Look. I have said it in tags, but like. If you have any more of that little ficlet with Elias fastening a collar around poor kidnapped Jon, I will very, very, VERY gladly hear/read all about it, please? I am so intrigued. (And here for this)
I do have a little more, and a vague plotty thing in my head. it’s an AU-ish thing.
There are people who have the potential to have powers and become Avatars. But they need to be found and claimed by their patron, and trained into their powers, and changed. There are people who work hunting down people with potential to capture them and sell them off to the highest bidder.
They probably all have their own themes, ways of showing their people are marked. And for Beholding, for the Eye, it’s falconry themed. Hoods and jesses and bells.
So Elias has a small but exquisite collection. Tim is there, in the Mews, because his brother was taken by the Stranger, and he offered himself to Beholding in the hope that he could get revenge. Martin possibly because he has so much potential, and Beholding offered to make sure his mother was taken care of well for the rest of her life if he became theirs.
And poor Jon burns so bright that Elias had to snatch him up. It could be worse. Could have been grabbed by Corruption. They don't train their Avatars. They just infest them. And Elias takes good care of his birds. They live in luxury and he likes to show them off and he is very careful with training them.