A Modest Affair [Stefan]

[Kala Leukos]

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"I would agree with you on that point," she said, perhaps to his surprise. "As someone born to privilege, I make an effort to learn about the people who don't have it, the better to serve them. My brothers and I were raised to believe that we are servants of our people. I do not know how a God-King would be able to empathize with his subjects, and I think it would be better for the next Shokaze to focus on Kalzasi's welfare while Talon Novalys focuses on his Dawnmartyrs and the promulgation of justice in the world."

But she didn't dwell on that subject.

"I spend a fair amount of time in the Archives. It has to be on days where I have allotted a fair amount of time, though. It is too easy to lose track of time with all that knowledge at my fingertips." She smiled. "Ahh, my studies were broad at first: natural philosophy; sciences; history. Now I find myself more often looking for obscure runeforging schema for an artisan that my family patronizes. A servant to the people..."

She smiled again. For all her lofty title, she liked being of service to Torin, helping him create his wonders. Their conversation might have continued, but someone caught sight of them from the door and immediately collapsed upon them. Kala was gracious about the interruption; it was a party, after all. When they moved back inside, the ebb and flow of social interaction separated her from Master Dornkirk. Once she was certain that her guests were getting along swimmingly, she repaired to her room.

She had a suspicion. After locking the door, Kala sat down in her chair and upended a vial of ghostwine into her mouth. Soon enough, she had separated from her body and her astral form descended to observe the party. When she found Master Dornkirk, she could more clearly see his winged double.

"Hello," she said, addressing the spirit directly. "Welcome to the party. I wish I could offer you some refreshment, but I don't know how to do so in this realm." She bowed. "I am Kala Leukos. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

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[Stefan Dornkirk]

Stefan was engaged enough in the conversation that it took him abruptly when someone else from the party reengaged his attention. Walking with his host and the man who seemed deeply interested in airship engineering (at least it was a topic he was comfortable speaking on), Stefan accepted, with surprising regret, that he would likely not speak with Lady Kala again.

The rest of the night went about as he had expected it to, with some useful networking, but mostly schmoozing and small talk over single-bite refreshments. He had not the faintest inkling of what the Lady of the house was up to, assuming, wrongly, that she was making her way through the guests.

When she appeared again, and approached the unknowing Stefan, the being who hovered near him, sometimes watching what was going on, but more often just watching him, turned toward her. It did not appear frightened, only mildly curious.

It did not open its mouth to answer her, but there was an inkling of both understanding and a chime of answering greeting. After blinking slowly, seeming confused by the polite regret at not being able to feed it, the filmy body attempted something like a bow. It was not well done, not even really physically making sense.

At that moment Stefan took his leave of a specific group of nobles and made a brief bow to them. The winged copy's eyes lit up as though now he understood and made an exact copy of the small bow. A little smile creased its face that would have looked strange to the point of seeming unreal to anyone who knew Stefan well.

Kala. It spoke into her mind, obviously interested in speaking to someone who acknowledged its presence, but also reluctant to be further from Stefan than an arm's length.

[Kala Leukos]

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Kala's ghostly form smiled. So it was a ghostly spirit. She was content to stay close to Stefan's living form. A guest walked through her and immediately shivered. Kala laughed, glancing to the spirit to see if it had observed, whether it was amused by the reaction of the living. She imagined he was a well-behaved ghost or something would have been done about him by now. Surely Zaichaer had state-sanctioned necromancers, though she supposed a clever ghost could have hidden from any state-sanctioned seers. Stefan Dornkirk was probably not often under the suspicious eye of the Order of Reconciliation.

Smiling again, she bowed back to him. Just because he was dead didn't mean he wasn't her guest now.

She nodded when he acknowledged her name and tried to respond in kind, with words, images, and concepts.

Kala Leukos, she thought, pointing to herself. Stefan Dornkirk. She pointed at the man whose face was amiable and animated talking about airships, though his voice sounded almost as though she were hearing from underwater. Other senses were sharper like this. Then she pointed at the spirit. You?

She followed up with another amalgamation of words, images, and concepts: the birth of twins, their growth, and then her twin standing next to her, also smiling. Kaus Leukos. Brother. Twin. Then she pointed at the ghost and at Stefan. Brother? Twin?

And then, while he mulled over what she was communicating, she tried one more thing. She showed herself preparing ghostwine, drinking ghostwine, her spirit separating from her body to come down and meet him. Magic. Necromancy. Communicate.

Then, she stopped, allowing him time to process and respond. He was likely unused to communication, only knowing what he had observed, just as he had learned how to bow from watching his brother.

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[Stefan Dornkirk]

The faded version of Stefan's smile widened, but more as though Kala's laugh interested and possibly delighted it than from any realization of what had caused the expression of amusement.

When Kala pointed at her living guest and said his name, the smile widened further, tinged with something of familiar recognition. The ghost nodded, turning back to look at Stefan, giving the impression that it, at any moment, might nuzzle at the well-dressed man as an affectionate animal might.

Stefan

Its voice, if it could be called that, made the mind of whoever heard it realize just how controlled and repressed Stefan must be; as any adult really, must be. It sounded almost exactly as he did, only free. The inflection on the name implied ownership, but not possessiveness. The question that followed the two other names confused the ghost in a very obvious way. In fact, though it was not without grace, all the ghost's reactions were unnervingly child-like for such a masculinely adult form.

