Aero and Tajy ~Birds of a Feather~

He snorted in agreement at her statement, flushing slightly and looking determinedly at her face when she raised her arms to cover herself. He was wondering what he should do or say next that would make this moment somewhat less awkward, and suddenly gaped, leaping to his feet and letting a stream of curses flow from his lips. "Damn! Now my bow is wet! Damn damn damn..." Walking to the shore, he quickly unstrung the bow, flushing even more when he realized the extent of just how wet he really was. He looked once to Lena, as if sizing her up, before cursing again under his breath and unclipping his cape from around his neck, wringing out the massive material that had doubled its weight in water. "This is going to be a cold night." He muttered darkly, flipping his cloak loosely over his shoulder with a wet slap and proceeded to dump water out of his quiver, groaning in dismay. Who knew how they would shoot now that everything was all wet? He just had to hope that the wood wouldn't warp too badly.

"I-I'm gonna have to... start a fire, so that I can dry my clothes out overnight..." He let that sentence hang in the air between them, meeting Lena's gaze with a blush forming on his cheeks and a hint of apology in his eyes as he silently begged Lena to understand the far-reaching meaning of those words. It was simply too embarrassing to say out loud, especially with what had just happened now between them. Something else to hammer out, apparently.

*~*~*~*

For a long moment, Mai mulled over his words, not entirely sure if she believed his offer or if he was kidding around for some reason. When she finally determined that he was serious, she blushed hard, tapping her fingers together nervously as all sorts of implications about spending the night at his house ran through her head. They were just barely on kissing terms, she couldn't do that with him, no matter how charming he was!

She hid her face in her hands for a moment, unable to meet Kol's gaze with a straight face. She considered simply going home, but the thought of having to face her mother after airing out all the dirty laundry was a very upsetting thought. With a steading sigh, she nodded her head, still unable to look up at Kol. "T-that might be good... I- dun't think that I could see my ma righ' now without sayin' somethin' I migh' regret later when I ain't so mad with 'er."

Lena looked at Talos for a long moment, and then a blush came to her face as she nodded. They would both need to dry their clothes out. If either of stayed how they were they ran a high chance of getting sick. What good would that be. "I'll.....go grab some wood..." Rubbing her arms she turned, walking a little bit into the forest before she started to collect some of the bigger sticks she happened to find laying around. Having some space to her self for a few moments, she presses a hand to her neck over the spot where the mark was forming. It was almost as if she could still feel his lips against her skin and she wasn't sure how to handle the situation.

Having collected a fair number of scrap wood, Lena returned to Talos and set up wood. Walking to her pack, she pulled out the flint box and started the fire with ease. Making sure she had plenty of wood on hand she pointed to the tree closest to the fire. "You sit on one side, I'll sit on the other. Got it?" While she tried to sound authoritative, there was a hint of embarrassment in her voice as well. "Just...turn around for now." Waiting until he complied, Lena hesitantly undressed, setting her clothing next to the fire and then sat on her side of the tree. Not really excepting how cold she would be, she brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. "Damnit...Go ahead, Talos." There was no real easy way of doing this, and there wasn't much cover to keep from being seen by one another either.

~*~*~*~

Kol nodded and gently held her hand. "Lets go then before it gets dark." Taking to the skies he made for his home. After twenty minutes or so of flying it seemed as if they were right up on the mountains. Flying into a deeper part of the terrain, Kol led her to where a rather large house stood against the forest. The cobblestone walkway led to a grand, stone styled home that was full of lush plants on the outside. The doors where made of a dark oak and many windows looked out onto the lawn. "Well...here we are." He said, leading her inside. The interior was even more grand on the inside with pure marble flooring and high arching ceilings. There was a grand staircase in the main hallway that led to corridors on either side.

Kol led Mai up the stairs and to the right which opened up even further, leading to many different halls and doorways. He walked down about halfway in and opened a door. "This can be your room for the night if you so wish it." The bedroom was probably the size of Mai's entire house. The bed that sat in the middle of the room had dark blue satin sheet with four fluffy looking pillows neatly on top. The floor was the same dark oak color the door was but a white fluffy carpet surrounded the bed. There were a few odd and end tables that filled the empty space and a sliding door which led out to the balcony. The view over the balcony was of their backyard which overlooked the forest which one could see for miles on end. Another door to the left of the bed led to a lavish bathroom filled with all the amenities one could ever want. Along the walls were several painting of several landscapes but the biggest was of a beautiful lake which sat atop of a mountain. "Well, how do you like it? This room isn't used much...but its across the hall from my own in case you need anything." Kol said with a grin.

Once Lena left, Talos set about gathering some wood of his own, but not for the purpose of burning. Instead, he was gathering long sturdy branches the forked and spearing them into the ground so that they could stand by themselves unsupported. The work was good for him, it kept his mind off of other things that he would surely have to think about once Lena returned. Every time he thought of name, the image of her leaning over him with her shirt plastered to her skin in all the right places and utterly see-through came immediately to mind, setting his blood to rushing without fail. By the time she came back, he had the makeshift drying poles up and had draped his cloak over one of them to dry in front of the fire.

When Lena commanded him to turn around, he did so immediately, retreating to his side of the tree and began the process of peeling off his wet clothing as well, left in nothing but his damp small clothes. He shivered as the cool night air struck his body, and hoped that at the very least it wouldn't rain tonight. "Try not to get too excited, I'm hanging up my clothes." He managed to force a chuckle as he stepped out once Lena was in the clear, draping his shirt and pants over the poles he had set up before quickly going back to his side of the tree.

