homeless_pard | Bittersweet

Entry tags:

jason au

Bittersweet

Who: Requiem, Haeldryn, any?

When: A week before Khem delivers.

What: Contemplations of family and love.

"And here," he smiled, stepping back, power drill loose in one hand. "The curtains are secure hmm? Jason did well with the crib, and the large cradle in your room shouldst suffice..." since the revelation of twins. Still, he did what he could, pale fingers tracing down the forest green drapes.

"Aye," Khemrys smiled, rocking gently in the chair in the children's room. "The preparations for this have been touching. You are my family in this realm, and Jason my lord, and both moving to create a proper feeling of home."

"Don't forget the Rodere," he snorted, amused. "There's...so many baby gifts."

She laughed, hands tracing tiredly along her belly, "aye, certainly no forgetting. I'd no idea of what a baby shower was until they so showered me..." almost gifts raining from the ceiling in fact!

"They care," he chuckled softly, peering out the window to nod at the rat guard across the street. "I'd prefer you have more protection than less dear."

She chuckled, eyes sunken from days of uncomfortable sleep and growing awareness of how soon she might give birth, "aye. I know my sworn Lady will aid but she has...a very small presence in this world..."

"Your Gunnora will be delighted," he snorted. "And aid you in being calm and safe. Mattil promised me that you will not risk death in bearing your children, no matter her reach is purely at the clinic."

Khemrys watched a bit, still rocking and touching the toys gifted to them for the children..."I do not fear death, brother."

He sighed, turning attention back to her, "I do. Your death. That you will NOT die is a comfort,but the apprehension is still present."

"Trust in me?" she smiled.

"...always. I can still fret. You are well worth fretting over."

"Am I?" she chuckled. "Have you finished your letter?" she teased.

Ah.. Oh. He ducked his head, letting the drape fall, "I have....a bit of progress?" he admitted a touch sheepishly. No doubt it would surprise people to hear that note in his voice.

She stared at him, then casually threw the the soft, infant 'book' in her hands at him. The resulting squeak sound was amusing? "You know she waits ages to hear from you!"

"I KNOW!" he agreed, wincing. "What could I honestly give her? This world was hard for you..."

"She's rather a pragmatic lady," Khem drawled. "Finish and deliver if you are to avoid calls of cowardice."

"Ow," he laughed, but it was a dark, hesitant sound. "You wound me."

"Rather I care for you," she corrected, eyeing him. "You desire a lady. That is normal for a lord yes?"

Hell. He hated her logic some days. "You realize, my dear sister, that you are the brains in your household?"

She narrowed her eyes, "we have different knowledge bases my brother."

"Yes yes," he chuckled. "Still. I'll...finish tonight and have someone run the envelope to the stones tonight."

"Now," she noted. "You'll go do so now instead of delaying."

Requiem blinked and carefully set the drill down, "if you...like."

"Yes, go."

He stooped to kiss the top of her head and sighed, mind in turmoil. What was he suppose to say? The last few letters had been a stark presentation of facts. Explaining his world, opinions, his place in such...what was he suppose to add to that for a woman who thought well of him but had no context for this world?! He slipped to his own room and scooped up the pen on his desk to tap against his teeth. What to say.

What to say?

What to say...

He thought, somehow, the pleasure and comfort he'd found with Haeldryn was temporary. More the fool him. He dreamed of her weathered smiled and the soft feel of her skin. The wicked delight that danced in her eyes when she spotted him in the crowd...

She had always been rather breathtaking.

Words weren't enough honestly...

"You are terrible at this," Mattil chuckled, leaning against the far wall of his room. "Alive so long and yet you are awkward?"

Requiem snarled, throwing the pen at the sudden intrusion! "As if you'd do better here!"

"...fair," the god laughed, flicking the pen back, "I had the foresight to marry my lady. I've no regrets."

He snarled at the god, narrowing his eyes, "it is not so simple! Not in this world! Such as I...does not have a safe space. Comfort..."

Mattil cocked an eyebrow, amused, "you are mine, and my world is a kinder one. Write."

Requiem growled unhappily and clicked the pen a few times. There was a stack of letters under the blank page; Haeldryn's letters to him. Time being what it was between worlds, well, more from her than him...

...

Lady Haeldryn,

I miss you. Would you come?

Requiem.

"That is...incredibly honest," Mattil chuckled. "But sweet in a way. Send it."

Requiem glanced at the god then found an envelope to seal that small sentence in.

