#abelasx

In Karme's defense, he did ask about all the other people he chauffeured over with Abelas when the elvhen mysteriously appeared on his ship. Abelas insisted there was no one else and that it was time to go, so what was Karme to do? Of course, he took off with only his friends in tow. Icarus looked healthier, Vallas was so big now, and Abelas seemed ... different somehow. What happened down there? Karme wanted to ask so badly he started doing a little hop dance in place as he flew the ship, but the only reason he kept biting his lip was to give Abelas some time with his animal pals.

"I'm glad you're okay!" he blurted out when he could no longer take it. "I mean I'm super happy that Icarus is better now because I think he's really starting to like me and Vallas is wow! Just wow! I thought dragons took forever to grow up but wow! That's amazing! And I was so worried you wouldn't make it back because sometimes I think you're a little reckless but obviously you're a lot tougher than me. I'm sorry I didn't go with you but I..." Karme had lost his train of thought in all that spilled from his mouth, leading him to trail off until he was just making an anxious noise, trying to find the point in all he was saying. "You're back, but are you sure you're alright? Do you want to just go back to the Silverlands or..."

Nightmares are not gone when one wakes, and Shenuvun had not expected for all that had terrified her for years to fade in the morning light. The experiences she had gone through in Iskaran lands would mark her forever more, the scabs sitting just beneath the skin and aching, begging her for her to scratch at them until they bleed once more. Only time would turn the scabs into scars, only time would heal the wounds imposed on her by Iskaran hands, but she did not want to give them any more time. She had lost years in their care, and now she had to live in the aftermath, reminding herself every night that she would not wake up in the caverns once more. 

The reminder helps, but it doesn’t make waking up easier. There are days where sleeping in her apartment is too much for her, days when she wakes up feeling choked by the walls closing in on her. 

Sometimes those days turn into weeks. 

Nuvi has taken to camping with Harajatish on those days, and as dawn breaks over the trees of the Feywilds, she knows it was the right choice. Hands buried on Harajatish hair, she sighs as she rests her head against his flank and considers her options. She has to go back to Bacchus, but she wants to stay in the forests for a little bit longer, the fresh air soothing her sentences. Breathing in deeply, she goes to stand up when she hears steps against the forest floor. Head snapping up, she looks around with narrowed eyes. 

It feels a bit silly when she admits it to herself, but ever since the fall of Aventia, Araceli had felt unbearably lonely. She is surrounded by friends, Kay is living with her, but there is a deep and all-encompassing loneliness that she can’t quite seem to get rid of. What is more, she keeps remembering the sheer love between elvhen and owlbear she had witnessed back in the temple of Mythal. The Prince’s brother had given his immortality for his owlbear, and the memory of it still moved her to tears, even months later. That is why she is here, before his animal sanctuary months later. The only reason why she isn’t shifting in nerves and discomfort at the implication that she will be admitting some weakness to a near-stranger by admitting to her loneliness is due to her careful training in the game. 

Clearing her throat, she steps deeper into the sanctuary and calls out. 

When Aegean went to Abelas' sanctuary to visit him, he was smart in his approach. Opting for an appearance he felt the elvhen would appreciate, he wove an illusion mask of a cat to appear in his place. This cat looked strangely like Miss Ma'am Toast (turns out Aegean really liked the cut of that furball's gib) and even walked a bit like her too, entirely with the air of privilege and entitlement that such a distinguished creature like him possessed. Rightfully so.

Leaping onto the counter and smoothing a paw over his ear as any pretty kitty would after walking anywhere, Aegean kept himself relegated to the shadows while his voice carried through the illusory cat. "I do have to admit, it is tricky to perfectly replicate the movements of a cat, especially the queen of gracefulness I aimed to emulate, but I must say you made an excellent point to me before. A cat's form is more appealing than my own in several ways. And I'm hot," he says, the cat form extending his paws and arching his back in an extensive stretch coupled with a hearty, tongue-out yawn. "I'll visit you like this exclusively from now on when I have a reason to. Cats aren't easily won over unless you have treats, which I'm hoping you'll have for me because I've got one for you." Aegean had Megoosa feathers with him, which he produced from beneath the veil of his invisibility. With a flick of his fingers, they float over to the cat illusion so that Abelas can see him pawing at them in the air while on his back. "That is, if you think you have more of a use for these things than I. Quite frankly, the only creature I enjoyed at this party I recently attended more than Toast was Megoosa herself. You should've seen her honk those nobles to death. It was so entertaining."