Sharp Enough to Get the Point [Æros]

[Hilana Chenzira]

Early Frost, Year 122


[Closed - Æros]

It was early in the day, though time ran more on clocks these days rather than where the sun was in the sky. The aetheric orb up there was unchanging, and Hilana knew that something was going to have to be done about the shadow creatures. Every last one of them was an annoyance that kept the nomad within the cities unless she had someone with her that could deal with them. She was still working on Elementalism, still developing her skills, but the girl would take regular, steady progress over nothing. All the same, she couldn't handle them so easily on her own. Not yet.

Hayima’el had been groomed and saddled for today’s excursion, though they weren’t going far by Hilana’s standards. Then again, anything less than a week’s ride with seasoned riders - none of this six-eight hour days - meant she wasn’t going far. Hilana had an appointment of sorts outside of the largest of walls that surrounded the Sacred City, and it was just over a good ten miles out along the Vasta and then south a bit. For the oversized camel and his mistress with a companion, it was an hour’s ride, and the Vastiana went out there regularly, usually once a month, for the same reason: to supervise and patch up Reaving initiations of the Vastian Guard. The Commander who performed the initiations was a friend of Vasilei’s, and he liked having him out there. But with Hilana in Solunarium now, being the desert crawler that she is, Vasilei preferred to send his student out there and encourage her to make the connections and build relationships so that others could meet her and she would have an easier time being accepted and get approval there amongst those in positions that were beneficial.

She guided Hayima’el through the early morning traffic of the Antiquine district, and even though it was early, it was already starting to bustle. Packed and tall as he was, Hayima’el commanded a decent circle of being left alone. From there, they entered the Sorokyne, and finally, they entered the peaceful, quiet, pristine Aurecine district. This area she was becoming far more comfortable with, simply due to her coming and going more and more for lessons, and just visiting. She knew that this hour was bound to be ungodly for Dominus Æros, but for the girl, this was entirely normal. She bade her camel to lay down in the fine, pristine sand, and dismounted. Tiaz was settled on her shoulders as he usually was, and Hayima’el waited. The girl made her way towards the door, and instead of raising her hand to knock on the door, she focused, and found the wind spirits teasing her. Was she going to try? Would she offer them something for them to knock for her?

Indeed she did - Hilana offered them a tendril of aether, then a second one, and the knocker lifted with the air, and knocked it back down twice before releasing, and the girl thanked the spirits, her hands smoothing her bright green and gold skirts. “Good morning,” she greeted the servus brightly. “Could you let Dominus Æros know that Hilana is here and ready, if he is?”

[Aeros]

TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -

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With the false sun persisting into Frost, Æros knew that the reason for its presence was far more than simple vanity. As much as the half-blood missed the cooler comforts of the night, there was little he could do about it for the moment; such a thing was currently far beyond his control. So in the meantime, he’d just been doing his level best to improve himself in skills both magical and mundane. His ultimate goal was a steady rise in personal power, which, he hoped, would enable a rise in station that would allow him to quench many of his copious curiosities.

Knowing he’d plans to accompany Hilana out to view a Reaving initiation, he found himself dressed and waiting alone, reading, in a study for one of the servii to come fetch him. He wore a luminescent, white chiton that seemed to possess a purplish, æetheric glow at the edges, secured over only one shoulder. Always a fan of jewelry, Æros wore plenty; white gold in metal and accompanied by that same ætheric glow extending the tips of his ears, his clawed nails, and giving the reflections of the metal he wore a cooler sort of tint. He found this modest, all things considered, but some may be inclined to disagree.

When a sweet-faced servus knocked on the door and announced her purpose, he was swift to get up and find his way to the foyer, meeting up with Hilana. “Ave and good morrow, Hilana. Shall we, then…?” He was, for all intents and purposes, ready to depart, much as he did loathe activities that had to be performed out in the endless, artificial sunlight. Æros was, however, excited about the prospect of learning to fight and the eventual acquisition of Reaving for himself.

