The Fox Prince

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

"Monsters are the patron saints of imperfection." ~ Guillermo del Toro

Renard Ambrosius (Auvry'rea)

Nicknames: Ren, Slightly, the Fox Prince (In Elfhame)

Pronouns: They/them

Magick Status: Magick (assumed to be an elemental shadow sorcerer, their being Unseelie isn't known except to a few people)

Nationality: Elfhamian

Ethnicity: Lowlands Eastern Mountainlander (glamored they appear European/white)

Accent: Very muddled/mixed regional English

Height: 5′7"

Build: Slender and athletic

Complexion: Fair, has some freckles (glamored)/pale, metallic copper freckles (natural)

Eye Color: Blue (glamored)/Golden Amber (natural)

Hair Color/Length/Style: Red (glamored)/platinum blonde (natural); in both cases it's curly and short.

Tattoos: None

Piercings: Set of five red crystal stud surface piercings down the line of their spine starting between their shoulder blades and running down to their lower back. Both ears pierced multiple times. (Done by Martin right before their wedding.)

Daily Jewelry: Varies, tends to like rings/hand jewelry and will wear whatever amuses them. Loves pointy, sharp accessories the accent their sharp nails (glamored) or curved claws (unglamored). They're always wearing their wedding ring.

Social Media Presence:

Very little; they'll pop up on their Insta from time to time (@slightyaskew) - largely to post thirst trap pics of their dear husband or pictures of their cat Muffin - but they don't show up often there or on Twitter.

Prior to coming to town there is, oddly, no online history for them or their family.

What Would the Locals Know:

Has been a presence around town for several years now, after showing up randomly one day. Works as the yoga instructor at Olympus Gym and has for a while, teaching both standard/beginner classes in the mornings and more intense advanced classes in the afternoon.

Their husband, Martin Ambrosius, owns the Rock Shoppe, so they're around there often, you might also spot them at The Court of Miracles with their bestie Jess. Otherwise they're extremely social, love attention, and are a bit shamelessly nosy so they will be at any event possible.

They usually have a fennec fox 'familiar' (royal advisor) in tow, Cael, and their younger brother Sorrel is a student at Pride U.

Other:

Other faerie creatures (both Unseelie and Seelie) would recognize them as what they are, Unseelie, (although with mortal realm born faerie beings such as pixies they might not sense anything but something faerie since they likely haven't run into Unseelie before) and this holds true for certain very old or very powerful Magicks as well. (Check with me ooc to discuss.) But only Royal talent fairies, elves, or other High Fey would be able to recognize immediately that they're High Fey specifically.

Ren selectively uses their glamor - they do appear human much of the time but will often expose their natural eyes and claws when they wish.

Unglamored they mimic a human form but with sharper, narrow angles, metallic copper colored flecks like freckling over their skin, larger canine teeth, black staining on the skin of their forearms, hands, calves and feet, and curved, long copper-hued claws. They also have curved ears very similar to elves due to ancestral connections between the two races. They wouldn't easily be mistaken for human in this form.

Ren can manipulate shadows, make deals with others for magic via the crystals grown in their kingdom (drop me a note if you want a deal plot!), utilize compulsion (although they loathe this power), communicate with foxes from Elfhame/have limited control over foxes in the mortal realm, influence/manipulate nightmares, has heightened strength, speed, senses, and healing.

They have an allergic aversion to cold iron (processed iron and iron alloys) that makes it often irritating but can contract poisoning from wounds caused with iron that won't heal naturally and are fatal if untreated.

[Ren's Kingdom: The Mountainlands] [Magic] [Extended Bio]

[griffin-morey]

Permit Crab || Grin

[griffin-morey]

Griffin preferred to stay at the mill where he could work, make himself useful, and not stir up any reasons for people to notice him. It was more comfortable than going out and feeling like stares were still directed towards him and just waiting for some mistake to circle back around to his family. His family had definitely been through enough as it was already, with and without his help.

He didn't have the option to stay inside that day since Mama had sent him on an errand. Simple really because all he had to do was go to Town Hall, drop off some permits needed for a handful of jobs the town needed the mill to provide lumber for, and return home.

It should have only taken an hour or two at the most. Hardly any speaking required, right?

He hadn't been expecting to step out of Town Hall, around the corner and directly into someone who wasn't paying any attention to the space in front of them because of an arm load of boxes obstructing that view.

