Legend of Ransera

“Heh…” Khyan shrugged, “From your lips to the Founders’ ears.” He said at the notion of returning to his rightful place higher in the hierarchy. Of course he knew it was only a jest, but what a pleasant one to ponder.

“Ahh, your father’s property is up delta then? Our estate was on the Southern riviera. I used to love falling asleep so close to the ocean that I could hear the waves and smell the salt in the air. I do so miss that. I might have visited that property more often, had I known it would be abjured me at some point.” He arched an eyebrow nodding. He wasn’t opposed to paying the property a visit. He didn’t know Hilana’s family status, but many Equestrians were richer and led more lavish lives than many Patricians. In truth Khyan didn’t know what sort of financial straits his Gens was in before the fall. Their lands had been in the family so long, he supposed it was possible they didn’t have much in the way of liquid assets. He hadn’t wanted for anything, but his father was the consul, which accorded favours as well as profit.

“Oh I am in jest.” Khyan said of the puns with a dismissive wave of the hand. “Mostly.” He appended with a slightly threatening glare, lest she grow too punny for her own good.

“I’m glad the honey cuts the peachy flavour so it isn’t overpowering. I’m picky with peach… ah, but blackberry sounds lovely! Yes, let us trade.” He passed the peach mead in favour of the berry, and immediately gave it a taste.

“Oh yes. That’s a little bit of me.” He nodded, placing the bottle down on the bench between them.

"Ah, I see your game..." Khyan narrowed his eyes, "Trying to lure me in with talk of exotic birds, are you?" His scowl cracked into a grin. "Whether to assume their shapes or steal their eggs in serpent form, I must admit there is temptation at the notion." He chuckled. He wasn't serious, really. One of the things he rather enjoyed about a reptilian existence was that it required less sustenance. He was rarely hungry as a snake, and he'd never felt anywhere akin to famished as he often did as a mostly human.

"Oh I like anything with cheese. Get pastry involved, and I'm downright enthusiastic." He did prefer the savoury to the sweet, but as far as desert desserts went, it was amongst Khyan's favourites. He paused for another sip of the berry mead, which was very sweet but the kick at the back of his throat was a welcome trigger to his pleasure centres.

As the conversation abruptly turned from confections to arachnids, Khyan blinked in bemusement, feeling he'd lost the thread of the conversation somewhere. More confusing still, she'd referred not to tarantulas in general, but to the notion of finding 'that tarantula'. As if it was a callback to earlier in their discourse. He glanced to the mead, wondering whether it was doing its work more quickly than was typical, before lifting his dark gaze to meet Hilana's.

"But... why are you keen to hunt tarantulas? Is-..." A strange notion occurred to him, all at once, which would have explained the segue neatly enough, but been perplexing for altogether different reasons. "Is some bit of the bejewelled tarantula an ingredient in melopita?!" His volume was incautiously loud for one wearing a collar, but he wasn't thinking of such things at the moment. "I mean... I'd still eat it, but that seems passing strange."

Khyan parted his lips to protest that he'd only been joking about eating eggs or assuming the shapes of the birds but, before he had a chance to utter a syllable, Hilana was on a tear about the practical reality of what it would entail. He just clapped his mouth shut and pursed his lips, as he perused the spread between them for his next morsel.

"Is Risdra someone with whom I am supposed to be acquainted?" He wondered aloud, as he paused his perusal to prioritise a fresh sip of mead.

"Ah, well. Hopefully it won't come to my eating arachnids of any kind but, well... Good to know, I suppose." He wasn't relieved exactly that melopita didn't count spiders amongst its ingredients, but it at least reaffirmed his worldview somewhat to be thus vindicated in their absence from the dish. His family was so far removed from their nomadic roots in the open desert that he had to wonder whether Hilana's knowledge of which bits of which critters were edible had to do with her closer ties to the roving Vastians who lived as their ancestors had. It stood to reason that food would be scarce in the expanse and that people would resort to such practises, but Khyan never had and didn't plan to begin. At least not in his mostly human form. Perhaps Hilana's apparent obsession with food preparation was born of erstwhile paucity of the fine ingredients one could easily acquire in the capital.

