Returning home…. With a baby and a human male (Pre-Veil & GF'd)

[Kenkuroi Mithania]

Late Brightening, First Cycle of Cryxatum, Era II of the Celestine Mandate, XIV Era PF.

Silrosia.... or Syl'rosya as it was better known among the locals, the elves in particular, the famed Elfhame, regarded as a stronghold for the Syl'rosyan elves similar to how the undergrounds of Vortex were to their Vysstichi cousins. It was a refreshing change of sight from the dusty, sandy roads of the Arakmat province and the bleak, dirty, crumbling walls of Imperia, a city still recovering from the meteor attacks just a few seasons back. Silrosia in comparison was ripe green, its lush woodlands maturing just in time for the summer. Despite the welcome change, Kenkuroi was sighing endlessly as he led the human male through the Tawnleaf, another part of Silrosia’s thick forest.

When they first left Imperia for Silrosia, the half elf had been quite talkative, chatting up Lyr with almost every topic imaginable, though mostly he had talked about himself. "You know why elves are called tree huggers?" Ken had once asked the human. "Cause they live on trees! Seriously, my house is a tree!" he laughed sarcastically. But ever since Silrosia came into view, the half elf fell silent, responding to Lyr with only minimal talk or merely grunting in reply.

Baby Rose was wrapped in a makeshift bundle, slung across the chest of the half elf. She was fast asleep; no doubt exhausted after the long brightening’s walk and that little tantrum she had thrown half way along the journey.

"If you see a giant tree, that's my home," Ken called out to Lyr impassively, his tone suggesting sarcasm, for sure enough, unless Lyr was suddenly blinded by beautiful sceneries, this giant tree the youth was referring to was well, standing at around three hundred feet and requiring a ring of elves to hug, had to be considered as gigantic indeed and was near impossible to miss..... unless again, Lyr had seen bigger, or perhaps he had a different definition of 'gigantic'.

"It’s called Moonwillow...." the half elf sighed as they approached its beautifully carved entrance, after much twisting and turning beneath the canopy of trees.


ooc: with permission from GM Ragman

[Lyr Tlansson]

"Trees give me the creeps." It wasn't the first time the vagaran youth had muttered those words under his breath - but, in a way, he saw what they all said about the trees in Sil: they looked even bigger, and hence badder, than normal ones.

One couldn't really blame Lyr for a lack of tree-hugging impulse: not only had he not the slightest bit of elven blood in him; not only had he grown up in the middle of the populous and very civilized - hence nearly treeless - Jaedaxia; but the last time he'd been stomping about the wilderness, in Carmelyn, he'd almost been eaten by a lunatic farmer and his dog. It wasn't exactly an experience to make one rejoice at being among green leafy things again.

His new traveling companion, however, seemed not the least deterred by the sight of the things. The journey from Imperia to Syl had allowed Lyr some more time to get to know Ken's ways, and he sensed the sarcasm behind the young elf's words without being entirely able to place it's origin. Not that he cared; he still thought of the elf as a simpleton, a wimpy, milk-soppy creature who definitely had more of the girl than the man in him, considering the way Rose had taken to him. Lyr glanced at his daughter, sleeping contentedly on Ken's chest with her mouth half open and her pretty curling lashes - her mother's sinfully long lashes - fluttering beautifically in sleep. A twinge of something pinched Lyr's nerves at the sight: but then he remembered the voyage, and the Jorel-blasted time he'd had of it in Imperia, and even the trees which Ken had brought him to couldn't keep away the sigh of relief. He'd put up with almost anything so long as Rose kept the higher octaves of her vocal cords to herself.

"Moonwillow, huh?" Lyr turned to look, rather dubiously, at the scenery. Trees - trees - and more trees! Their very vastness depressed him and made him feel small: Lyr didn't like feeling small. "They're all gigantic." It wasn't a complement. "And you say your ancestors did all of this, eh? Some ancestors..."

[Kenkuroi Mithania]

Kenkuroi paused a moment upon Lyr's comments, just before he pushed open the decorated gates of the entrance leading towards the foreground of the giant tree, his facial expression contorted as if contemplating a responce.

"Actually I've only arrived not too long ago. I don't know for sure, who did all this though Mithania was .....well, great...sort off," .... there was some emphasis to the word 'was' as Ken shrugged his shoulders and led Lyr in.

