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[darkestbefore]

[ VOICE | TEXT | ACTION | OTHER ]

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[futhark]

[ The "much better" takes him by surprise. Yona once again proves herself to master the unexpected. In response, he hums a soft tune, maybe to hide a bit of fluster. ]

Who am I to argue..?

[darkestbefore]

[ She laughs softly, leaning back in his lap where she's still perched, examining her work with a playful eye. ]

It makes you look very pretty. It brings out your eyes.

[ Does it though? She might just be turning his own teasing around on him now. He is a shameless flatterer. ]

un: caster/ late Novemberish?

[futhark]

[ So... this happened, and it made him think ]

Just to confirm. You coming over to Inkchanted this afternoon?

confused Yona noises???

[darkestbefore]

I was planning on it, yes. Did you need something, Cu?

[futhark]

Making sure I'll get to see you today.

But yeah, I do have something, in particular, I want to talk about.

[darkestbefore]

[ Aww. That's cute. If a little concerning, on the latter half. ]

Is everything okay?

[ She can tell he's not hurt, at least, nor is Archer. She'd double-checked the feelings at the other end of her Bond the moment she'd seen this. ]

[futhark]

Yeah, it is. There's just something that I think you should know.

[ He meets her concern halfway, with a soothing presence. ]

If that sounds too worrying I can give you a gist right now.

[ He doesn't want to have her worry for the entire day ]

[darkestbefore]

[ She thinks about that for a moment before typing out a reply. ]

I was just about to start a pot of tea. Would you like to come over and share it with me instead?

[futhark]

Ah. If that's the case I shall gladly join you in a moment.

I assumed you'd be at Coven's classes at this hour.

[darkestbefore]

I had a free morning this morning, actually. I'll see you in a few minutes, then.

[futhark]

[ It doesn't take long for him to reach her cottage. They live close enough already, and Caster takes the liberty of shortcuts (that is jumping from tree, to tree, from roof to roof) to cross it even quicker.

He slips into the cottage, and the moment he spots red hair, he descends onto Yona to give her a welcome kiss on the forehead ]

Got you.

[darkestbefore]

[ She laughs when she feels his arms twine around her, leaning in against his chest. The brush of his lips against her brow is warm and she hums affectionately as she rests her hands against his shoulders. ]

Was I meant to make that more challenging for you? I wasn't aware.

[futhark]

[ Did someone say CHALLENGE? ]

I'll overcome anything you throw at me— [ That's just his thing ] Need help with anything?

[ He's not a barbarian, he can make the table... ]

modranicht

[noblegarnet]

In Yona's mailbox, she'll find a relatively small box, containing a flowery hair ornament. While not obvious at first, if she wears it, she'll find that it's enchanted so that flowers occasionally grow in her footsteps.

Also included is a house key, a small bag of fresh baked snacks, and a postcard-sized watercolor of her living room in a warm light, writing on the back in a neat script:

Happy Holidays

♡ Ferran

A Modranicht delivery

[prettyrocks]

[ Waiting for Yona in the kitchen on the first morning of Modranicht, is a small package wrapped in plain brown paper. Inside is a handmade sign that Tsutha had paid someone to paint, and a note, written in a careful, if clumsy, hand. ]

modranicht;

[oathkeeper]

[There is a package for her to find! Inside are four neatly packed strawberry cupcakes alongside a wrapped giftbox in festive red. Inside is a small music box with a note saying she should always dance to the melody of her own heart.]

Happy Modranicht, Yona!

-Sora

modranicht

[usurpers]

[ packed and delivered to yona's residence is a scale-link chain that could be used in a variety of different ways. a necklace, a bracelet, a waist accessory or even a belt. the links themselves, upon closer inspection, have been crafted by pure dragon scale, the colors a distinct hue of black, purple, red and orange, all dependent of how light bounces off it.

there's no name or note attached. just the festive packaging that seems to have been awkwardly decorated by hand. ]

[darkestbefore]

Oh, that definitely sounds like a challenge. [ She laughs as she pulls her head back to grin up at him, then gives him a playful shove towards the kitchen table. ] I'll definitely keep that in mind for the future.

And not at the moment, have a seat. The water is just about done. [ Which is when the kettle whistles and she moves to fill the teapot. A fragrant - but lightly spiced - scent fills the air from the tea before she turns to carry the tray over to the table for them to share. There's two little cups and a plate of cookies for them to share while they talked.