Awkward silence stretched between them during which Talos found out that it wasn't quite so cold if he wrapped himself with his wings, protecting his bare skin from any wayward breeze. The fire crackled merrily in the silence, and then finally when it was unbearable to keep quiet any longer, Talos spoke up. "So... what now?" He asked, turning his head slightly in Lena's direction, fully relaxing his back against the rough bark of the tree that separated them.

*~*~*~*

Mai followed Kol meekly, flying at his side in smooth tandem in a well-practiced way that was a testament unto itself of how often the two had flown in such a formation. She saw the Serenoa compound long before they arrived, her eyes getting wider and wider the close they got to it. By the time they landed on the cobblestone entrance road, she was speechless, taking everything in with her huge gold eyes and a dumbfounded expression on her face. She followed mutely as Kol lead her through the house, unsure if her mouth was open in surprise or not. She had never seen such an extravagant house, let alone ever been in one!

When she was finally escorted to her room, she simply stood in the doorway, as if she were afraid to cross the threshold. It was very easy for her to feel overwhelmed by the abundant display of wealth, and she did just that, openly admiring everything about the room from the paintings to the flooring to the sheets and draperies. She couldn't reply to Kol's question at first, left breathless by the stunning beauty of the room. "How couldn't I like it?" She finally managed to whisper, her voice conveying her overwhelming sense of awe. "It's such a beautiful room... I never thought that... well it would be like this. Living here all the time-" Apparently she had now mustered enough courage to step inside the room. Taking a single step over the threshold, she headed toward the sliding door, looking out over the seemingly endless landscape. She had known that the Serenoa family was rich, but had never imagined that they had wealth in such abundance. She was jealous for a split second, then sighed and hugged herself, letting the brief flare of jealousy fade. "Yer house is so nice." She mumbled to the door, rubbing her arms slowly as if she were cold. I can see why my old ancestors from the legends would 'ave been mad ter 'ave ter give this up. The view alone is gorgeous."

Lena looked over her shoulder to him. The persistent heat that was forming in the pit of her stomach would not leave her. As he posed his question to her she thought for a long moment and then said to hell with it. "I have an idea..." She said softly as she turned to face him. She was on all fours as she crawled over to him, her slender hips swaying gently. Gently pushing his knees down she once more was straddling Talos. She knew this might be going to fast for either of them, but she couldn't help herself.

Sitting on his hips this time was entirely different. He was wearing nothing but his skivvies and her cool hand ran down his chest, resting there while the other was on his shoulder. Nearly as rough as their first kiss, Lena pushed her lips against his. The fever pitch they were in earlier seemed pale in comparison to this. Lena knew she was acting out of character but once more she found she could not stop herself.

~*~*~*~

Kol walked up behind Mai and wrapped his arms around her. He rested his chin on her shoulder and placed a soft kiss on her neck. "It is much as my home as it is yours now. You are welcome here at any time, and this room will always be open to you." Escorting her back into the warmer part of the room.

"Would you like something to eat? Perhaps you will join me for dinner?" Kol offered, it was around dinner time and he knew at the very least that he was hungry.

She shivered once at his kiss, nodding to his offer about the room. It was odd to think that if she wanted, she could live here in this incredible house for as long as she wanted, of until Kol's family figured out where exactly it was that she had appeared from and what sort of woman was seducing their brother. Given the shady past that her mother and Kol's father had shared, she couldn't imagine it going over well.

As she was lead away from the window, she perked up at the mention of food and her stomach chose that exact moment to rumble loudly. A small laugh escaped her and she looked up at Kol shyly, entwining her fingers with his. "Dinner sounds good... But um... w-what if there's someone else there? Ye've got a buncha siblin's, righ'? What do I say if we run inter one?" This was a very legitimate fear of Mai's. Her family had a very distinct accent, and though she had slowly started to learn how to talk a little differently, her heavy accent continued to prevail though her speech patterns. She was afraid of what would happen to Kol if the others found out that he had knowingly brought an Estoen into the house, despite the fact that she was not carrying sulfur rocks.

Kol thought about it for a long moment. It wasn't unusual for Kol to have a woman at his side, but offering her a room to herself, food, and other amenities were not park of the package. It usually never lasted long enough for the woman to need such things. "Perhaps we should try to tweak your speech some. Instead of saying 'an, try saying and. Instead of ter, say the." Kol thought for a moment. "Mother and father, instead of ma and pa. If you just tweak a little none of them will notice. Just tell them you are a girl I just met. They will believe it." He said with a dry tone.

After some practice on how to say a few words properly, Kol lead them into the dining room. It was almost as large as a hall, with a great big table in the middle. Fine tableware covered its surface that sat atop a red tablecloth. At the arrival of the two, three or four waiters and waitresses moved about the room. One pulled out a chair or Kol and then one for Mai. Another one ran into the kitchen and the last two severed drinks.

Mai tried her hardest to follow his instructions, not wanting to stand out too terribly bad from what the expected form his past girlfriends had followed. She was briefly curious about what other women he had been seeing before they met, but quickly decided that it was probably a conversation best left for later.

As they walked through the house, she tried very hard not to gape at all the finery that was displayed on every wall, though she couldn't help the small gasp of surprise that left her when she saw the waiters and waitresses that seemed to materialize from the very walls once they entered the dining room. Which, she wasn't entirely sure was a dining room at all. It looked big enough to be a ball room, certainly not the place that she was used to taking her meals, be that in the back kitchen of an Inn or the cramped quarters of her own home. After being seated, she stared relentlessly at Kol, struggling to keep from expressing her surprise in too obvious a way. "Ya'll actually eat here?" She hissed, glancing at the fine silverware. All the spoons and forks and knives her family owned were either made out of wood or tarnished beyond recognition of what the original metal was supposed to look like, as well as being bent in several places or had chips in the handles.