The compound was huge, and the gigantic tree seemed even more massive this close up.The landscape was richly decorated with obvious elvish flair. Plants of all kinds, bloomed to life with summer flowers, hung around forming walls and snaking their way along the trail, some forming the trail itself, that lead under the gargantuan roots and boughs of the enourmous tree towards the inner courtyard of Syl'rosya's once grand center of music, dance and happy good times. Very close by, the Yavie'mela Falls can be heard pumping its contents and giving life to the crystal clear streams that accentuate the tranquil forest of the Elfhame. Moonwillow itself, was situated close to both waterfall and stream, and clearly can be accessed by water if there's ever a need to. As for Ken's statement of 'living on a tree', all Lyr had to do was look up to see the numerous 'rooms', pods extended between the massive branches, with bridges linking most of the branches, and to the spiral stairs that led down and about. And there weren't merely six or seven rooms either, there were many, possibly numbering to the hundreds even.

As the pair plus baby, made their approach, the tree appeared to be alive with small laughter and the chattering of elves in their native tongue, somewhere out of sight. Nearby, someone seemed to be tuning or practicing an instrument of sort, a harp to the trained ear, which abruptly stopped...... followed by a joyful squeal and in a serene voice, a loud call of "Morendil!"

It belonged to a female elf, who can now be seen emerging from behind a curtain of vines and running towards them, or towards Ken more specifically. She had the typical beauty and allure of her race, with unblemished milky white skin, smooth as butter, stunning green eyes with long flowing blonde hair, and a perfect body as her simple, thin gown discreetly revealed.

"Ed' Phedos, manke nae lle? Where have you been?!" she called out again, arms outstretched to welcome the half elf, only to stop mid way as a wave of horror surprise replaced joyful surprise on her features at the sight of the baby cuddled on the boy's chest.

"Wha- ? When? How? Who?" she stammered as she pointed at little Rose, then at Lyr, "Who is this? Who are you?" she asked gently.

"Morendil! Welcome home!," a more masculine voice, but not as deep or husky as Lyr's or even Kenkuroi's or Morendil as those elves were calling him, something the half elf had not bothered to inform Lyr, cut through quickly.

It belonged to a tall young looking elf whom was also emerging from behind the vines with a harp in one hand. Like his female counterpart, he was beautiful, handsome in a delicate way, boasting the same androgynous features Lyr's latest travelling companion had, though there was no hint of feminine behavior in the manner they carried themselves.

"Morendil, I am astounded! Just one cycle, and you return with a baby! Which lucky woman have you impregnated.... finally, and popped for you so soon by Camelya's thousand blessings indeed! And who is this fine, handsome Vagaran male you brought back? I didn't know you too have finally begun to indulge in such exquisite tastes!" the male elf jested, his voice silky smooth and charming, though annoying given the situation and choice of words he was wiping it on.

[Lyr Tlansson]

For a moment Lyr couldn't distinguish the rustling of the trees from the actual sounds of human voices. It was hard for him, accustomed as he was to regular blocks of city building and symmetrical brickwork, to discover the "pods" which Ken referred to with such ease. Only when humanoid shapes began cascading out from the enormous growth of the tree itself did the vagaran finally make out that, in fact, his younger traveling companion hadn't been joking around. These elves really did live in trees!

Bewildered, Lyr shook his head and craned his neck upwards. Where were the doors? Where were the windows? Where were the chimneys?... Before Lyr could assess the answers to all of these practical questions, his eye caught sight once again of the elves who had come running at the approach of one of their own. Elves, it would appear, just like Ken - but then... not like Ken, too.

"Feth." Lyr spoke under his breath, and probably a good thing too; anybody who looked at Lyr looking at the elven girl who had first come running up to Ken couldn't have mistaken the cast of his glance. She was pretty - Borthanas, she was beautiful - in a way that Lyr, personally, had never imagined elves could be. He'd always been a human sort of human himself: he liked curves; he liked a judicious amount of colour... or a lot of colour, in places; he liked hips that a giant couldn't have described as 'slim'. Maybe it was the length of his stay on a ship crowded exclusively with males (and Rose, of course, who didn't figure into this particular calculation), or maybe it was the elven context that suddenly made elven beauty make sense to the human: but Lyr found himself all of a sudden wondering what was hidden behind that discreet gown.

