexus that he had introduced her to gave her sudden access to plants, to herbs and spices that she'd never known before, even with her own training. The faeling's foot began tapping excitedly before she realized it and she had to forcefully keep herself in her seat rather than going around to give him an impulsive hugs of thanks.

Good thing there was a table in the way, or Maxim would have his arms full of gleeful and excited young woman, who would drag him away to chatter as she dug through his bottles and jars.

[bitterguardian]

While Horvath is not a storyteller by nature, she's already gotten him into the habit, since it was her asking price for the quest on which they first met. They may be doled out slowly, small treasures of his past, but Mara will be sure to get more stories out of him in time. He's fond of her, this childlike sprite who runs barefoot in all seasons, and he finds his past a little easier to talk about when told as a tale to her.

"Just remind me to take a pad out there for notes. It's probably been too long since I took stock properly, anyway." He's more focused on the food she's brought than anticipation of exploring his own medicine cabinets, but after a moment he does notice the fidgeting. "...Are you all right? Anxious to be off so soon?" One eyebrow rises, but his tone is a little teasing.

Whatever else he might have planned to say is cut short as a grey blur runs in to tag Mara's tapping foot, then darts off again. Smoke has found a new best toy.

[sunandshadows]

Mara wants to deny it. After all, it's the polite thing to do, isn't it? But she can't out and out say that, because that would be a lie, and she simply cannot lie. But she can try to stop her tell-tale toe tapping, and shoot Maxim an innocent looking smile over the edge of her teacup. Teacups come in so handy, not just for drinking tea!

"Anxious? Whatever do you mean?" A soft tap on her foot has her suddenly leaning down to look under the table at the tail of the retreating cat. Eyes full of laughter rise above the table to look up at Horvath's amused face. "I think that your friend likes my shoes."

Her toes can stay calm and quiet for only so long, and as she eats she glances over at his plate to see if he would like more food. Or to see if he's getting full, because she brought more than enough.

[bitterguardian]

The strafing run on her foot evokes a chuckle from Horvath, and he grins at his guest. "I meant you're squirming, but Smoke seems to appreciate it. Are you so eager to look over my herbs? I suppose we can always come back to the tea..." He does look a little reluctant, not quite finished with what's on his plate or in his cup, but he's not about to stand on ceremony with her, and he can always place a light shield spell over the table to protect what's on it from furry creature's inquisitive noses.

Smoke hasn't gone too far, stopping close against the bottom of a bookshelf, in shadow, to turn and watch Mara again. Her tail is long and as fluffy as a grey cloud, and it's swishing with excitement, now.

[sunandshadows]

"I am always eager to spend time with you." Comes back the enigmatic reply. But really, she realizes at once how terribly rude she is being, and to one she calls friend. So her squirming slows down to something barely there - except for the occasional toe-tapping that is as much a game now between her and Smoke as it is an outlet for her excitement.

"Eat, eat my friend. I have plenty of time, and do not have to return until the morrow. And hot food is best eaten that way."

Who knows, perhaps she will be able to talk him into a small trip to the nexus, or stories on a loveseat until the dawn, or so many things they could do!

[bitterguardian]

Horvath rarely has a pressing schedule, so she can likely talk him into one thing or another until very late, and maybe before the evening is out her excitement will settle until she can curl up against him, calm and cuddly. His home is designed for comfort, with sofas big enough for even his long frame to stretch out and nap, as well as plush chairs, and settling into one for storytelling is more his speed of things.

Smoke stills briefly, even her tail, then makes another run for Mara's foot, and this time after the tap she hides much closer, just under the table to watch. Horvath may take things a little slower, but Smoke has an energy level to better match Mara's.

"If... you're sure. I don't want to bore you." He's watching Smoke, amused, and nibbles a little more at what's on his plate. "I fear I'm too slow for you. You danced circles around me from the beginning... but you're allowed to explore, here, you know. I don't keep anything dangerous out, because of the cats." The vaults are off limits, but she'd never be able to get past the wards anyways. Everything else he has in his library he trusts her with, although saying none of it is dangerous is probably not strictly true. There are books on dark magic, just for research purposes, that could be used for ill by somebody who had a mind to.

[sunandshadows]

She sits back in her chair, sets down her cup, and gives him that look. The one with the head tilted slightly to the side, and the single eyebrow raised.

"Bore me? You?" Her very tone says it all. Of course he wasn't boring. Not to her. Not with his warmth and his stories and his hugs and his wisdom and knowledge and courage. Here comes a slow shake of the head, and a grin. "I dance circles about you and everyone else, because I dance in circles!" It seems very logical to her.

The cat has made another playful strafing run at her foot, and she ducks down to look, then pops back up again. "What I may do, once we are finished and I've helped to put away the dishes? Is to put on something more comfortable than my travel clothes, and explore your spices, and your imagination, and perhaps even your bookshelves some more! What treasures you have accumulated over time, mon ami!"