- - -

'Thoughts'

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

[Hilana Chenzira]

Hilana was ready and waiting when Æros came out, standing back a bit from the door, and she bowed low to him, Tiaz chilling on her shoulders. “Good morning, Dominus, how are you?” She was pleased to see him all ready to go. “Your outfit is beautiful. It suits you so well,” she beamed at him, leading him over to Hayima’el. The sunshade was up and attached to the saddle, so they would at least have relief in that regard from the heat from the journey. Hilana’s course would take them down the river, and there was enough protection that way that the shadow creatures would not be bothering them. The girl had been assured of that because when the Guardsman came to let her know about the change in the date, she and Vasilei had inquired. There would be no issues. Wards had been installed along the Vasta, and there were enough patrols and exercises happening that the herbalist and her companions would not need to worry about it.

The process of getting up on the beast and getting moving was soon underway, and the girl had them moving through the Aurecine and out into the North Antiquine. Hayima’el moved at a good pace, and the camel’s size and thorny disposition towards strangers soon became clear as to why Hilana found them advantageous. The denizens of the North Antiquine were often the poorest, but the camel certainly kept at bay those who might have considered it; even without Æros needing to use Mesmer to shoo people off. They went past the Wyvern Aerie, and headed North, continuing towards the River.

“Have you had breakfast, Dominus?” It was an innocent enough question - Hilana had a tendency to try to stuff him with food when she came to see him or collect him for some project, and invariably there would be an awful lot of food. As it was, the girl had packed breakfast and a picnic lunch for her friend. She a wide-mouthed jar of farro porridge with dates, cardamom, and vanilla that could be eaten with a spoon, creamy and chewy with a few surprise pieces of walnut hidden for texture. There was also a cask of warm, milky tea that had caramel notes in it to enhance the dates, along with some other warming spices, like cinnamon. Something easy to eat on the road, but filling at the same time. The breeze coming off of the Vasta was pleasant indeed for the horned hybrid, which just made it so much easier to deal with the never ending, relentless sun.

[Aeros]

TIMESTAMP: -
NOTES: -

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Since spending a bit more time in the Luxium, he'd been dressing in lighter colors so as not to look so much as if he were a walking void up in the sunlit sands. Granted, this only applied when he knew he'd be topside, since for work, the Umbrium was once again where he would spend the majority of his time. As an artist, he was used to this– but as a senator? Frankly, he'd always associated that job up amongst gilded buildings and beneath blue skies. There was novelty to working beneath the dragons, and while he preferred them to the strict Sanguinist beliefs that Thalya IV and the unbroken line had ruled with, it was still…not his ideal.

When greeting Hilana, however, he didn't exactly feel like discussing the finer points of the recent political shifts; his day to day revolved around such things and he liked to find reasons to temporarily 'forget' about it. Though he did find himself enjoying the job, there was simply more to life. "I am well, all things considered. Busy…but I did join the senate right as Solunarium was, effectively, split in twain," Æros shrugged, "...at least Janus– my uncle– is more than happy to offer me his insight. Beyond that? I have Khyan all to myself and I've made great strides with my magic, so I've nothing of note to complain about, really." His only slight gripe was that he wanted to see more of the mercurial golden figure he'd spoken to only briefly at the Solar Sovereign's jubilee, but, well, there was little he could do about that other than wait.

The camel's sunshade and Elementalist's crystal he carried with him were incredibly welcome as they made their way through the city. Without them, the winter-blessed elf would likely feel overheated and light headed. For now, he was only slightly uncomfortable. The question of if he'd eaten was one he should've expected given his companion, but he nonetheless found himself slightly embarrassed by his equally predictable answer of, "...no, I haven't."

But of course, she knew that, and as such, was quick to bring out food she'd packed. When it came to feeding himself, Æros was incredibly lazy, but offer him food? Suddenly, he'd become really rather gluttonous. As Hayima'el continued and they neared their destination, the majority of the provided food would be gone. "I'm quite a fan of cinnamon and vanilla– and, well…whatever else was in that; thank you."

Those who they intended to meet up with were all strangers to Æros, though he knew that Hilana had connections to them through Vasilei, at least.