'Listening' to all the information Kala was projecting took several moments and then, tilting its head to one side in an exaggerated version of what Stefan did when he was trying to learn something new it thought about it. Eyes lighting up in realization it projected back a set of living memories. They were odd, pink and red only, of two forms, wrapped around each other in the ever-tightening space of another body. The body gave them life, nourished their growing forms, but they gave each other nourishment of another kind. Without words to understand the concept, or realization that it was an unexplainable personal thing, it pressed into Kala the feeling of their Bond.

It was one she was uniquely suited to understand, for she shared it with her own brother.

At the end of the sharing of memories, it nodded, casting the word 'Twin' back, though the meaning was more like 'same soul'.

The explanation of ghostwine seemed to go entirely over the ghost's capability of understanding. A little shake of the head was meant to explain that he didn't understand, but there was no frustration or confusion in it. It did not know a thing, that was all.

[Kala Leukos]

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StefanTwin, she communicated, reaching out to rest a ghostly hand upon a ghostly chest. Touching wasn't the same without bodies, but it was a gentle sort of greeting. Though even identical twins were different people, communicating with Stefan's deceased brother was enlightening. This was more like who he must have been before the world shaped him.

As for the connection that seemed to have tethered the nameless twin to Stefan, it resonated like her own bond with Kaus.

Corebond, she supplied. Whether she would ever get a chance to communicate with him again, at least she could provide him with some language should he encounter anyone else. The thought perturbed her, and she felt a pull to protect him. He was an innocent. But then, he had survived three decades or so unscathed.

After a bit more communication, she felt the pull of her body and bid him farewell with another bow that he could mimic.

I see you, she reminded him, hoping he would know that she could see him when she was back in her body. And then she was back in her body. Chafing her arms, she rose and walked carefully toward the door, making sure she could wiggle her toes and feel her scalp, that her spirit fully inhabited her body again.

Downstairs, the party was swimming along. Even scholars liked to enjoy music, food, and libations. The servants moved like clockwork through the guests, keeping everyone happy. She smiled at one, then found her way back to Stefan Dornkirk. While nobody was looking, she winked at his ghost, who she could see through her Rune of Semblance now that she had the necromantic context to understand what she was sensing. Her return was well-timed, as the person currently speaking to the Zaichaeri man made polite excuses and then sought the restroom.

It was difficult not to look measuringly at the tall man, wondering if he had any idea of the secret that followed him around like a lost puppy.

"Have we exhausted you yet, Mister Dornkirk?"

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[Stefan Dornkirk]

Stefan was wholly unaware that anything was transpiring beyond his immediate senses. There had been times when he'd felt something, tugging at him, reassuring him, just nearby and otherly, but as he'd grown up the feelings had faded, or, rather, he'd gotten better at ignoring them, knowing they weren't real, until, as an adult, he rarely felt anything of the kind.

Time passed in conversation, most of it at least not inane, and Stefan was, if not relaxed, at least not desperate to leave by the time Lady Leukos returned to check on him. She was an attentive hostess, and not just to the 'guest of honor', so, of course, her time was split in many directions.

The form that was him, but not him, observed that Kala could still observe him, and nodded a little at her wink. Its mannerisms were a stranger amalgamation of Stefan's refined ones and the sort an infant might make if it were capable of fine motor skills. The combination made interacting with the ghost even more otherworldly, inhuman, almost.

At the question, Stefan was tempted to smile. It was easily understandable why a host might playfully ask such a question, but it was exactly the sort of thing that someone who knew him well might ask.

"Not yet, Lady Kala. I am told that each scholar has something unique to inform me of, and it would be impolite of my to become exhausted before I had heard each out."

Glancing around, he went on,

"As there are only about a hundred, and I have spoken to at least a dozen so far, it is logical to assume that I am still quite energetic."

Perhaps there was also something to having had several glasses of the excellent alcoholic libation on offer in the returned playfulness of his reply, but he felt relaxed, cheerful and comfortable in Kala's presence.

[Kala Leukos]

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Kala laughed at his sally, also pleased that his good humor had a similar effect on his dead brother.

"I am glad to hear it. Then we shan't have to ready the dungeon to chain you up until they have all talked your ear off."

Some few guests had already left, having spoken to Mister Dornkirk, the hostess, and whoever else they wanted to see, but the party wasn't showing any signs of flagging. It was likely she would get a moment alone with him when he finally departed—certainly she would ensure that he was put safely into a cab unless he needed to be put in a guest room until morning—but she didn't know if she would get another opportunity to speak with him at any length. There had been no rubric in any necromantic document that told her how to tell a man that the ghost of his twin was hanging about him. Either he would think she was disturbed or he would think her a witch, neither of which would be helpful for diplomacy or for the happiness of the spirit anchored to him.

"If you ever do need a brief respite, however, I or one of the servants can show you to a place where you can have a modicum of privacy." Her smile was compassionate without implying that he would need such a place.

"I just took a moment to myself as well," she admitted. "I enjoy parties well enough, and hosting is a welcome challenge, but a moment away from the noise can help me enjoy it for longer."

She didn't know that he was similar in that, but she got the impression that he might be. While not the most veteran of hostesses, she did attempt to make these things events that even introverts could enjoy.

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[Rune]

R E V I E W

Lore:
Kala: 14
Stefan: 13

Points: 10 each, Kala may use for

Injuries/Ailments:

Loot:

Notes: