#melidias bloodsinger

[arcane-fire]

It figured. She planned a vacation and it went totally south. That was usually the case. It wasn’t that the company was poor, so that was different. But infernals raining from the sky and demons appearing out of no where was pretty new, too, and they didn’t make the most appealing of advertisements when your intentions were to get away and unwind.

Nikklaus and Pamina made the most of it, though. They still explored the city together, and they still talked long into the nights, they just did it all while slaughtering everything that dared look in their direction. It was productive, and it was helpful to the city of Dalaran. When they were too exhausted to go on, they found a secluded, fortified corner that they could hide in until morning and sleep.

In truth, Pamina would have welcomed that bad over the stupidity that she returned to in the city.

Not twenty-four hours after their return and someone had already tried to shoot them for having a simple conversation in the road. Pamina hadn’t retaliated, though she had wanted to, and she hadn’t needed to. It wasn’t long before someone else came along and stabbed her would-be assailant. She would never forget the apologetic look in Nikklaus’ eyes as he met her gaze; they had been having a pleasant conversation. It was just another day in the Row.

She didn’t understand it. The world was crashing down around them, and people were concerned with offing each other over their offended delicate sensibilities. What was wrong with them? She couldn’t think of anything more than the safety of those dearest to her. Kaelium, Lydia, Nikklaus, Melidias... She had to fight for them. Her fight wasn’t in the Row. It was on the field. It was making sure that the threat never made it home.

She just hoped that he wouldn’t make due on his vow to follow her.

[riaevis]

Coming like a steam train, something to ease the pain…

He hadn’t expected their last encounter to be their last encounter. It never was. Sometimes, Analeil was emotional, either in sad or very angry variety, but more regardless of her state she would always vow that the two of them would never speak to nor see one another again. That in itself was a lie, as they split their time with Eiliha up, but she never failed to find some sort of excuse to come around again. Riaevis had come to expect, nay, perhaps anticipate the next time the two would cross paths.

    She did not disappoint. Merely days before he was set to move out of the manor and into an apartment with Ari, she brought Eiliha to him for a visit. They played cordial in front of the toddler, but she could only act as a distraction for so long. With their daughter fast asleep and the manor empty, the duo had no excuse to not tuck her into her room for the evening. They also had no excuse to not speak to each other in all of the ways Analeil had promised that they would not. All too easily did they fall into their old habits and ways; too quickly did Riaevis succumb to her offering of alcohol and thistle. The night found the two of them in his bed and Riaevis uttering his true sentiments, how much he loved the Farstrider tangled in his sheets, but the morning would not be as kind. He awoke with his head in a fog to find Analeil dressed and sitting on the edge of the bed. Once she had realized that he had regained consciousness, she had stood and taken Eiliha, then left. The only words that she had said to him were, “Things between us will never work out, ever.” as she had walked out the door.    

    Just like that, reality once again crashed down around Riaevis. Whatever haze-filled pleasantries he had experienced and shared with her the night before would remain memories, though not real enough to hold any merit at all. Again, she had lifted him up higher than the clouds, only to smash him back down into the earth with few words and the slamming of a door. As badly as he wanted to be angry with her, he could not find it within himself. If anything, he was angry with himself for falling to her wiles another time. Was he truly so weak?

    Yes, yes he was.

     With the responsibility of caring for Eiliha off of his shoulders for the day, Riaevis went into self-destruct mode. He left for the nearest inn and set his sights on someone else, anyone else, lacquering his wounded heart in as much liquor and bloodthistle that his system could handle. He wound up going home with some blonde whose name he didn’t even know, whose face he was certain he would not remember, and leaving her in his bed long before daybreak even arrived. He really hoped she could find her own way out, else he was certain Pamina, or even perhaps Ari, would be quite confused if they came across her. Perhaps he was predictable enough that they wouldn’t be surprised. He didn’t know, nor was he sure that he cared.

     Riaevis found himself propped up against a tree somewhere in Eversong, staring out at the ocean and waiting on sunrise. He remembered that once, being out amongst the trees and out of the city had been a comfort to him. In those days, Analeil had been with him. She thrived for nature and adventure, while he had been content to sit idly and watch her. Of course, she dragged him along every chance that she got, and he had been happy to be by her side, but that was a long time ago. Being outside of the city now was full of memories that left a bitter taste in the elf’s mouth.

    There was a crunching of leaves underfoot to his left. His reaction time was slow, slow enough that if he was being attacked, he would likely be dead. Who he saw was not hostile though, in fact was anything but. His youngest cousin, Melidias approached him slowly, adorned in her heavy robes with a high, neck-concealing collar. Tucked under one arm was a large book, in her other hand a pen. She offered Riaevis a smile as they met eyes.

   I can sit? She signed to him.

   ”Sure.” Riaevis scooted over to his left, making room for the priestess against the tree. She sat down and smoothed her robes proper-like, then settled the book and pen into her lap. She stared at her cousin for a long while, before raising her hands.

   It’s dark.

