i noticed a bird on my way here. made me feel strange. [ iorveth for mousesack ! ]
the animals stir a little when the elf approaches, but emìl does not. he runs a gentle hand along a goat's back, when he is finished with checking her hoove, murmurs reassurances to the sheep, no magic needed. they go quiet again, trusting, unassuming.
he cleans his hands, pensive, but void of worry. were it anyone else, perhaps he would be inclined to think this a ruse to fill the silence, to glide over the still not recovered from gap of their separation, the dissonance of having known one another, while also not knowing one another, not entirely, not like they once did. not as they once were. emil doesn't mourn this inevitability, he merely adapts to it. not as a lover, not even as a friend should iorveth not wish it so, but as someone who can offer a safe space; the house is distant enough from human settlements that the druid could almost call himself a recluse, as well as surrounded by magic to ward off against any intruder.
'' was it a red bird, with a white spot in the shape of a leaf? '' he takes in their features properly, now, if only to reassure himself that the elf is not carrying any present injuries. '' i found one under my window last spring, the poor thing was so hurt it could barely move. one of the wings was broken, you see. well, i nursed him back to health and he comes to visit from time to time. ''
emìl moves his tools aside, then begins to walk towards the house. he demands nothing, the offer implicit. inside, there is warm tea and homemade wine, fresh honey and a pleasant hearth. they could talk, or sit in silence. iorveth might remain exactly where he is, not quite into his home yet, not quite out of it either.
herakles, accepting









