Blithe and confident, Jiao brushed off his warning and Jigano didn't know enough about the Fae to be able to see whether her lack of concern was justified or not. Bowing to her greater expertise on her own abilities - literally, making a half-bow to her laughter - he instead raised Isuma for controlled pets, suspecting Jiao would not appreciate little prickling talons plucking at the threads of her garments if Isuma tried to hop up to her shoulder. "She thanks you for your kind words," he said with a laugh as the gryphlet bumped her head up into the petting, beginning to pur at the scratches Jiao delivered.
"No, not like married," Jigano chuckled. "There's nothing romantic about it. It's a different sort of bond entirely... like there was a piece of myself I didn't even know was missing until Isuma came along and filled it." He smiled at the shameless gryphlet, whose wings were flexing in contentment as Jiao found a particularly itchy spot. "I know what she's feeling, and she knows mine. Do the Fae not bond to anything?" he asked curiously, realizing that he had been assuming that they could, but without any real evidence or reason to, aside from their superficial similarities to human appearances.
"It is my honor and pleasure to meet you, Jiao," he said formally, offering her a nod of respect as she joined him nearby. Her question was met with a smile. "I lived in a northern land, called Numeria," he said, beginning his tale again, this time for a new audience. "It was cooler there than here, with rolling plains, tundra, and thick forests. The life was more like the Greatwood - healthy and green - than the tired land within the barrier. And there were many, many different races who lived there, and worked together, and sometimes fought each other. Humans and elves, orcs and dwarves, kitsune and tengu, and the elemental races, too." He smiled at his Fae companion as he recaptured a gryphlet who was determined to go curl up in Jiao's lap and distracted her by tickling her hind paws.
"What about your world?" he asked curiously. "I've read the human histories, but I've not heard the Fae side of things. How would you describe your home to a distant traveler?"
"No, not like married," Jigano chuckled. "There's nothing romantic about it. It's a different sort of bond entirely... like there was a piece of myself I didn't even know was missing until Isuma came along and filled it." He smiled at the shameless gryphlet, whose wings were flexing in contentment as Jiao found a particularly itchy spot. "I know what she's feeling, and she knows mine. Do the Fae not bond to anything?" he asked curiously, realizing that he had been assuming that they could, but without any real evidence or reason to, aside from their superficial similarities to human appearances.
"It is my honor and pleasure to meet you, Jiao," he said formally, offering her a nod of respect as she joined him nearby. Her question was met with a smile. "I lived in a northern land, called Numeria," he said, beginning his tale again, this time for a new audience. "It was cooler there than here, with rolling plains, tundra, and thick forests. The life was more like the Greatwood - healthy and green - than the tired land within the barrier. And there were many, many different races who lived there, and worked together, and sometimes fought each other. Humans and elves, orcs and dwarves, kitsune and tengu, and the elemental races, too." He smiled at his Fae companion as he recaptured a gryphlet who was determined to go curl up in Jiao's lap and distracted her by tickling her hind paws.
"What about your world?" he asked curiously. "I've read the human histories, but I've not heard the Fae side of things. How would you describe your home to a distant traveler?"
