[Loras] The Choice Of Power

[Patrick]

Searing 16th, 120th AoS

It had been on his mind for a long while now, long enough to have weighed measurably at this point. Patrick had gotten dressed earlier that day, but didn't bother throwing on the extra travel gear. He met with Connor for breakfast with Lily for a while, before letting them know that he'd be out again for a while today. Naturally the younger sibling wanted to tag along, this time not willing to take a no for an answer from Patrick. So while he would've liked to leave the manor alone, Patrick did so with Connor present as they both marched into the heart of Loras. The charming little settlement had slowly grown on the bartender, more than the cook, but insofar Patrick debated on when they should depart.

They did after all need to return to Alfsos at some point, and deliver the news of the business meeting to their mother. Of course they could've also very well wrote, except both Patrick and Connor thought it'd be a nice surprise; if they were the ones to bring home the first shipment of tea. So dressed in his green doublet and brown trousers, the bartender led the way down towards the Duedrop Inn with Connor right behind him. The younger sibling still wore his brown tunic, confined by the leather straps worn around his torso and thighs as well. Granted he had more pouches for inventory space, Patrick couldn't help but wonder what the hell made the cook wear such a thing.

It had to be impeccably warm in that damn thing, as the wave of Searing heat already started to cause a light sweat on his forehead. Yet the older sibling said nothing about it, just merely led the way into the establishment as they found refuge in shade. "Wow, this place is definitely bigger than ours." Connor remarked as they walked towards the bar, curious as to what they had to offer in terms of selection. It was fairly obvious that they had a nice broad of inventory to choose from, but not all the wines that were typically imported into Alfsos. That was no doubt due to location of course, which presumably made the Silver Lion a bit luckier in comparison.

Still the Duedrop Inn held a quaintness to it Patrick could appreciate, as it did so happen to provide a sense of familiarity with home as well. "Bigger yes, but someday our's will be just as big."

"I gotcha," Connor answered him as they approached the bar, "well hello there!" As the barkeeper approached, the both of them leaned onto the surface of the bar; Patrick giving the woman a polite smile while Connor grinned mischievously.

"What can I do for you two?" The brunette woman inquired with a soft smile on her face, with a speculative look shot to Connor with her green eyes.

"We're actually here to visit a friend," Patrick answered as he jutted an elbow into Connor's bicep, "Taelian Rannoch? He should be stayin' in a room here as far as I know." Connor's eyes widened at the mention of the Siltori, as Patrick had yet to explain to him that they'd seen one another. Then again... it had only been a full day, and when they did see one another, it led to probably one of the most unexpected situations possible.

"Is he expecting you?" The barmaid checked a little thoughtfully.

"Maybe? Patrick Barnell is my name, he and I are close friends." Patrick offered a shrug when he answered, but spoke in an honest tone of voice.

"Mmmm..." The barmaid took a moment to consider his words, before nodding with her welcoming smile present once more. "Very well, head up the stairs and down the hall, it'll be the last room on your left."

"Thank you." Patrick appreciatively responded with a brief bow of his head, eager to get a move on before the younger sibling flirted with the poor woman. He gave Connor a tug at the sleeve to ensure he followed, which the younger sibling did with a few glances back to the woman.

"You didn't tell me we were seein' Lian! When did he get here?! And how do you know he's here?!" The younger brother asked lowly but with an eager tone, clearly surprised to learn that they were about to see him once again.

"Probably because we ran into one another yesterday," The older sibling answered him bluntly without even looking to him, "and after thinkin' about it for a while I've decided maybe now's the time." He explained as they reached the top level of the first stairwell, with Patrick leading them down the hall towards the designated room they were given.

"Time? For?" Connor looked a little confused, as he'd apparently forgotten last time. At least only temporarily, as he looked contemplative for a moment, and then finally able to recollect what Patrick hinted at. "Oh..." Quickly the jovial expression he always wore lessened, as Connor now realized what Patrick was doing here. The bartender had nothing else to say in that moment, as he had started to feel himself grow nervous yet again. As excited as he'd be to see Taelian again, what he had came here for affected his mood just a bit more. While his stomach began to ball into a pit of anxiety, like many times before, the bartender ignored his blatant fear and raised a balled fist.

With a few sharp knocks made rhythmically, Patrick and Connor stood at the door awaiting the mage's answer.

