#miscomunication

Patton was much more perceptive than the others gave him credit for, so even if Remus was way quieter then he normally was, Patton knew he was there.

He put the cookies on the counter and onto cooking racks, this batch looked really good, none were burnt or undercooked, they seemed to have turned out really well.

He bites down a confused hum as Remus continues to stand silently in the entrance to the kitchen.

He guessed it’s fine though, Remus for whatever reason may just not be in a talking mood? That’s odd for him though..

As the cookies quickly cooled down Patton just smiled, if Remus didn’t want to talk maybe he wanted a cookie?

Yeah that sound like a plan, So he gingerly picks up a cookie before turning his head to Remus, right where Patton knew he had been, and extends his arm over to him

Remus looked pale- err- paler then he normally was, and he seemed to have a slight blush.

That’s odd.

But Patton waves it off, his aforementioned perceptiveness unfortunately not working in that area of expertise,

Soon Remus takes the cookie and sits down on one of the island chairs loosely, Patton smiles, ignoring the weird happy feeling he gets from Remus seeming to enjoy it.

He tells himself that’s normal, it’s a sense of accomplishment that the cookies came out well, right?

Then he realizes Remus hasn’t spoken once, though he supposed he hasn’t either,

He wants to change that “hey Remus how are you?”

Remus seems less.. himself as he answers “I’ve been fine,” his voice is quieter and he seems to be forcing down all of his usual energy.

Patton frowns “are you sure?”

Remus nods but Patton’s spent enough time with Janus to learn when people aren’t telling the whole truth- well most of the time at least.

“Sweetheart if anyone said you make me uncomfortable please know they're wrong, sometimes I get overwhelmed but that doesn’t mean I don’t like you or I’m not interested in what you're saying!” He tried, he knows once Roman did say It after Patton got overwhelmed at a movie night argument, a while ago,

So Maybe it happened again and affected him more this time?

He doesn’t know, he also doesn’t know why Remus is somehow becoming a more noticeable shade of pink.

Remus sighs and Patton’s at full attention “patty-“ that’s odd he feels his cheeks also becoming a (luckily) less noticeable shade of pink at that -“no one said I make you uncomfortable, it’s just I-“ he groaned “ugh stupid feelings and shit, anyway you have kind of.. started avoiding me so I assumed-“ his voice had gotten far more high pitched and he had gotten far more worked up the longer he’d spoken.

Patton gasps softly as he takes Remus remus’s hands gently, promptly quieting the side, “Remus.” He started “I- I’m so sorry, I never even realized I was doing it, and I’m so sorry I hurt you and made you think you make me uncomfortable in the process..”

“So I don't make you uncomfortable?”

Patton smiled softly “no, remus, you don't.”

Remus grinned hugely, and Patton beamed before hugging Remus,

Again, time passed, though even Iovara could tell it was significantly less than before. Then suddenly, the flow of souls stopped and Thaos’ presence disappeared, as if it had never been. It was startling to have the pressure of his power vanish from one moment to the next. Shortly afterwards, the accumulated souls left as well, though where to Iovara couldn’t tell. Somewhere in the distance she could feel her sister and her friends leave, their souls’ absence leaving a hole in her perception, that hadn’t been there before. Still, she couldn’t find it in herself to regret meeting the group, her sister’s incarnation most of all.

Though the years in loneliness had smothered the fire of her anger, it had left a different hole behind, gaping and terrifying. A part of it had been filled through the conversation, the largest in fact, but a slight nagging was still there. Iovara knew how to satisfy it, but that didn’t make it easier to jump over her shadow. The metaphorical one anyway.

For a while she fought with herself, but she’d never been good at denying herself, and she knew that this was something she had to do. Holding a grudge for two thousand years was hard, even for her. And so she gave in and built her projection once more. Technically there was no need to, he would be able to sense her with or without a physical shape, but she felt there was certain politeness in making herself as visible as possible.

“Eothas.” Iovara waited. Patience was not an issue for her anymore, she had nowhere to go, nowhere to be, only this moment and eternity. Slowly, far more slowly than that time millennia ago, his presence trickled in filling the adra around her and casting an invisible mist over everything. The light growing in strength seemed more muted than Iovara remembered, but she dismissed the thought. Years of darkness and loneliness were hardly conducive for one’s memory.

Even once he was clearly there, he remained silent, no question about her call, no comment on the time, just patiently waiting for her to start. So, she did.

“You never really let go of her, didn’t you?” Only once she’d said it did she realize, how much like an accusation it sounded, even though she surprisingly hadn’t meant it as one.

I suppose. His answer wasn’t defensive or even frustrated, instead it was... small somehow, and sad. Like he was expecting a reprimand. How strange...

“Is her hair your fault too?” Iovara did her best to alleviate the strange atmosphere with a joke. She hadn’t called him to argue again. And the light blonde hair with the red touch in combination with a priestess’ garb really had awoken certain suspicions in Iovara.

Hardly. I have less influence on physical attributes than most think. Though I have heard it referred to as sun-kissed. A slight note of satisfaction rang with the words, causing Iovara to doubt them somewhat, but for once in her long existence she found she didn’t mind this secret.

“I just met her. Emblyn-“

Favaen. Iovara stopped short at the interruption and stared confusedly into the nothing, waiting for Eothas to explain. Her name is Favaen. Ah, that made sense, of course she had a new name now. Somehow knowing that made her both sad and happy. It was the undeniable proof that her life as she knew it was over, something she had known, but never really seen until now. On the other hand, it was also proof that not everything relied on her, her failure didn’t mean the world’s end, life still continued. Oh, the irony of welcoming the same wheel she had cursed for so long...