Watching her eyes widen and her mouth curve into all sorts of pretty positions as she noticed the presence of the sleeping baby, Lyr felt his own face spread into an answering grin. He didn't understand what she said, but the human could follow the gist of it: she must be some sort of relative. Sister perhaps? She didn't look old... though one could never tell with these elves. At least relatively speaking the other, male elf who had come down from the tree as well looked somewhat older than Ken, to judge by his bearing and lack of gangly awkwardness.

They all seemed to think that Rose was Ken's, though - and something about exquisite taste. Lyr realized that the unknown male elf was looking at him as he spoke, but he still didn't quite get the purport of the speech. Woman? Carmelya's blessing? Why exquisite taste...? Lyr didn't get it, clearly, but he knew he didn't like being looked over like a block of wood or a piece of furniture. Pansy elves, with their noses stuck in the air... though that's one pretty nose she has...

"Lyr Tlansson." The Vagaran wasn't waiting for Ken to make the introductions. Kenkuroi's pretty sister (if it was, in fact, his sister) had asked him who he was, anyway, and he felt like answering her. "And that's my daughter, Rose, though I'm coming to think it would be better if she'd have been part elf - if that meant looking so pretty when she'll be all grown up!" Lyr smiled, pleased with his own quickness in forming complements: what a boon baby Rose was, though, when she wasn't either pooping or screaming!

[Kenkuroi Mithania]

As Lyr finished his introduction, yet again the joyful and stunning smile the female elf possessed returned to her features, having been temporarily gone from such a surprising and unexpected sight before her. She was slightly amused though, at the human's attempt of a 'pick-up' line, which had worked to Lyr's favor nevertheless.

"Ah! I see.....well met Lyr, and I am Valanthiriel, though most just call me Val for simplicity. Surely there is no need for such thoughts for she is already as beautiful as her name...." she replied, with that voice as pleasing as her looks.

In huge contrast with Lyr, Kenkuroi or Morendil as these elves were calling him, did not looked pleased at all despite their seemingly friendly and good-natured welcome back greetings (with some sense of humor added). In fact, if Lyr had been paying close notice, there was already a sour aura surrounding the half elf the moment Silrosia came into view, and it got even sour now, standing at the foot of his tree house in company of his relatives..... or perhaps better described as 'clans-men'.

"Imperia as you lot no doubt already know, and left dead there on purpose, betrayed by you traitors!" Ken barked angrily, eyes coldly staring at both elves in an annoyed, accusing manner, arms flailing at them as emphasis.

"And this is not my baby by Haya's bush isn't that obvious or has Phedos forgotten to give you elves brains?! I don't feth around like you! And I don't do males like you do!" Ken yelled, this time directing his anger straight at the male elf.

At this point, baby Rose awoke and started her pitiful wailing once again, having her peaceful slumber rudely disturbed by the half elf's loud, gruff voice and violent body notion.

"Feth this!!" Ken roared, another annoyance added by the nuisance on his chest, and in anger he roughly undid the bundle that held baby Rose and shoved it towards Lyr. No doubt such actions served only to make an equally annoyed Rose scream even louder.

"Morendil! You're making her even more upset!" Val cried out as she intervened, softly grabbing the bundle into her arms and tried to coax Rose to calm down, whispering softly in a melodious tone in her elvish tongue.

"Whatever! Go make her an avacado porride or something. She's just being an ass cause she's tired and hungry!" The half elf scoffed as he stormed pass all of them, even purposely knocking shoulders with the male elf as he dissappeared behind one of those curtain vines.

Valanthiriel sighed as she turned towards Lyr but still smiling. "Please forgive me for the young Lord's behavior. He is proud but foolish, like all hot-headed, high-spirited youngsters are. He is truely a nice boy despite his father's father's aggression reigning in his veins..."

"Nay Val..." the male elf chipped in, his demeanor calm despite the provocation on him. "You think too highly of him. He has good qualities despite his ill nature, that I won't doubt, but to compare him with the Lords of Mithania? There's too much human in him compared to the noble bloodline.... no offence to you, Lyr son of Tlannson, by the way I am Ceph'eroh Daer'on, sworn into Mithania, loyal peon...." the elf continued, jesting little still. And as he introduced himself, the elf embraced Lyr in a brotherly hug and landed a kiss on both sides of the human's cheeks.

[Lyr Tlansson]

"Val..." It was good that the elf had shortened her name into something comprehensible, because otherwise Lyr wouldn't have been able to pronounce it at all. Grinnning somewhat foolishly as the beautiful elf continued to make small talk, the vagaran didn't almost jumped from Ken's sudden - at least, it seemed sudden to Lyr - explosion.