[Taelian]

To say that the prior day had been interesting was . . . an understatement. Taelian and Patrick had, well, had sex and proceeded to fall asleep together. After getting up they'd talked, spent some time together, then parted ways. But even though the bartender was gone, the result of their act had weighed on Taelian's mind and he had been forced to confront everything that had happened. His conclusions led him to believe that what they did was not wrong -- and he was glad that they had. He enjoyed it. Taelian also decided that he would tell Riven the next time he saw him, or at least shortly after the two reunited, though of course he was nervous of the potential reaction that might have followed.

Still, where silence might've filled his mind after awakening from a long night of rest, thoughts did instead. He was adrift in contemplation, wondering of what all of these things meant for the future -- his future and their future together. Patrick had strangely become something of a focal point of his life, with Taelian finding that he wanted to spend more time with him, and perhaps more meaningful time. He felt quite strange. The mage did not know if it was normal to feel that way for a friend, but he also had very limited exposure to friendships in general. He certainly knew that it wasn't typical to want to make love to a friend, but they had already crossed that threshold.

He frowned, ruffling and disturbing his own hair as his thoughts drove him mad. For a moment he even had the absurd idea to meditate, to attempt to focus and perhaps dispel his endless questions on the philosophy of friendships, of relationships, and what they extended to. He realized then that he was... quite stunted. For the longest time he'd been so bereft of socialization that he felt very socially underdeveloped. He had no idea how to deal with his emotions when they came, and in situations like these he felt lost.

As maddening as these philosophies were, though, Taelian was not unhappy. He was -- in fact -- pleased, and he spent the first hour of his day after waking getting ready and practicing simple unarmed combat forms. Getting into stance, breath control, movement. He was trying to do and be everything at once lately, but the Covenant was demanding, and he always felt that desire to better himself. Even if it was unrealistic to become Eloise in the span of months.

As he prepared to throw a faux punch at the wind, he heard hard knocks at his door. Taelian, who was wearing naught but his long white linen trousers, stepped towards the door and twisted the interior knob, opening it and eyeing the two men that had come to greet him.

He blinked once.

"Oh, Patrick," he voiced. The other man -- well, somehow made him nervous now. Especially considering he was in the company of his brother, which made Taelian feel... more reserved, to say the least. "And Connor. Good to see you guys -- anything going on? I was just... practicing punching people in my room, but two live targets would certainly help," he teased.

[Patrick]

The moment the door swung open to reveal Taelian behind the threshold, Patrick and Connor both looked upon him with raised eyebrows for a moment. Initially the bartender was reminded of what took place yesterday, hell there even some muscles that still felt sore after it had happened, not that Patrick experienced enough discomfort to actually show it really. Still seeing Taelian almost half naked nearly made his cheeks flush a bit, as Connor was the first to react to the joke Taelian cracked at them. "Whoa, well hey to you too Lian!" The younger brother gave a low chuckle as he shot a wink to the Siltori, a confident smirk shot to him in turn when he further responded, "Better be careful to challenge us! Two against one wouldn't be a fair fight after all, not that I would need the extra hand though, Patrick would only get in the way of my amazing skills."

Immediately the older sibling contorted at the face a little, showing immediate rivaled amusement as he nearly glared to Connor. "Says the asshole who's afraid of messing up his own hair." He retorted in turn which clearly was an attack on the younger sibling's vanity.

Connor feigned a gasped offense towards his older brother then, grinning even bigger as he looked to nearly forget about Taelian suddenly. "I'll have you know the ladies love the do! It's complimates- compi- compliments the real money maker!" He defended confidently with a brief light stroke of his hand, barely brushing it through the front lined spikes with a passive chuckle afterward.

"Yeah, whatever you say Con." Patrick couldn't help but mumble with a soft shake of his head, albeit with a smile still plastered on his face. "Sorry for not answerin' your earlier question. We came to find you actually, well I did, Connor just sort of tagged along."

"You went explorin' without me yesterday!" The cook reminded him almost in a whiny manner. "No way was I gonna let you get away with that twice, besides I would've came anyway if you'd told me Lian was here!" At that note Connor crossed his arms considerably, looking more passive than before as he glanced between the Siltori and the bartender.

"If it's a bad time we can worry over it later, I'd rather not interrupt your, uh, trainin' if that's what's your up to." Patrick assured him with a soft grin added into the mix, leading Connor to bear the same expressive glare Patrick held earlier.

