Val walks up to you and takes hold of your hand. "Yeah. Let's go."
With that, the two of you take your leave of him, and walk back through the streets of Torch. Some spark of life appears to have been renewed--the people give you grateful glances as you walk past, and whispers of hope dominate the many conversations you pass by. That the four of you could find their beloved councilor so swiftly... it was surely a sign of the gods' favour!
Such concerns are far from your mind, of course--first and foremost, what you desire most is a good night's sleep. And it's in the Foundry that you intend to get it.
You and Val find your way home easily enough. Your egg is sitting on a desk in Val's room, swaddled in blankets and subjected to the warmth of the heat lamp. It sits there, quietly.
------------------
"Bunn-ee!" Jyacynth says with the joy inherent in a three-year old girl, and moves to give Inlé a hug.
She looks up at Edynn and tilts her head from where she's holding onto the bunny. More specifically, she's staring at the tattoos that line Edynn's face.
While normally adverse to people suddenly trying to hug or pet him without warning Inlé wasn't all that bothered when another bunny did so. He promptly hugged her back.
He did smile now, quite broadly.
"Theres my little Butterfly. These are our guests Jyacynth. Inle' and Edynn."
He began using a motion of his open palmed hand pointing to Inle' then Edynn and moving closer to his daughter so he could tousle her hair and give her a hug. When she was done of course he pulled his daughter in for a tight hug.
"And this my little one, is Waffles. He is a Blindheim. we found the poor little guy under the pond all alone."
He began showing her of course the living flashlight of a creature they had found.
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Jyacynth giggles as Inlé returns her hug. "Fuff-ee bunn-ee."
Then, she tilts her head at Waffles as the blindheim creeps toward her and sniffs her. "Aww..."
One of her tiny hands reaches out to pat Waffles on his nose. The frogdog takes a step back, and the little bunny-girl tilts her head in confusion.
"Celen, darling? Any suggestions for dinner?" Hepzibah calls from the back.
"Hello Jyacynth," Edynn says with a slightly awkward wave of her hand.
He paused and looked to his guests and his daughter.
"Gentle Jyacynth he's skittish. I think he likes mushrooms, have mom mom get you a non bad one later and see if he likes it."
He offered nodding to his new compatriots. He moved into the back room where his wife was.
"Something a little celebratory, I wont parse words, it was dangerous in those ruins beneath the torch. Some of the others... "
He paused with a wince. In the rush with Mr. Baine he had forgotten.
We found... we found Parda underneath. Fallen to an unknown adversary. We plan to return underneath to discover what ails the Torch, and when we return we will come back with her. Perhaps they can do something at the temple. or. . ."
He slipped up behind his wife and hugged her.
Yes, I am quite plush and fluffy.
"Miss Edynn is saying hello to you," he says while gently nudging in the Android's direction.
Jyacynth looks up at Edynn and waves hello, letting go of the bunny and walking up to her.
Hepzibah rests a hand on Celen's arm as he embraces her, her expression despondent and pensive. "Parda... I hoped she'd have a good career in the watch instead of dying so ignominiously. I hope the temple can do something for her too..."
She turns around in her husband's embrace and kisses him gently on the lips. "I think some roasted lamb with mashed potatoes and vegetables would be a good dinner for today, don't you?"
Mmmm, vegetables.
Crouching down next to the little girl Edynn introduces herself. "I'm Edynn. I've been working with your daddy. Nice to meet you."
Sialea was silent as she held Val's hand and they walked home. The relief they both felt at Papa's return was enough that she didn't need to say anything for now. When they finally arrived home she went to Val's room and lay a gentle hand on her egg. She projected her mind out to it and sent a feeling of greeting and comfort.
After communing with her egg the Lashunta woman went to the kitchen and cooked something for her and Val for dinner before going to bed and sleeping hard.
"Hi!"
Jyacynth reaches her hands out to Edynn's face and puts a tiny finger on one of her tattoos. "Bue!" She says, sounding quite proud of herself.
She beams at Edynn.
---------------
As the sun starts to fall beyond the horizon, the smell of roasted lamb fills the two-story home.
