#Thelios Pyrell

[stargazerlillian]

“Tears in Rain” (for Yoel)

Young Notoriah faces his greatest challenge yet - easing the pain of his grieving best friend.

Serves as a written companion piece to this image.

Notoriah Virgilius Ruggaboor and Thelios Pyrell belong to @yoel-o-fellow

Content warning: Existentialist themes, mentions of death, and a whole lot of angst.

——————–

May 25th, 1428

Malshire, Moldova

There is a word for which Romanians described sadness – “tristeţe.”

But from what Notoriah remembered, that word could never fully describe the thoughts, the emotions, or the sensations that bore underneath every inch of his numbed skin one particular rainy day – the day he first witnessed Thelios Pyrell in mourning.

The sky above was overcast with deep blue tenebrous clouds. A frigid breeze was blowing from the east, sending the land into a chill. Shivery rain fell in droves, forming a half-inch layer of water around the drenched adolescents.

For the first couple of moments, there was silence, save for the lonely pattering of raindrops and the occasional sniffle from Thelios.

Notoriah leaned forward as he searched for any sign of responsiveness from the young Pagan, his head bowed and face hidden.

“Thelios?”

No response.

“Thelios? Are… are you –”

His breath caught itself in his throat as he felt Thelios’s forehead impact his sternum. The smaller boy shut his eyes tightly in a vain attempt to stifle the stream of tears flowing down his face.

A pause. Thelios swallowed dryly as he struggled to get his words out.

“S-she’s gone, Notoriah… she’s gone…”

Notoriah heaved a sigh. He brought his numbed hands up to barely hold the shivering boy, with one coming to rest on his back, and the other cupping the back of his neck.

“I know.”

Thelios uttered a loud sniffle and buried his face deeper into his older companion’s chest. He wrapped his arms tightly around Notoriah’s torso.

“She… she just… stopped breathing... I-I kept telling her to wake up… but… she couldn’t. S-she just… couldn’t…”

Notoriah sharply exhaled. Arboreah was never very fond of Notoriah, and he wasn’t very fond of her in turn. But to Thelios, she meant more than all the land that sat beneath the sky, and then some. Although he and Arboreah never really got on, Notoriah had to admit that he had never witnessed a more strongly forged bond than the one between her and Thelios. It seemed that everything he ever did, he did for her.

But she was gone. He was still here.

“I… I tried everything, Notoriah! I made every single medical potion I knew how to make, so… w-why did she not heal? Why couldn’t I make her better?”

Notoriah took a deep breath as he stroked Thelios’s head.

“That was very kind and noble of you, Thelios. I’m certain your grandmother appreciated your valiant efforts. But the fact of the matter is… sometimes things don’t really happen the way we think they will.”

“But… they always worked, Notoriah! Always! I-I-I don’t understand why they didn’t work this time!”

“Thelios –”

Notoriah’s response came to a halt as he felt Thelios pull his head away from his chest. A twinge of pain twisted through the taller boy’s stomach as he caught his first glimpse at the shorter boy’s terribly contorted face. His swollen, teary eyes were wide with what could only be described as trauma. It had to be one of the most haunting things Notoriah had ever seen.

“It… it’s all my fault, isn’t it?”

Notoriah’s eyes flared as he uttered a sharp gasp. “Thelios, how could you say that?!”

“I-I could’ve saved her if I just tried harder!”

“You did everything in your power to try to keep your grandmother alive. But death is not something that can be cured with a potion. It is not your fault, do you hear me?”

“YES IT IS! I wasn’t skilled enough to find the proper spell to help her, and now she’s dead! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!”

Notoriah’s glare grew furious. He yanked Thelios forward by his shoulders, growling the first few words of his response through grit teeth.

“Thelios… stop it. Right. Now. Look at me. There is no cure for death, do you understand that?! Nobody in all of history has ever been able to find a cure for death, and there is no way that you will be the first. Death comes for us all eventually. Your grandmother was an old woman, and as hard it is for you to hear this, it was going to happen to her sooner or later. I know you gave it your best effort, and I know you wanted to save her, but no elixir or potion or whatever is going to stop someone from dying. It is a natural process of life. Now please… stop. Blaming. Yourself. Alright? It is not. Your. Fault.”

A tense pause followed.

For what felt like the longest time, the two boys only stood there, chests heaving and eyes wide. Neither one felt like he could say anything.