Griffin first felt startled, the hairs rising on the back of his neck like a cat facing something unfamiliar. Then that turned into irritation, the sharp sting of electricity curling around his legs.

"Jesus Christ," he grumbled. "Next time take two trips, yeah? You'll bowl right over someone like that!"

@@ambereyed-mountain-prince

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Ren took a step back when their progress was jostled, managing their balance fine but needing to scramble at the last second to grab one of the boxes before it fell.

So much for Cael paying attention, the fox had huffed up when he'd almost been stepped on and made a snap at the strange pair of shoes but stopped short at the scent of ozone, shaking his head and uttered an annoyed sound.

Ren, busy rearranging the boxes to avoid them tumbling again, glanced around the edge of one at the stranger as well, the scent of electricity catching their attention too. Sounded like Cael had walked into one of those bug zapper things.

"Hey, don't zap the fox," Ren replied, but it was more for the guy's benefit, "he's already in a bad mood."

@griffin-morey

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

July Task: VIVA LA WORLD CUP

Does Ren know anything about sports?

Reasonably more than they used to, which is a side effect of working at the gym and constantly hearing the conversations. It's fascinating watching mortals get so competitive in harmless ways; they don't bite and scratch, they carry out their fights on fields with rules and trophies signaling victory.

And then they celebrate together with loud parties and team pride, arguments that only last until the next game; they don't really care much about sports but they find it so interesting what this practice does and his year after year it unifies mortals that share very little else in common.

In the Ambrosius house there are clear teams to cheer for but Ren has been fixated on one player, and this one team. Why? Because they're convinced Erling Haaland can't be human even if this is a Mundus league. They're absolutely certain the absurdity and power of that man has to be Magick, maybe even Unseelie. They can't prove it of course, and they're probably very wrong, but Ren won't be swayed in this conviction.

Which is also led to the interesting addition of Norway to their list of places they want to travel. Not just specifically for that reason, but the whole Viking vibes? Ren really likes it, obviously a trip to the country is necessary for a closer look.

[knightley--phillip]

Market Research || Open

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

"Disappointing," Ren replied with a shake of their head, "all that trouble and you were still just left there? Pity, that; Martin was disappointed too. But I suppose we can fix that," they agreed with a smile of their own. "I think we can manage to make sure nobody's disappointed."

Ren hadn't given Phil too much thought after the auction loss, no reflection on the man of course but Ren's own focus elsewhere. But talking to him even briefly had shown the man was interesting, wasn't he? Ambitious, and even rather charming, although the latter might have been more because they'd offered something that caught his interest.

It wouldn't have been the first time Ren had taken a liking to someone over whatever impulsive little notion hit them at the time.

And there was the matter of the pub, which had been the topic at hand before Ren had decided to play games.

"We've gotten off track," they mused with another smile, eyes still resting on Phil, "I must have gotten a little distracted. But, your pub; grand plans, hm?" They prompted, a bit, because what they didn't know yet was how the man's mind worked. Was he creative? Ren liked creative. Moreso in some situations but they could test that theory later with Martin of course, but it was such a fascinating trait in mortals overall.

@knightley--phillip

[knightley--phillip]

Right — this was supposed to be a conversation about Phil’s pub, not any missed connections or possible new ones.

“Ah yes,” he said. “Now, the standard layout and interior won’t be anything too unique, admittedly. Swynlake has some very special distinct nightlife venues; I just want to give the people something familiar. Just a good place to gather. At least on the first floor.”

He chuckled.

“Gonna keep the basement adults only — that’ll be where the fun drinks are. And let it be booked out for private events. I was also thinking of really making the garden space nice. Rose bushes and all that. Plenty of lawn games for when the weather gets warm.” He shrugged. He wasn't so sure if that was Ren and Martin's vibe. In fact, he knew it all sounded very safe and boring...

So he flashed a mischievous grin. “Nothing too crazy — I’ll leave that to the patrons.” 

@ambereyed-mountain-prince

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Ren was familiar with the various oddities of the local businesses and how the lines overlapped, mostly because they were too nosy not to explore anything new around the town. Nightclubs that doubled as elaborate circus acts and illusions that gave Ren just a little too much of a sense of something...familiar they could exactly place, smoky lounged with comic book themed burlesque shows, a cinema that held a speakeasy style bar upstairs and several other spots around town that served a function beyond simply what they were.