Hepzibah calls the household around the kitchen and begins dishing up portions--several pieces of roast lamb, mashed potatoes seasoned with chives and butter, a garden salad with a maple-balsamic vinaigrette... for the adults. Jyacynth gets a serving of lamb, chopped up into tiny bits, with a toddler-sized portion of mashed potatoes and a few heads of broccoli.
The bunny-eared toddler looks quite disappointed when she sees the broccoli.
Inlé smiles looking from the child to Edynn.
As it gets closer to the dinner the rabbit's nose begins to constantly twitch.
At dinner he happily eyes the salad. "Thank you, Miss Hepzibah." he said as he's about dig in before he notices Jyacynth glaring at her greens. "What's wrong?"
Jyacynth gives Inlé an 'innocent' look. "...nothing..."
Hepzibah sighs. "Oh, Jyacynth... I've been trying to get her to eat her broccoli for a while now. She's been quite a picky eater in that regard."
"Oh?" Inlé says as he looks to Jyacynth. "They're the best part though."
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Jyacynth tilts her head at the bunny, looking quite confused. She takes a mouthful of mashed potatoes--and manages to at least get some of it in her mouth, as opposed to smearing it all over her mouth.
"Well they are." Inle says as he begins to dig into his salad.
Jyacynth looks down at her broccoli and then back up to her mother. She takes a stick in her mouth and tentatively starts chewing on it, making a face as she does so.
"How are you enjoying your salad, Mr. Inlé?" Hepzibah asks, scooping a piece of lamb into her mouth.
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You see visions of you and Khonnir, standing side by side at a worktable while Val tinkers with something in the background. An array of tools lays scattered upon the table as your father works--time and time again, you try to look over his shoulder to see what he's working on, but time and time again he denies you. Something's wrong--why would he ever keep you from working with him? He's never acted this way before...
Eventually, he lifts up what he was working on--a tiny, square chip covered in strange green & yellow lines. He looks at it, his expression completely blank; his eyes are glassy and unfocused. He slides a hand underneath his hair, to the back of his neck, and flinches as the chip slides into him. His body jolts.
His skin turns grey and flaking, green and yellow lines racing down from his temples to cover the rest of him. His eyes glow an eerily-familiar gold as he turns to stare at you.
You turn away, and Val is behind you--her skin grey and dying, covered in green & gold lines. Her eyes glow gold as well. They open their mouths to speak, and your dream... or, perhaps, vision... ends.
"It's wonderful! I haven't had greens in so long!" he happily says before stuffing his face, making his cheeks puff out as he chewed.
"Well, I suppose it's a good thing I made extra, then." Hepzibah glances over at the salad bowl on the counter.
Jyacynth eventually finishes the stick of broccoli in her mouth. She doesn't look too happy.
Inlé's eyes follow Hepzibah before widening at the site of the full garden in the bowl. After he's able to pry his immediate mind off of it he notices Juacynth's pout. "What's the matter? You didn't like them?" he asks before stuffing more greens into his mouth.
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Jyacynth sullenly stares at her broccoli and shakes her head.
Hepzibah sighs, then a moment of inspiration seems to strike her. "Jyacynth, do you want to get special powers? Like Daddy?"
The bunny-eared toddler looks quite interested in that. "Well, Daddy has them because he always ate his broccoli. Do you want to be like Daddy?"
Jyacynth looks back at her plate and takes another stick of broccoli, this time with considerably less reluctance.
Inlé shrugs and smiles before going back at his salad.
He bit back his frown. He didnt like the little white lie, though if it got his little one to eat her vegetables he could swallow it.
"Broccoli is good for you little flutterbye, it helps make energy to play and run and dance."
He began reaching over to lightly tousle her hair.
"I didnt get much of a chance to ask earlier, where are you folk from? What brought you to Torch?"
He began asking Inle' and Edynn
Looking up from her meal Edynn nods, "We didn't have much opportunity to just talk did we?"
Cocking her head to the side slightly she answers. "I am from Graymoor in the northern part of Sovereign’s Reach. I took to traveling….to learn things and ended up here.”
He bit back his frown. He didnt like the little white lie, though if it got his little one to eat her vegetables he could swallow it.
"I'll give you some of my lamb if you eat your broccoli." Inlé offered to Jyacynth in a stage whisper.
"Oooh, what's it like up there?" he asked Edynn.