"Feth, Borthanas must be breathing fire on his neck," Lyr's words were drowned out by Rose's sudden cries, and he took hold of his daughter with a slight wince as her voice went up a few decibels. With an apologetic smile at Val, Lyr began to bounce the baby: not quite with the smooth expertise that Kenkuroi was capable of, but nevertheless with some fervor: women liked to that, he'd noticed... and anyway, the brightenings when Ken had been handling the baby's affairs were ones of blessed peace that Lyr hardly wanted to be broken.

He had absolutely no idea what had caused the half-elf to fly off, both because he hadn't paid him much attention and, quite simply, because he didn't know a thing about politics on this side of the Empire. Now, if Ken had been talking about Jaedaxian independence... but Silrosia, Imperia - Lyr had hardly spend enough time in the latter city to realize the extent of it's recent destruction, much less its conflicted causes.

"I wouldn't be an elf if Phedos himself came down and offered me the chance," Lyr put in in a companionable tone as the other elf - Cefferdo, or something like that, Lyr couldn't quite follow - turned to him. He'd been busy trying to quite Rose as they spoke, and the baby was now bright eyed and looking around with the hearty curiosity of a child. At least for the moment, new scenery had overridden the desire for rosyun.

But there was hardly time to look around. With a suddenness that took Lyr's - and probably Rose's too - breath away, this Ceffirdoo came at them with arms outspread and his lips all puckered! "Wha -- feeeeeth!!"

Now why hadn't Val done that?! Lyr had only a moment for the thought before complete panic set in and, in pure self-defense, he leaned backward and shoved his arms, full of baby Rose, forward. If the elf wanted to kiss anybody, let him kiss the baby - but not Lyr! Jorel, maybe this was why Ken ran away - maybe he'd been avoiding this... this... kissing! Bah! It was sick, wrong, and there was no way in aeternia that Lyr was being kissed by anyone of the male persuasion!

[Kenkuroi Mithania]

*Muaks*

The kiss landed, not on the human male but on little baby Rose, squarely between the soft and slight baby hair that was supposed to be her eyebrows.

The earlier aggravated Rose, who had calmed down a little, was now working herself to a frenzy after receiving the kiss from such a beautiful and handsome elf. But she wasn't screaming or crying in dislike, in fact she was squealing happily, wriggling excitedly in Lyr's cluth, and almost looks like she was blushing having gone a little pink in the cheeks!

The elf identified as Ceph'eroh looked at the 'object' he had just kissed, alternating to the 'object's' father without any signs of taking offense, surprise or disgust, without any changes on that cool, impassive, seemingly aloof demeanor he wore since he first made his presence known, throughout Kenkuroi's tantrums and now this....

Turning towards his female counterpart, he said, in good-will jest though his silky, haughty voice implied some sense of derogotary towards Lyr's race, "Humans! Such weird customs they have!"

Val, was trying hard not to giggle at Lyr's reaction and to take the sting out of Ceph's remarks she spoke up, "He was just trying to greet you... urm... uh.... Mister Lyr?" Quickly, she whispered to the male elf in rapid elvish, who in turn nodded his head and answered absent mindedly, "Yes, I believe that's how to address a human indeed."

Turning back to Lyr, she continued, "Though of course it's a mistake on Ceph's part for such greetings are normally extended only to relatives and very close friends. He was just pulling your leg, as usual he..."

"I was testing you," Ceph interrupted. "Apparently you do not indulge in exotic eroticism, therefore the young Lord must be still a virgin and if he is, I shall happily claim my ten crown bet from Hérion hah! And I know how humans greet each other, they say Serale and extend their hands like this," to which the male elf extended a hand for Lyr to shake, should he desire to do so.

Val rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she whispered to Lyr, but still loud enough for the male elf, or anyone in close proximity to hear, "Ignore him and his nonsense. He is always goofing around even at inapropriate times! Anyways, this Borthanas you mention, is she your daughter's mother?"

[Lyr Tlansson]

Elves! Lyr felt as if he were on another plane, somewhere beyond the Xetan lands, so wildly bizarre did these creatures appear to him.