Yeah...he was fucking this up. "It will go out at dawn."

"Good," Mattil grinned. "You need more in your life."

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Haeldryn watched with a bittersweet smile as Aureah passed by her with her new sisters-in-fur, faces flushed and jubilant after their return from the past three nights of the full moon: yet another of the babes she once held and nurtured now grown into womanhood. More and more of the young girls were coming of age and changing with the moon as the Riders did. While there were those who still balked at their inclusion, the excitement of this blossoming ability was growing.

Especially amongst the young.

Lady Khemrys's lord husband had been rumored to have suggested that Running with a mate was a joy, and from the whispered giggles from the young women it would appear he had been correct.

She brushed the stray, wind-blown hairs from her face with the back of her forearm. She loved seeing these young girls come into their own despite her own tinge of sorrow at the passage of time. And how proud she was, too, of the young men who stepped away from the old beliefs and welcomed them into their midst. Though she was certain a lot of that had to do with the lingering influence of the outsiders. And the Night Walkers...

She felt her cheeks heat as they always did when the memory of her Night Walker took over her thoughts. Sometimes she felt the fool for how often she found herself filling page after page to send to him through the gate. And for how often her thoughts lingered on his cool, pale skin in the moonlight as he danced for her, or the rush of his powers when those sharp teeth pierced her skin-

She shook the thought from her head: this was not the time nor place for such fantasies. Especially now that she had so many young apprentices around who had all heard the good-natured speculation from the others. She stood up, brushing the dirt from her hands. She needed something cool to drink and a moment of rest out of the sun. She had just entered the hall on her way to the kitchens when a young Rider came rushing around the corner, nearly colliding with her.

"Lady Haeldryn!" He panted in surprise. "My apologies, I did not hear you-"

She coughed out a surprised laugh and stepped around him. "No harm done, young lord."

He turned excitedly and beamed at her. "A moment, if you will? I had actually been on my way to deliver this to you." He held out a letter, and she knew who it was from even before seeing the now familiar seal in the blood red wax. Apparently the youth who now grinned knowingly at her did as well. "Just arrived from beyond the Gate. Word from one of the Night Walkers, is it not?"

Her cheeks reddened as she took it eagerly. "You have my thanks, young one, and a reminder to respect a lady's privacy," she chided lightly. But with this letter in hand her awareness of the smiles and chuckles as she hurried back to her room vanished along with any desire for refreshment. She closed the door to her quarters and settled on her cot. The arrival of a letter from Lord Requiem always made her feel like one of her giddy, coltish apprentices, but she rarely acknowledged that until well after when she once again fell into the sobering but grateful acceptance of that shining moment when they had both existed in the same world.

But this time.

Her hands shook as she read his brief declaration and equally brief request again and again. He missed her. He missed her. No grand declaration by most standards, but there was a raw power in that simplicity. And he wished her to come...

She sat for quite some time, quietly holding the letter in her hands. She would not lie to herself and say she did not miss him as well. But to journey to another world?

But why not? Her skills were not as direly needed as they had been when she had first arrived at the Keep. And while she had made a home with these people, there was naught to bind her here.

But such journeys were for the young, and she was far from being considered such.

Except by Lord Requiem.

I miss you.

With Lord Requiem she felt as vigorous and gay as she had been in her youth. Could that not be enough to carry her through such a journey?

Will you come?

Her mouth set into a determined smile.

Once the decision had been made, she wasted little time in packing her few belongings. She wasn't sure how long she would be gone -it was not something she was ready to make assumptions about- but she didn't have very much of her own anyway. Her few treasured items that served as memories of her husband and children she packed carefully into a trunk and left in the care of one of her elders in the medical wing, one that she trusted to keep safe until her return.

And then without any further hesitation that might cause her to rethink this bold move, she had left with a small party of Riders for the gate.

She hadn't written a response to Lord Requiem: she doubted a letter would have made it through the stones any sooner than she herself. And he had told her some of his world, so mayhap she would not be quite so overwhelmed when she beheld it for herself. Or so she had hoped.

The journey was long enough for her to reflect on this decision, though. And despite all the fear and uncertainty, she was...excited. For the first time in so many years, she was excited. And so, spurred by and flushed with that excitement, she passed through the stones without a moment's hesitation.

There would bound to be someone there to inform Lord Requiem of her arrival...wouldn't there?