A pub that was more than simply a pub sounded like a better fit among all the rest; apparently diversity was a necessity when space didn't allow for as many separate business to focus on a single direction.

"You've been working on your drinks for a while," Ren noted, they paid attention; Phil's efforts to develop his own cocktails and such had been an ongoing feature at some events for a while, "I guess opening a place to feature them would be the next logical step."

Ren wasn't terribly business savvy, they knew how to rule a kingdom, not run a shop, so from that side they just assumed Phil had a much better grasp of the idea than themselves.

The garden itself probably would have been enough to draw Martin to the idea, that man missed his calling in magic there, except for the whole...not having magic issue. Ren could already picture him scrutinizing every single rose bush in the place, but at least in that case there was also the benefit of more interesting distractions because, frankly, Ren could barely tell the difference between a weed and a flower in most cases.

Naturally the basement sounded more interesting to them, but Ren couldn't help being fascinated by the potential for a little chaos.

"I'm sure you'll have no shortage of that around here," they mused, curiosity seeping into their words, "how far away are you from starting after the petition?"

Was that the part, the business part, that Martin likely would have been better suited to discuss? Probably. But he wasn't there right now and Ren found Phil interesting, perhaps he always had been and it had just been an oversight on Ren's part not to notice, so they simply had to pry into the details more.

"It's not going to be like that Hunted Deer place, is it? All the dead animals nailed to the walls like someone was clearly overcompensating for something," Ren grimaced; they'd never been a fan of it even before the owner had turned out to be a lunatic.

@knightley--phillip

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Business Sense || Reamus

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

"That's what I have you for," Ren pointed out, tempted to reach out and prod at one of the tools on the man's worktable but the entire area reeked of iron; clearly a hazard. They only ever followed Seamus into his workshop when the old man insisted on working on his projects while they were discussing things.

Which was often; Seamus lacked the ability to sit still for very long, as Ren had noticed.

Usually they didn't go out into the farmlands much, especially since Seamus had gotten horses. Ren wasn't a fan of any equines, even if they weren't the same thing as the unicorns back home that would take a bite out of anyone they could manage to corner.

Ren didn't trust anything with hooves and a towering presence.

The topic at hand was, of course, their business ventures with Seamus. Accidental at first because when Ren was searching the area for hidden little spots for their crystals they might have failed to realize the land actually belonged to someone, but that someone was less bothered about questionable magic than he was interested in the monetary value that could come from it.

And it was a frivolous sort of magic anyway, nothing that Ren felt had much power. Those crystals served more as containers, useful for sorcerers because of the amount of reagents they could be tucked away inside, in some cases singular spells trapped within them. Hardly the sort of thing Ren considered much danger to mortals, but they did hold just enough of a trace of Fae power to be very appealing to the people who could recognize it.

The added benefit for them, of course, was the more their magic was rooted in small spaces and in small ways the more stable it became; not being of that world was a disadvantage but grounding some of that magic within it put things on a much more even playing field.

Naturally part of that also came along with things like bank accounts, finding clients and all of the parts that Ren did not want to do that Seamus was far better equipped to handle.

"You know I barely pay attention to all the paperwork," Ren added, because they didn't really understand why mortals insisted on having paperwork for every single thing in their lives but evidently it did serve some purpose they couldn't quite make sense of themselves.

@apennywasted

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Business Sense || Reamus

[roland-doylebaby]

build a menu || Roland

[roland-doylebaby]

"Right on right on!" Roland looked forward to that if Ren ever did follow through with what he was saying.

"You heading in to the farmers market then?" Awkwardly he changed the subject. Even though Roland could and would beat a dead horse until his hair was grey he knew Ren probably wasn't that kinda person.

"I saw that there are a few stellar spots! Did you know they have a cheese museum stand?!" Rolands voice cracked. Fuck. Now his eyes were wide. "Also some schnazzy egg connecting aprons with little pouches on the apron for the little eggs!"

@ambereyed-mountain-prince

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Okay, Ren was starting to get it. Roland talked a lot, and that was definitely appealing to Sorrel who preferred to listen and pick his words carefully. Polar opposites, just from what Ren could glean from the short conversation.

"Yeah; usually something random Martin might like," they reasoned. Ren shopped for two reasons. The first was their own obsession with clothing, despite having an extensive closet already, and the other was because Martin liked little oddities and trinkets. So Ren continued to search for things to add to the seemingly endless collection that had already begun to take over full shelves in the house.

