A Birthday Gift - @RomanLucious
It would have been a strange sight to most people. In the middle of the rural forest in the town of Bon Temps stood an aging figure, dressed more appropriately for a formal afternoon tea than for a trek in the woods. He stood rigidly, formally, despite the fact that he was standing beside a rotten log rather than in a fine hall, but his face conveyed a sense of disinterest, as if this was the sort of thing he did everyday, and nothing about his curious and unlikely location could grab his attention. The man's silver hair shone in the early afternoon sunlight that managed to peek through the canopy of leaves and branches above him, and the silver-topped cane he carried with him-- for both show and as a weapon, not out of need-- flashed brightly like a beacon, summoning forward any who may have witnessed it. To most people, he would have seemed a beautiful, if not dangerous, mirage.
But Claude wasn't most people. To Claude, this unlikely and imposing figure was merely family.
@SkyPrinceNiall blinked out of his reverie to offer his grandson a genuine smile, and Claude was only too willing to return it with one of his own. In a silent, well-rehearsed, and familiar greeting, they grasped hands before pressing a brief kiss to the cheeks of one another, first one, and then the other.
“You didn't tell @SkyFaeDillon about this, did you?”
Niall's head shook once, and with his cane, he beckoned toward the unlikely, magical gateway that stood a few paces behind him. “In your message, you requested that I did not,” Niall pointed out. Communication between realms meant playing a game of telephone among fairies, so Claude couldn't help but be relieved that part of his message made it through. “And I saw no reason not to honor that request. Though I am certain he would disagree, this was my choice to make, so ultimately, it fails to concern him.”
The younger fairy simply snorted quietly in response, more than certain his father would disagree that the matter failed to concern him. It wasn't like his father to openly question or disagree with Niall, but it was impossible not to recognize that no matter what the ruler of Sky had to say, and no matter what Claude himself had to say, there were certain matters Dillon couldn't conceal his opposing feelings on. Chief among those things was anything pertaining to Claude's husband, and considering @RomanLucious was the reason for Claude's trip home today, it seemed best to keep his father out of it. They wouldn't be able to keep Dillon in the dark forever, but keeping him in the dark for now was better than nothing, and by the time his father learned of what had transpired, it would be too late to do anything about it.
Stepping through the portal behind his ancient grandfather, Claude took a moment to breathe in the sweet air of his home, his eyes squinting as they adjusted to the brightness of the eternal sun that shone in the sky above them. Even though it hadn't been very long since his last journey to Faery, it never failed to feel like an eternity away once he had returned. His very being vibrated with the familiar, comforting magic that surrounded him, magic that felt as if it healed him from within and nurtured his very soul. While there were plenty of things within Faery that kept it from being completely paradise, it was inarguable that it came pretty damn close.
“He will know you are here though, you know.”
Glancing beside him to his grandfather as they walked, Claude nodded. “I know,” he agreed. The ability to find their family at a moments notice was usually a good thing, but it was certainly inconvenient now. “I'm not in trouble though. Maybe it won't get his attention.” That seemed optimistic, even for a fairy who regularly tried to be optimistic though. “He'll just assume I'm here to talk to you about Keelin.”
“And be very put out when I inform him that was not the case,” Niall agreed, though he didn't seem too bothered by the idea that he might be risking annoying his son. “But he is already perturbed. I have had him watching Water for me, when he would much rather be implicating your husband and his friends in Keelin's death.”
“Roman had nothing to do with it,” Claude insisted immediately. He hadn't gotten anywhere in figuring out who had, but he knew that much beyond all shadow of a doubt, and he was equally sure none of the vampires Roman was associated with were responsible, even if he wouldn't have lost any sleep over implicating a few vampires he knew. Doing so wouldn't bring any peace to Keelin's family though, not when Claude felt sure they were innocent.
“I know he didn't, Claude,” Niall soothed gently, the confidence in his voice making it clear there was no room for brokering conflicting theories, a fact that made the younger fairy smile. He wasn't sure how or when his grandfather had become so confident in the vampire he had been prepared to kill on mere suspicions, yet instead married off to his grandson in the most nontraditional of ways, but Claude appreciated it all the same... And as was always the case, he was certain Niall had his reasons. “I wouldn't being doing this for you-- I wouldn't be doing this for the both of you-- if I had any doubt of that.”
“I could use Roman's help though,” Claude admitted, without shame. “Where the investigation into Keelin's death is concerned. He offered to help.”
“Yet you chose not to let him? Why?”
That was a good question, with more than one answer, and Claude considered his words carefully, letting silence fall between him and his grandfather as they leisurely walked deeper into the heart of Sky. It hadn't been easy to decline Roman's offer, even if the idea of investigating much of the mystery at night hadn't been appealing, or even very logical. And even though Roman had expressed his frustration with the nature of his race on more than one occasion, the fact that his husband was a vampire meant he possessed a whole host of gifts no fairy did, ones that could have proven extremely useful in the investigation. Yet when it came to talking to other fairies and reaching out to the rest of Sky that also called the human realm home, Claude had known their reluctance to speak around a vampire, or even to be reminded of Claude's proximity to a vampire wouldn't have been well-received.