Thelios’s watery eyes shifted back and forth awkwardly as he tried to avoid Notoriah’s fierce gaze only a few inches away from him. He began hyperventilating as Notoriah’s vitriolic reasoning sank in.

The future count’s expression fell instantly. His chest grew heavy.

Oh no.

“G-GET OFF ME!” Thelios shouted as he yanked himself out of Notoriah’s hold, shoving him back a few inches. “I should have known coming to you was a mistake! Serves me right for being so ‘wide-eyed’, I suppose!” he cried, turning away from the older boy.

Notoriah felt his stomach lurch. Thelios had shouted at him before, but never with so much… vitriol. He slowly reached out to touch the Pagan boy’s shoulder.

“Th-Thelios, I-I’m so sorry, I –”

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” Thelios screamed, slapping the older boy’s hand away. “Just… just go away! You’ve done enough!”

Notoriah took a few steps back, wringing his wrists. Perhaps he had been a little too harsh on him. He expelled a large huff of breath and covered his mouth as he pondered over what he had just done.

This wasn’t any sort of sadness Thelios was experiencing. This was grief, something entirely unfamiliar – and therefore frightening – to him.

His only family was dead.

His only home had been burned down by order of the king.

His whole faith and existence now laid in the balance.

Everything that ever gave Thelios a sense of joy had been lost to the viciousness of time, much like his tears had lost themselves in the falling rain.

Notoriah on the other hand, was no stranger to grief and loss. He felt it when he lost his mother as a small child. He felt it when he witnessed a brutal public execution in the center of the village… with his own father as the executioner.

And yet despite this understanding, he just had to go and say things the wrong way and make his closest friend feel even worse and shut himself off from him. He clenched his eyes and teeth tightly as the heaviness of his mistake became apparent. 

What had he done?

Once Notoriah looked back over to Thelios again, his back was still turned, and his arms were still tightly crossed. He could clearly tell that he was freezing from how violently he was shivering. His stomach lurched even more. He couldn’t just leave him in the cold to fend for himself like this. Something had to be done.

With some hesitation, Notoriah went completely against Thelio’s wish, and began calling out to him – this time, with gentleness.

“Thelios? Th-Thelios, please… I-I’m sorry, alright? I’m sorry for yelling at you. I-I just don’t want you to blame yourself for something that wasn’t your fault.”

“How do I know you’re not just saying that?!” Thelios hissed. “And what are you still doing here?! I thought I told you to GO AWAY!”

Notoriah huffed yet again. He had to be gentler than that.

“Thelios… c-come now, Thelios… please… please look at me… I didn’t mean to shout… really I didn’t… I-I just… don’t like seeing you like this.”

“Seeing me like what?! Weak?! Is that what you’re trying to say?!”

“No, Thelios! No! That’s not what I mean at all! I just… I just lose myself sometimes because… because…”

“Because what?! Because you’re unhinged and controlling?!”

A pause. Notoriah clenched his fists by his sides and stood as straight and tall as he could.

“Because I hate when the people I love are being unkind to themselves when they don’t deserve to be!”

Thelios blinked twice. Did he hear all that right? People he loves? Did that include… him?

“You’re already in enough pain, and I don’t want you to add onto that by ruminating over what you could have or should have done! You’re not weak, Thelios! If anything, you’ve been strong for too long.”

Silence fell once more.

After a moment, Thelios finally turned his head to face Notoriah, brows no longer furrowed, and teeth no longer grit.

“Do you… do you really mean all that, Notoriah?”

Notoriah nodded. “Yes, Thelios. I mean every word. I do.”

“Am I really… someone you love? Is that… is that true?”

Another pause. Notoriah’s gaze fell to the ground for a brief second before rising back up to meet the beautiful scarlet eyes of the boy in front of him. He took a deep breath to ease his now pounding heart.

“Yes, Thelios. You are someone I love. I… I love you. I-I really love you. More than you believe. More than you know. With all that I am, I love you.”

Thelios’s eyes widened with every word. He had never heard anyone other than his grandmother say that to him. And he certainly never expected the admittedly handsome cynical boy he admired with dark hair and piercing hazel eyes to say that. He felt the lump in his throat return as he tried to process this new emotion that had now been thrown into the mix.

Notoriah slowly stretched his arms out towards the freckled boy. “Please… come here my dear friend… come back to me. I won’t harm you, I promise. I just want to help you.”

