Unexpected Company [Open]

[Eoin Rodain]

Eoin couldn't help but wonder how far all of Aralore would go before Saelis came to try and wipe it all away. It was clearly a fear, considering their queen married into protection, and he'd spent enough time with their enemy to know that they weren't done. It was just a matter of when they'd be brazen enough to try again.

She needn't be worried about offending or scaring him away. He came from a land of different clans, all with their own beliefs and gods. Of course, he didn't believe there was any sort of god watching over him after what he had been witness to and what he endured, but he'd never tell another they were wrong. Religion gave people hope, and that was something everyone needed.

He was still trying to find his hope again.

His head tilted in curiosity as she explained, finding the idea intriguing. Finally, his smile appeared a bit more genuine, reaching his eyes a little this time. "There is no need to apologize. I may no longer hold the beliefs of my clan, but I find the religion of others interesting all the same. I could also use a bit of luck." A gentle laugh escaped him in dark humor.

[Celeste McCalmont]

Celeste laughed softly and nodded. "I think we all could use some luck, no? We have suffered enough." A sad look crossed her face. "Some more than enough." She sighed and shook her head as she leaned to grab a chunk of clay from near her feet. Every one of them had been through something to get them to this place. She wished nothing more than for Aralore to find the peace it so longed for.

She rolled the clay between her hands, forming a long rope from it, then dipped her hand in a bowl of slip on the other side of her, using it to keep her hand slick as she slipped the rope through her fingers and flattened into more of a flat noodle. She bent it in half and pinched the middle, making two even halves. One she set aside, and the other she began attaching to her amphora.

"En fin, Eoin, family or no, you can say you have a friend here," she declared firmly, looking back up to him for a moment before she returned to her work. "And friends look out for each other. If you should need anything, anything at all, you let me know, sabes? Even if you just want to sit, without me talking so much." She grinned.

[Eoin Rodain]

'I think we all could use some luck, no? We have suffered enough.'

His small smile had faltered, because he knew Aralore needed all the luck in the world, that their suffering was not yet coming to an end. Unless Saelis decided to change their mind, this kingdom was about to find itself in the middle of another war, and Eoin feared they would not survive it this time.

He would not share any of this, of course.

Instead, Eoin quietly watched her as she worked. Potters had such a fascinating profession- he recalled watching those in his clan work and mold the clay, creating things with such ease as though it was magic. From that tree, he did the same as Celeste continued, before he was tiredly grinning; a gentle huff of a laugh at her small joke.

Eoin pushed off from the tree. "Same to you, Celeste. We also seem to be neighbors, after all." And, these days, he spent more time out in the forest than back at Nemeris' manor. That place was too big and depressing for him. Same reason why he hated staying at the castle when he had been close to the queen.

"For now, I have a buck to catch. I do hope we talk again."

[Celeste McCalmont]

"As do I." Celeste beamed. A new friend! Perhaps the two of them were already having more luck than they thought. "Take care!" she called after him with a wave as he left to catch his prey.

She felt a little bad for the deer, but she had a feeling Eoin would be as merciful in his work as he could. A good friend to have indeed.

[End thread.]