How could they resist though when it made him happy?

Cheese museum they were indifferent about, and there weren't any chickens around the property so the apron was..eh. But the conversation continued with Roland scrambling to fill the space with words; Ren could relate given how much they liked to talk as well.

"The apron sounds dangerous; between my brother and husband I'm surprised we don't have chickens but maybe I'll escape it a while longer."

Ren liked animals, sure, they just weren't very practiced in taking care of them and mortal realm creatures were so fragile. Martin would be naming chickens while Ren lectured the foxes in the woods around the manor about not eating the birds.

@roland-doylebaby

[roland-doylebaby]

build a menu || Roland

[roland-doylebaby]

“Oh well no better reason to come in by then! Bring your husband?” Roland wasn’t sure if that was what they called their spouse. All he knew was that Sorrels sibling was married? To Mims brother? Fuck he needed to start writing shit down.

“I uh - well I’m close with Sorrel so I well.” Roland’s big eyes rolled as he tried to search for the words. “They gave me you know a brief run down and now that you’re standing in front of me I’m kinda putting all my puzzle pieces together.”

Oh well now he just said his bit.

“Would love to have ya down at the restaurant one of these weeks and make ya somthin good!”

@ambereyed-mountain-prince

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Watching the internal scramble, because that was all Ren could think to call the rapid fire shift of expressions the man went through in the course of seconds, was... interesting. Ren didn't want to stress him out so immediately but apparently that didn't take a lot.

Ren nodded, suppressing their usual urge to talk in favor of watching Roland launch into an entire explanation. They almost told him to relax but that might not have done any good anyway.

Their brother certainly had some interesting connections with people; they didn't quite get what would have drawn Sorrel to him but they didn't have to. Sorrel was a bit too curious at times but he wasn't recklessly blind about people. And Roland seemed awkward, but harmless.

"I've heard that," Ren felt like the man was waiting for confirmation, assurance that Sorrel had said something about him. Ren couldn't lie, Sorrel wasn't terribly open and talkative about his personal life but he still mentioned things, and people. At least there were people to mention lately; Ren had assumed the mortal realm would have been a better fit for Sorrel than what people expected of him back home.

"I'm sure we'll be around soon," they agreed, doing very little to be subtle about their own curiosity. Not about the food, but Roland himself.

@roland-doylebaby

[knightley--phillip]

Market Research || Open

[knightley--phillip]

Phillip smirked. 

This was proving to be a promising conversation. Not for his pub, particularly, but for personal interest. Yes, he was still going to use his initial pub survey to poke and prod for additional information. But if he was picking up what Ren was putting down…

“Oh yes — you two came in so close if I recall. And y’know what? The person who won didn’t even show up!” Phil tsked his tongue. “All that money and for what? As far as I’m concerned, you can call in a rain check for it any time you want.” 

@ambereyed-mountain-prince

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

"Disappointing," Ren replied with a shake of their head, "all that trouble and you were still just left there? Pity, that; Martin was disappointed too. But I suppose we can fix that," they agreed with a smile of their own. "I think we can manage to make sure nobody's disappointed."

Ren hadn't given Phil too much thought after the auction loss, no reflection on the man of course but Ren's own focus elsewhere. But talking to him even briefly had shown the man was interesting, wasn't he? Ambitious, and even rather charming, although the latter might have been more because they'd offered something that caught his interest.

It wouldn't have been the first time Ren had taken a liking to someone over whatever impulsive little notion hit them at the time.

And there was the matter of the pub, which had been the topic at hand before Ren had decided to play games.

"We've gotten off track," they mused with another smile, eyes still resting on Phil, "I must have gotten a little distracted. But, your pub; grand plans, hm?" They prompted, a bit, because what they didn't know yet was how the man's mind worked. Was he creative? Ren liked creative. Moreso in some situations but they could test that theory later with Martin of course, but it was such a fascinating trait in mortals overall.

@knightley--phillip

[geehosaphat]

Bat in the Belfry || Mighty

[geehosaphat]

Martin's eyes darted to his spouse, seeing the way Ren was far from afraid of the creature. Now, Martin would not have called himself afraid—preposterous—but there was always a chance that his spouse could have been. That would have been reasonable, Martin supposed, but instead they were standing there looking more confused than scared.

So now Martin didn't... know what to do.

"Its a bat!" Medes announced, offended to have to explain. "A flying rodent—"

"Not a rodent," Martin corrected.