   ”It’s night, kiddo.” He offered her a small smile, taking a small drag off of the joint held precariously between his fingers. He didn’t have to be looking at Melidias to know she was staring at him disapprovingly, though she did reach up, shaking his arm gently to get his attention. He glanced at her.

   You smoking again?

   ”Bad habit.” He replied through an exhale, letting his gaze travel back to the water. Melidias’ frown deepened as she flipped open the book in her lap, then began scribbling in it furiously. When she had finished, she offered it to him.

   “Analeil? Is that why you’re out here doing this?”

“‘That obvious, huh?” A corner of his mouth upturned into a smirk. Melidias began to write again.

   “Let her go, Riaevis.”

“Easier said n’ done, kid.” He placed his head back against the trunk of the tree. The priestess quickly shook her head.

   “No, it’s not. You just haven’t tried.”

“Haven’t tried? What, ya got eyes all over the place now, Mel? What would you call what I’ve been doin’?”

   “Everything in your power not to get over her,” She wrote. "Everything in your power to ignore the things going on around you.”

   ”What’s that s’posed t’ mean?” He raised his brow, eyeing his cousin.

   ”The liquor, the bloodthistle, the various women.” She hesitated, raising her chin long enough to meet Riaevis’ gaze. “You allow Analeil back into your life any time that she comes calling, and then use these things any time that she rejects you to ignore everyone else. I don’t mean me, or Pamina, or even Eiliha. There are people interested in you, truly interested in you, cousin, and not your sin-riddled past. You just won’t open your eyes long enough to notice them.”

   Riaevis laughed heartily and took another drag from the joint. He rolled his shoulders back against the tree and turned his gaze toward the water. “I don’t notice ‘em, huh? I thought that was mine and Ana’s problem in the first place. I noticed ‘em a little too well.”

   Melidias shook her head again quickly, and then returned to her scribbling."No. I don’t mean whatever women you’ve brought home from the bars, Ri, and that in itself is an example of the past I was referring to. You run back to it every time that Analeil decides to leave again. Let it go.”

   ”Who, then?” He frowned, looking to Melidias. “Who’s so damned important that y’ think I’m s’posedly overlookin’?”

   Melidias stared at her eldest cousin, her expression blank. She stared so long, in fact, that Riaevis started to get a little irritated.

   ”Spit it out, Mel. Who?”

   “Velarianna.” She began to write. Riaevis looked over the written name with a guffaw, turning his eyes back to the water, but Melidias continued to write.

   ”She’s got gladiator-guy on her heels, and dressboy before that. Just because she’s in th’ same house as m-“

   Melidias cut him off by shoving the heavy book into his gut. Riaevis grimaced.

   ”You don’t see it because you don’t want to see it. You don’t see the looks that she gives you, or how she watches you with Eiliha. I would even go as far as to say that you do everything in your power not to see it. Likewise, I’ve seen the way that you look at her on your better days, when you know that she isn’t looking. The word is on the tip of your tongue and you know it, it’s why you’re leaving the manor. What I want to know is this; are you ever going to grow up and give her a chance, or are you going to continue to roll around in the mud with the women, Analeil included, who would love nothing more than to see you fail at every turn?”

   Riaevis read over the priestess’ words several times before closing the book and handing it back to her gently. She stared up at him expectantly. He watched the waves as they came in, the rising sun glittering across the water’s surface. The elf took the joint and stoked it into the dirt beneath him, sighing before he finally spoke.

   ”Fuck, when’d you get so damned smart?”

   Melidias beamed.

[arcane-fire]

Melidias' place was small for a three bedroom house, but it was cozy. She shared the space with Riaevis' younger sister and their cousin, Raziah, but still had room for Pamina and the twins to occupy one of the rooms. Their cribs fit snugly against the far wall, while she made due on an old cot opposite of them surrounded by an array of books, some stacked and some not. It lacked the large, lavish openness that her apartment held. In fact, her apartment was starting to seem less like an apartment and more like the small manor that it was. But the fireplace illuminating the room was a nice touch. It was a change, it was different, and right then, she needed different.

She had trekked there with Melidias, Kaelium, and Lydia no more than two days after asking her sister if she was okay with the idea. There were bigger demons lingering in the quiet confines of her apartment than she'd realized, and she was all-too eager to escape them. It was quite the journey from the city, especially with two babies on foot, for only being on the outer reaches of Quel'thalas. By the time that the four of them had arrived, Pamina was almost too tired to eat the meal Raziah had prepared for them. She muscled through, however. Something told her that there were people back home who would not appreciate her not eating. Besides, turning down Raziah's cooking was a sort of sin. Being an excellent chef was one of the few traits she and Riaevis shared.

The moment that she had the twins settled in for the night, Pamina collpased into the cot and was barely awake long enough to watch the fire in the fireplace burn itself out.

And that was when it started.

[arcane-fire]

[12.]And I realize, I've lost my mind.

[arcane-fire]

[7.]I wish you were here, don't you know the snow is getting colder and I miss you like hell?

[arcane-fire]

[6.]I'm falling apart again, I can't find a way to make amends.