Thelios swallowed dryly. His eyes flickered frantically between Notoriah’s face and open arms. He felt so strange right now. Does he really mean what he says? Should he take this chance?

“Trust me.”

The young Pagan blinked twice again at the sound of his friend’s plea. His voice in that moment was so raspy, and yet so gentle. His arms appeared so warm and welcoming, and it did feel pretty cold standing there by himself.

He took a brief look up at the sky. Those clouds weren’t going to clear out anytime soon. Perhaps he can allow himself to be held close by Notoriah. That is what a friend was for, wasn’t it? And he did say that he loved him...

With a heavy sniffle and some hesitation, Thelios slowly stepped forward back into the taller boy’s arms, where they returned to their places on his head and neck once more.

“There, now. It’s alright,” Notoriah gently whispered, stroking the smaller boy’s cheek. “I’ve got you now. Now please, tell me… is there anything I can do to help you in this time of need? Anything at all?”

A pause.

“Can you stop my pain?”

Notoriah blinked twice in confusion. “Stop your pain? As in… completely?”

Thelios once again pushed his face deep into Notoriah’s chest, threw his arms back around him, and tightly grasped the fabric of his soaked teal camasa, pleading to him in the language of dead innocence.

“Please make it stop… please… it hurts… it hurts so much, Notoriah…”

Notoriah froze completely still, mind awash with shock and confusion as his splayed fingers tingled in the frigid open air.

While they had a history filled with warmth, curiosity, and laughter like any friendship, they also had more than a fair share of misunderstandings, arguments, and fallouts. Their last meeting ended in complete anger. Notoriah even almost drove Thelios away in his greatest time of need only a couple of minutes earlier with yet another angry outburst.

So why, after all that, did Thelios still come to Notoriah first after witnessing his grandmother’s death?

Notoriah slowly looked down at the weeping child clinging onto him once more. Thelios had pressed his face deeper into his chest. He was beginning to feel a warm wet patch forming from Thelios’s tears.

“Please, Notoriah… you’re the only one who can help… please…”

Notoriah’s breath stifled as he came to a startling realization.

Before today, Thelios had very few things to count on. He had his faith. He had his home in the forest. He had his loving grandmother. Now he had nothing left.

Nothing except his unstable friendship with Notoriah.

The future count’s heart thundered in his ears as he took one last look at the barely thirteen-year-old distraught boy tightly pressed to his breastbone. This poor, innocent, wide-eyed forest dweller’s world – the one he knew since he was a small child – had been completely destroyed within the course of a day, and Notoriah was all that was left of that world. Thelios had nobody else to turn to now.

The older boy shut his eyes tight and heaved a great sigh.

Thelios was never going to get hurt again on his watch. Ever. If any of the king’s men came to seize his friend in the coming days, they would have to go through him first. Whatever hardships they had, they worked through together. That would be no different now.

Slowly and tenderly, Notoriah wrapped his arms around Thelios’s frame, returning his embrace. He pressed the younger boy’s body snugly against his, resting his copper-haired head into the crook of his neck as a pair of hot tears finally made their way down his face.

“I’ll try, Thelios… I’ll try.”

[yoel-o-fellow]

I’m mad cause I can’t draw Pyrell the way I imagine him.

[stargazerlillian]

“Nature does nothing in vain.” – Romanian Proverb

A moodboard for young Thelios.☀️🌳🌱🌷🌼🍄🌻🌹🌰🌿🌾🍃🌲🌙

Thelios Pyrell belongs to @yoel-o-fellow

[stargazerlillian]

“A Matter of Wonder” (for Yoel)

Thelios Pyrell would normally be excited on days preceding grand seasonal celebrations. In wonder, even. Today is not one of those days. 

Thelios Pyrell and Arboreah belong to @yoel-o-fellow

——————–

June 20th, 1426

It was the last day of a youthful spring beneath the skies of a younger Romania. 

The trees’ leaves fluttered in waves as the playful breeze weaved through their branches. Golden beams erupted through every opening in the forest’s canopy they could find, spotting the grass below with flickering patches of the sun’s light as the blades rippled back and forth to the rhythm of the wind’s conducting.

The forest was alive with the sounds of many natural wonders, from the rippling waves of the nearby pond to the chirps of birdsong. And if one were to close their eyes and listen at the right moment, they could also hear the mellifluous hums of a boy barely in his eleventh spring. It was a song with no name and no words, yet was always held close to his heart, accompanying him almost every day as he gamboled beneath the dancing patches of light and shade. 