Kol couldn't help the grin that spread across his face at Mai's reaction. He felt as he was taking a child through a candy shop for the first time or something. Nodding at her question, he thanked a waiter who pour him a glass of water. Kol waited to say anything more as another man set their plates in front of them. There was a dark colored meat with an oddly orange colored sauce. The sauce itself even had an orange scent to it. Also on the plate was an assortment of vegetables and a large helping of mashed potatoes to boot.

"Please leave us." Kol instructed the staff, and waited until they had left before speaking. "We will be left alone now, please enjoy yourself." He said and sat back with an amused grin.

Mai examined the dish before her with a tad bit of wonder, just like she had the rest of his house. The food almost... looked to pretty to eat. She was a little nervous as she picked up one of the two forks at her side, having no idea what one would even use two forks for, and with a tiny little bit of hesitation, she removed a piece of the meat and bit into it, chewing slowly despite her natural inclination to absolutely inhale any food that came within her general vicinity. Once she had swallowed, she looked up at Kol, glee absolutely radiating off of her person. "This is the best chicken I've ever had!" She exclaimed, taking great care to try and not let her accent slip through, despite her jubilation. More confident now, she took another bite of the cooked creature that she had assumed was chicken, thrilled by how good it tasted. "A girl could get used to this." She mumbled once between bites.

Kol looked at Mai in utter shock. The plate of food in front of her had absolutely no chicken on it. "Mai, my lady, there is no chicken on that plate. What meat you are eating is duck." Kol couldn't help the smile literally plastered to his face though. Her excitement and joy over such a simple dish was practically radiating off of her. Letting out a small chuckle, Kol began to dig into his own plate. He knew that she would probably have a blush on her face and decided not to stare at her overabundance of cuteness that happened to emerge when she blushed.

She nearly choked on a bit of her food when Kol announced that it was not in fact chicken, but duck. She blushed crimson at her ignorance, and noted with a little relief that even though Kol was grinning like a fool, he had spared her the indignity of openly staring at her flushed cheeks, concentrating instead on eating his meal. She finished her own in silence, partially because she was just so hungry that she couldn't be bothered to pause to speak, and also because she was embarrassed she would mistakenly mislabel something else on her plate. She thought that she recognized the greens, but then again, she had also thought that a duck was a chicken.

Once her plate was cleaned, she pushed it a little bit away from her, looking up at Kol. "The... duck... was very good. Do you eat meals like this all the time?" Careful to enunciate each word, Mai tried hard not to blush, hoping that he wouldn't quiz her on what she thought she had been eating.

Lena was content to simply lay in his arms, the small kisses he gave to her neck and head oddly pleased her as she snuggled her body as close as she could get to him. It didn't take long for Lena to drift into a light slumber as she listened to the fire crackle.

As the morning light first touched the sky, a young fisher made his way to the lake that he had deemed his favorite spot in the world. The water was always calm and the fish were plentiful so he could easily feed his family on each trip he made. This trip however was slightly different. As he sat down his tackle box a white figure caught his eye. Walking closer to inspect what the creature was, this young fishers face became a bright cheery red. He had walked into a pair of winged humans in a lovers embrace. Just as he was about to grab his stuff and flee from the two sleeping lovers, he caught a glimpse of Lena's slender body. With greedy eyes he drank her in, for being such an odd creature he had to admit she was beautiful.

~*~*~*~

Kol looked up at her once he too had finished his food. "Of course." He said as if it were common knowledge. "Being so isolated helped keep the wild life at high numbers and our chefs grow a good portion of the food, what they can not gets sent to us." Kol stood from his chair and offered his hand to Mai to assist her in standing.

"Perhaps we could take an evening stroll, my lady." He said with a suave smile on his face. "And if you do not mind, we might want to get you a change of clothing. It will help you fit in better." Kol mentioned as they made their way out of the dining room and up the stairs once more. Though this time, they took to the other side of the halls and into what appeared to be another bed room. This room was in a similar set up but the room was in a light pink coloration. Kol walked into the room and opened two sliding doors to a closet. The closet held every outfit a female could possibly want to wear. From long evening dresses to shorter summer ones, to dress pants and casual wear there seemed to be an endless supply. "Feel free to take whatever you wish that suits you, Mai. I will be outside when it is you are ready." He glanced at her face which seemed to be stuck in a constant state of awe and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him,

The morning was cool, but not unpleasantly so. The fire had burned down during the night and was now a glowing heap of ashes. Stirring, it took Talos a moment to remember exactly where he was, the events of the night before flooding into his head like a tidal wave. Lena moved against him then, burrowing against his chest against the morning chill, and he squeezed her slightly, drawing her slight form closer. All was not right though, and as he tried to determine what was setting his senses on alert, he heard a sound that sounded suspiciously like a footstep. Opening his eyes, he looked up directly at the fisherman the had spotted them and stopped, staring openly at Lena in a way that Talos absolutely did not like.

Something dark and ugly was born in the pit of his stomach then as he stretched his wing to cover Lena's naked form, releasing his grip on her gently in preparation for standing and beating the hell out of this random by-passer. "I would be gettin' gone real quick, if I were you." He growled dangerously, eyes flicking to his unsheathed weapons that were relatively close at hand, drying by the fire like the rest of their clothes and gear.

*~*~*~*

She took Kol's hand readily, feeling exceedingly proper at being escorted away from the table in such a manner. As they walked, she again tried very hard to hide her bewilderment at all the wealth and finery, succeeding at keeping her mouth shut this time as they walked. The dress room that Kol showed her to, however, had shoved all of her hard work out the window in the briefest of seconds, and she found herself gaping at all the clothes lined up on the walls. She had never seen that many dresses in her life, and she was expected to wear such finery? The fact that Kol seemed to be leaving it all up to her was a little distressing as well... How could she ever choose?