"Well, feth." The vagaran looked from Val to Ceffirdoo as the two spoke some sort of explanation, much of which he didn't understand - and Rose's wriggling didn't help, either. Now entirely awake and ready to the take the whole of telath on, the baby was bouncing up and down and turning this way and that in Lyr's arms. One pudgy hand grabbed hold of a falling lock of hair and tried to pull itself up that way, eliciting a hiss of pain and a quick effort to unlace his hair from her sticky fingers. "Eh. Erm, yeah." Lyr took the proffered hand rather gingerly, lest the elf think of trying any more nonsense with him.

Still fighting with Rose, Lyr listened - with more care - to what Val said as she leaned in toward him and whispered. Where in Jorel's name is Ken? The blasted elf could have run away with Rose, if he'd have had half a brain!

"Stop that." Lyr finally turned to Rose with a serious, parentally-exaggerated frown, knowing full well that such words had little to no effect on the child, but heartily wishing her in the woods of Sherian at the moment, so that he could turn his full attention to his wonderful new female friend.

What he heard, however, made him burst out loud in riotous laughter. "Borth... feth, no!" These elves are really stupid, aren't they? They don't know the first thing every child knows! "Borthanas is a great, ancient dragon... Rose's mother... Rose's mother was a dragon, I suppose, in her own right - no... she was someone I knew in Trysvale." Lyr didn't elaborate. These gentle creatures didn't need to know about the Naked Orc and it's dancing girls - they probably would hardly understand even if he had explained. "But I am Jaedaxian by birth, and that is where Borthanas lives. In Jaedaxia." Lyr was quite proud of the fact, as any real Jaedaxian would be - no matter that the dragon's followers were a mad, outlawed sect whose purported rituals sent shivers down his spine and from whose acolytes Lyr would have run away screaming; still, it was a great thing for one's city to have it's own titularly dragon. How many other cities in the whole of Telath could say as much?

[Kenkuroi Mithania]

Val frowned when Lyr mentioned 'dragon', a mixture of disbelief and surprise etched on her fair, lovely face.

"A dragon? In Trysvale? You mean Jaedaxia?" she queried, her serene voice reserved, accentuating her facial expression. She hadn't understood Lyr properly, partly due to the young man's indirect explanation. It was Ceph who understood and seemingly knew more despite Lyr's purposely unfinished tale.

"Hah hah! Interesting!" he laughed or more like smirked. "Accidents happen my young friend. But I won't blame you if the woman you impregnated was beautiful with a body as sinful as Haya herself! But women! They come with these packages...." he pointed at baby Rose. "Makes you wonder if it was worth the price to pay for a short session of pleasure! That's why most times, I prefer men..... simple, direct and without worrying..."

"CEPH!" Val called out loudly in an angry, annoyed tone.

"Then again I could be wrong," the male elf continued apologetically though still having that smug look on his face. "I was merely taking a guess seeing as you claim the babe as your child, yet here you are with the young Lord, so far away from home and wife. Of course there could be other appropriate and more accurate reasons. I was just stating one of the possibilities," he shrugged.

"And if it were so, then Lyr is a very brave and noble man for wanting to be the father to his child. Most men simply dump such responsibilities to the women!" Val countered, somehow defending Lyr even when such proclaimations were yet to be confirmed true.

"Tell that to the Lord of the Keep!" Ceph laughed sarcastically.

Val looked annoyed… no she was annoyed at her male counterpart and she made no attempt to hide it as she scowled at him or tried to. Her ethereal beauty sadly couldn't express negative expressions well.

Sighing, she turned back to Lyr. For Lyr, she smiled and partly smiling out of amusement for Rose's antics.

"Come, let me hold her, and I can get her some milk and porridge if she is hungry. Though no doubt she must be tired after the journey from Imperia..... you all are....." she spoke as she extended her arms to receive Rose.

[Lyr Tlansson]

Chefirdoo had finally gotten something right, and Lyr nodded back in fervent agreement... except for when he started talking about men, at which point Lyr took a hearty step backward and thought that he'd have to keep an eye on the elf. There was no knowing what people of that sort could do to one when one was sleeping.

Fortunately Val took the lead in stemming the male elf's thoughts, and Lyr was once more softened towards her. She had a feminine heart that went out to baby Rose... just like so many women before her. Lyr bounced the baby in his arms, and the inevitable followed: Val would take care of Rose.

Extremely relieved, Lyr smiled and handed over his 'bundle of joy' to Val, making sure to cop as much of a feel in the process as he could. No, thin gowns certainly did have their advantages! The young vagaran also pointedly made sure Cefirdoo noticed, just to make sure that he got any ideas he might have had out of his brain; Lyr was an opinionated (to say the least; some might say prejudiced) youth, and didn't go in for broad ideas.