But today was not one of those days.

Thelios Pyrell dragged his booted feet along the forest’s dirty pathway as he trudged his way home, squinting his eyes in the midday sun’s light. Tightly grasped in his hands was a woven basket overflowing with daisies, roses, lilies, carnations, oak leaves, and beech leaves collected from all parts of the forest. 

At dawn tomorrow, Litha would begin. He had been sent out earlier by his guardian to gather ingredients for the special potion that would be used to bless the bonfire they would be lighting the next day to celebrate the start of summer.

Usually, on days leading up to a major seasonal festival, Thelios would ravenously take in as much of the changing sights as he could, even if very little had changed since he last looked. After all, as many wise people in the past have said, “Nature is new every morning.” 

But on that particular day, Thelios’s eyes didn’t focus attentively on anything. They merely stared off into the distance, with only enough alertness for him to not stray off his course.

He never once looked for any new flowers that had bloomed or listened for any new songs from the birds. 

All he saw was the passing green blur of the usually detailed and vibrant forest he called home. 

All he heard was the ridiculing echo of fifteen certain words haunting his mind. 

“If you’re not careful, someone will make an easy fool out of you one day,” they taunted. 

Over and over the words repeated, until Thelios finally found himself back at the front door of his abode.

He stood completely frozen. 

He stared down at his basket, gripping the handle almost tight enough for the fibers to leave indents in his palms. He did not want to step back inside. He almost felt… unworthy coming back here. His young mind raced with different questions than usual - questions that he was almost too afraid to answer.

If he really was a fool, then did he truly belong here? 

If he didn’t belong here, where would he go?

What would his guardian think about being related to a fool?

Would she be upset with him?

Would she reject him?

Would she… stop loving him?

His heart pounded violently against his sternum. As much as he wanted to, there was no turning back. With his knees quivering and his breath shaky, he nudged the door open.

Inside was his grandmother, Arboreah Pyrell, carefully setting a cauldron of water over the fire as she hummed her own wordless song. 

“I-I’m home, mamaie,” Thelios called. “I’ve gathered all the ingredients you need for the potion.” 

Arboreah turned and smiled brightly. “Oh, splendid, nepot! Just set them over there on the table for now. I’ve got to get this water to a boil first before I place anything in.” Thelios nodded in acknowledgement and placed his full basket on the table.

Arboreah watched intently at the water as it began to simmer. In a while, she’d have the perfect potion for tomorrow’s bonfire. Her smile only grew wider as she pictured all the fun she and her beloved grandson would have. Music, dancing, crafting flower wreathes, cooking food over the bonfire – and of course, the enjoyment of each other’s company. 

To Arboreah, this was the perfect recipe for a Litha celebration. And the best ingredient for that recipe was the sight of Thelios’s joyful and beautiful smile. Arboreah always swore to herself - and to others - that the red-haired child’s beaming smile had more than enough power to light up a room. If Thelios was smiling, then she was smiling.

However, when she turned back to face him, he wasn’t smiling at all. Rather, he was staring at the floor and wringing his wrists.

Her own smile disappeared.

“Is something the matter, Thelios?” 

Thelios peered up at her awkwardly. “Um… n-no, mamaie.” 

Arboreah raised an eyebrow. “Are you certain? You look like something’s troubling you, nepot.” 

Thelios shifted his eyes. “W-what makes you think that?”

“Well, for one, you’re not usually this quiet on days like this. And for another, you always wring your wrists when you’re upset.” Thelios flushed and immediately hid his hands behind his back in shame.

Concerned, Arboreah made his way over to him. “Come now, nepot. Tell me – what’s bothering you?” 

“Um… well… mamaie, there’s… something I’ve been wondering for a little while.” 

Arboreah’s other eyebrow raised. “And what is that?” 

The boy swallowed dryly as he struggled to find the strength to speak his inquiry. “Do you think I’m… too wide-eyed?” 

“Well, no nepot, of course not,” she replied, shaking her head. “What makes you ask that?”

“B-because… um… someone said that to me yesterday. H-he thinks that it’s… childish that I’m still so… ‘wide-eyed’ about everything. He says that someone will make an easy fool out of me one day because of that.” 

Arboreah’s eyes shot wide open for the first time in years at the mention of those words. She grabbed her grandson’s shoulders, her face now contorted into one of pure worry. “Now who told you that?”