- - -

'Thoughts'

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

[Hilana Chenzira]

There were better things to talk about. Hilana was actually somewhat distressed about it, but she would sort out her feelings in time. And she hadn’t seen fit to bring it up with him; but she would get his input in due time. He would know far more than she did, what with being a senator: what she found out was simply third or fourth hand. But there was a lot of talk about it. One thing Hilana knew; her heart was with her friends below, but her life was in the Luxium up above. She would not move her camel and her ridiculous assortment of plants and snakes underground. Risdra would hate it, too, even if cats were comfortable in the dark. But Hilana had raised her in the sun, and the concept of getting her basking lights because there was no sun below? Absolutely not. But her mask afforded her the luxury of just passing through silently when she wanted to. No one really looked at her. Not anymore.

But as he talked about keeping busy, Æros could surely hear her pleasure and pride in him for hearing it. It was perhaps a silly thing, considering just how far below his status she was, but the Equestrian girl, one step up from a Plebeian and then only because of money, was absolutely thrilled for him. She was proud of him, of his advancement and his progress, and the fact that he was doing what he said he would do: occupy his time, and keep moving. Keep focusing, and keep going. And it was paying off. She enjoyed her time that she spent with him and Palaemon at her lessons, or fussing around in the gardens with the Moonborn. It was not uncommon for her to stop by regularly, even when she didn’t have a lesson scheduled, to bring in treats that she had made or a plant that she had thought of and wanted Palae to get his hands on and enjoy, too.

But she had anticipated his not having eaten. Even if they had kitchen servii there, Hilana still brought food around because she enjoyed it, and she enjoyed sharing it with those who could tolerate her unrelenting cheerfulness. Besides, it was fun to cook the food that she enjoyed, and funner still when she could produce something that wasn’t altered with magic into being something more than what it was. Hearty, filling food that had its own skill in the preparation. And Dominus Æros was a good friend. “I’m glad that you liked it. I can write it down for you when we get back to the city and you can give it to your kitchen staff. It’s a farro pudding, really, kind of like oatmeal and porridge, but I used farro instead and gave it a bit of a kick up with everything in it.” It had been a good ride, at least, and most of it along the waters of the Vasta. The sunshade overhead was quite colourful, and it matched the rest of the piebald camel’s blankets and pads. And with the girl who owned him, the array of colours made sense.

They’d turned away from the river after a little while, and gone perhaps a distance from the water. There were tents set up here that Æros could see, and multiple people of different ages; but most of them were Vastii. There were even a few hybrids, and most of them wore the colours of the initiates of the Vastian Guard. The kingdom’s navy. Most of the tents were military issue, smaller, simple, and nothing fancy. But two of them were more open, more of sunshades than anything else, and it was to the smaller of the two large tents that Hilana guided Hayima’el towards. There were greetings; a number of the older ones seemed familiar with the girl and were happy to see her. “Here we are,” she smiled at her friend, and the camel laid down at Hilana’s encouragement in the cool shade, allowing the two of them to slide off easily. “Good morning, Commander,” she bowed to one of the elder Vastii. “Dominus Æros, this is Primus Pilus Asim Ohannes. Commander, this is Dominus Æros of House Saelyan. He has an interest in learning Reaving in time, and I wanted him to witness how you perform your initiations.” She made the introductions.

“Welcome to our encampment, Dominus,” the Commander bowed to the Re’hyaean hybrid as was appropriate. “It is an honour to have you here. It is good to see you, Hilana. I see the beasts haven’t carried you off yet. One day, I’ll have to initiate you so that you can manage as well, hm?” This sounded like normal banter in a way; though considering Æros had been the one to talk her around to a Rune, the miracle had already happened. Maybe in time his determination to master just about every branch of magic that he could was going to rub off on her. "If when we are done you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them for you."

“Perhaps one day,” the girl smiled at him. “I’ll get my supplies ready. You can sit, Dominus,” there was a comfortable enough chair already there, and a second one was being brought over since Hilana had brought a guest to see this. Two words to the assistant following the Commander had the young man saluting and hurrying off to go alert the aspiring Reavers that they were ready to begin. From Hayima’el’s saddlebags Hilana brought a number of leather satchels, each of them organized and put on the low table beside the chair. She offered Æros one of the skins of iced tea before finally sitting down in the chair beside him, Tiaz wrapped around her shoulders. A bottle of disinfectant and a cloth was at the ready, and an aspirant came over to her, offering his bare shoulder. Hilana used the cloth to ensure the liquid in the bottle would not drizzle down over his hands, and she sluiced the skin with it before giving him a nod.