The soft click of the door closing jarred her into action, and she took to wandering up and down the row of dresses, looking for something that wasn't incredibly extravagant. It was a little harder than she thought to find something a little more plain, and heaved a distressed sigh when she realized that she might have to open her horizons to bigger better things.

After what could be considered a very long time in the dressing room, Mai peeked out of the door to make sure that it was Kol and only Kol that stood on the other side. "I 'ope I'm not stealin' anybody's clothes." She mumbled, opening the door a bit wider and walking out of it. She had chosen a dress instead of going for pants, as might have been expected. The material was a dark wine red that complimented the dusky rose of her wings quite nicely. It was composed of two different types of material, the outer layer some sort of fine silk that was partially see-through and the darker of the two layers, the second being a much thicker and brighter red. It hugged her midriff and hips, flaring out at the upper thigh with a straight cut across her chest that showed just a hint of cleavage, the sleeves lying at an angle on her shoulder and reaching down past her wrists. She fiddled with the sleeves a little bit, apparently not used to such a thing. "It looks strange on me, doesn't it?" She asked timidly, meeting Kol's gaze very briefly before concentrating on her hands again.

The fishermen had never even noticed Talos open his eyes and when he heard the dark hiss of his warning was brought back to his senses. "N-no offense, good sir! Forgive me!" The man had a better sense of self preservation than to continue to stand where he was. He quickly grabbed his things and ran for the hills, he had no idea what the winged human was capable of and had no intentions of finding out.

Lena having sensed something was up now, slowly opened her eyes. While she had expected to be close to Talos' body, she didn't expect his wing to be caging her in. Taking a few more moments to orient herself, she moved against Talos. "Oi....What are you doing...?" She said muffled against his chest. She had no want to leave the warmth of his body.

~*~*~*~

As the door slowly clicked open and Mai's form appeared, Kol stood from the wall he was leaning on across the hall. Kol had to take a moment to take in her form, the dress seemed to be made just for her body. It hung and clung in every good way possibly and the color was intensely flattering on her. Kol walked over to her, not even attempting to hide his desire from her and took his hand in his, placing three soft kisses on her palm. "It suits you better than I could have ever imagined, my lady. You are breath taking." He said simply as he began to guide her back through the house.

The tour he gave her was a good hour or two long. It took such time to even just walk through the place. With the vast expanse of rooms, hallways, seating rooms, gardens, and kitchens it was even a surprise to Kol they finished in the time that they had. Every room was fitting with everything one could possible need and more, all the fabrics made from the finest material, the equipment was highest quality. Near the end of the tour, Kol had brought Mai back to the familiar hallway where their bedrooms where. As he was about to say something another door down the hall opened and out popped a child.

Ren eyed the pair carefully as she walked over to the pair. "Welcome home, big brother." She greeted him as she hugged him to her. She had only come up to around where his hips where and her bouncing curls were crushes against his form, only to pop back out when she released him. "Who might you be?" She tried to ask Mai as politely as she was taught but she could help the bite to her voice that she came accustom to when Kol brought strangers into their house.

The dark grumbling part of him that had woken up at the fisherman's presence snorted with delight before retreating once again to the depths of Talos's subconscious. He felt immensely pleased by the man's quick retreat, probably more than he should have given the circumstances and the unvoiced threat to the man if he hadn't gotten far away as quickly as possible. When Lena stirred, his gaze left the forest where the fleeing man had disappeared at to look down at her, his expression softening slightly from the hard expression he had borne toward the fisherman.

For a split second, he contemplated not telling her what had just happened, but thought better of it and lifted his wing a little so that he wasn't completely boxing her in. "Somebody found our campsite, I was just scarin' them off." He mumbled, dropping a kiss on top of her head because he simply couldn't help it. The companionable silence that stretched between them was an odd concept, but not something that he hated, though it was made a little awkward by the fact that they were still in a state of undress. Clearing his throat, he motioned toward the burnt out fire. "I think that the clothes are dry now... I'm not excited to see how my bow shoots after getting it wet last night."

*~*~*~*

The look that Kol was giving her when she stepped out of the clothing room made Mai blush, unsure what it was about his intense gaze that unsettled her so, pulling at her heart in a strange way. She managed a stumbling thank you after his compliment, ducking her head slightly so that she could regain control of her face. She really had to stop making such faces at every little compliment! Mai mentally scolded herself for faltering so easily in front of him. After all, they had spent enough time together that she should have been well-versed in his ways. At least she didn't blush when he kissed her hand anymore, even if it was when he forewent kissing her knuckles to her palm.

The tour was... interesting to say the least. When she wasn't speechless at all the grandness that his house displayed in every aspect, she was asking questions about the whys and whens and wheres. She took careful note to try and get the general layout of the house down in her head, even if she couldn't memorize where all of the rooms were located, or what they were for. When she began recognizing stretches of hallway, she relaxed a little bit, listening with rapt attention as Kol spoke about his house with a barely concealed touch of pride. He seemed so... in his element and at ease, she couldn't help but envy his calm collect a little bit.

She was a little startled by the young girl's appearance, and quickly tried to recall specifically what it was Kol wanted her to say if she did meet another member of his family. She was struck by how different the little girl looked compared to Kol, and realized a little blatantly that it was because they did not share the same mother, and by her age, probably didn't share a father either. She affected a little nod of the head, supposing that it was a proper greeting, and gave the girl a smile. "I'm Mai, a friend of you're brothers. We just met not too long ago." It was a struggle to try and get rid of as much of her accent as possible, but she managed it, mentally sighing in relief at the accomplishment.