Thelios’s face flooded with even more heat and shame as he drew out his answer. “U-um… a friend.” 

“Which friend?” Arboreah stressed, gripping his shoulders tighter. The boy swallowed again as another pause grew between them.

“It was… i-it was N-Notoriah, mamaie.” 

Arboreah exhaled sharply through her nose as she shook her head. She turned away briefly to pinch the bridge of her nose. “I should have known,” she thought.

Notoriah had always been a target of suspicion for Arboreah, what with the “unpleasant aura” he always gave off, and all the mischief he got Thelios involved in on a recurrent basis. She still allowed them to see each other despite this, but she never did understand why her grandson was so fond of Notoriah’s company, especially if he said such… denigrating things to him.

“I-it’s alright, mamaie… h-he meant well… really,” Thelios stuttered, tightly holding his trembling clasped hands to his chest. 

Arboreah turned back towards him with a deep frown, her fists now on her hips. “No nepot, it’s not alright.”

“B-but, mamaie, I –” Arboreah grabbed his shoulders again, silencing the boy instantly. His eyes misted over in an instant as he prepared for the worst.

“Thelios,” Arboreah sternly began. “Look at me. What Notoriah said to you… is wrong. If anything, he’s the fool.” 

Thelios blinked twice in surprise. Was he hearing those words correctly? Did his grandmother literally refer to Notoriah as the fool? What was happening?

“W-why is he the fool, mamaie?”

Arboreah exhaled harshly again. “It’s because Notoriah believes that having a sense of wonder is a fool’s trait, when in reality, it’s the people without wonder that are the true fools. He wouldn’t even know what being ‘wide-eyed’ truly meant if it came and bit him on the leg.”

Thelios didn’t understand. Wonder? What did that have to do with being “wide-eyed?’

Arboreah continued. “To be ‘wide-eyed’ is not to be foolish - but to be innocent. To be ‘wide-eyed’ is to see things no one else sees, or things that others choose not to see, out of cynicism, fear, or ignorance. To be ‘wide-eyed’ is to be full of wonder. And from the sound of things, it seems Notoriah’s eyes are quite narrow. It’s almost a shame,” she scoffed.

So being “wide-eyed” is the same thing as being full of wonder. But what did that mean for him? What about his eyes? Thelios didn’t even take a full breath before both of those question was answered.

“Your eyes, on the other hand, Thelios – the eyes you were given – are very wide. They are the eyes of a man of wonder.”

Thelios’s eyes glinted in intrigue. “You… you truly think so?” 

Arboreah gave a mild, motherly smile. “Of course I do, Thelios. You’ve had wonder in your eyes from the moment you first opened them. And it only became more apparent to me as you grew. Not long after you first learned to walk, I took you out into the forest to help you stretch your legs. And your eyes lit up at every new little sight of interest that came your way. Every rock, flower, and small creature was examined with such attentiveness and – well, wonder.”

Arboreah chuckled as she shook her head. “I still remember the little laugh you made when a butterfly landed on your nose that day,” she continued. “You had fallen flat on your back, yet there you were, smiling and laughing at a tiny creature you had never seen before.” Thelios blushed slightly and scratched his head as he attempted to recall such a memory.

“And when you learned to talk, you started asking questions. Questions such as ‘why is the sky blue?’ ‘Why is the grass green?’ ‘Why do the leaves change?’ ‘Why can’t the day or night last forever?’ You asked questions like those, and then some.”

“Huh,” Thelios muttered quizzically.

“In any case, it was clear to me even then that you were a truly wonder-filled child. You had the kind of eyes that could see lights in the night… magic in the air… dreams in the stars… perhaps even… visions of the great spirits that protect this forest.” 

Thelios gasped. Spirits? As in mystical beings that came from other realms? Perhaps his eyes really WERE capable of great things. "Wow, I-I never knew that!” 

“Mm-hm. And that is only a small part of the power in being ‘wide-eyed,’ dear child. Wonder is one of our most essential emotions. Without wonder, we wouldn’t ask questions about anything, explore the possibilities of anything, or have answers to anything. We wouldn’t even appreciate the beauty and the mystery that surrounded us if we didn’t have wonder. It’s something we all have in one form or another.”

Thelios swallowed at a lump in his thought as he fiddled with his fingers. “So, d-does that mean you were ‘wide-eyed’ too, mamaie?” 