In the sands before them, under the sun, Primus Pilus Asim strode forward, his swords in sheaths on his hips, and out came the disinfected initiate carrying a khopesh. He bowed to the Commander, and offered Asim his blade. “How familiar with this ritual are you?” Hilana asked Æros quietly, barely audible. “The Rune is inscribed here using the Pact Weapon... which is the blade that he just gave the Commander. Once it is done... they fight. And if he fails... if he loses the weapon... He becomes a soul cairn.” She knew enough about this initiation, at least, from having seen it as often as she had. The shoulder that Hilana had just disinfected was cleansed and purified was presented to the Master, who cut into his flesh with the blade, drawing on the Rune and speaking quietly to him the entire time. The weapon was returned to the aspirant, and Asim drew his own swords as blood dripped from the inscription on his skin, though it went no further than where Hilana’s solution had been. Whatever she had used was meant to keep the blood from going anywhere else.

“Begin!” barked Asim, and the young man surged forward while the Commander met his blade with his own, and just like that, the battle was on.

[Aeros]

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Æros remembered that, a month and some back, he’d promised Hilana to, essentially, reroute the trajectory of his life. Back then, while he did certainly intend to keep that promise insofar as he would certainly try, he didn’t quite believe he’d succeed in his endeavor to do so. But days and weeks flit by like pages of a story and he’d done as he said; he’d made great, tangible strides forward for himself, but he’d not bothered to congratulate himself or really look back at how much progress he’d actually made. In fact, he’d not really acknowledged it as a point of pride for himself at all, so when he hear the ring of pleased pride in his friend’s Symphony at his words regarding himself, he was genuinely fairly taken aback. Yet in thinking about it, why was he surprised? Æros was doing exactly what he said he would and, it was, in fact, paying off; he smiled softly to himself at the thought, though he said nothing aloud.

As they rode along and Æros finished off most of the food Hilana had brought, he commented on it and she ended up offering the recipe in return. “I’d like that if you wrote it down, yes. There’s plenty of people at home who’d like the taste of it, too, I think.” The half-elf responded with a smile. Continuing forth, the path was not long before the pair and camel arrived at their intended destination.

The patrician stayed silent as Hilana introduced him to the commander, offering the other man an amiable sort of expression while she spoke. For his part, the commander responded in kind. Æros nodded, “I’ll let you know if I do. I’m looking to acquire the Craft myself.”

The star-touched halfblood waited as everyone else around him moved to begin their final preparations, sitting down when the second chair was brought over. He had a decent general knowledge of how this initiation was supposed to work, but he’d never actually seen one done before. While it would be informative regardless of whether the initiate succeeded or failed, he would rather they lived– one cannot really ask many questions from somebody who fails any initiation, even though this one did not result in a traditional death.

To Hilana’s question, “I know a fair amount about it from an academic perspective; we learned at least as much as the initiations for every common cardinal rune. I wonder how this one will fare,” Æros asked with a slight cant to his head, chin resting in one of his hands. The Fae’s eyes were kept steady on the initiate as he was bade to begin.

- - -

'Thoughts'

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

[Hilana Chenzira]

The idea that some of his family might enjoy her cooking absolutely tickled Hilana, and he could tell. She was used to cooking for larger amounts of people, and that probably explained the sheer amount that she usually packed around with her - from scones to sweet dessert loaves to cookies to cakes, from farro porridge, pitas stuffed with chicken and vegetables and rice, rice casseroles... but she liked to feed people. It seemed to go hand in hand with healing them; food was a type of medicine of its own. She loved sharing her culture with him; and she did have sense enough not to bring him something like roasted scorpions.

Not that she’d ever told him if she had, so maybe... But best not to think about it. She’d been amply forthright thus far about what sorts of goodies she brought, and nothing had been too far off of the beaten path.

