Having sobered up by now, he replies, "Certainly. We'll be sure to tell everyone we meet about your hospitality - and what the water in this cursed place did to our poor friend here. Turned him into a giant fucking frog.”
[DEC, s: 19]
The innkeeper blanches and seems to lose conviction; he looks from Sen to the others and back again, murmuring, "Now - let's don't be hasty here. I - Did it -?"
Sen nods and points to the ewer of water brought up with Faolan and Dmitri's breakfast.
There's a moment of fussing and fidgeting, and Sen - with a glance at Dima and Fae and a suppressed giggle - escorts the innkeeper out to discuss how to settle the situation.
Faolan, meanwhile, is glaring at Sen and Rin, one arm half around Dima protectively; when the innkeeper leaves, he holds out his hand to Rin. "Hand it over. You gave it to Dima, Dima gave it to me, I'm going to keep it."
Far, far out of Sen and Rin's reach, specifically.
<.>
Dima might just be melting into that hold a little (more than a little) (he's relieved, at least, that Faolan's still here, that Faolan seems to be at least physically unharmed) while tightening his own arms around Fae.
Rin begins to raise their hands and shoulders in a shrug, "No, I have no idea where it—"
Before sighing, looking at least a little bit chagrined, reaches for the ring. Then carefully, carefullyyyy, they slide over to Faolan, then quickly drop the ring into his palm. Withdrawing with a twitch of their tail, "Anyway, you gave me a bruise on the head. :/
"...But also. Let me watch next time someone turns into a frog?"
<.>
Faolan stares at them and counters - softly, with restrained outrage, "You all turned me into a giant fucking frog, blinded me, dropped a blanket on me, and I'm pretty sure Mykola tried to hit me with a tentacle. You're lucky I didn't try to eat you."
With that, he slides the ring into his pocket.
<.>
Rin looks at the ceiling. Looks at a wall. Looks at another wall. "Welllll... Okay but we didn't attacK you." They realize immediately that this is noT a very significant point, and start worrying their lip, then - leaning back against the wall - slump down to sit on the floor. "Okay, okay.
"Well you shouldn't eat me because I'd burn your tongue." They flicker their eyes a blazing blue fire, then start playing with their hair. "But I guess I could've tried someone else first." Never mind that they didn't know what was going to happen; Sen was right, because it was a good surprise until the snapping started.
"You make a badass frog, though."
Liviana, having fluttered to perch on the washstand, ducks her head and sends Faolan a message composed of a blanket first dropped with a note of shame, then draped around his shoulders in apology. She 'toks,' cants her head, and flies over to Dima's shoulder.
Dima, meanwhile, is running one hand along Faolan's arm, Faolan's shoulder. Brushes back Fae's hair to check for signs of wounding he may have missed. Nudges his forehead at Fae's temple and nuzzles, nuzzles, before turning to Rin with a glare. "We're going to have a talk. All of us, when Sen returns."
And, to Faolan, softly, "I ought to have checked, Faolan. I ought to have guessed." And, "How do you feel?"
<.>
Faolan stares hard at Rin for a moment, then shakes his head; he can't keep up the Angry Father act for long. (And Rin seems contrite, in their own Rin way.) (And, honestly: in a few weeks, he might find this funny.)
(It's not NOT nice to have friends who'll play a prank meant to be light-hearted, even if it turns out pretty godsdamned dangerous.)
"True, you didn't attack me," he replies.
He turns his attention to Dima, affording his own touch to caresses and gentle probing of wounds. He wears a rueful smile, turned mournful at the sight of a bruise or cut. When Dima asks how he feels, he pauses with his fingertips on the man's throat. A heartbeat of thought precedes, "They didn't mean any harm. Neither did you. Neither did Liv. Seems to me I fared better than any of you did."
Lowering his voice as he nudges near, he casts Cure Wounds.
Sen returns a moment later and has the good grace to look chagrined at Faolan as he sinks down beside Rin. "Before any of you lay into me, I didn't realize it would be a giant frog. Or that Dima would give the ring away."
He reaches over and strokes a hand along Rin's hair before continuing soberly, "I am sorry, though. And I've paid for the damages to the room and convinced our host to have a cleric out to bless the water."