“It's a fairy matter,” he finally answered. “And he's not a fairy.”
Niall laughed lightly, the traces of a smile ghosting on his lips. “He most certainly is not,” the Sky prince agreed. “Yet that hasn't stopped him from journeying here regularly, even before either of you could be certain he wouldn't be killed on sight.”
“I always say he's as entitled to Faery as I am,” Claude agreed with a firm nod of his head, and the younger prince fully believed his own words.
“Then what is the problem?”
Again, Claude hesitated, but only for a moment. “Just because I say it, doesn't mean anyone else has to believe it, or trust that he's really on our side. I'm not you. I don't have your authority. I've always broken or fought against all the rules,” he pointed out, and really, Claude was quite proud of that fact, even though he was sure it had regularly been a nuisance for the elder fairy. “Just because you've given my marriage your blessing doesn't mean you've really given Roman your blessing, or at least it doesn't mean that to everyone else.” Though he wouldn't presume to really understand much of his enigmatic grandfather, Claude was positive Niall had.
“Hmmm,” Niall hummed thoughtfully, with a small nod of understanding. “And what would you have done to correct that?”
“That's between the two of you,” Claude answered, and this time, his response was immediate. Roman had expressed his desire to truly be a part of Sky, more so than the role he had now, something that went beyond merely being welcomed at the palace, and Claude had told him that was a matter for him to discuss with Niall. And while he was willing to plant the seed with his grandfather and would support Roman every step of the way if he decided to speak to Niall about it, he wouldn't speak for him now. “But helping me with this can't hurt.”
As if on cue, the pair rounded a bend, and Niall held out a hand in presentation to his grandson. “Will this suffice?”
For a moment, the only thing the younger fairy could do was take the sight in, but he couldn't keep the beaming smile from his face. “It's perfect, grandfather.”
And in Claude's opinion, it really was. The cottage was small, at least in comparison to his family's palace residence in Sky, but it felt open and immediately inviting, and he couldn't help but speed up his steps as he approached it. Welcomed by blooming gardens of texture and colors so bright, the human realm could never know their duplicate, his hand trailed over the plants and flowers as he made his way up the foot path and into the dwelling. Windows in every direction let in copious amounts of the Faery sunshine, keeping the inside nearly as bright as the world outside, and he moved easily through the open rooms, taking one in rapidly before moving through to the next. In short succession, he had retreated through the back, coming to a stand still on the small strip of land that separated it from the deep, crystal clear, blue waters that belonged to and were protected by Sky. Looking up and down the narrow stretch of white shore, there was no one as far as the eye could see.
“It's not a very popular place,” Niall mused aloud, causing Claude to spin around on the spot, the younger fairy nearly having forgotten his grandfather was with him. “Even in the dominion of Sky, it is difficult to ignore the danger water has always presented.”
Shrugging a shoulder in indifference, Claude usually wasn't quite so flippant where water was concerned-- at least not when in the human realm-- and he ventured to the water's edge, kneeling to run his fingers through the warm waters in response. “Roman likes the water the way I like the sun,” he stated simply, though he knew his grandfather was already well aware of that fact. “And I want him to be happy and comfortable when we're here. You should have seen him when he talked about the sea in Water. It was his heaven.” That was what Roman had thought and believed it had been until he had smelled Faery on Claude after his first trip home in some time and recognized the scent. “And the palace is as far away from this part of Sky as possible. I've kept him from it.”
“Does this mean we will never see you, even when you have come home?”
Standing to face his grandfather again, he shook his head. “Of course not,” he answered succinctly. “It's the family home.” And though there were no doubt members of his clan who would like to deny the fact, Roman was undeniably now a part of their family, even if only through marriage. “Last year, for his birthday, he told me all he wanted was the sun again.” He couldn't give it to him then, not in the way he had since, not without his death being as certain as if he met the sun in the human realm. “This year, I can give it to him properly... along with more than he realized he could have. Thank you for making it possible, grandfather.”
“What a difference a year makes,” the elder prince mused quietly, and the words couldn't have been more true. It had been a long journey, one that wasn't nearly over yet, but one Niall was certain was headed in the right direction finally. “Think nothing of it. I would do most anything for my family.”
Claude couldn't shake the grateful smile on his face. “I have a blood cake to bake yet, so I should be getting back, but I really can't thank you enough.”
“Give the vampire my regards on this anniversary of his, and we will be even.”
“I can do that,” he promised with a nod before stepping forward to kiss his grandfather's cheeks in farewell. “And I'll be back soon.”
Nodding once to his grandson, Niall watched his grandson disappeared from the spot, returning to the portal between realms they had traveled through. “Blood cake to bake,” he mused aloud, his lips quirking into the hint of a smile. “I will never cease to be amazed by the talents of my kin.” And with that, the ancient prince disappeared from the silent beach, to wonder to himself just how many talents he had yet to uncover.