-----

“But frequently, I picture myself walking straight into the sea” Azem puts her hands behind her back while looking to the evening sky, appreciating the shiny stars “Laughing as the waves come rolling to my knees. What a place to be”

----

The jewelry of her tail was the only thing that interrupted the silence when it moved until she sighed. Letting her arms fall to each side, Laurel relaxed her form, though something was making her a little bit... nervous.

“We need to talk, Emet-Selch. I...” She paused and frowned but shook her head “There is something I need an answer and I’m sure you’re the only one who can give me that answer.”

-----

The gift of soul sight was not rare among Ancients, and even though Hythlodaeus’ talent for it exceeded that of his companions, it came as a surprise when the Convocation of the Fourteen actually approached him, offering him the seat of ‘Emet-Selch’. Why him? Because of his soul sight? Did they not know that this was pretty much the only talent he had? No. He couldn’t accept. He had to turn down the offer, but Hythlodaeus had someone else in mind who would fit that seat perfectly. Hades. They had been associates for a while, colleagues and Hythlodaeus would even dare to say friends, even though Hades would most likely deny it. But Hythlodaeus himself could have not felt prouder when, after a bit lot of persuasion, Hades accepted the offer of the Convocation. And he would officially be inducted the following day. This needed to be celebrated, but Hythlodaeus had something else in mind. He asked Hades out for lunch, something he had done several times, but always while pointing out that it was just spending time with a fellow colleague.

Today would be no different. All Hythlodaeus wanted was to spend a calm afternoon with Hades before he would officially become Emet-Selch. At least that was what he was trying to convince himself to believe. The truth would probably tell a different tell. A tale of how Hythlodaeus caught himself glancing at Hades when the other wasn’t looking, a tale of how he very much noticed the way a smile was tugging at Hades’ lips whenever he listened to his companion passionately talking about the creations he had approved that day. They were colleagues, nothing more.

“Don’t be like that. You know it is custom rule to take off hood and mask when you want to enter Elips without being employed there. It is all for your own safety, you do not want to be attacked by freely-roaming creatures, do you?”, Hythlodaeus teased the white-haired man walking by his side, the ever-present stern expression on his face. It was something he adored about Hades, because on a face like that a smile was rather rare and felt even more as a reward whenever Hythlodaeus managed to tease it out of him.

“Hermes granted us permission to spend the afternoon here without being on official business. I had to beg him, so please try to play along?”

It was another tease, a gentle smile on Hythlodaeus’ face as he led Hades towards a tree that was big enough to provide some shadow. Then he handed his companion the small basket filled with self-made cake while Hythlodaeus himself knelt down to spread out the silky blanket he had brought.

  "You know it’s rude to just come into someone else’s room, unannounced...” Ayden sighed in somewhat disbelief, as he almost expected the other to do just that. It was clearly in the man’s nature to abruptly come into any space, at any given time, or at least it seemed to be the case. Be it meetings with the Scions, or anything more private, like what was going on here in his chambers.

Granted, the viera was doing nothing out of the ordinary, and was merely checking his gear and armor that was laid out on the large table in the center of the room. He had just heard the telltale sound of some portal being opened, and only turned to face the other with his expression returning to near-blank.

He did not really want to show the ascian anything other than slight indifference. It was something like a game that he set out for himself, wondering if it ever did grate on the still-so-mysterious man’s nerves, or not. Ayden wondered if he could last with it, unlike his companions, who were always ready to take arms and fight the other. Yes, it was there for him too, (of course it was), but he was holding it back for a bit longer.

  “What did you want...?”

@ofhades​  --  i appreciate your concern .    //    SLEEPY HOLLOW.

(    🐇   )                          ❝      BUT    you most likely will ignore my concern as you enjoy wallowing the way you do,    no    ?    or are you going to    ALLOW ME IN    to try and help you,  hades.     ❞      

@ofhades​ asked: ❝ did i wake you? sorry. ❞

     Ah, how could the Warrior of Light had forgotten? He came here of his own volition after consuming so much light from vanquishing the Lightwardens. His head is light, his vision blurry. To learn what Emet-Selch wanted from him, wanted him to see, was the reason. The more he tried to envision it, the more it slipped away. Instead, he had seen the Ancient’s face as it had been in these grandious halls of their making, seemingly sorry, but their eyes laughed. The curve of their wrist had been like a swan’s neck. Their chin would tilt delicately as if to whisper some morself of gossip, to the ears of those who were no longer there.