His eyes flicker to Faolan and Dima and again, with a clearing of his throat, he says, "Truly. I'm sorry."
<.>
[INS, d: 11; Sen, as far as Dima can tell, is telling the truth about the innkeeper. Likewise, he seems to be genuinely contrite.]
Dima is not entirely surprised.
He's still angry, though, and he's going to glare daggers at Sen for a long moment before speaking, a voice hissed beneath his breath, "Shit's sake."
Then, "It seems to be the least you could do." Okay, maybe not precisely true. Maybe there is less Sen could have done, including not admit he knew anything about the ring, but really, really, he knew half of what the ring did and went ahead with the shit-minded plan anyway.
"Let this be a lesson to both of you: Never mess around with magic among travelling companions." And, with a sigh, "I should have known."
He's going to nudge Fae's head again - is going to think about fingertips against his throat, and let that image, that knowledge settle through him - and softly say, "Thank you, Fae."
Rin looks up at Sen, smiling, feeling brighter because he's stroking their hair and he did take care of things and really it was a very good prank, even if the results were a little unexpected.
And they look at Faolan, nod. "Yeah, I'm sorry, too."
And Liv is going to nudge Faolan's head with another little 'tok.'
<.>
As he reaches up to offer Liv a stroke of his fingers, Faolan catches Sen's eye and gives a little jerk of his head towards the door.
Out.
Sen takes the hint and rises, one hand held to Rin to help them up. As he's halfway out the door, Faolan says, "I know where you sleep, Sen."
Sen freezes, backs up a step into the room, and eyes Faolan with a raised brow. Then, seemingly impressed, he makes a "hm" sound and continues on out, tossing a casual, "Don't be too long. Lots to do in the wide world."
When the door's closed and Fae is alone with Dima and Liv, he leans back heavily against the wall and studies the pair. "So.
"That happened."
<.>
Rin's could to look at Sen as the door closes and offer, "It was a good idea. Best surprise up until he started biting, but no one can say it wasn't funny."
And, cocking their head. "Hey should we turn someone else into a frog? Just to like. Extra sell the water story?"
Dima is shaking his head, running a hand through his hair before he finds Fae's hand, twines his fingers through Faolan's. "We'll need to watch them closely. With those two, I suspect no lesson is ever truly learned."
And, with an irritated huff of breath, he stares at the ceiling for a moment - thinking again that he'd very, very much like to strangle the thieves - then looks to Fae. "I am sorry, Faolan. I'd like to give you something— Mm. Something I've chosen for you.
"I— You wouldn't dislike it?
"I swear to you it won't be godsdamned cursed."
<.>
Faolan leans in and presses a kiss to Dima's lips as if to shush him, lingers a moment with a tender smile, then, turning his head just slightly to catch a glimpse of Liv, blows a kiss at her, as well.
When he settles back again, he reaches invitingly for Dima to join him. "I don't need much. Even - before. I didn't need more than what I gave to my family." A beat here, then Faolan presses another kiss, this time to Dima's hair. "I wouldn't dislike it, no, but I suppose its meaning -"
He huffs a wry laugh and hesitates.
"Whatever you mean by it would matter most."
Sen, meanwhile, looks positively gleeful at the prospect of continuing their frog-riddled mayhem. "Oh yes. Let's."
<.>
Oh.
Well.
Dima does in fact fall into silence, a feel of sun's warmth wrapping him around, grown from the press of Fae's kiss, Fae's smile. (Everything will be all right.) (The thieves tripped everyone onto their godsdamned asses, and still, everything will be all right.) (And Dima will see - Dima is determined to see - a ring slipped onto Faolan's hand.
One ring sooner than not, and another - yes, please; yes, he thinks it might be possible, thinks Faolan might not shy from it - in the not very distant future.)
He lifts Faolan's hand - glows at the sight of their hands kept in holding - and places a kiss upon it. Then finds Fae's eyes again, his own smile warm, "Oh, my Fae. Its meaning will be utmost.
"It, and any other item, any further ring that I will give you."
Rin's giving a toothy grin now, settling a hand at the pocket that holds their wand. "OkaY!
"I say we find... Maybe a halfling? A gnome? Someone not so tall, so it makes sense that they're not a giant frog.
"...Also maybe someone not so smart. I think that helps."
And Rin is ready to find a likely frog!
