**Set immediately after the Feast of Bells**
Tal heaved a sigh of relief as they slipped inside the warmth of their home. A single lantern burned downstairs to guide them, but with his Goggles he didn't need it. He offered it to Alys with a tired, crooked smile and Boreal crooned softly and pressed against the Seer's leg. "Well, 'least I won't have t'eat for a few days now. An'... thanks for comin' with me. It helped a lot, havin' you there. I know... I know it wasn't easy." Between Sascha's death and Alys's new magic he knew it made crowds a lot more difficult to endure. Tal had never cared for large gatherings, and with a lot less of a good reason. Still, it had been good to see so many of their friends - alive - and he hoped he'd been able to give Zavien... something. Maybe not good advice, but at least reassurance that he wasn't dealing with things alone.
"I'll get things locked up down here if y'want to head up first?" he offered, already starting to move around the bottom floor, making sure the shutters were all closed and barred against the night and stirring the ashes in the hearths to break apart any lumps of coal that might start smoldering again.
He took his time, making sure to do it right with the methodical precision that he brought to his work. Every opening to the house on the ground floor was checked and double-checked and all sparks extinguished before he headed upstairs to join his partner and companion. He pulled his Goggles down to hang around his neck and allowed himself a big stretch after hanging his coat on the peg by the stairs. "Alys?" he called into their home. "How're y'feelin'?"
Tal heaved a sigh of relief as they slipped inside the warmth of their home. A single lantern burned downstairs to guide them, but with his Goggles he didn't need it. He offered it to Alys with a tired, crooked smile and Boreal crooned softly and pressed against the Seer's leg. "Well, 'least I won't have t'eat for a few days now. An'... thanks for comin' with me. It helped a lot, havin' you there. I know... I know it wasn't easy." Between Sascha's death and Alys's new magic he knew it made crowds a lot more difficult to endure. Tal had never cared for large gatherings, and with a lot less of a good reason. Still, it had been good to see so many of their friends - alive - and he hoped he'd been able to give Zavien... something. Maybe not good advice, but at least reassurance that he wasn't dealing with things alone.
"I'll get things locked up down here if y'want to head up first?" he offered, already starting to move around the bottom floor, making sure the shutters were all closed and barred against the night and stirring the ashes in the hearths to break apart any lumps of coal that might start smoldering again.
He took his time, making sure to do it right with the methodical precision that he brought to his work. Every opening to the house on the ground floor was checked and double-checked and all sparks extinguished before he headed upstairs to join his partner and companion. He pulled his Goggles down to hang around his neck and allowed himself a big stretch after hanging his coat on the peg by the stairs. "Alys?" he called into their home. "How're y'feelin'?"