"Oh, now you wanna wuss out." He tested almost snidely.

"What?! No!!" Patrick detested quickly with an anxious glare shot to his younger sibling, about ready to start a war with him before the Siltori. "There's no need to rush into it though, not when we can have a nice conversation beforehand!"

"Ugh, you're so passive-aggressive! Like Dom but worse! Just let it out, don't keep us in suspense!" The cook argued dismissively with his focus back on Taelian finally. "Gosh, I am so sorry Tae. My brother's never been good at makin' up his mind." Patrick's eyes practically rolled into the back of his skull, leading him to see black before regaining vision, the moment they realigned to focus on the Siltori before them yet again.

"Alright, fine! I've made up my mind. I want to..." Why was it suddenly hard to say it now? He had a plan to ease up to it, to maybe bring it to light in a warm and elevated conversation. But no. That plan was the airship what crashed into the mountain, blowing up into a chaotic blaze before his very eyes no less. "I want to take you up on that offer with magic." He finally managed to push it out, yet still noticeably apprehensive about it.

[Taelian]

The Ebon Knight quirked a brow as Connor almost... challenged him, perhaps genuinely believing that the two of them would be able to beat the Knight in a fight. Well... he paused. Maybe in a punch-out. He wasn't exactly a skilled unarmed fighter -- it had never been his forte. Taelian was a swordsman and a mage. The punching and kicking did not come quite as naturally, and he'd never really bothered to learn it either. Against a Dranoch, one needed a good sword.

"I could definitely beat your ass in a one-on-one, Connor. Sorry." He grinned. Taelian had obviously become less reserved over time, even if it meant getting into more trouble. He wouldn't mind, he thought, the potentiality of having to slap the Barnell around to humble him. Even if he wasn't great with his fists, he was strong and obviously more fit. And bigger. Size mattered a lot more when it came to unarmed duels.

Their back-and-forth began, and Taelian nearly mentally checked out as it did. He noticed that the two bickered a lot, and he almost brought it up. Right before he did, though, Patrick apologized and made it clear that they had come to look for him. Which... he supposed was somewhat evident, since they specifically came to his room. He wondered how they'd actually even gotten their room; it was clear that the employees at the inn did not particularly value customer confidentiality. He would need to have a -- threatening -- word with them, considering Milana had essentially openly declared war against the Dranoch two days prior, thanks almost entirely to him. Loras was fortified, but also potentially compromised. He couldn't have anyone sneaking into his room and butchering him.

You went explorin' without me yesterday! Connor exclaimed. Taelian nearly broke out laughing. "He really did go exploring, yes," he nodded. Exploring things like his sexual predilections towards men, was the first thing that came to Taelian's mind. Though there were others. He supposed he felt a bit cheeky for even thinking like that -- as if it were a joke. It wasn't, but, it was simply funny how unaware Connor was. Though it was better that it stayed that way.

But the two had come for a reason. Patrick specifically, as unwilling as he was to share what he wanted; why he came. Taelian eyed him curiously, then Connor as he apologized for his behavior. He opened his door wider, beckoning the two inside. Shortly after the Siltori made the gesture, Patrick confessed that he wanted to become a mage -- for Taelian to initiate him, in fact.

He supposed it was only a matter of time.

"Oh," he said. Immediately the mage's gaze lowered. He appeared somewhat dismayed. They'd talked about it before, and Patrick was fully aware of the consequences. Taelian had advised him not to try unless he knew what he was getting into -- the risks that came. It was a shame, though, that there was around a fifty-percent chance that he would never see the other man again after today. Except, perhaps, in his mind. In gruesome memories, as a mangled corpse, corrupted by fraught aether. Connor's tears, Connor's screams. The worries of what could come haunted him, already. Already.

"Close the door," he glanced at Connor, clearly asking the other man to ensure that the three of them had privacy. Taelian gestured for Patrick and his brother to sit on the bed before him, with Taelian seating himself on the mattress opposite to theirs. He tried to remember his own initiation process, and what he did to fight through it.

"I hope you are aware that you are likely to never see your brother again, Connor. And that you, Patrick, are on the verge of saying goodbye to your dreams. If you have fully accepted what might come from your death -- the pain and suffering it may cause others -- then I will initiate you. If you haven't, then I recommend you leave and come back when you've made peace with what could come."