“Oh, are you now? Excellent. I am always happy to pass it on, provided you can pass a test of weapon skills first,” Commander Asim told him. “Vastian Guard or Golden Guard, or a friend of Hilana’s... it is a good skill to have if you can master it. That’s why I require a test of your combat ability first. I would imagine that someone of your education and status would understand why.” This initiation was far more risky than the standard Rune; Reaving was arguably one of the most dangerous Runes that one could acquire, simply based on the difficulty and risks of the initiation. It was better to be well-prepared for it than not, and requiring a test of skill and ability would at least help ensure his best chances.

Hilana nodded when Dominus Æros told her that he understood it from the academic perspective. She knew it through the opposite; watching. Vasilei had given her the run-down, as had the Commander, and she had done enough of these to understand it now. The breeze that came off of the river, though it was some distance away, still kept things moving and Hilana gave Æros a skin of ice cold, sweetened, but slightly spicy tea before finally sitting down beside him on her own chair. It had a faint kick, but the sweetness took over and it was quite pleasant. It seemed to be one of her chai teas that she had added some other things to, but she always liked to give him something different, sussing out what he liked and what he didn’t like as much so that she could keep tailoring her offerings to his preferences.

Blade struck blade, and so began a song and dance that was as intricate as the Master Mesmer’s when he was on the stage. A duel between skilled combatants was a sight to behold, and Hilana was quiet as she watched. Tiaz was perfectly comfortable draped on Hilana’s shoulders, though he had doubled up on himself somewhat to make himself look even bigger than he was. He was otherwise content where he was, and had gone back to sleep. Or was just being his lazy, spoiled self. It was hard to tell when he didn’t radiate anything other than contentment. No matter how many of these initiations Hilana watched, she was always apprehensive. She was always concerned for those that were undertaking the trial as a healer. The aspirant feinted, testing out his superior’s speed and quickness as his khopesh flashed again and again. And yet, this was not a test. This was a fight for survival and success, because he had to win. At the same time, his trainer could not afford to take it easy on him, because one had to go all out.

Sparks were flying, and Æros could feel the grit and determination in the aspirant as he ground his teeth. He was taking cuts and wounds, but he hadn’t lost his blade yet and and he seemed to be hanging onto himself as well. After perhaps ten furious minutes, he finally scored a hit on the Commander’s armour, and had the blade continued through, it might have been a fatal one. Just like that, the fight was over and the combatants broke apart. The blades were lowered, and hands were clasped. The rune had been successfully conferred, and now another aspirant was approaching where Hilana and Æros sat in the shade of the open tent. This one was even younger than the first, lean and sinewy, and he presented his side to Hilana for cleaning. Apparently, he intended to have it on his ribs, Founders knew why, but choices were made.

She stood up and sluiced the section on his ribs, raising an eyebrow. “There’s a lot of muscle in this area,” she warned him. “It may impact your ability once the rune is carved in.” The aspirant just winked at her.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” The shirtless Vastian told the healer. “Wish me luck, Dominus?” he winked at the half-Fae with a little bow. Bravado masked worry, and he had elected to flirt with Æros in order to take his mind off of it. The youngster with the pair of nimchas on his hips straightened, and would head off to take his turn with the Commander, who was having a drink in the meantime. The first success of the day was making his way to the tent, and Hilana had her medical supplies set out.

“Well-fought,” she told him, starting with another bottle to disinfect everything. "How do you feel?" He was exhausted - not just from the fight; because he was clearly in excellent shape, but because of what had transpired. The cuts and wounds were not entirely superficial, but there was also the fact that Hilana could not put anything on them to make them heal faster. Nothing took - so she simply started disinfecting and wrapping up the worst of them for him while he drank water like he hadn’t had any in days.

[Aeros]

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Æros was happy to confer Hilana's recipes onto the servii and some members of his house that enjoyed cooking, though sometimes he didn't tell them where he'd learned them– elves can be somewhat pretentious, after all. Most of them were fine with the source once they'd actually tasted her food, too. It did help some of them be a bit less prejudicial, though old habits can be hard to dismiss entirely.

