Feather and Bone

send a symbol for our muses to interact!

💨 catch my muse in a lie 

🛑 stop my muse from doing something reckless

🥄 feed my muse when they’re ill or injured

🔍 help my muse find a lost item

⚠️ clean up my muse after a fight

⚓ keep my muse anchored (anxiety, nightmare, etc.)

🔫 take a bullet for my muse

🛁 give my muse a bath

🛏️ carry my muse to bed

☠️ protect my muse

✋ hold my muse’s hand

🔪 stab my muse (accident, on purpose)

🚗 leave town with my muse

🕯️ remind my muse that they matter

💥 our muses share a tense moment

📖 our muses read a story

🎀 give my muse a gift

👊 our muses train

🌹 teach my muse something (include details)

🗝️ our muses share a quiet moment

🥪 our muses have a snack

🧡 for an eskimo kiss

❣️ for a top of the head kiss

💛 for a kiss on the cheek

💞 for a kiss on the hand

🖤 for a kiss on a wound (bruise, scar, etc.)

💚 for a forehead kiss

🔥 for an angry and relieved hug

💙 for a hug that won’t be remembered

🤔 for an unwanted hug

🎧 for a calming hug

💧 for a tearful hug

😩 for a ‘ forgive me ’ hug

💟 for a happy hug

🛸 for a goodbye hug

“Thoron, my apologies.” Sinia said as she patted the older Bosmer on the shoulder, “My father is no doubt going to be excited to see you. He’s been muttering to himself in his little brewing workshop for days, so maybe he had a feeling you all were coming.” 

Korgul rolled his eyes again at the thought of it all. He didn’t want to tell his mother in the middle of the village either, but for Thoron to say it was all his idea was a bit of a stretch. He’d talk to Uncle about that later. Korgul and Indes were old enough they could say why they were visiting if they wanted to. He stretched, letting his shoulders and back pop, taking Strangers bridle in his hand as he did so.  “Mama, why don’t you take Thoron to someplace where he can get food and rest, and Indes and I can put the horses in the stable and get them taken care of? Might even take her to see Grandma when we finish.” 

Thoron nodded at the suggestion, leaning on his cane again as he stepped forward. “I hope your father will forgive me if I fall asleep after the first drink.”

As they walked away, leaving them with the horses, Indes let out a slow, heavy breath as she rubbed Ferlain’s neck. A second later, she looked up at Korgul, a tired smile resting on her face. “Well we made it. Lead the way, I’m sure these two are just as ready for a rest as we are.” Her voice was much softer now, a hard contrast from how it was not long before when they were coming into the village. But the traveling was finally catching up to her as well, and her body was screaming at her to rest.

Korgul rolled his ‘eyes’ at her waving him forward. Didn’t she realize his mother loved Indes as much as she loved Korgul? So instead of walking off to his mother alone, he wrapped his arm around Indes’ shoulders and pulled her along with him. Besides. His mother would never hit Indes, and that made her a great shield if his mother was mad about any number of things. Lack of visits, lack of letters, no gift on her birthday, getting Indes pregnant. Discretion was the better part of valor, after all. 

“Korgul! And Indes and her uncle. What a marvelous surprise.” Sinia hugged the Bosmeri woman first, Silnas going to talk to Thoron about the trip and getting the old mer off a horse and somewhere comfortable with a cold drink in his hand. Korgul shook his step-fathers hand, the two mer still a little uncomfortable with each other and trying to figure out how they felt about each other. As Sinia let go of Indes, she turned and hugged her son.  “So. I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth here, but what made you come down? You haven’t written any letters that seemed like you were visiting lately.” 

Indes accepted the hug without hesitation, the positive reaction from her and the rest of the family a welcome relief for her tense nerves. The question that followed the greetings, however, gave her paused. She glanced between Sinia and Korgul for a moment, not really wanting to spill the news and reason for their coming right in the middle of the village. “We were—”

“It was my idea, Sinia.” Thoron spoke up before she could finish her answer, coming over to the others despite his legs apparently appearing wobbly as he stepped forward. As an instinctive reaction, Indes moved close enough that she could offer a hand to help him, but it was gently pushed away as the aging mer leaned more heavily against his cane. “I really do hope we aren’t intruding at a bad time, but we were doing a little visiting south of Skyrim already and I was feeling quite homesick. Convinced these two to let me drag them down with them. We were all overdue a visit, I think.”

“Assholes.” Korgul muttered at the jokes, but pride shown clearly on his face as Indes started to do her Circle voice on people. It was also the fact that she was defending him, being verbally superior to people that though they were superior for no reason. His mothers village was pretty good about being nice to him the last time he was here, but sometimes their jokes were not funny to him. 

The guard blinked slowly at Indes, then inclined their head slightly as they continued to lead the group towards the village. Korgul’s memory was good, and they would have made it by themselves in an hour or so. Luckily for them, the guards knew some shortcuts that got them there in half that. As they passed through some trees, he turned to Indes and Thoron.  “Welcome to the village.” He smiled widely as he said it, then turning to look for his mother. No doubt the guards had told her they were coming. The trees were full of homes, walkways suspended between them for movement, a stream on the backside of the village visible in the sunlight that filtered through the canopy. Korgul took a deep breath, excitement leaching the exhaustion from his body.  “Let’s find Sinia or Silnas and get some food into us. I feel like I’m about to start eating Stranger’s bridle just to have something in my stomach.” 

Indes let a warm smile settle on her expression at Korgul’s welcome as they entered the village proper, watching as his entire mood seemed to shift before her very eyes. It only made her own smile wider.

“Yes, please. I am more than ready for a rest.” She was hungry herself, since despite the occasional nausea she was still fighting cravings as well. The thought of fresh meats and literally anything with honey was enough to make her stomach feel just a little emptier. Her own jerky rations that she had been using to tide herself over during the trip down were getting dangerously low.

The Bosmer’s eyes wandered as they continued to walk, taking in the look and feel of the village in order to distract herself. While it did have its own unique charm, as each village tended to, the feeling of distant familiarity was hard to miss. She was already imagining her own village, a place that seemed almost surreal and distant at the point, and she could feel her throat contract some before she could push the worry from her mind.