Arboreah’s eyelids fluttered in excitement. “Oh yes, Thelios! When I was your age, I was as wide-eyed as wide-eyed could be. I took in all the sights this forest offered every day. I would ask myself every potential question, from why the trees grew so tall, to why clouds formed, to why birds flew and fish swam. Even nowadays, I still try to carry an inkling of wonder wherever I go, because even in my old age, the world is still changing, and I want to be able to witness it.”

Thelios blinked twice thoughtfully. “So, why are your eyes shut almost all the time now, mamaie?” 

Arboreah warmly smiled at the boy as she tenderly held his freckled face in her hands. “Because either the world has too much wonder for me to handle in my old age, or my eyes are filled with so much wonder that looking into them would be too much for others to handle. Either way, it’s for someone’s safety.” 

Thelios uttered a tiny snicker. He could accept that.

“So you see, Thelios, having ‘wide eyes’ is not the same as being a fool. It is having your soul’s windows wide open and willing to take in as much of the world’s beauty as one could ever desire. Wonder is not a childish emotion – it is an essential emotion that separates us from the other creatures of the land, and allows us a sense of inquisition, reflection, and comprehension. Without it, all of the knowledge people have gained about the land around us would cease to exist. It is more powerful than any magic spell or potion.”

More powerful than any spell or potion? Perhaps wonder really is a force to be reckoned with.

“With that, I say go on - continue to see the world around you with ‘wide eyes’ if you so wish. Just because someone you know lost his sense of wonder earlier in life than you does not mean he has the right to try and take your sense of wonder away. It is not your fault you see things and ask questions the way you do. It was never your fault. You are not a fool, Thelios. You are you. And that is all you can be.”

Thelios’s eyes grew misty at the mention of those last several words, but for a different reason than before. He let out a tiny sniffle. “So… y-you’re not upset with me, mamaie?” 

Arboreah snugly wrapped her arms around the redheaded boy in a tender embrace. “Of course not, Thelios. I could never be upset with you. I just don’t want you to lose your way so soon in life… or at any point in life for that matter. You have so much to learn and so much to gain the way you are at this moment.”

“And if you are anything like me,” she added, “Those eyes won’t work perfectly forever. So, my wish for you this Litha is to use them for as long as you can. Keep your sense of wonder close to your heart and spirit for all your years, because with it, you’ll never ever be disenchanted for as long as you live. Can you do that?” 

Thelios nodded tearfully. His heart was hammering against his sternum again – but it was not out of fear this time. What was coming over him?

“Very good. I’m proud of you, Thelios,” she murmured. “You are a truly remarkable and wonderful child. Don’t concern yourself over what others think, especially those who have lost their wonder. Don’t let yesterday barricade you from feeling happiness tomorrow. I want to see that beautiful smile on your face again, and I’d love for it to last the whole day. It suits you far more than any flower wreath ever could. You know?” 

Thelios nodded once more. And with that nod came the return of that beautiful smile his grandmother so dearly loved. Her heart grew warm instantly. She gently cupped his face in her aged hands, bringing his face forward to touch foreheads with her. “Of course you do. You’ve always been such an intelligent boy.”

Thelios sniffled as he tenderly placed his hands over hers. “W-well, I try to be, mamaie.”

“You don’t even have to try, Thelios,” Arboreah whispered feelingly. “You just are.”

A pause. Thelios’ breath became shaky once more.

“Thank you, mamaie,” he rasped. A pair of hot tears finally flowed down his face, releasing with them all the despondency he had been keeping in since the day before. 

Arboreah stroked the top of Thelios’s head as she wiped his tears away. “There, now, nepot - I know, I know. I had a feeling this would happen sooner or later. But I understand - sometimes a person’s spirit just needs the time to wash out its sorrows. It feels nice to let them out, doesn’t it?” 

Another nod from Thelios.

She kissed his forehead. “I’m glad,” she whispered. She then wrapped her arms back around him, gently rocking back and forth on her heels. 

For what felt like the longest time, the two heard no sound besides deep breaths, sniffles, and opposing heartbeats. Then, Arboreah broke the silence by humming the tune to her wordless song.

Once his breathing began to return to normal, Thelios began to hum as well, joining his melody in harmony with hers. 

Together, the two formed an all new song that was unlike any that had ever been made. It wasn’t just either’s wordless song now. It was their wordless song.