"Well thats not embarrassing at all..." She mumbled sarcastically. Lena sighed as she realized what he was hinting at. Of course she had to get up eventually, but enjoyed that she had prolonged it. "I wouldn't be either, good thing mine is just fine." She said in a teasing manner as she sat up. Immediately she felt the cool air against her skin and hisses in displeasure. After giving a quick stretch of her newly sore muscles, Lena made her way over to her clothing. Not wanting to waste any time she got dressed and was pleased to find them even slightly warmed from little warmth the fire had left in it.

~*~*~

Ren, in a very unladylike manner snorted at Mai's comment. "Kol doesn't bring home friends that are female." Ren looked the woman up and down, she looked like all the others. But this one seemed a little off, she held a look in her eyes that most of the woman didn't have. She would have continued her explanation but saw Kol's disapproving look and stopped herself. "If you are still here in the morning, I hope to see you again." She suddenly excused herself, giving one more look to her brother and then disappeared back into the room she had popped out of.

Kol sighed, Ren's words had held too much truth in them then he would have preferred to hear. She was always like that, practical, protective, and always stating her opinion. "Please forgive her, Mai, she really does have my best interest at heart and yours as well." He grinned. "You did rather well hiding your accent, by the way." He complimented her as he walked into what was to be her room and sat himself down in a rather plush looking chair. "There is sleepwear in the closet in here as well, feel free to pick what pleases you." Kol knew what would have pleased him, but thought it best to keep that opinion to himself.

Talos stood when Lena did, unable to help the covert glances he snatched as she stretched and dressed, in a state of mild shock when recalling what had happened last night. But, it would be a cold day in hell if he could ever honestly say that he didn't enjoy it. Putting clothes back on helped to minimize the desire to try it again, and was a little relieved when both of them were properly clothed. He snorted about the comment of her completely dry weapons, bending down to re-sheath his dirk and strange knife after making sure that the sheathes were dry inside. He strapped the two weapons on, then went about examining his bow and arrows. They didn't seem to be warped at first glance, but there was really only one way to find out...

He examined the bow strings that he had nabbed off of the pirate ship, choosing the longer one and began stringing his bow carefully, afraid that it might snap at any second. When he properly had the bow strung, he pulled on it, flexing the bow and string carefully and slowly. When he could pull back to full draw, he was satisfied that it wouldn't snap on him for the moment and smoothly released the draw weight. Grabbing a fist full of arrows in his left hand, he walked a little ways away from their fire, nocking one of them and aiming at a tree a few feet away. He drew and shot, hitting the tree at eye level, but not in the dead center, the shot having gone astray by a few inches. Frowning, he tried again, this time the arrow falling a little low of his target. After shooting all of the arrows and only a couple of them striking exactly where he had intended, he heaved a small sigh, walking forward to pry the arrows out of the tree. "The bow seems fine, but the arrows have warped." He reported loudly enough for Lena to hear him. "I'll have to stop somewhere and get some new ones." If they had warped, they were probably fragile, and he hated the idea of finding out at the last second which ones would shatter, either on release or impact. Until he could get a new set, he would have to play it safe.

*~*~*~*

At first, Mai wondered if she had somehow offended the small girl, and blinked her confusion at her reaction to telling her that she was just a friend. Though it was true that they were undeniably more than that, she didn't think that it should have been such a stretch of the imagination as to warrant the indelicate snort. Once the little girl had turned her back, she looked up at Kol, clearly worried about her reaction. His assertion that she was just being motherly didn't serve to reassure her at all, but smiled along with him anyway. "Thank you. I tired my best." A small flush appeared on her face at the compliment, and she walked with him without complaint back to her room in silence, pondering the meeting with his little sister.

Once back inside, her gaze immediately flicked to the wonderful view beyond the glass doors before settling on what was to be her bed. She examined it carefully, running her hand over the fine sheets before taking a seat on the extreme edge. She sank in with a small laugh, surprised at how incredibly comfortable it was. So this was what mattresses that weren't stuffed with straw were like? Her gaze traveled to the closet that Kol mentioned, but she made no effort to get up and go examine the finery the wardrobe was sure to hold. That could be something that she examined later. For the moment, she simply folded her hands in her lap and looked at them carefully, really looking at her hands as if she were studying someone else's. At first glance one would simply note that they were small, which was normal given her tiny frame and stature. Her fingers were thin and long, but the pads were calloused slightly from hard labor, a thin white scar on the back of her left hand hardly discernible from where she had accidentally been sliced by a falling cutting knife years before. They were the hands of a common laborer, and after looking at them, she felt so incredibly out of place in this house of wealth that she couldn't help but feel a tad bit uncomfortable.

"Thank ye Kol... fer everythin'..." She said, accidentally slipping back into her old accent now that the two were alone in her borrowed room. "Thanks fer housin' me while I try and figure out what to do 'bout my ma-mother... I never thought she was that kinda' person."

As Lena strapped on her new short sword and watch Talos unleash several arrows. She put all thoughts of the night before behind her, whenever she thought about it even for a moment she felt her face get hot and a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Ignoring her new found feelings, Lena shot an amused grin to his obvious attempts to blame her. While, yes it was, he had pushed her pasts her limit of being able to tolerate his male chauvinistic attitude towards her.

The mention of him having to get more arrows when they stopped brought up a question that floated in her mind. Where should they even go next? Having always traveled on her own she wasn't used to picking a location to go. The wind had usually chosen her fate for her almost her entire life. She had to admit the unpredictable wind had brought her to some of the most interesting places. But now, with Talos at her side she felt like she was supposed to have a destination. It was a strange urge she wasn't used to, and it became apparent to her the more she was with Talos the more off balance she was starting to feel.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, Lena hoisted her backpack on her shoulders and then slung on bow on as well in a familiar fashion. Looking at Talos as if in though, she decided to wait if he had any suggestions.