"A flying disgrace that has broken into our home, no doubt through a hole in the wall the size of a 10 pence piece, and is now terrorizing us!"

"Um.. Yes, I think catching it would be best. So we can release it outdoors." He cleared his throat, rather awkwardly, and looked over at Niamh to see how she was handling all of this. What he found was the little winged, pink fox fully cowering in her place. Clearly frozen by fear.

"I don't like it..." She whimpered, clearly hoping Ren would save them.

@ambereyed-mountain-prince

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Medes was prone to over exaggerating and getting excited about most anything, so that didn't strike Rin as unusual. But it was strange to see Martin unsettled, because he very clearly was by the way his voice was cracking a bit at the edges.

"Okay," Ren trailed off; it felt like another one of those situations where what they assumed would happen wasn't the case.

Much like the fairy who'd had her kid in the Rock Shoppe and left Ren the one handling the birth because, surprisingly, Martin and Mim hadn't really known what to do in the situation because mortals relied on other mortals to know these things. Healers only got involved in births back home during complications so Ren had seen the process several times, often enough to know fundamentally what needed to be done to help.

They had never seen a bat up close before, it didn't seem like a very intimidating little creature but maybe there was something insidious about the little animal Ren wasn't aware of that Martin and Medes had informed Niamh of already.

"How am I supposed to..." Well, that was the problem, wasn't it? The bat was flying. Ren glanced around and settled the obvious solution and disappeared into the closet for a moment, returning with one of their light scarves. "I'll just throw one side of this on it since it's up there and grab it," they reasoned.

@geehosaphat

[geehosaphat]

Bat in the Belfry || Mighty

[geehosaphat]

There were a great deal many animals in Ambrosius Manor running, scuttling, or flying about the place. Between Archimedes, Cael, Mandy, Merlin, Muffin, & Niamh there was always a good amount of noise to be heard in the halls of the home. It wasn't uncommon for Martin to hear some manner of thud or scrape from a room far across the house and ignore it completely.

What he couldn't ignore, however, was the way both Niamh and Archimedes were screeching from the top floor which was also the master suite of the home.

Martin had been lounging with his head in Ren's lap, reading his newest purchase from Chapter Three, when the sound was heard. With a quickness he sometimes forgot he possessed, he bolted upright and bounded up the staircase to find what was wrong.

What he found was unexpected for a number of reasons.

Cowering in the far corner of the room were Archimedes and Niamh, clinging to each other as though the pair weren't usually at odds and staring up at the ceiling in abject horror. There was a bat flying above them, circling the room swiftly. It was also comically small. Martin would guess it was a pipistrelle as it was smaller than his palm. The fact it was tiny did not seem to calm the magical creatures' fears.

That being said, Martin also didn't want to touch the fuzzy flying thing.

"Love," Martin called out, trying to hide his nerves. "It seems our flying animals are afraid of a... tinier flying animal.."

@ambereyed-mountain-prince

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Ren had been engrossed in one of their various of hobbies amassed over time, one hand toying with Martin's hair and the other busy with an orange colored pencil filling in the space between two lines in the book spread open on the arm of the couch next to them. They'd taken to all sorts of artistic little distractions during their time in the mortal realm; scrapbooking, drawing, crafting small figures out of clay that only bore a slight resemblance to what they were meant to be, and of course, their favorite distraction, coloring.

Were they very artistic by nature? No. Nor were they necessarily very good at any of those endeavors but they enjoyed them and that was the luxury in it really. Ruling a kingdom offered little time for frivolous things and Ren enjoyed them immensely when they weren't in the Court.

When Martin bolted up they blinked, watching him dart up the stairs the way Ren assumed was a byproduct of his days with the knights, and it still managed to surprise them at times.

By the time Martin was calling to them Ren was already upstairs as well, because they weren't going to let Martin just rush off by himself, but at first they failed to see the problem.

And when they did see it they weren't sure what to make of the little thing that looked like a fuzzy rock fluttering around.

"What is that?" The first question they asked, because they had seen similar...creatures...it was a creature? Around the house outside at dusk but never at such a close distance. The second question came from the observation that everyone seemed to be afraid of the tiny fuzzy flying rock, "do you want me to catch it?"

It was smaller than Mandy, even if it could bite would it have even hurt? Ren doubted it.