<.>
The implication staggers Faolan; the way Dima looks at their joined hands, the way he kisses, the words he offers. He doesn't seem the sort of man to be incautious with his speech.
Dima wants to -
(The weight of the notion, the size of it, it almost unbearable. What good would he ever bring to Dima that way? How would it look, and what would people say of him - an unending litany of speculation because Faolan is no nobleman.
Didn't he learn that, that day at the Voronins' party? He's no nobleman, not worthy of even the dream of rising equal to one. He was a whore, and now - nothing but a pauper in the woods, pretending at druidcraft.)
"Dima-" he begins shakily, a line forming between his brows.
(But. Look how earnest. Look how happy Dima is.) (It'll go badly for him. He'll realize in a year, in two years, Faolan is not worthy or equal.)
Dima can afford to envision that future.
Faolan smiles sadly and clasps both his hands around Dima's, then draws it to his lips. He draws a breath, a false start, then gently continues, "You know that won't happen. Further rings and further meanings -"
He falters, then blinks back the wet sting in his eyes. Then forces his smile in place again. "I learned something very valuable that day, you know. I learned to keep my dreams small. Hope only for what I can grasp with my own hands and don't -"
Another faltering; Faolan leans his head back against the wall and fixes his eyes on the ceiling. "Don't trust - don't hope that someone else will pull me to a larger dream. So much can get in the way; one day, you might remember noblemen don't give 'further rings' to peasants and whores."
<.>
Another shatter of his heart, like bleeding, breaking raw.
What Faolan's been barraged with from the world - from Dima's peers; at the aid of Dima's own ignorance, his accord in his brother's declamations - is nothing less than abominable. (And commonplace, isn't it? The way nobility, the way anyone of title or coin can trample anyone of lesser means, can rearrange their world to ruin with a word, or with their silence.)
As Faolan speaks, Dima watches steadily, refusing to look away, refusing to leave Faolan alone in his years-deep spoken sorrow. He flexes his finger between Fae's hands; he settles his free hand on Faolan's wrist and slowly, slowly caresses. Knowing that for all the ache he himself feels, Faolan must be caught in torments sharper by a thousandfold, in losses, betrayals, anguishes marked deep upon his being.
It's remarkable, really, that Faolan's allowed Dima to touch him, to draw near to him at all.
And when Faolan's finished speaking, Dima moves his hand once more from Fae's wrist to card through his hair. Watching with blue ice eyes remarkably soft; speaking quietly, voiced toned with sadness, with pride, with adoration and with a not-dissolving note of hope.
"You're very brave, my Fae.
"With me, and apart from me: What you are is admirable. What you are is nothing short of astonishing.
"Faolan. I move ahead of sensitivity. Oh, not at all ahead of my wanting or my truth, but I know it's nothing small I say to you. I understand it's nothing you've been given grounds to trust. It is— I find it very easy to forget how recently we met. I feel you as though you've been beside me always, or as if I have always been awaiting your arrival."
"But I understand, Dearest, that you've known coldness at the end of seeming hope. I— Do know. That my family was not removed from the worst of harms dealt to you.
"And I don't expect you to believe in something lasting without cause.
"No pulling, then, and no demands—" There's a cant of his head, the smallest flicker of a half-smirk as he runs his thumb behind Fae's ear. "Though perhaps a command or two, hm?"
Then, growing sober again, still warm, "I can be patient, my Fae. And I'll hold onto hope, hold onto dreaming for you. Until I've shown myself more fully. Until you know my love is more than passing; that my desires are more than words.
"Please, Faolan, know this: Whatever others may have cried, you are astonishing. You are a far, far better man than any one of them could claim to be. You are a far better than passable druid, and a man whose heart will turn the world to flame."
If Faolan's eyes have settled elsewhere, Dima will try to urge them toward meeting his own. If Faolan is watching, Dima's hand will simply settle, settle, stroke along his jaw, brush his cheek with tender subtlety. "And you are my Fae.
"No matter what has happened. No matter what anyone might think, or say— And Faolan, Faolan, I will rend anyone who speaks against you, anyone who dares to look at you askance.
"No matter what, you are my Fae, held in my admiration and my love alike.