"That's a fact," Lyr let go of Val's arms with some reluctance. "Nothing I'd like better than a bed right now... but I should probably go with you, you know, so that Rose has a familiar face by her." Lyr had learned well how to play the child card in Trysvale. It worked every time, and it worked like no other ploy Lyr had ever heard of; Rose might be beet-red in the face and crying her head off, and women were still drawn to her like flies. "Though I wouldn't know where to go in these things anyway." He nodded toward the treehouse. "Feth, I never knew you elves to live in trees before; left that to the relequis."

[Kenkuroi Mithania]

Val receive baby Rose, whose apparent 'feminine mood swings' has turned for the better since that kiss from the gorgeous looking male elf, with much care, tenderness and eager anticipation like all women when they took hold of an infant child...... well, as expected of all women by the general society.

Rose cooed even more happily as she left her father's clumsy arms and into the graceful arms of a woman with non-human beauty and charm. She giggled, looking very pleased, and despite the comment she may be tired, was energetically trying to touch Val's face, as if she was curious to know how smooth the skin of this fair lady. Rose seemed very perceptive for her age, if her father had bothered to take any notice at all...... especially now in the presence of the eye-catching Val (and Ceph).

Val had gazed at Lyr with a now rather astonished admiration mixed with curious suspicion when the human male nodded his head in agreement at the supposed, nonsense spewing from that troublesome effiminate elf. So Ceph just hit a jackpot? A quick glance saw her male counterpart having a smug look on his face as if saying 'Hah! I'm right' but then again, he had been wearing that smug look on his face ever since.

"Is it true? What Ceph said?" she asked timidly, presenting Lyr with an innocent yet seductive appearance. If she was any aware of the young human's desire and impulse, she was cleverly hiding it though it was obvious that she had took a liking towards the young human male.

The 'cool' Ceph too, as usual, neither showed nor hinted any signs of reaction towards the on-goings around him but merely waved Val's question off with a prude remark. "The questions can wait til our guest is properly served. We elves are not so rude as to deny our guest any hospitality, especially here in Moonwillow Keep!" With that claim, he turned and gestured for Van to usher Lyr into the house or keep or tree....

The way led through the vine curtain from where Van and Ceph first emerged, a short cut from the main path that snaked beneath a natural gateway contructed out of the tree's unique bough structures. Short cut and main path eventually joined, descending under the tree boughs and roots towards a huge hall, or more like a cavern with its walls made of wood instead of stone, and decorated roots hanging from its ceiling instead of stalactites. There scattered various furniture of elvish design and of natural source, like that beautiful carved rock intended as a bench. In contrast with its exterior, the interior pretty much resembles the average elvish very well-off home, with just a tad more Carmelya-ish feel to it.

Lyr was brought deeper in, where sets of stairs could be seen leading to the adjoining corridors of the numerous rooms, and to more halls and massive balconies all set on wooden plateus both natural and makeshift. Val led the human towards one particular balcony that overlooked the waterfall and river and guided the human to make himself comfortable on the cuishions. Ceph had disappeared somewhere and Ken was still nowhere to be seen, though in the distance his rough voice could be heard arguing with someone...

[Lyr Tlansson]

Lyr watched the elf woman and the human baby, feeling rather jealous - for once! - of his daughter. And not because of her obvious intelligence and perception, either; the Vagaran hardly considered that the baby even had a personality yet. How was he, who had never been in close contact with children before, to know in what ways Rose was unusual? Besides which, Lyr was just plain old Lyr, and had other things to think about.

Like the feel of elven skin, for example. He wondered if it was as cool to the touch as it looked. The wide-eyed innocence in Val's eyes pleased Lyr even more. He fell headlong into a new amour at that moment, and didn't look back. "Yeah... Rose is my daughter." Lyr admitted, knowing the statement was rather to his credit than a deficit with most women - and, it appeared, with elven women as well. Maybe elves weren't so different after all, if one didn't count the fact that they lived in trees.

Glancing every few seconds at the pretty elven maiden, Lyr didn't even protest when the Cefirdoo fellow led them inside, and then - Lyr wasn't really looking at him anyway, so he didn't quite note when exactly - he'd disappeared, and it was Val who was leading him onto a balcony.