@geehosaphat

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Taste Test || Renia

[sylvia-marpole]

Sylvia had a goal this farmer's market, fill her freezer with homemade baked goods that she didnt have to bake. At least for the summer when she could never stay cool enough.

But she to commit, what if she bought too many flavors and loved the first one but then it was just gone, what if she saved what she thought would be the best till the end and it turned out to be terrible.

There was so much pressure that she had to crowd source information.

"I was just asking if you had a favorite? Im buying just for myself so I trying to find out what would be the best. Im leaning toward the apple? Classic you know."

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Ren was the last person to ask that question. Martin could have rattled off a dozen recommendations without batting an eye, and explained why each one of them was ideal, but Ren did not have that skill set because they rarely ventured towards anything sweet in flavor.

"I think the closest I come to liking stuff like that is lemon," they answered honestly; citrus was the only exception because it wasn't necessarily sweet in its various forms. But they did have very sharp senses so they could decipher things about food by scent alone.

Like sugar; it had a syrupy thick sort of smell that wasn't pleasant, a bit like when water got muddy and mossy to them and very distinct.

"That one smells really sweet and like a lot of cinnamon if you like that sort of thing."

@sylvia-marpole

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Taste Test || Renia

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

The Farmer's Market was one of those random distractions that interested them more because it was somewhere to find odd little trinkets or things that Martin might want to add to his vast array of kitchen tools, spices or whatever other handcrafted food-related things mortals stuck in jars and set up in their booths.

Ren was constantly searching for new little shiny things that might hold Martin's attention even though they weren't actively courting anymore, of course, because they were married. It didn't change that they liked to surprise him with the strangest things; and around the market that usually came in the form of little carved creatures of things crafted together with yarn and bright colors.

Bright colors being a preference given that month, yes.

Ren had just been wandering a while, not finding anything that really seemed fascinating enough at that point, and hadn't even noticed at first when someone tried to grab their attention as they passed one of the stalls.

She was vaguely familiar; it took a moment for them to recognize her from occasionally at the Pride U library; half the time they couldn't find Sorrel on campus he was in some corner with a pile of books.

"Hmn?" They must have missed what she said but did slow to a stop.

@sylvia-marpole

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Taste Test || Renia

[roland-doylebaby]

build a menu || Roland

[roland-doylebaby]

Roland was like a deer in the high beams. Stunned and unable to move.

Shit shit shit. This was Ren?! This was them?! Roland was pretty sure he had never met them specifically but Sorrel had brought them up. So if he has his wits about him he would have clocked it.

Damn it!

“Oh Ren nice to meet ya.” Roland shot out his hand. “Names Roland and you are 100% correct!” His nervous smile turned in to him nibbling on his mustache a bit. “Executive chef and all that fancy nonsense! You know hence the cookin shin dig goin on here! You ever been? How you rate my cookin?!”

@ambereyed-mountain-prince

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Deer in the headlights look was a bit ironic in the situation, yes. But they gave the man a moment to recover himself since it was like they were in any big hurry right then.

"I've lived here a while, so I've been to most places around town. Not as much lately though," and Ren would have argued Martin's cooking was better than any restaurant in the first place so nights out eating were rare. Still, it didn't hurt to humor the man's questions, or to shake his hand.

Quite the energetic type, wasn't he? Ren would have been amused to know that was exactly how Sorrel would have described Roland as well.

"You mean Gustav's," Ren prompted, since there were a few places to eat around town but it was the only restaurant specifically, "it's been a while, at least a few months. But I don't ever remember the food not being good there."

Perhaps not exactly to their tastes because those tastes ran far to the idea of spicy and intense flavors, but certainly not bad.

@roland-doylebaby

[roland-doylebaby]

build a menu || Roland

[roland-doylebaby]

A giant white board stood next to him propped up on the Amazon prime purchased tripod. Foot traffic at the Farmers Market was P R I M E !

“Hey you! Yeah you! What’s up playa?!” Roland wiggled his fingers toward the whiteboard. “I need you to help me build a menu! What food would make you wanna stop and grab a bite?! Sky’s the limit!”

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Ren was relatively certain this guy was the one their brother had mentioned on occasion, which was more of a reason to be nosy than the actual question; older sibling curiosity and all. Not that they thought much of anybody in town would have actually been a problem for either of them, but watching the man flag people down with his big board and enthusiastic personality was all the more amusing.