"Only give me time to show you, Dearest. And I'll bless you for every moment."
no subject
Having sobered up by now, he replies, "Certainly. We'll be sure to tell everyone we meet about your hospitality - and what the water in this cursed place did to our poor friend here. Turned him into a giant fucking frog.”
[DEC, s: 19]
The innkeeper blanches and seems to lose conviction; he looks from Sen to the others and back again, murmuring, "Now - let's don't be hasty here. I - Did it -?"
Sen nods and points to the ewer of water brought up with Faolan and Dmitri's breakfast.
There's a moment of fussing and fidgeting, and Sen - with a glance at Dima and Fae and a suppressed giggle - escorts the innkeeper out to discuss how to settle the situation.
Faolan, meanwhile, is glaring at Sen and Rin, one arm half around Dima protectively; when the innkeeper leaves, he holds out his hand to Rin. "Hand it over. You gave it to Dima, Dima gave it to me, I'm going to keep it."
Far, far out of Sen and Rin's reach, specifically.
<.>
Dima might just be melting into that hold a little (more than a little) (he's relieved, at least, that Faolan's still here, that Faolan seems to be at least physically unharmed) while tightening his own arms around Fae.
Rin begins to raise their hands and shoulders in a shrug, "No, I have no idea where it—"
Before sighing, looking at least a little bit chagrined, reaches for the ring. Then carefully, carefullyyyy, they slide over to Faolan, then quickly drop the ring into his palm. Withdrawing with a twitch of their tail, "Anyway, you gave me a bruise on the head. :/
"...But also. Let me watch next time someone turns into a frog?"
<.>
Faolan stares at them and counters - softly, with restrained outrage, "You all turned me into a giant fucking frog, blinded me, dropped a blanket on me, and I'm pretty sure Mykola tried to hit me with a tentacle. You're lucky I didn't try to eat you."
With that, he slides the ring into his pocket.
<.>
Rin looks at the ceiling. Looks at a wall. Looks at another wall. "Welllll... Okay but we didn't attacK you." They realize immediately that this is noT a very significant point, and start worrying their lip, then - leaning back against the wall - slump down to sit on the floor. "Okay, okay.
"Well you shouldn't eat me because I'd burn your tongue." They flicker their eyes a blazing blue fire, then start playing with their hair. "But I guess I could've tried someone else first." Never mind that they didn't know what was going to happen; Sen was right, because it was a good surprise until the snapping started.
"You make a badass frog, though."
Liviana, having fluttered to perch on the washstand, ducks her head and sends Faolan a message composed of a blanket first dropped with a note of shame, then draped around his shoulders in apology. She 'toks,' cants her head, and flies over to Dima's shoulder.
Dima, meanwhile, is running one hand along Faolan's arm, Faolan's shoulder. Brushes back Fae's hair to check for signs of wounding he may have missed. Nudges his forehead at Fae's temple and nuzzles, nuzzles, before turning to Rin with a glare. "We're going to have a talk. All of us, when Sen returns."
And, to Faolan, softly, "I ought to have checked, Faolan. I ought to have guessed." And, "How do you feel?"
<.>
Faolan stares hard at Rin for a moment, then shakes his head; he can't keep up the Angry Father act for long. (And Rin seems contrite, in their own Rin way.) (And, honestly: in a few weeks, he might find this funny.)
(It's not NOT nice to have friends who'll play a prank meant to be light-hearted, even if it turns out pretty godsdamned dangerous.)
"True, you didn't attack me," he replies.
He turns his attention to Dima, affording his own touch to caresses and gentle probing of wounds. He wears a rueful smile, turned mournful at the sight of a bruise or cut. When Dima asks how he feels, he pauses with his fingertips on the man's throat. A heartbeat of thought precedes, "They didn't mean any harm. Neither did you. Neither did Liv. Seems to me I fared better than any of you did."
Lowering his voice as he nudges near, he casts Cure Wounds.
Sen returns a moment later and has the good grace to look chagrined at Faolan as he sinks down beside Rin. "Before any of you lay into me, I didn't realize it would be a giant frog. Or that Dima would give the ring away."
He reaches over and strokes a hand along Rin's hair before continuing soberly, "I am sorry, though. And I've paid for the damages to the room and convinced our host to have a cleric out to bless the water."