“Favaen. I hope she found the answers she was looking for.” At some point it might’ve been a hidden question, but not anymore. Em- Favaen had promised to return after all, Iovara would ask her then.

I think she did. Eothas answered anyway, though Iovara had the feeling he wasn’t saying everything he thought. The absence of her burning curiosity was something she still had to get used to.

Something else was burning though, something that had been a quiet buzz just hours ago and had grown into an urgent need after her talk with Favaen.

“Thank you.” She spoke the words far steadier than she ever would have thought, a declaration of sincerity, as much as her speeches against him and his kind had ever been. “For taking care of her when I couldn’t.” Both before and after her death was what went unsaid.

For a while nothing happened, but Iovara was used to his stretches of silence by now. What she wasn’t used to was the strange way the atmosphere grew heavier, not threateningly, but sombre somehow. And yet, she’d only talked with him once and that was millennia ago, who was she to judge what was normal for him.

I didn’t do it for you. A fair point, made not unkindly, but without doubt or reluctance.

“I know,” Iovara nodded. “But that doesn’t change my gratitude.” The years in solitude had given her time to reflect. It wasn’t about her, it had never been about her, and she’d been foolish to ever think so. Just like it wasn’t about him either, though if he knew that she couldn’t tell.

The adra lit up lightly, a show of acceptance she knew now. For a while silence reigned again, but instead of being tense or loaded like before, it was now... not exactly comfortable, but based on enough agreement that it was tolerable.

For some reason Iovara had the feeling that he was almost soaking up the silence. As dim and heavy as everything seemed, there was also a vague sense of comfort from the adra. Why he would enjoy her company of all things Iovara didn’t know, it wasn’t like he was the one with no social contact for years.

After a while of quiet contemplation with only the soft, low hum of energy in the air, Iovara broke the silence once more, spurred by the strange ghost of loneliness and regret she couldn’t interpret, but felt a certain kinship for nonetheless.

“For what it’s worth, if she had to choose, I think she chose well.” She really did, though it had taken her a long time to accept it. Her sister had made her choice, as much as Iovara had, and after seeing what had become of her, Iovara could finally admit that it had hardly been the worst choice she could have made. Woedica had dropped Iovara the second she had started asking questions, but Eothas had stayed true to his word and had protected her over the course of millennia.

Yet instead of helping the sad atmosphere, her words only seemed to make it worse, as the light grew even dimmer, shadows creeping into the corners of the room. Just when Iovara decided to give up on her newly found contentment with mysteries and ask, the adra brightened again, as if nothing had happened.

Thank you. The words were smooth and sincere, but without the edge of emotions Iovara had come to expect. You gave her the dagger. That startled her out of suspicions and she focused on the spot on the stone ground, where for years her chosen gravestone had rested. Now instead of the dagger, there was only a vaguely oval shape in the dust.

“You disagree?” she asked, genuinely interested, though his opinion wouldn’t change anything. He’d wanted to take it back then, yet had obliged her wishes to leave it. Now she’d given it away. Would he be frustrated?

Disagree is too strong a word. I am... hesitant. But it is not my decision to make. Forcefully Iovara was reminded of her own outbreak the last time they met, yet she also thought she hadn’t actually said those words. To hear them now from him was strangely disorienting. She was now sure something had changed him, tough was that really so surprising? She had changed, even completely alone and isolated, while he had spent the time watching the whole world change around him.

He seemed to sense her racing thoughts, or perhaps it was something completely different, but the shadows started rising again, as the light of the adra ebbed away, the energy making the crystals pulsate with urgency and something else, that Iovara couldn’t identify properly.

I have to leave now. The sentence was hacked off and rushed, and he was gone far faster than he’d come, leaving Iovara behind, stunned at his sudden disappearance. For all her earlier thoughts of change, patience and contentment, she was still affronted at the rude departure. And a departure it most certainly was. All traces of his existence had vanished, the weight of his presence lifted, and only the dim, natural glow of the adra was still visible in the all-encroaching darkness.

This wasn’t what Iovara had expected from this talk. He hadn’t at all been what she remembered. Instead of the confident, righteous god, who’d let her live out her anger without so much as a twitch, he’d seemed almost broken, fearful of something Iovara couldn’t imagine.

Although... perhaps she could. After all, the reason Em- Favaen had come here in the first place had been Thaos stealing souls from the wheel. Though Thaos had once upon a time been loyal to the gods in general, from what Favaen had told her it sounded as though he’d followed Woedica into her exile. The terrible things he’d done before, in the name of spreading the faith, had been atrocities, but only against kith. He’d never disturbed the divine order like this before, and though Iovara had no doubt about Woedica’s willingness to do so, she doubted the god of rebirth had been very happy about souls being stolen from right under his nose. The fact that someone could, must have been quite the shock to him, so maybe his twitchiness wasn’t all that surprising.

With one last head shake Iovara let her form vanish again. Whatever it was, it wasn’t her problem anymore. She was sure Favaen would set him right soon enough, now that Thaos was out of the picture. And maybe she’d even hear about it later, once Favaen came back.

Though Iovara knew she wasn’t really her sister, there was still a familiarity between them, that had stretched across the years and lives. Or maybe it was just that she was starved for any sort of attention after so long. Either way it didn’t matter.