The distant sounds of arguing floated over the tree branches. Lyr recognized the voice of his companion, and for a split second wondered what was going on, though with curiosity rather than concern. Lyr had little sympathy for Ken's family troubles, having grown up without any family to speak of. Actually, he found Kenkuroi's attitude rather amusing, in a totally incomprehensible sort of way.

"It's really pretty here." Lyr suggested first, more because he thought that would be a good way of starting up conversation and putting his good foot forward with Val than because he truly agreed with the sentiment. He also wanted to know something else - just to get his bearings. He didn't want the elves to throw him out on his ear, after all, nor did he want to end up without a nanny again should - Diana bless - something happen. Oh dear Diana, it had been so long since the Something had happened! It appeared to be a yawning eternity of an abyss to Lyr at the moment. "So... how are you related to Kenkuroi?"

[Kenkuroi Mithania]

"Kenkuroi?" Val echoed, at first looking confused before quickly recovering upon realizing whom exactly Lyr was referring to.

"Oh you mean Morendil? I'm sorry, we're so used to calling the young Lord by his father's given name, I forgot!" she laughed mostly to herself, blushing a little, the red tint faintly adding color to her fair cheeks in a rather fascinating manner.

"We are.... clansmen...." she added, smiling ever so pleasantly before Ceph's familiar voice 'interfered' again.

"Meaning, we are not of blood ties to Kenkuroi, Morendil, whatever that hot-blooded, smoking bastard is called. We are sworn in members of Mithania. Hence the different surname, as you humans call it, we have when we introduced ourselves though I don't think Val had informed hers, if you had bothered to notice and pay less attention to Val's breasts of course!" Ceph said matter-of-factly as he approached the trio, bearing a tray of mugs and a bottle of homemade wine, and bowls of fruits and biscuits, as well as Rose's avocado milk porridge, which he promptly set on the floor between the cuishions.

"Ceph!" Van scold.... again, and berrated him in elvish but the male elf merely got up, casually waved Val off as he countered her in common, on purpose obviously, for Lyr's benefit, "....he won't understand things like clansmen. I was merely explaning," he said with a shrug as he left.

"Ignore that Daer'on fool!" she sighed as she invited Lyr to help himself with the refreshments served while she attended to baby Rose with the porridge.

"He is not tactful at all, and never bothers trying to, but despite that he is kind and wise. He has travelled the Empire, something I've always wished to do! And he is a very skillful bard, well versed in the primalistic songs of the wild, not surprising seeing his origins coming from a well known clan of our wilder cousins. Anyway enough about him, I'm sure you're not keen to know his tale," she playfully spoke.

Meanwhile, Rose not only have taken a liking towards the elves, she seemed to have taken a liking towards the weird 'elfy' concoction as evident by her eager anticipation for each scoop of the spoon.

[Lyr Tlansson]

Morendil... Funny sounding name. Lyr shrugged, listening more to the melodious tones of Val's voice than to the actual content of her speech. She looked so pretty, laughing and talking like that.

And then Ceph broke in to their conversation again, interrupting what Lyr felt like a very private moment with his acerbic talk, and kept uncharacteristically silent. Though he didn't usually feel awkward in any social situations, having Val and Ceph talk elvish in front of him did make him feel a bit peculiar - it was difficult to hear people converse and not be able to understand... after all, how could he tell what they were saying?

Of course, he couldn't. To cover up his sudden attack of anxiety, Lyr grabbed some of the refreshments and began eating, looking between Val and Rose. The interactions of woman and baby were familiar enough that, now Cephirdoo was gone, Lyr began to relax once more.

Rose was also putting on a good show, as if she knew what her father wanted... or maybe, she'd just had a lot of practice doing this sort of thing!

"Um, sure." Lyr replied when Val finished talking about Ceph, not really interested in the male elf at all. "Sounds like an interesting life... travels has it's points, I suppose." Lyr couldn't say that he much liked travelling. It involved too much physical activity and trudging through muck and forests for his tastes. He was much happier in the streets of a familiar city, where he knew where to go for a drink, and he knew where to go for an hour or two of "fun". Feth, even sitting in a tree with food and drink and Val beat out listening to Rose bawl out her lungs in the smelly hull of a ship sailing who knew how many miles of murky and dangerous waters. "So you've never been out of Syl? Why can't you go someplace, if you want to so much?" Lyr inquired, turning the conversation onto a topic of real interest: Val herself.