#threads: lian

[godsxchariots]

for: @riguangs

location: elea's mageireia

A busy throng of gentlemen crowded the mageireia, creating an unimaginable stir with their excited commotion. The city had been set alight by the pronouncement, and life poured abundantly across the streets; but a monolith of public excitement had never been Alexei's lot. His homecoming had yet to reach a notable high --- he had thus far failed to exercise the shadow of the past across his present. But in Lian, whose company he had presently engaged in a fine meal, a more amiable mood could be entertained in him. For Lian would always be a source of great comfort; Alexei's lip twitched furiously, as a smile threatened to take way. Lian was so throughly in their element, delighting Alexei with his perfect earnestness; any other personification of goodness would render Alexei ill, but this was a chief exception. "You must acquaint me with the greatest of your adventures since our last meeting --- surely your nose has not remained entirely in a book? I remember well, your unflinching devotion to study." Time had rendered Lian's features regal, a fine reflection of their noble profession; by their side, Alexei was ever a tramp, unkept and unsavoury. Their tresses, dark as doom, endless like the waves of the sea; Lian was a brilliant mark for all eyes. Despite the muted pallor that always covered his features, Alexei felt he was in one of his finest moods; he contended with Lian with an animation he rarely delved into. Lian would ever be as fine a companion as his lost kin; it was this tenderness, that allowed Alexei to voice his fears, unclouded by any false rant. "I have been thinking what lays for me here; has the city become any more kind, any more hospitable? I fear I have become a creature of dark habit -- I do not know what the realities of a peaceful existence could be."

[graeclings]

for: @wanshangs

location: sitting room at elaris keep

“Could I interest you in a card game ? Or maybe, a more relaxing game of checkers — I am not a master of strategy in affairs that carry weight, but I warn you that I am rarely rivaled in chess.” If Lian had found their quiet consumption of the book clasped in their hands, pitifully interrupted, they gave no indications as Tristan flopped into the seat opposite them. Good humored and rosy cheeked, he felt very much his old self; eager to speak to others, all morose thoughts dismissed from his mind for an afternoon. “We can pretend the crown wearer is not about to be chosen — I wonder what it would be like, to hold such a conversation as to decide our fates; what virtues would you hold most important, in deciding our futures ? I would place empathy, above all others, as so many of our leaders lack a capacity to care.”