"Now, are you ready for dessert??

[bitterguardian]

Never has Horvath minded being scolded so little as he does when it's from her. Her arched eyebrow is met with a sheepish smile, and he hurries to finish what's left on his plate as she talks. "I just worry I'm a bit pedantic, and slow. But if you want to explore the place, I'm happy to help you do it." It's a relatively new thing, for him to have guests, but since finding the Nexus he's found a few rare people he trusts enough to bring home, and there's a joy to be had in showing off the massive collection of books and artifacts he keeps. He's an old dragon, lurking around his vaults and his library, but it's nice to be able to show off his hoard.

"And you don't need to do the dishes. I'll get those tomorrow." Horvath has never bothered to invest in a dishwasher, but he's never really minded doing them by hand. Living alone, he doesn't usually have much to wash up anyway. "...but yes, I could do dessert." He smiles, finishes off his tea, and leans forward with a grunt to pour a second cup. If hers is empty or near it, he'll be happy to top it up.

Smoke crouches and looks up, hearing the various sounds of things being moved on the table above her.

[sunandshadows]

"We must explore it together!" Amarante raises her fork up into the air for emphasis, and at the very height of the thrust, the piece of cake falls off of the tines, to be caught deftly in her other hand. Easily she pops the food morsel into her mouth with a half shrug and a laugh. And, if I am staying the evening, you must at least let me help you pick up - either now or later. After all, you helped me."

Fair is fair after all. "If you wash, I shall dry. Or vice versa that is. I shall do whatever half that you enjoy least." Now she stacks some empty plates, and lifts her teacup up for second helpings from Horvath's willing hands.

Now comes the lavender-lemon teacakes, with their delicate icing. As Mara leans to the side to lift the container out of her bag, she gives a little finger-wave to the cat under the table as she lifts the desert up onto the top of the table, placing it between her and Maxim, and lifting the lid off. The sweet-tart fruit and herb scent wafts up as soon as the small cut and icing-topped confections are seen.

"I made plenty, so your friend Belshazar stops by, he should be able to have a piece or three before they are gone."
And indeed, there is another container still in the bag.

[bitterguardian]

He can't help but chuckle at her antics with the fork, although he's oblivious to the way Smoke and Whisper both make little twitches in her direction when they see falling food. Cake isn't really the sort of thing they'd like, but how are they to know that, when she caught it before they ever had the chance to sniff at it?

"Carrying it all to the kitchen is the hardest part. I'll let you help with that. He's only ever got one hand free, thanks to the cane, so it slows him down. Once their cups are refilled, he sits up a little to watch her present the teacakes, and breathes in the scents of fruit and sugar. "...Strawberry is his favorite." He adds, distractedly. "Those smell wonderful! You'll let me eat a few before it's time to go dancing around the place?"

[sunandshadows]

"Well, he shall have to suffer and make due with these then. Strawberries are not yet in season." Oh yes, there was mock sympathy there, and barely disguised sauciness. And Mara knows - and she knows that Max knows - that she could coax the strawberries into early bloom, early fruit if she wished. And perhaps someday she will. But not today. She made these with Horvath in mind, the tartness of the lemon, sunny and spring-summer like. And the soothing balm of lavender. Fresh and refreshing.

Or, more specifically, she made them with the idea in mind of coaxing him out of his winter underground hibernation, and back out into the wild woods once more.

"And you can eat as many as you desire. They are for you after all. Ah" She presses a finger to her lips for a moment. "With the caveat that you do not eat so much that you fall asleep there in the chair at the table. I cannot curl up with you if you fall asleep there."

[bitterguardian]

Horvath rolls his eyes, because he knows of course she'll bake for Balthazar just as gladly as she did for him. "No, no not yet. We used to have them for his birthday, though, in June I believe." That just might be a hint. Horvath isn't in the habit of celebrating these things anymore, and neither is his friend, but now that they both have friends to celebrate with, it just might be time to get back into the habit.

"But I'll be sure to save him a few of these. And," He adds a little sheepishly, "I will strive not to eat so much I fall asleep. You certainly don't make that easy on me, though." Her restlessness to look over his medicinal herbs and other supplies is subtly infectious, though, and he's looking forward to that now.

[sunandshadows]

No rolling the eyes at her! Even if he is correct, and she is just teasing and being bratty. And they both know that now that he has mentioned not only Belshazar's favorite food but the word 'birthday' that she will be all over that and preparing a dessert for Maxim's friend that is sure to leave him speechless.

In fact, Mara is already starting to plan it.

"Well we can, as they say, compromise? We can bring this tray with us to the couch later, and we can eat to our heart's content and then fall asleep with sticky fingers, and sticky lips!" Not that she's never done that before, oh no.