~*~*~*~

Kol looked over Mai carefully. "It would have been freely given despite the circumstances." He said truthfully but took another moment to look at her as if to judge what he was about to say. "Though Mai, I think your mother is still the same person as you've known her." He tried to reassure her as he readjusted how he sat. He propped his elbows on his legs, resting his head in his hands. His bright green eyes never left her face.

He walked forward once he was out of the arrows he'd brought with him, carefully extracting them from the tree and inspecting the tips and shafts for damage before replacing them in his quiver, simply tearing off the heads of a couple that he deemed unusable and tossing the shafts away. The extra arrow heads he put in a small pouch that contained his coin purse. When he turned to gather the rest of his things, he saw lena staring at him expectantly, and it took him a long minuet to realize that she was wondering what they should be doing next. Slipping his bow over his shoulder, he pondered that very same question, gathering his gear in silence. When he finally straightened, he had a suggestion and a plan to make her go along with it.

"How would ya feel about goin' back to Turich?" He asked, meeting Lena's gaze steadily. "Unless you've got somewhere else to be. I know it hasn't been long since we left, but with these arrows all warped and brittle, I don't want to go attacking any more pirates with them, so we need to get to a town to buy some more gear. Luckily, I know the weapons dealer in Turich, and he's a nice man. I've done some work for him in the past, so he knows me pretty well. He'll give me a discount on gear if I drop by." He waited a little eagerly for her reply. He didn't really feel the need to be going home just yet, usually he spent a month or two on the road without ever setting foot in Turich. However, they were fairly close at the moment, and he did need a new stock of arrows.

*~*~*~*

Mai held Kol's gaze for a long moment before she closed her eyes and sighed sadly, rubbing her temples gingerly, as if she had an oncoming headache. "Yeah, I know she's really still the same person... but, 'ow am I s'pposed to not think of 'er differently? I mean... she cheated on pa. It dunnit matter who it was with, she was married ter pa 'an she 'ad sex with another man. I can't... it's jus' gonna take me a bit to get over it, is all." She shook her head and opened her eyes again, gold meeting green. "Maybe a good night's sleep will help a little bit... but... If I have to, could I stay a couple days? Ma'll prolly make up some story fer me at home..."

Lena met his gaze with a questionable one, she had left Turich in such a hurry and had known that Tolos' mother had seen the entire fight before she left. Groaning at the memory she went on why she was fighting with him. Those stupid raids. "It's all fine and good to go back and get supplies, Talos, but if I hear one thing about those stupid raids I will leave and never look back. And I would make sure it would be nightfall when I did." She added the extra threat, but decided if he could keep those conditions she could follow along with them. Eventually she had to go back and apologize for leaving in such a manner to Talos' mother. She found it odd that the last month or so she had been following a direct path to somewhere, but shrugged it off and unfolded her wings, pumping them hard for her to take flight.

~*~*~*~

Kol stood and bent down to where he was eye level with her. His intense gaze never leaving her face as he did. Gently, he brought his hands to her temples and rubbed them for her. "You are welcome here for as long as you please, my lady." He said in a soft whisper. Leaning down to kiss her forehead, Kol once again stood and took a step back from her. "Sleep well, Mai, if you have need of me, I will be directly across the hall." He tipped his head at her and made for the door, looking back at her once more before closing the door behind him softly. With a soft sigh of his own, Kol made his way into his room, stripping himself of his day clothing and slipping into nightwear consisting of a simple pair of light shorts. Slipping into the cool bed, Kol made himself comfortable as he replayed the days events in his mind.

Talos nodded his head to her demands, unsurprised by them. "I'll let my brothers know that even though I'm back, I won't be leadin' any raids." After all, he really didn't want to give up her company for the sake of transporting more sulfur to the Serenoa compound. He took off after her, leading the way back to his native home of Turich.

!¡!¡!¡!¡!

The scent of fresh mountain air was always refreshing after having been away for a long time. Before long, the mountains that enclosed the tiny village parted, revealing Turich in the late noon sun. It was busy, people out and about on the streets going about normal life. Talos lead them down to the edge of town, smoothly landing a bit of distance away from the nearest house to give room for his huge wings. Once he was down, he stretched, working out the kinks in his neck, arms and wings that had been obtained over their long flight from the Southern coast. "Well, here's home." He said, a touch of joy in his voice as he declared the obvious. "We'll go to the weapon-smith before I drop by and say hello to the family."

*~*~*~*

The sky was completely dark, an inky black pitted by bright flecks of light otherwise known as stars. Mai lay away in her huge comfortable bed, staring blankly up at the canopy of her four poster bed, though she could not see it. A pillow was clutched tightly in her arms, squeezing it hard enough to nearly pop the stuffing out of it. Despite how immensely comfortable the bed was, there was just something incredibly wrong about it all. And as the hours dragged by, she slowly began to realize what it was. For her entire life, she had slept with her two other sisters lying on top of one another on their tiny uncomfortable bed, and had grown used to it. Now, she was completely alone in a bed that was probably the size of her kitchen, and she felt lonely there, a small little form swallowed up in the hugeness of the bed.