His eyes flicker to Faolan and Dima and again, with a clearing of his throat, he says, "Truly. I'm sorry."
<.>
[INS, d: 11; Sen, as far as Dima can tell, is telling the truth about the innkeeper. Likewise, he seems to be genuinely contrite.]
Dima is not entirely surprised.
He's still angry, though, and he's going to glare daggers at Sen for a long moment before speaking, a voice hissed beneath his breath, "Shit's sake."
Then, "It seems to be the least you could do." Okay, maybe not precisely true. Maybe there is less Sen could have done, including not admit he knew anything about the ring, but really, really, he knew half of what the ring did and went ahead with the shit-minded plan anyway.
"Let this be a lesson to both of you: Never mess around with magic among travelling companions." And, with a sigh, "I should have known."
He's going to nudge Fae's head again - is going to think about fingertips against his throat, and let that image, that knowledge settle through him - and softly say, "Thank you, Fae."
Rin looks up at Sen, smiling, feeling brighter because he's stroking their hair and he did take care of things and really it was a very good prank, even if the results were a little unexpected.
And they look at Faolan, nod. "Yeah, I'm sorry, too."
And Liv is going to nudge Faolan's head with another little 'tok.'
<.>
As he reaches up to offer Liv a stroke of his fingers, Faolan catches Sen's eye and gives a little jerk of his head towards the door.
Out.
Sen takes the hint and rises, one hand held to Rin to help them up. As he's halfway out the door, Faolan says, "I know where you sleep, Sen."
Sen freezes, backs up a step into the room, and eyes Faolan with a raised brow. Then, seemingly impressed, he makes a "hm" sound and continues on out, tossing a casual, "Don't be too long. Lots to do in the wide world."
When the door's closed and Fae is alone with Dima and Liv, he leans back heavily against the wall and studies the pair. "So.
"That happened."
<.>
Rin's could to look at Sen as the door closes and offer, "It was a good idea. Best surprise up until he started biting, but no one can say it wasn't funny."
And, cocking their head. "Hey should we turn someone else into a frog? Just to like. Extra sell the water story?"
Dima is shaking his head, running a hand through his hair before he finds Fae's hand, twines his fingers through Faolan's. "We'll need to watch them closely. With those two, I suspect no lesson is ever truly learned."
And, with an irritated huff of breath, he stares at the ceiling for a moment - thinking again that he'd very, very much like to strangle the thieves - then looks to Fae. "I am sorry, Faolan. I'd like to give you something— Mm. Something I've chosen for you.
"I— You wouldn't dislike it?
"I swear to you it won't be godsdamned cursed."
<.>
Faolan leans in and presses a kiss to Dima's lips as if to shush him, lingers a moment with a tender smile, then, turning his head just slightly to catch a glimpse of Liv, blows a kiss at her, as well.
When he settles back again, he reaches invitingly for Dima to join him. "I don't need much. Even - before. I didn't need more than what I gave to my family." A beat here, then Faolan presses another kiss, this time to Dima's hair. "I wouldn't dislike it, no, but I suppose its meaning -"
He huffs a wry laugh and hesitates.
"Whatever you mean by it would matter most."
Sen, meanwhile, looks positively gleeful at the prospect of continuing their frog-riddled mayhem. "Oh yes. Let's."
<.>
Oh.
Well.
Dima does in fact fall into silence, a feel of sun's warmth wrapping him around, grown from the press of Fae's kiss, Fae's smile. (Everything will be all right.) (The thieves tripped everyone onto their godsdamned asses, and still, everything will be all right.) (And Dima will see - Dima is determined to see - a ring slipped onto Faolan's hand.
One ring sooner than not, and another - yes, please; yes, he thinks it might be possible, thinks Faolan might not shy from it - in the not very distant future.)
He lifts Faolan's hand - glows at the sight of their hands kept in holding - and places a kiss upon it. Then finds Fae's eyes again, his own smile warm, "Oh, my Fae. Its meaning will be utmost.
"It, and any other item, any further ring that I will give you."
Rin's giving a toothy grin now, settling a hand at the pocket that holds their wand. "OkaY!
"I say we find... Maybe a halfling? A gnome? Someone not so tall, so it makes sense that they're not a giant frog.
"...Also maybe someone not so smart. I think that helps."
And Rin is ready to find a likely frog!