Taking a seat, she starts to pour them both a cup of tea. ]

It sounded as if you had something serious to discuss. Is everything alright?

[futhark]

[ There's a pang of "oh damn" for bringing this kind of worry into the peaceful setting. But the best he can do, is explain himself so he after taking a first sip of the fragrant wonder, letting a small ahh ]

Yeah, all's fine. I just need you to know, that if you happen to meet a dragon that looks like he could be my twin, it's not me experimenting with transmutation.

[ A bit of joke to lighten the atmosphere ]

[darkestbefore]

[ That... was not a warning she'd been at all prepared for. Hand freezing in pouring the tea, her startled gaze flies to his face instead as she tries to make sense of that. ]

You... pardon?

[ Scratch that, she gives up on trying to make sense of that. Her head hurts already. ]

You have a twin?

[futhark]

It's... an explanation we thought could work, but at the same time, not really.

[ Pretending, lying, and the like are just not in their nature. If someone runs with that assumption, then yeah, he can just not correct it until asked. Not giving out details is how they skirted around this particular issue for long.

But he can't keep his Bonded in the dark. His mistake for not realizing it sooner, and Soren had a shocking surprise on him ]

But we're not related in such a way. [ Doesn't mean there is no relation though, and he focuses on tea again, trying to get this right for once ] We're like different faces of the same coin. He is me, and I am him, but at the same time not.

[ There's always a question of how much to tell, how much to explain. ]

I don't want to confuse you, so I'll give you any explanation you need to clarify this.

[darkestbefore]

He's you... but he isn't? Perhaps you should start with that bit.

[ Because this is now officially the strangest conversation she's had with Caster to date. And considering some of their past conversations, that was an achievement indeed. ]

[futhark]

[ YEAH THAT'S— a topic to breach. ]

Believe me, I'm trying to figure out how to... make the whole story concise. [ Oof ] Back in my world, I have been long gone for well, centuries. But I was remembered, and that's all that world needs, a good story.

[ Kind of avoiding the Dead word here, and also making a bit light of it. Seriously, it's not a big deal, and he just hopes it doesn't stress her out ]

That's enough to pop-up sometimes as a ghost, when needed. You could say I ended as— [ Sudden brilliance ] —a guardian spirit. My Master summoned many of us, people like me, to help with a big crisis—

[ He waves his hand, not dismissively but as to signal that it's a whole another story. A long one, personally important to him. One he doesn't mind telling, but still, one not necessarily needed for the issue at hand ]

Stories though, they change with time. Not to mention, no life is constantly the same. He has come from a twisted wish of our enemy, a path that I did not walk.

[ Hence the coin comparision ]

[darkestbefore]

[ That is so very much to unpack right there, Cu. You're going to need to give her a moment here.

She takes a slow sip of her tea, more for something to keep her hands occupied as her mind races over what he'd just revealed. And oh, it had been reeling from the very first sentence.

He's... long gone. How long, she doesn't ask just yet, but the fact that legends and stories have sprung up in his wake is telling in itself. That there are stories spun of him she doesn't find surprising in the least - Caster has ever been a figure larger than life in the time she's known him - she doubts that would be different no matter the age. But the fact that he is gone in the first place is.... something that's proving harder to wrap her head - and her heart - around. She blinks quickly, eyes burning a little as she takes another sip of tea to hide her struggle for composure.

The guardian spirit, at least, is the easiest part of his explanation to understand. From the sound of it, it's not so different from her own dragon companions from home - if only sworn to a different cause and sense of duty. Suddenly all those similarities she couldn't help to have noticed seemed all the more poignant.

But that last point has her gaze narrowing for a long moment as she mulls that over. ]

He was you... or a version of you... who lived a different life. Is that what you're saying?

Modranicht gift

[thejoyrider]

[On the day of the holiday, a plate of homemade cookies and a sample of herbal tea mysteriously appears on her doorstep. The wrapping is decorated with a fresh lily flower (actually a Fae magic product, designed to fade away from existence in a few hours) and a ribbon. The attached handwritten note reads as follows:]

Happy Modranicht! Let’s have another great year here in Aefenglom!

M⚜️