"Oh, I see. The tarantula is for a sacrifice, then? I should probably make an offering soon... It's been a while." His dark eyes trailed over to the looming Temple of Midnight's Mother before which this ancient statuary garden lay. He walked past it regularly these days, but hadn't made an appearance in quite some time. He'd always been more comfortable in the Radiant Mass, where things felt somehow less personal.

“That didn’t even occur to me…” Khyan sniggered. He hadn’t had time really for it to occur to him, but that he supposed had been Hilana’s point in addressing it before he could.

“Aw, well, on the one hand I’m sorry I scared your cat, but on the other hand I’m pleased he didn’t maul or devour me.” He noted with a shrug followed by a swig of mead.

“You’ve a student?” Khyan canted an eyebrow. “That must put you in your element…” He observed with a wry smirk, as he shifted his legs back toward the front, resting the bottle of mead in his lap as his eyes regarded the ancient statue before them. His eyes clouded over as he accessed his Rune to view the piece as it had been upon its construction millennia earlier, before erosion dulled detailed features toward formlessness and moss gathered upon stone carved skin. The statue looked regal and alien- A beautiful man with elven ears and a stoic smirk wearing regal robes of unfamiliar make. It wasn’t Aværys, predating His birth as it did. It predated even the Re’hyæan diaspora that brought His ancestors into Atraxia.

“Hm?” Hilana’s offer drew his gaze back to her which, now augmented by his Craft, viewed her ætheric Aura as well as her mortal form. His Sembler’s eyes could see her affection for him and the strides she took to please him. This food had been prepared for his benefit on the off chance she found him, it wasn’t merely something she happened to be toting when she ran into him. He hadn’t know that.

The clouds left his eyes as he turned them back toward the statue.

“Ah, yes. That could be helpful. I’ve never had to catch my own. Not that I’m not capable, mind, it just… didn’t seem important at the time.”

"Her, sorry." Khyan amended, upon realising he'd misgendered the feline in question.

"Fair enough." He chuckled. Her technique seemed sound enough to him. He glanced down to the peach mead as it was set down, but his grip remained round the neck of the blackberry, which he lifted for a sip moments later.

"I certainly can believe that. I'm sure your wealth of knowledge is quite enlightening to a willing subject." He replied dryly, wiping at his lips with the back of his hand.

"It seems there's been such an influx of peregrini lately." He observed, and considered her description of the student. It sounded like the chap was a good fit for Hilana. It was good for her to have an amenable outlet upon whom to wax didactic. She seemed so fond of imparting tidbits of knowledge that were so very specific to circumstances for which he had no frame of reference. Cooking, horticulture, surviving in the desert. All perfectly useful skills in which Khyan had nary an ounce of interest. One of the blessings of having an old chum for a master meant that he hadn't needed to learn any of those skills for his livelihood, either. Thus far it hadn't come up, but he felt rather confident he could pout his way out of cooking duty with his new master as well...

He supposed those interests were beneficial to bear for people in different lots. If one enjoyed the task of rearing plants it wouldn't feel so much like toil. To him, the notion was as dull, as... Well, watching grass grow. That was a literal saying people uttered to describe their boredom, and it was, in his mind, quite literally what Hilana did for work. Founders bless her for enjoying it! Khyan was so easily bored that he tended to veer toward alcohol and other vices that felt like they expedited life or, at least, cut out a few of the redundant bits.

"I'd prefer not to veer too far afield of the city, if possible." He noted, arching an eyebrow and lifting one hand lazily to stroke Tiaz under the chin with his index finger. "Surely there are worthy sacrifices not too far up Vasta." He may have gone up and down of late with his sense of self worth, but if he was going to lose his life he'd rather it be in Sorokyn than the maw of some predatory beast.

Khyan would indulge in no further food, but would finish the berry mead and have a few more sips of the peach as they caught up a bit. He wasn't altogether forthcoming about his current situation, as it was so nascent and he didn't wish to curry outside opinions that might harsh his novel buzz. Perhaps next time. On this occasion, however, he said his goodbyes in the midst of the statuary gardens and made his way back home with belly sated to surfeit, his shopping in tow and the comfortable ease of inebriation making his steps fair glide... Far better than he ever did in magpie form.