They could be wrong though, having never met the man, but that one matched a fair amount of the comments Sorrel had made and was certainly loud enough to fit the part.

And it was an odd question.

"Hmn. Well, I still miss the restaurant we used to have in town; and it was mostly spicy food." Ren had not, in fact, moved on from Tiana's closing.

@roland-doylebaby

[roland-doylebaby]

“Ohhh so you like the spice!” Roland plucked the red marker from his pocket and started to draw peppers on the white board! “You like anything in particular?! I’m really trying to create a menu built by the town! A little bit of favorite from everyone!”

Yes the idea was broad and he really had an even more specific reason for all this but first he needed to get the buy in.

Plus this was another person he had never met? Right? Roland couldn’t remember. “I gotta get your name too! I have this bad habit or never doin that!”

@ambereyed-mountain-prince

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

They could have played a game with the man, since this was clearly the one Sorrel had mentioned. Given him a different name, see what they could find out about his new friend but, while Sorrel wouldn't have been annoyed about it he would have given Ren that tired smile and that was arguably worse. It went against the rules of the universe really when their younger brother could guilt trip them so effectively.

"Ren," they decided not to tempt fate on that one; mortals were a bit distracted by nature anyway and who even if Sorrel had mentioned family at all around him, "don't you work at one of the restaurants in town?" Another stray mention from Sorrel; the benefit of having a sibling who didn't talk much so they did most of their talking to a handful of people they knew well.

Was that what the conversation was about?

@roland-doylebaby

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

Do You Wanna Build a Snowman || Mighty

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

"I do like the tan," they remarked, although they would have liked him without it as well, but it was somewhat like the fact that Martin was deceptively fit because of all his works with the knights previously and his continuing on with those workouts the same way he often gravitated to any pattern and kept it; not necessary but Ren certainly wasn't going to argue it suited him well.

Or stop pointing out to everyone all the details of how attractive Martin was; but they could do that for decades! Maybe by the time Martin was older town wouldn't be so negative about some of the Fae and their ageless appearance wouldn't been seen as strange at all in comparison to Martin.

Future things Ren was hardly concerned over at the time.

"Of course you wouldn't say it," Ren countered humorously, "and you don't like anyone else saying it either." It wasn't really an argument though; there was usually no swaying Martin away from being busy for most people. Ren of course managed it just fine when they decided he was far too overworked; they knew all the ways to drag him away from his endless to-do list.

Ren was rather pleased with themselves, yes, and of course that deserved the answer to the question they wanted. "That seems like a very obvious answer," they reasoned while they reached to toy with the short hair at the back of Martin's neck.

@geehosaphat

[geehosaphat]

Ren always seemed pleased with Martin's appearance. Didn't matter how covered or uncovered he was, didn't matter if he'd fixed his hair or if he was still rocking his bedhead. Martin didn't understand Ren's view of him sometimes, could feel his own doubts and insecurities creep in around the corners of his mind, but if there was one thing he could trust was that Ren physically could not lie and Ren had no reason to twist around the truth either.

Martin might not see all of the value in himself, but he could trust in Ren's assessment of him.

"I don't like it, no. Because if I accept that I've overworked myself then I have to actually fix that... And I'm happy with the level of activity I get." He was joking, knew that Ren had and would stop him if he really needed to be stopped, but there was always some truth to that. Part of Martin's self-worth was intrinsically tied to his output and he didn't always know how to separate the two.

"Mmmn.. And what sort of reward would my dear spouse want from me?"

@ambereyed-mountain-prince

[ambereyed-mountain-prince]

"Mortals are impossible; some of you never stop to breathe." Ren chided, although only fondly because they knew it wasn't something likely to change. Interrupted at times, distracted, but Martin would always go back to that pace sooner or later. And it would probably continue well into those years when he grew tired because of the slow pull of time on his body.

That was the point when Ren would allow themselves to be more firm with the idea of rest; Martin couldn't be around forever but they weren't going to see that flame to him burn out too soon because he was exhausted.

But that was a future they didn't have to consider quite yet.

"Excellent question," Ren mused as they toyed with the collar of Martin's jacket, knowing they already had exactly what they wanted because they had Martin's attention, but no use in wasting the opportunity. "Well, I am just horribly cold and need to warm up. That's a good start."

After all, they had the entire afternoon to themselves, the woods around them and, if Martin were being more sensible, Ren supposed, the house was well within a few steps.

@geehosaphat