In response to Commander Asim, Æros nodded. "Correct– I'm learning swordwork at the moment; I've background skill in dance, so I'm notably difficult to hit as is, but my offense still needs a bit of work." He struggled with finding a willingness to fight offensively because he deemed it too risky. The starlit elf's impulse was always to be evasive and counterstrike or to weaken and distract first with magic, something he wanted to learn not to rely so wholly upon. "I'll contact you when I feel myself ready." A time, he hoped, would occur before the season's end.

After that interaction, the commander left their immediate vicinity and went to assume position opposite the initiate. Shortly after Hilana handed him a skin of tea, their duel began. It had a pleasant taste and a warm, welcoming aroma, contrasting against the struggle that now played out before him. He watched with an analytical sort of gaze and a cooler sort of expression as if the Fæ was deep in thought.

The initiation forged onwards with the tenacious youth taking on light wounds, though nothing to invite worry. Æros held his Mesmeric focus on the boy's Symphony as it played a percussive sort of song, one composed of conflicting emotions– nerves, anxiety, stress, and fear were all undercurrents to his determined focus, confidence, and desire to succeed. With skill and subtlety, the half-blood lowered the more anxious emotions, those that would make the boy jittery and prone to mistakes, allowing him to focus better, to move with less hesitation. And, as the song shifted with these changes, it was not long before the youth struck victorious, the softest of smiles appearing briefly on the Færie's star touched features.

As initiate became novice, another, smaller aspirant approached Hilana. His choice in rune location was…interesting. Æros' anatomical knowledge regarding musculature was actually not terrible, learned mostly to aid in his own physical pursuits, and that particular area was an unpleasant one to receive wounds of any kind. It was sensitive, for one, and for another, the movement required in wielding weaponry would cause excess pain. Questionable, perhaps foolish, but the patrician's presence alone was lucky for this one.

Æros shifted his odd, golden-black gaze over the young vastian, a body type not entirely dissimilar to Khyan’s, drawing a coy, lopsided sort of smile to his lips when the other made his small request. "Good luck to you...though I do have more than luck on offer," words spoken with wink of his own and a tone deliberately dubious, though what he actually meant was anything but.

To that end, the focus of his Mesmer was then placed upon this would-be Reaver, intent on modifying his Symphony in a way not too dissimilar to the last. With this one, however, he intended to play with the rhythms that would offer this one more adrenaline and endorphins with which to dull the discomfort of his unfortunate choice in rune placement. Though these hormones were not explicitly controllable by Mesmer itself, they could be manipulated into release via particular emotional and stress responses, ones Æros was more than familiar with weaving.

- - -

'Thoughts'

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"

[Hilana Chenzira]

When Æros winked at him, the boy grinned and bit his bottom lip before pursing them briefly. “Perhaps I’ll claim a kiss when I finish.” But just as Commander Asim had for the first would-be initiate, the Rune was carved into the flesh of the young man with both of his blades. And perhaps to Æros’ surprise, he detected pleasure mingling with the pain when the procedure began. Ahhh. That heady rush that came from his masochism explained the young Vastian’s willingness to take it in such a painful space that was slower to heal. Especially considering that the wounds received during the reaving initiation couldn’t be made to heal any faster than they normally would.

It made Æros’ task of encouraging him easy. Those endorphins and adrenaline surged as the young man was apparently bold enough, and determined enough, to take on two new pact weapons at once while doing his initiation. While the first battle had been energetic, this second one went to another level. The young man, the bloody wound on his side, was undaunted by the pain. He was a whirling dervish, and his Symphony sang loudly for the horned Fae. Æros’ handiwork helped clear away the nerves and the jitters, leaving him to focus his energy and abilities on the test that he was enduring. Two blades flashed in the sun while he all but danced with them, his lean body twisting away to avoid the commander’s wicked blade.