The two never really thought about the what the subject of their wordless songs were before that day. But it only took that moment in time for them to decide - it would be an ode to the human sense of wonder. 

Anytime they hummed their melodies from this point forward, they would be hummed as an ode to the wonder they feel for the land they live on. An ode to eternal curiosity - to nature’s beauty - to the spark of innocence within.

And nobody could take that away from them.

Once they finished, the atmosphere went back to silence, and the two continued to embrace and caress one another. No words were needed. Only them, and the comfort of each other’s touch. 

Suddenly, a harsh bubbling sound began to emit from the cauldron. Their heads rapidly spun back to face the stove.

“Ah, the water is finally boiling,” Arboreah stated. “Now then, how about we start mixing that potion? If we start now, we can have it ready by nightfall, so we can go outside and wait for the dawn of Litha together. How is that, nepot?” Thelios silently agreed in the form of yet another head nod as he wiped away the last of his tears with his sleeve.

“Alright, then. Kindly bring that basket over here, please.” Thelios lifted the heavy basket with a labored huff, and carried it back with all of his strength in tow, as well as his signature smile back on his face. 

“Here it is, mamaie,” he chirped with a leftover sniffle as he set the basket on the floor close to the cauldron.

“Very good, Thelios. Now, listen carefully for which ingredients to hand to me. This potion, like every other, requires attention to detail.” 

Thelios watched and listened intently, now with an understanding that none of what he knew or learned would be present if it weren’t for the ‘wide-eyed’ folk who lived before him. After all, if there’s anything he knew for sure, it was that a world without wonder was a world without knowledge.

——————–

Notes:

1. “Mamaie” is the informal, colloquial Romanian term for “grandma.” “Nepot” is the Romanian term for grandson.

2. Litha, AKA Midsummer is the name for the celebration hailing the beginning of summer on the Pagan seasonal calendar. It takes place every year on a day in late June (). According to resources, Litha is considered the peak of the Solar year and is when the Sun is at the height of its life-giving power.

3. Many of the Litha rituals mentioned here are true (the bonfire, music and dancing, the crafting of flower wreathes, etc.). Only one is made up - the usage of a special potion made from various summer plants and herbs to bless the bonfire site. I honestly didn’t know what else to do there, so I apologize if this confounds anyone.

4. All the herbal items Thelios collected at the start correspond with/represent Litha. 

[yoel-o-fellow]

I made Thelios Pyrell in the sims because I’m a lamo llama.  Bubble-ponytail mods are rare but I finally found one that sort of worked. Sorry, but Pyrell was totally just my excuse to make an attractive red head wizard man. Also, I just love the name I gave him. He really just exists because his name was too cool not to use.

[yoel-o-fellow]

The Ruggaboors - Fact of the Day #4

Since it was a tacit assumption that Notoriah’s youngest son was actually sired by Thelios Pyrell, the family now speculates that there is an entire line of Ruggaboor descendants out there who are completely unaffected by the curse.  The Ruggaboors call that side of the family “goldfish” because red hair would likely run rampant in their genes. And if they were anything like Pyrell, the gentle-hearted, they would be chewed up by society like a goldfish in a tank filter. 

[yoel-o-fellow]

A concept of Thelios Pyrell’s grandma, Arboreah - the woman who raised him (a.k.a. “Muma Pădurii”)

[yoel-o-fellow]

Some sketch-poop.  Notoriah and Yunra both have a weird crush on their physician, Thelios Pyrell.  

[yoel-o-fellow]

What’s Noto’s relationship with Thelios Pyrell?

Pyrell was a physician known for his unorthodox, yet effective methods and Notoriah - having had a background in medicine - appointed him as his personal physician.  They were old friends who both shared an interest in furthering the research of botanical medicines.  But one day their relationship took an odd turn and they sort of became “friends with benefits”. 

Their relationship never went beyond that though and it’s because Notoriah was aware that Pyrell could never love anyone more than his work.  Pyrell was also one of those people who couldn’t detect when others were flirting with him since he took everything so literally.  He was therefore a bit awkward in the ways of “love”. Although it didn’t stop Notoriah from teasing him.

Update: I should add that they are still friends and work closely together, but Pyrell is always up Notoriah’s ass about something…and I don’t mean it literally. 👉👉

[yoel-o-fellow]

Some quick half-assed sketches of Thelios Pyrell for colour references.  He’s like Vincent Van Gogh meets Elsa.