With the sound of sliding fabric, she moved the pillows and blankets out of her way, sliding off of the edge of the bed. Moving by sight, she found the doorway and opened it, walking silently out into the hallway in her bare feet. The house was a bit colder than she remembered it being earlier that day. The thin nightgown she was wearing didn't protect her much from the cold, the rather plain ankle-length material was obviously never meant to protect the wearer from a chilly night. Rubbing her arms, she crossed the hallway and searched around blindly for the doorknob that she knew had to be there. Eventually, she found it and opened the door slowly, peeking in though it would do no good to try and see if it really was inhabited at the moment.

Carefully, she paced over to the bed, lifting up the edge of the covers and slipping underneath them. She scooted to the center of the bed where she came into contact with the resident. With a slight blush on her face, she leaned her head against him, feeling better now that she was with somebody instead of all alone in that huge bed, though there was a blush on her face, and she sincerely hoped that this late at night, Kol would have fallen deeply asleep.

Lena landed next to Talos and did some stretching of her own. Feeling the tight muscles in her shoulders and neck relax a bit she gave out a satisfied sigh and nodded to Talos. Their flight had been pleasantly quiet, in that the fighting had finally died down. She figured that once Talos finally got some he would be less restless and bossy towards her. They had yet to be in battle, or disagree on something so the theory would have to wait to be tested.

Lena walked into town with him, taking in the familiar sights with a small bit of emotion welling in her. It wasn't that she had missed the small town, or people, but that she was envious that Talos had a place to actually call home. Being on her own, she never thought it about nor had it bothered her. But these people were so warm and inviting that the temptation to stay in their company was overwhelming. Sometimes Lena detested being a woman and the natural pull towards wanting a family. Talos had been the first person she had ever come this close with and it was due to his sheer stupid persistence that got him there. Smirking to herself now about her own thoughts, Lena snuck a glance at Talos before looking back out at the townspeople.

~*~*~*~

Kol had woken to the soft click of his door opening. He laid perfectly still as he awaited to see what fool would enter his room in the middle of the night. As he was about to jump out of bed and kick someone's ass, he felt the covers pull up and a small form slip into the bed with him. Felling the form move up against him, it sent a small chill down his spine. The poor thing was freezing, except for her face. Then it clicked that it was Mai in the bed with him. Taking several moments to wrap the idea around his head, Kol lazily draped an arm over her waist as a faint smile touched his lips. Kol snuggled his head against her own and simply kept silent as he enjoyed her unexpected company.

"It's this way." He gestured vaguely toward town, leading Lena into the center of town. As he walked, occasionally someone would call out to him in hearty greeting, a few shook his hand as they passed by, asking him when next they could expect to employ his services. The friendly banter often did not last very long and ended with another shake of the hand or manly pat on the shoulder. After a particularly long encounter with an old acquaintance, Talos would apologize to Lena for the delay and march on.

The weapon-smith was as friendly as Talos had described. When the big avian walked in his door (stooping to do so), he was greeted with a hearty hello. Lena was not spared from the conversation, the smith looking her up and down like he would if he were examining a sword. Deeming that she was apparently good enough to be following Talos around, he included the woman readily in the conversation, asking to see the weapons that they had acquired on their journeys. Talos surrendered his strange knife readily, wanting to know more about it, information which the smith supplied almost eagerly. When it came to the topic of replacing Talos' arrows, he grew serious, examining the shafts of the warped weapons.

"Come back later, and I'll have them replaced for you." He had said, taking all of the arrows that Talos had and placed them on his workshop table, shooing them out of the shop and got to his work immediately.

*~*~*~*~*

Her blush deepened to a dark crimson stain when Kol seemed to have unconsciously draped his arm over her. She wasn't entirely sure what she had been expecting the unconscious man to do, but apparently this was not it. However, with his warm body so close and wrapped around her, she felt much safer than before, more at home. Splaying her fingers across his bare chest, then let her eyes drift shut and was almost instantly asleep, her chest rising and falling softly.

!¡!¡!¡!¡!

The next morning was terribly awkward. Mai woke to the grinning face of Kol, who looked an awful lot like the cat that had just swallowed the canary. Incredibly embarrassed, she had practically fallen out of bed in her haste to exit the room, slipping back into her own. By some grace of the heavens, she hadn't been spotted by a member of the family leaving Kol's room that morning, for which she was eternally grateful.

Once she had dressed herself back in her old clothes, she felt that she could face him again, and told him of her plans for the day. Even though she wasn't really looking forward to it, she needed to go and see her mother. Her family loyalty was strong, and just up and leaving her mother in such a state needed to be rectified, no matter how weird it would seem facing her with a level head. It didn't take much to convince him that he should come along for moral support, though she didn't press his need to actually physically be next to her when she met her mother. It would be alright if she simply knew that he was within running distance.

Lena followed Talos around awkwardly as he greeted what felt like literally every person in the entire town. The lengthy conversations with some of the elders made her grow even more uncomfortable by the minute. The apologetic glances or mumbles she got from Talos hadn't really helped but she was pleased to arriving in the weapons shop. Weapons were something she was far more comfortable with and could easily relate to the man who ran the shop. The impersonal topics, yet polite manner in which the man spoke to them relaxed Lena. Being in all of the towns company was something she would never get used to.

Having been pleased with the examination of her weapons, Lena left the shop in a relatively good mood. She had a good idea of the layout of the town and made her way back to Talos' home and then hovered outside of it with a hesitant look on her face. She knew it was silly but she didn't want to really face them after her storming out.

~*~*~*~

Kol couldn't help the permanent grin that seemed to be planted on his face. He was just so happy that Mai had done something so unexpected and was amused her reaction when they had woken. Having been dressed before Mai, Kol had waited in the hallway for her and listened when she had wanted to go back and face her mother. He thought her being brave, but wisely kept most of this thoughts to himself.

"I will be just outside the city, in the same spot we meet your mother. I've no want for the rest of your family to see me, of course." He added with a bit of a teasing tone to his voice. "Oh...But wait just a moment..."