Well, Requiem wasn't at the stones? There was a young lady in jeans and a hat leaning on the stones, someone was there EVERY night to run mail honestly, but still she wasn't expecting a whole person to come around the edge of the stones! "Oh crap!" Um.

What?

"Hello?"

Haeldryn hadn't expected a guard on this side of the gate to be quite so startled by her appearance and she yelped along with them. Her? She eyed the guard's peculiar trews: not something she would expect on a woman. But then, Lord Requiem had told her the manner of dress in his world was far different than her own.

She collected herself at the greeting and offered a friendly smile, trying not to stammer over how unprepared she was to actually speak to any other than Lord Requiem. "Hello. My name is Haeldryn. I was, ah, invited by Lord Requiem?"

NORMALLY SHE GOT MAIL OKAY?! She thought it was some elaborate dead drop system because really, another world?!

Okay so maybe she should actually take even 'bullshit chores' seriously but ANOTHER WORLD?! She craned a bot sideways, looking past "hello Ms. Haeldryn. Is it just you?" She hoped? Requiem was a hell of a name to drop though.

Yeah.

UMMMM CALLING THE CLUB IT WAS!

Haeldryn actually found herself turning and looking over her shoulder as well at that. "Oh! Ah, yes. I am the only one. My escort had not meant to follow."

She pulled her shawl tightly around her against the cold as she watched with wonder as the woman produced a thin black box and began tapping on it. "I hope that was not an error on my part, ch-"

She stopped herself before addressing the young woman as 'child'. Lord Requiem had mentioned that the people of this world aged much like the Dalesmen; for all she knew this youth could be fully grown, and mayhap even a woman of standing given her position of guard at the Gate.

She smiled and tried again. "How might I address you, Guardian?"

Um, oh wow, this chick talked like Khemrys did. That made her stare a moment as she set the phone itself to speaker. It was easier that way! "Um, I'm Shana. I'm a donor and Circus employee?" Was that what she wanted to know?

"I thought this place was just for mail!"

She felt her face flush hot. She knew the high lord Jean Claude had named his keep 'The Circus', and that he had many donors for to feed his people. She had met two such: the Lady Khemrys's husband, Jason, and the gentle, flame-haired youth who traveled with him.

She hadn't truly expected a woman to be in their ranks. Fool, she chided herself, of course the High Lord would provide for all of his people, even if their preference was not for such comely young men as those. So there were women in their ranks of donors.

Had this one fed her Lord Requiem?

She quickly cut that thought off before it could take root in her mind. She could not believe her own impudence, and the shame of it made her flush even hotter. "Ah. Young Shana, a pleasure to meet you," she stammered. She swallowed, trying desperately to save face. "My apologies if I was not meant to pass through the gate without leave. I...I did not know; there seemed to be no means to hail a guard from the other side."

Edited 2025-05-20 04:28 (UTC)

"No no no it's okay!" she didn't want this lady to feel bad as the phone rang through the donor directory and she requested 'non emergency but urgent' yadda yadda. "It just never occurred to me that this whole thing was..."

Well.

Um.

"Real. I mean letters could end up here in a lot of ways..." that didn't spell 'other world' at all!

Haeldryn cocked her head in obvious confusion. "Whyever would it not be? Did your High Lord not cross this gate himself? Surely you must have heard the tales of Lady Khemrys's rescue and the bravery of the Night Walkers and their companions?"

She simply couldn't believe it: such deeds were worthy of endless songs and stories. How did the High Lord's people still doubt?

She...blinked? "I'm not really way up in the circle of needing to know stuff," she admitted a bit blankly.

The phone in her hand finally clicked over to a bored, but warm sounding voice? "Circus support."

"I'm Shana at the mail stones, there is a lady here for Requiem, a Ms. Haeldryn, that needs to be put through to the higher ups!"

"Noted." And her name in case this wasn't an emergency. They frowned on such pranks, but he was pinging the management pads and phones with the name and location.

Haeldryn wanted to ask why such tales would not be meant for all to celebrate the brave deeds of the High Lord, but then a voice came from the small box in the woman's hand. She blinked in surprise: she was certain that Lord Requiem had told her there was some magic in his world, but nothing in comparison to what her world contained. And yet here was a small box that not only spoke, but actually conversed with the woman, Shana.

Who...had just addressed Lord Requiem by his name, sans honorific. She felt the flush begin to return once more. To address him so, she must be very close to him-

She instantly rebuked herself: this jealous behavior was unbecoming and frankly unmerited. She had no claim over Lord Requiem, and yet twice now she had bristled at the thought of this young woman being close to him. And with what proof? Had she not heard the young lords Jason and Nathaniel speak with just as much familiarity? And the Lady Beryl as well?