While the fight between the two continued, Hilana’s work was on treating and cleaning the injuries of the first. While she kept an eye on the next combatant, the herbalist’s main focus was her patient. Injuries were disinfected, the larger ones were bandaged and wrapped. There was a quiet conversation as Hilana talked him through the rush that was coming through as everything started to calm for him, and Æros may have remembered how Hilana had talked and talked and talked at him when he had been going through the threshold sickness for Semblance, just giving them something to focus on. He was slowing down on the water, at least, and before too much longer, one of the older members of the Vastian Guard came and got him from the tent to support him now that Hilana had treated him, and Hilana took a moment to sit back in her seat again, focusing on her Rune to manifest water to give her hands a quick rinse. She was getting better at it, at least, though she was only producing just enough water to rinse her hands from her wrists down, flicking the drops to the side and letting her hands dry off. “He’s doing okay, isn’t he?” she said in a hushed voice to her friend, watching the way the young man, who was perhaps her age or a bit younger, was fighting for his life and his soul.

He did force the Commander on the defensive quickly, but he had to. And the fact that he was fighting with two swords meant it took more energy. But at long last, he forced Asim’s longer sword up, his second nimcha sword pointed at his superior’s throat. The older man’s sword was lowered, and the battle was won. More than the first aspirant, the young flirtatious Vastian looked like he was ready to collapse, and he needed help to put the blades back. But help was granted, and he was embraced for his success. The next Guardsman came to get his arm prepared for the Rune, and the young man was helped into the tent.

“How about that kiss, Dominus?” he grinned at Æros, high on pain, adrenaline, endorphins, and success as Hilana set to cleaning him up while trying to encourage him to drink water. This one was definitely going to need the rest of the day off to rest, but clearly if he had it his way he'd have company in the very exotic starry Elf that had come out to watch the show.

[Aeros]

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The boy was a plucky one, for sure. Æros raised a brow at his response and that lopsided smile of his widened into more of a grin, a spark of mischief in Fæ's eyes. "Oh? Bold of you. But succeed and…perhaps I'll grant it." Flirtation was a bit of a habit for him, fun as he found it. He was also not used to being tied to another and would be toeing the line quite a bit with this gesture, should it be something he goes through with.

The reasoning behind the curious decision to place his rune where it was revealed itself through the boy's Symphony as soon as it was applied; he was a proper masochist. Another soft parallel to the nobleman's beloved– though Khyan was want to soften his own pain by smothering it with what pleasure he could steal with his Semblance. Æros would be a liar if he said he wasn't curious about this young stranger, yet his heart had been claimed; it was an avenue he could not pursue.

However, working the Symphony of a determined masochist in a fight was a remarkably simple feat. Undeterred by pain, it was easy to amp the swordsman up while keeping him focused enough to avoid arrogant mistakes. Easy, but unique, because one did still have to manage encouraging proper hormonal responses lest the boy collapse. Whether one enjoys their own suffering or not, that doesn't change the body's response to injury– and he certainly needed the adrenaline to keep his stamina up in this scenario.

The fight itself was certainly a sight to see. Though his senior had a clear advantage, the young Vastian's swordwork was nothing to underestimate in and of itself. The way they moved was like a dance in and of itself– rhythmic and controlled, even when frenetic in pace and fiery in nature. Æros' focus was completely on the two locked in combat, causing a bit of a delay to his response when Hilana posed her query. "Oh…yes, but he'd best not draw this one out." The biggest concern for this combatant was endurance, injured as he was. In the end, however, the initiate claimed victory, though he'd certainly wore himself quite thin.

As the newly minted Reaver found his way over to where Æros sat, the elf gave a passing glance over to the next initiate that had approached Hilana, internally wondering how many were to go through this today. The boy who'd approached him, however, was ever eager to claim that which the patrician had promised, quickly giving voice to this desire. Not entirely sure what boundaries he ought to abide by, he figured fulfilling this request was fine…right? Nevertheless, his eyes narrowed and he smiled softly, lifting a hand to grip the boy's jaw as he leaned forward to grant the other his wish. The kiss itself was likely a bit indulgent for the circumstance, but since the two could not go any further, Æros considered it something of a gift to the other. He felt a great deal of ardour towards the starlit elf, that much was clear, but alas.

After he'd pulled away, "I'm afraid that's all I can give– I'm bound to another who, I'm sure, would be quite nonplussed if I went any further," Æros said with a playful laugh at the end.

- - -

'Thoughts'

"Vallenor Tongue/Speech"

"Vastien Tongue/Speech"

"Valasren Tongue/Speech"

"Common Tongue/Speech"