"Nowhere in particular, when I was growing up we changed warrens regularly. I came here because of the Torch going out, I thought... some people might be involved." he replies as he finishes his salad. Hungrily looking at his empty bowl he then looks up at Hepzibah. "May I have some more, please?"
Hepzibah gets out of her seat and heads over to the salad bowl, bringing it over to Inlé's bowl and scooping more garden salad into it. "Here ya go."
Jyacynth looks at Inlé's lamb and smiles. Half-chewed broccoli is still in her mouth.
"Jyacynth, don't open your mouth when there's food in it, sweetie." Her mother glances over at the toddler. She closes her mouth and chews some more before swallowing the broccoli.
"Thank you!" he happily says while sitting up in his seat. He didn't want to be rude and take some without asking, that and Hepzibah would probably not appreciate him hopping up onto her counter.
Looking back to Jyacynth he nods. "Eat and chew it all up good and you can have some of mine."
Jyacynth starts gobbling up her broccoli sticks. Then she starts wiggling her fingers.
Her mother pats her on the head. "That's a good girl."
Smiling Inlé goes back to his salad, and the mashed potatoes he had overlooked.
Soon enough, Val comes running into the room, dressed in her pajamas. "Sia? Are you alright?"
Jyacynth starts gobbling up her broccoli sticks. Then she starts wiggling her fingers.
Her mother pats her on the head. "That's a good girl."
"We wandered into this town a few years back just looking for a place to settle you know. Mr. Khonnir was instramental in the decision to stay here and for the most part folks have been tolerant. Its why I have such worry for the torch and the town."
He offered explaining the why of his family being here Watching Inle' with the vegetables made him smile... after all that was his preference usually as well.
" We will need to build a waffle house and make a fence butterfly. Do you think you could make the plans for the waffle house?"
He asked her with a smile.
"Sounded like one heck of a nightmare. You sure you're okay?"
Jyacynth tilts her head at her father and nods. Hepzibah chuckles. "Well, I hope you know somebody who's a good carpenter. Because that sort of thing isn't really my field."
"There are good people where I come from, but also bad. There are some people there who don't like people who are different the way I am."Edynn replies.
"Different? You mean they don't like people who can punch robots to death? Why not?" Inlé asks, disheartened to think there was not in fact an entire village full of people who could punch robots to death.
Edynn smiles at Inlé.
"Sort of." she says, hesitating for a moment before making a decision. "I trust you all. I'm sure you've notices some things about me are different from other people. I'm not human, my people are called androids and there are those who wish to capture and study us the way some people do with insects."
Inlé smiles back Edynn as she talks.
"The Technic League." Inlé says without hesitation, his face grim. "They want to do the same to me." After a moment the smile comes back and he asks the Brawler "So what's an Android?"
"Ive not had any dealings with the technic league as of yet, but I hear enough bad things to know i dont want to have many dealings with them, if at all."
He began finishing his dinner and just enjoying time with his family and new friends.
"...and they started now, of all times?" The young Kellid wonders aloud. "Sounds like an awful coincidence... them coming around after the Torch went out."
She pulls the sheets on your bed aside. "How about I sleep next to you? Maybe that'll help keep the nightmares away."
---------------
"So what's an Android?"
"An android, Inlé, is someone who's..." Hepzibah starts, then trails off, searching for the right words. "...well, a human who isn't really human. That's a rather gross oversimplification, I'll admit, but that's really what most people living in Numeria understand about them."
"From what I've been able to piece together, those tattoos of hers serve as a conduit for some sort of inner power. Aside from that, she'd be able to tell you more than I could."
"Power tattoos? Neat." Inlé remarks while looking at Edynn's lines.
"They allow me to draw on my inner strength when I need to exceed my usual abilities." Edynn adds. "We are people who were never children, I was born.....mostly as I am now."
Inlé stares at Edynn for a moment. "Wait, so you were born this awesome?"
"It would seem that way." Hepzibah smiles.
The rest of the night passes in merriment and comfort...
--------------------------
Oathday, 4th of Neth, 4717 AR
The skies over Torch are quite cloudy today. Some droplets of rain drip from the rooftops.
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The now very rotund bunny finds himself happily passing into a food coma after completing the entire salad bowl.