She was behaving like a child, and she would not let Lord Requiem see her behaving so after extending his invitation to visit. She pulled herself together, straightening and forcing a pleasant patience onto her face as she waited.

"Great, we're on hold," Shana sighed to Haeldryn. "I really hope this is legit because I am so getting in trouble if you're one of those coven wackos you know?" JUST IN CASE THIS LADY WANTED TO FESS UP NOW!

In case.

People got weird sometimes, especially around Khemrys, and she wouldn't be surprised there was a copycat in the weirdo local witch club!

That said though, well, "is that like, all you brought? Do you have like luggage or anything?"

"Coven...wackos?" Haeldryn had no idea what Shana was talking about. What was a 'wacko'? It sounded as if it were someone distasteful, so she said haltingly, "I...do not believe so?"

She glanced down at the small pack she carried and blanched. "I did not think to bring gifts!" She exclaimed.

"What?" What? Like...what? "Why would you bring gifts?!" SHE WAS SO LOST!

"Hey, Shana, sit tight with the visitor, a car is on the way! Um, I'm instructed to ask you explain cars to the visitor?" the switchboard operator asked.

She stared at her phone next! "What? They're just...cars."

Yup.

Haeldryn cursed herself silently for being so hasty in departing for this world that she had forgotten gifts. "Offerings of thanks to my hosts, of course!" She said to Shana with a hint of disbelief. How did this woman not understand such a basic courtesy?

Well, there was naught to be done about it. She huddled deeper into her shawl as Shana questioned the black box. Cars? She wracked her brain trying to remember if Lord Requiem had ever mentioned such a thing in his letters.

He had but not in depth? Just as a transport used instead of horses way!

Shanna finally hung up, sighed, and looked Haeldryn over properly, "or like a host gift thing. Sorry, that's not very common I guess? Okay, cars are like..boxes on wheels with an engine. You get in, strap in, and they go fast along the roads?" She offered. What else was she supposed to say about cars?!

Not common???

She couldn't believe that. The Night Walkers all seemed well versed in etiquette when they stayed in the Rider's keep. No matter, she would be offering her sincerest apologies all the same.

"Akin to a wagon, yes." She sniffed. "What is an 'engine'? Is it a type of horse or some other manner of swift beast?"

They were from older times! And were in search of Khemrys, who had been a very sudden reminder of such etiquette had they been lacking!

"Um, no? You're inside, not exposed unless you roll the windows down? And you need to strap in because it's a lot faster." She'd been on a haunted hayride before!! "And engine is a machine. A combustion engine, which I really don't know the details about I'm not a mechanic but it uses gas to burn to create, um, go? Power."

Haeldryn's brow knit in controlled concern. Strap in? She could only imagine them binding her inside of this...box on wheels. How large was the box? Would she be able to move? And then came more familiar words, enough to make one's head spin.

"...Ah..." was all she could managed. Shakily.

"Um, I can sketch out diagrams I guess while we wait?" she blinked. "Here, this is how a seatbelt works..." she crouched, picking up a stick to draw in the dirt? Button here, goes across like this...

Yup. ANd this is a car shape! From this way was forward, that way, reverse?

Haeldryn studied the drawings in the dirt, trying her best to make sense of it. "Very well," she said, still uncertain as to why this 'car' was something so different from a wagon with a cover. "If this is how one travels in this world, then so shall I travel within this 'car'."

How different could it truly be?

"Way, way faster than a wagon," she noted again despite herself. That could be important right? Yikes. Had Khemrys been like this?!

She was saved from that thought path when there was a brief, soft toot of a horn down the path, "hey, that's the car, let's get you there!"

She snorted. "I have ridden a horse at a run before." Granted, this had been long ago in her youth, but she hadn't felt fear then, only exhilaration.
A distant sound, but one that filled her with anxious anticipation. She raised her chin high. "My thanks, Shana. Please lead the way."

"Okay," she nodded, turning her phone flashlight on to lead the way! "You'll be okay right? I mean you're here to see one of the big names and they look after their people!" Since she'd been kind of convinced over the time period that this lady was genuine?

Yeah.

"Oh hey that's Dave driving, he's a good guy, if you get worried at all just say something he will pull over until you feel better okay?"

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