Legend of Ransera

At the talk of Æros love life, it felt rude to pay too much attention to the bout, and so he shifted his body and the majority of his focus to his neighbour on the podium. His answer, tentative and guarded as it was, rivaled the gladiators indeed in garnering his interest.

"I... understand." Arvælyn was hesitant to be overly transparent about his past, though he certainly understood Æros' aversions. Vulnerability was not something that had come easy to him, after years of looking after number one. He'd explored it first with Aurin, the results of which had been a mixed bag, and later with Finn. The latter experience had been night and day from the former. But still he was guarded, in his way. There were distinctions between them. Their priorities weren't aligned in some ways that felt insurmountable... Undefinable, at least in the languages the two of them spoke- And both were fluent in Common.

Still, he smiled to hear that perhaps Æros was at least beginning to embark upon something akin to what he'd found.

"No need to leap into any of that. But don't be quick to dismiss it, either..." Arvælyn lifted his glass, as if in toast, though there was nothing of that intention in the gesture. At least not consciously.

"I think we fit rather well together as we are, I and Finn... Though there have been certainly times when I'd have killed for your talent." As an actor he'd been typed out of roles for one reason or another. He'd thought that he was half-Elven for most of his life, and yet he always so favoured the Hytori stereotype that it hadn't been practical to cast him in one of the many human or, of course, Avialæ roles that had been available at the Golden Peacock when he'd worked there.

"Ha! What a thing to be able to forget something like one's natural appearance. That, my friend, is talent remarkable."

Arry smiled inwardly at the description of Æros' mystery lover. The elf remembered himself as being the more eager and enthusiastic of his own pairing. Perhaps Finn would recall it otherwise, but he'd been the one to make the move after a prolonged prelude of crushing on the minstrel. He arched an eyebrow at the cryptic conclusion to the half-Fae's thought. He wondered at the unspoken additional issue that complicated their concourse, but it felt indelicate to inquire after something he'd made a deliberate point to keep vague.

But he didn't have to wait long for his curiosity to be sated, as Æros reconsidered his reticence.

"Ohhh..." He shifted to face his neighbour outright now, finding this exchange that much more interesting than the chaotic melee at this point. "I can certainly see in this the problem lies." He offered, hoping the concern in his facial expressions might account for the lapses in his Vastian comprehensibility.

"If not rude this is to ask... How did you end meeting such a one and developing toward, um... Love blossom?" He couldn't think of the word for 'intimacy', so he tried to wax poetic in such a way as to get the notion across. He wrinkled his nose apologetically, knowing that 'love' was a weighty word and probably not ideal in the current context, but it was the best he could do for the nonce.

"Indeed! I ended up taking on a Rune of Masquerade to offer some semblance of what you can do innately." He hadn't ended up developing the talent enough to employ it much beyond the concealment of blemishes when he was still an actor, but he'd intended to use it a great deal more to enhance his work. It saddened him to think he might never tread the boards again, and yet... His life was shaping up to be as great an adventure as those of characters he portrayed. There was marked solace in that.

"I suppose it could be useful to a dancer as well... To what end do you find yourself using the talent?"

Arvælyn smiled, enjoying the simple story that yielded such a complicated situation. He supposed his meeting with Finn was similar, in nature. It had been Finn who'd been performing and, while his voice was truly lovely, Arry had to wonder now whether he'd have approached a singer who wasn't so strapping. It felt like ancient history, now- Another life in another realm.

"We have servi in my household, but... I have not considered to, um... regard the rules of such things. Finn does not, I think, like that there is here slavery." But Finn had never been as poor as Arry and to him Solunarian slavery didn't seem any worse than Antiran or Kalzasern poverty. At least slaves were promised housing, food and clothing, which wasn't always something afforded to the poor. He also just tended to take servants for granted when he was privileged enough to be served.

"It sounds like a play." Arry decided, with a nod. "I hope it is does not a tragedy prove." He offered, with a wan, consoling smile. As their talk turned to Æros' use of glamour, the Elf shifted back to a diagonal posture as he sipped his wine. The combatants numbers had dwindled significantly since the beginning of the melee, and most were fighting more defensively and strategically at this point. The Traverser was the fiend of the ring, slipping from one side of the sands to the other to deal subtle blows in a blink, but he was drawing more and more focus from the others. A common enemy against whom to coordinate...

"That is passing kind of you- To shift your form to suit the whims partners bear, when most of them doubtless cannot do anything nearly the same to suit yours. I can't imagine being so... accommodating for anyone I didn't care deeply for," He tilted his head reconsidering, "Or someone who had something I wanted."

Arvælyn pursed his lips and nodded. It sounded like a difficult and complicated situation, and he didn't wish to make the other man uncomfortable by lingering on the subject overlong. Between his newness to the culture and difficulties to the language, he didn't really think he had much worthwhile to contribute. He wasn't keen to offer unsolicited advice and he didn't have enough frame of reference to provide anything practically useful anyway.

"Well, I suppose you have time to... figure this out?" He offered a consoling smile, "To you both wish I well." With a nod, his focus shifted to the sands before them just in time to catch the dramatic end of the intrepid Traverser, who blinked right into a whirlwind of blades that were orbiting a kineticist. Arry wasn't the most knowledgeable about Traversion, even though it was Finn's latest Rune, and with the speed of the incident it was hard to tell whether he'd teleported into space already occupied by blades or whether the blades just immediately shredded into him once he'd occupied the space, but whatever the case- The Kineticist was showered in the blood of his would-be attacker and even some of his opponents cheered the end of their most vexing rival.

"Splendid technique." Arry mused, placing his cup down to clap for the clever use of Kinetics. "I shall have to explore that one." To punctuate his point he extended his hand and let the cup rise back into his grasp when he was done applauding. He took a sip between smirking lips.

"Many of our kindnesses are, after a fashion, selfish..." He mused, running his tongue over his top lip and letting the cup rest in his hands upon his lap. "Still think I these be kindnesses." He crossed his ankles under the bench and bit his lip.

"I have few friends here. If you not object, would I suggest we remain, um... connected, after this?" His golden eyes danced over, a bit of vulnerability evident in the suggestion.

Lore: 14
Points: 10, no magic
Injuries/Ailments: None
Loot: None

Lore: 14
Points: 10, no magic
Injuries/Ailments: None
Loot: None

Notes: iirc, magic used by either party is already master ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
correct me if I'm wrong.