But then again, sticky fingers mean that cat hair would stick to them, and cats like to be petted. So perhaps there is a compromise for the compromise?

[bitterguardian]

Horvath's own birthday is sooner, in April, but perhaps next year they'll get around to that one. He's not sure how old either of them is, anymore, and a party is a party. If Mara makes a dessert, then the three of them will have to share it, and it hardly matters whose birthday is being celebrated as long as it's an excuse for celebration.

"Well, let me just taste one, and then we'll go poke at the medicine cabinet. It really has been too long since I took stock. I have a smaller supply of herbs and odds and ends in the bedroom, and I should probably pull them all out and make a list..." He has an organized mind, but he also has far too much stuff collected over the centuries to keep proper track of it all. Some ritual and healing supplies have an expiration date, but some do not, and if there's some powdered dragon's fang or other obscure stuff in the back of a dusty cabinet, he should probably get it cataloged. Mara just may be able to tell that her eagerness has begun to infect him, and she shouldn't be sorry for it. He's looking forward to it, now.

[sunandshadows]

Mara's own birthday is coming up as well, but since her's is technically a holiday; she simply enjoys the revelry and imagines that some of it is especially for her.

"Just one? But of course ma chere!" She holds out the tray of precisely-cut edibles for him, but as Horvath reaches for it to take one, she pulls it away with a minxish grin. Laughing, she gets up, goes around the table and with one hand she takes his lunch plate away, then hugs him from behind. As he gets the one-armed hug, her other hand is setting the entire container of desserts in the place of his former plate.

"Oh Maximus, I would never be so cruel as to force you just one! Please, take a few if you like them. We've lots of time to explore your cabinets and shelves! And lists, oh yes!" Yes, if it sounds like she considers this just another adventure, he's right. Delving into places, retrieving forgotten artifacts... who cares if they are only bottles and jars of ingredients? To her the idea is fun!

[bitterguardian]

When first she pulls the plate away, he looks just a little startled, but of course it's only a friendly trick, and the next thing he knows there's an arm around him. There is, thanks to a rough early life, something in Horvath that tends to flinch and withdraw if he thinks he's being taunted, but that hug dissolves any and all fears. One hand rises to squeeze her arm, and he leans into the gesture, and from where she's standing she can see the curve of his cheeks in a smile. If his other hand were not occupied now holding the whole container, he'd be returning the hug all the more.

"I did mean just one for now." He teases back, grinning. "I fully intend to try some of each and every kind before the day is done."

Smoke makes a made dash for the seat Mara recently vacated, pounces up onto it, and watches them both with her fluffy tail twitching. She knows a kindred spirit when she sees one, and the sudden movement just seems like another invitation to play.

*short reply is short, sorry!*

[sunandshadows]

"And down here, so long as the lights stay on? The day can go on forever!" She leans forward, just far enough to kiss his cheek before letting him go to eat some of his dessert in (relative) peace. But when the faeling straightens her back to head back to her own seat, she suddenly realizes that she may have to fight for her spot. And by fighting she means to play.

Or at least, to pet a certain someone. "Mmmhmm, so that is how it is, mademoiselle petit chat?"

But long threads are long. ;)

[bitterguardian]

"I do tend to lose track of time, down here. Sometimes I think it's the middle of the day and then go out only to find all the shops closing... or just opening. I've gotten out of the habit of keeping any sort of regular schedule."
The light kiss on his cheek makes him smile all the more, just a little sheepishly, but every touch from her seems to ease out of him a tension he never notices he's carrying. Mara is good for him, and the how and the why are unimportant. He takes the first bite carefully, not too small, not too big, and lets his eyes drift closed while he properly savors what she's made for him. Just knowing it was baked with him in mind makes it sweeter.

Smoke, on the recently abandoned chair, crouches slightly, and ducks her head a few times as if she's about to jump down, but she doesn't actually move her feet. Her tail continues to lash slowly, a touch-tempting grey fluffy cloud of fur that earned her name. She wants to play, but she wants to be sure Mara is safe to play with.

*had SUCH A HARD TIME thinking up a reply, shooot me*

[sunandshadows]

Her seat was taken, hmm. Mara eyed the challenger for her place at the table with a mixture of curiosity and mischief. Her very first instinct was to simply use the end of her hair, that tuft at the end of her braid to play with the cat for a while. To use her hair as the cat toy, but no. No, the faeling decided at the last second; that would get Smoke used to swiping at her hair, and it might be best if she used something other than what was attached to her body as a toy for those claws.

So instead, as she came around the table, Amarante dipped her hand into her bag, pulling out a few dried, woven-together stalks of lavender. Crouching down, the woman began to play with the cat, forgetting the food, forgetting even Maxim for a while as she tempted and played back and forth with the cat. Not yet touching it with her hands, but getting it used to being close to her, in a game that they both were enjoying.