<.>
The implication staggers Faolan; the way Dima looks at their joined hands, the way he kisses, the words he offers. He doesn't seem the sort of man to be incautious with his speech.
Dima wants to -
(The weight of the notion, the size of it, it almost unbearable. What good would he ever bring to Dima that way? How would it look, and what would people say of him - an unending litany of speculation because Faolan is no nobleman.
Didn't he learn that, that day at the Voronins' party? He's no nobleman, not worthy of even the dream of rising equal to one. He was a whore, and now - nothing but a pauper in the woods, pretending at druidcraft.)
"Dima-" he begins shakily, a line forming between his brows.
(But. Look how earnest. Look how happy Dima is.) (It'll go badly for him. He'll realize in a year, in two years, Faolan is not worthy or equal.)
Dima can afford to envision that future.
Faolan smiles sadly and clasps both his hands around Dima's, then draws it to his lips. He draws a breath, a false start, then gently continues, "You know that won't happen. Further rings and further meanings -"
He falters, then blinks back the wet sting in his eyes. Then forces his smile in place again. "I learned something very valuable that day, you know. I learned to keep my dreams small. Hope only for what I can grasp with my own hands and don't -"
Another faltering; Faolan leans his head back against the wall and fixes his eyes on the ceiling. "Don't trust - don't hope that someone else will pull me to a larger dream. So much can get in the way; one day, you might remember noblemen don't give 'further rings' to peasants and whores."
<.>
Another shatter of his heart, like bleeding, breaking raw.
What Faolan's been barraged with from the world - from Dima's peers; at the aid of Dima's own ignorance, his accord in his brother's declamations - is nothing less than abominable. (And commonplace, isn't it? The way nobility, the way anyone of title or coin can trample anyone of lesser means, can rearrange their world to ruin with a word, or with their silence.)
As Faolan speaks, Dima watches steadily, refusing to look away, refusing to leave Faolan alone in his years-deep spoken sorrow. He flexes his finger between Fae's hands; he settles his free hand on Faolan's wrist and slowly, slowly caresses. Knowing that for all the ache he himself feels, Faolan must be caught in torments sharper by a thousandfold, in losses, betrayals, anguishes marked deep upon his being.
It's remarkable, really, that Faolan's allowed Dima to touch him, to draw near to him at all.
And when Faolan's finished speaking, Dima moves his hand once more from Fae's wrist to card through his hair. Watching with blue ice eyes remarkably soft; speaking quietly, voiced toned with sadness, with pride, with adoration and with a not-dissolving note of hope.
"You're very brave, my Fae.
"With me, and apart from me: What you are is admirable. What you are is nothing short of astonishing.
"Faolan. I move ahead of sensitivity. Oh, not at all ahead of my wanting or my truth, but I know it's nothing small I say to you. I understand it's nothing you've been given grounds to trust. It is— I find it very easy to forget how recently we met. I feel you as though you've been beside me always, or as if I have always been awaiting your arrival."
"But I understand, Dearest, that you've known coldness at the end of seeming hope. I— Do know. That my family was not removed from the worst of harms dealt to you.
"And I don't expect you to believe in something lasting without cause.
"No pulling, then, and no demands—" There's a cant of his head, the smallest flicker of a half-smirk as he runs his thumb behind Fae's ear. "Though perhaps a command or two, hm?"
Then, growing sober again, still warm, "I can be patient, my Fae. And I'll hold onto hope, hold onto dreaming for you. Until I've shown myself more fully. Until you know my love is more than passing; that my desires are more than words.
"Please, Faolan, know this: Whatever others may have cried, you are astonishing. You are a far, far better man than any one of them could claim to be. You are a far better than passable druid, and a man whose heart will turn the world to flame."
If Faolan's eyes have settled elsewhere, Dima will try to urge them toward meeting his own. If Faolan is watching, Dima's hand will simply settle, settle, stroke along his jaw, brush his cheek with tender subtlety. "And you are my Fae.
"No matter what has happened. No matter what anyone might think, or say— And Faolan, Faolan, I will rend anyone who speaks against you, anyone who dares to look at you askance.
"No matter what, you are my Fae, held in my admiration and my love alike.
"Only give me time to show you, Dearest. And I'll bless you for every moment."
<.>