Kol had sent out a message with one of his brothers to gather everyone in the main hall quickly, for he had an announcement to make. He had thought long about whether to do this or not, and had decided to go for it. After all of the kids were in the room, some of them rather grumpy looking Kol stood from his sitting position.

"This is going to be rather abrupt...But there will be no further raids on the Estoen family home, or their members. From no on, if you are caught doing so I will have no issues knocking some sense back into you." He waited for their replies but what he got was many stares and mouths agape. Some looked angry, Enitan stormed off without a word. As Kol was about to turn and leave, one kid stood. "This isn't right! They've been doing the same harm to us all these years! There is no reason for us to stop and look like cowards!"

Kol looked back at the kid with a cold stare. "There has been enough fighting on both families, and I've had enough of it. You'd be best off to listen to my words." He hissed at the child in a warning and left them to return to Mai.

When Lena didn't immediately march in the door, Talos raised an eyebrow to her behavior. Surely, she wasn't expecting him to be gentlemanly and open the door for her? From everything he'd gathered from all the time that they had spent together, she wasn't expecting handouts, especially from men. When it finally dawned on him what she was being so awkward about, however, he smiled a little to himself, moving past her and striding in the door. "Ma! Pa! You in here?" He called into the depths of the house, crossing over the threshold without reservations. Knowing his mother, she probably wasn't holding a grudge against Lena for storming out. In fact, she was probably overwhelmed with joy that she had come back with Talos, taking it as a sign that her wandering son had finally found someone to settle down with. She would probably be sour then, to find out that neither of them were really planning on doing anything that remotely resembled settling.

Enita poked her head out from the room that was dedicated to the boys of the house, her hair tied up and an apron on. She appeared to be cleaning the house, a favorite past time of hers that she indulged in when not cleaning, drying, or folding and distributing laundry, or patching up said laundry. "Oh! Talos! M'boy, we weren't 'spectin ye 'ome fer a 'nother few weeks yet!" As she walked out of the room, her gaze slid to Lena, looking her all up and down, examining her closely. "And if my eyes dunn't deceive me, it looks like ye've brought a girl 'ome. A familiar face, too! 'Ave you been takin' care o' me boy, Lena?" She smiled in her warm matronly way. Obviously, if she was upset with Lena in any way, she wasn't about to show it.

Talos heaved a small sigh at his mother's choice of words, shaking his head slightly. "It's good to see you too, ma. Look, do you know where everyone else is at? I don't think we'll be stayin' long, so I want to say hello to everybody I can."

Enita looked Talos over for a long moment, thinking hard. "Arthulur got a job in the market. Yer younger brothers are spread out in the normal places, though."

*~*~*~*

She heaved a heavy sigh of relief when Kol agreed to accompany her, smiling as she did so. "Thank ya Kol. I... don't know how this'll go over. I-" She looked like she wanted to say more, but her better judgement had apparently gotten to her, and Mai remained silent, chewing on her lip and averting her eyes to the floor for a brief second. "But I'll come 'an tell ya when it's all over." She continued, filling the silence that stretched between them.

Once they were out of the house, she felt a sense of unease leave her. Until that moment, Mai had been completely unaware how awkward and tense she had felt in Kol's house until she was outside of it. Once they had taken flight, she looked back at it, a behemoth of a house lingering amongst the rugged wilderness of the mountains, and was unsure if she could ever get used to living in such a place, even if it were temporarily. Her thoughts turned inward then, and her gaze focused on where she knew Turich to be, though even with her incredible eyesight, the village could not quite be seen yet. Escaping the wrongness of what her mother had done was one thing, but how would she ever keep the secret from her siblings... or her father? Somehow, her mother had managed to keep everyone from finding out about her adulterous ways. She had said that her father wouldn't listen to anything that she said, so maybe he just didn't want to know? Perhaps he was fine with explaining it away as the Serenoa man that he caught his wife with was raping her, and there could be no two ways about it. If that were the case, then it really wasn't worth it to bring up bad blood.

She could see Turich now, bustling in the late afternoon light with the daily activities of the people that lived there. She could practically hear the hawkers in the outdoor market selling their wares to passerby's from here.

*~*~*~*

There was a jovial tune on Arthulur's lips as he whistled while he worked, lifting crates of produce from wagon to merchant's stall. It was heavy laborious work, but he'd done things like this before, and often. He was an expert crate lifter as far as some were concerned, and though such a title didn't land him a steady job for whatever reason, at least he could freelance. Most of the Estoen clan did freelance work, since there was an often joked about curse that the family was under that would hex any long-term employment efforts to be doomed to failure. Otherwise, the hard-working jack-of-all-trades family would probably own the town by now, with what they could do as a whole.

Once one cart was done being unloaded, he grabbed his pay from the merchant that had recruited him, and moved on to the next. It was trade day, so a lot of the local merchants were receiving shipments. He and another one of his younger siblings were making the rounds, offering help where it was needed for whatever pay they could grab. Around this time of the season, money was easier to come by, as were little trinkets that had been broken in-transit, but with a little tweaking could be made new as rain. However, the merchants often didn't know how to repair their wares, or took no interest in wasting their time on broken product, so gave it to the Estoen clan out of either gratitude or pity. Either way, it was free stuff, and if it wasn't useful, then it could be sold to someone who thought it was.

The particular merchant he worked for was a man that sold farmer's crop, and so didn't have any trinkets to give. Instead, Arthulur took his pay and a carrot and moved on, munching on the orange root as he went, continuing to hum the tune that he had probably made up when he couldn't whistle for fear of blowing carrot pieces on everyone.