no stone unturned

HARPER

So trusting beneath her touch, Harper thinks nothing of it until the smirk on her lips parts to deliver a rather bold response. Heat flushes to his face and he groans slightly, embarrassed by his own obsessive training schedule. Laughing softly he drops his head onto her shoulder as if to hide away. "I swear I do more than that, just...not much," he chuckles. "Being jobless is hard." Harper does very badly with having nothing to do, and this is probably the best shape he has been in in quite a while.

Her shrug lifts his head once more, and he can't help the frown that pulls at his lips at the last bit. "That's awful," he says quietly. "I'm sorry, Kiada. A man should always remain faithful to his beloved, and his children if that fails. But you've grown into a wonderful woman despite his faults." Here he gently reaches a hand to bump underneath her chin, hoping to erase the tension lingering at her jaw. "Was your brother ever found?" he asks as he slides down to mimic her pose yet again.

this is your ocean, an ocean of night

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

i want to be a mystery, yet be known

i want to be together, yet alone

His whining and chuckle have her snorting as his head drops to her shoulder. She smiles lightly to that, shaking her head briefly as he mentions being jobless. “You know, you are talking to a monster hunter.” Regardless of the fact whether or not she’s done much of it as of late is debatable, but it was still a guild she ran – a guild looking for participants. “If you want a job… I might know someone.” She winks as she pulls away.

But the amusement fades with the comment of her father, and something about it grows incredibly uncomfortable as she airs it. “Thanks.” She says quietly, though she doesn’t feel it – instinctively her hand lifts to rub against the large scar to her neck before tangling into her hair and resting along the surface of the blankets. But his hand is there, bumping against her jaw and it causes her to immediately release the tension, icy gaze flickering to him as she turns to face him. “He was, and then the world was destroyed. I don’t know what happened to him after that.” She props her head up on her hand with a quiet sigh.

is it too much to ask to be famous yet unknown?

to be a wanderer, yet have a home?

KIADA

HARPER

Harper kind of had forgotten honestly, but the offer makes his eyes brighten nonetheless. "I'm not sure how much use an Accepted will be at hunting monsters, but count me in." Because why the heck not? He already enjoys her company, which is motivation enough to join. Getting to help protect people again? Something he's been doing for most of his adult life? That's just the final nail.

Her tension is unmistakable, but the way she relaxes minutely at his touch helps soothe the ache of his heart at seeing her so distressed by memories. Things he can't protect her from, and he knows that well. "If he's anything like you, I'm sure he's kicking ass somewhere." He gives her a small smile, sincere but with nothing fancy or teasing to it. It's a pathetic consolation, and he knows it, but it's the best he can do. "Tell me about the rest of your family. Did you have a best friend? What did you do for fun back then?"

this is your ocean, an ocean of night

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

i want to be a mystery, yet be known

i want to be together, yet alone

“Anything helps.” She replies easily, knowingly. Because she wasn’t quite strong enough on her own either, but combined they’d all be able to make a fairly decent attempt at being something more. But she notes it for later, to add him to the ranks and any information they might need to gather and garner, shifting from those thoughts to the tension that writes within her.

But his question is met with some confusion, trying to figure out who her friends were, what her family was like. “I…” She trails off with some uncertainty, lips pursing a small amount in a quiet frown as she tries to recall it. “I had a companion. A bearded vulture named Khairi.” She announces easily. “I spent most of the time when I was younger recruiting for the Basin. That’s how Deimos noticed me.” She offers, tilting her head toward him with a small shrug.

is it too much to ask to be famous yet unknown?

to be a wanderer, yet have a home?

KIADA

HARPER

"Can't you shift into a vulture?" He recalls the feathers that had dotted her neck, dark and beautiful as she'd flushed beneath his compliments at their first meeting. It's interesting that she can, and Harper can't help but wonder if perhaps Khairi's importance and ties to Kiada's soul had somehow transferred over and held on despite the loss of her companion between worlds. "Recruiting? That sounds...intense. What did that involve?" Far too human and modern to understand recruiting in terms of soldiers and conscription.

this is your ocean, an ocean of night

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

i want to be a mystery, yet be known

i want to be together, yet alone

“Yes.” She replies easily, a small shrug granted to him. “He didn’t come to Caido with me. I think they mixed us together when I landed. I look exactly like him.” The white and black feathers, the scarlet eyes. She basically turned into her companion whenever she shifted and that was something else entirely. But the mention of recruiting has her offering him an almost Cheshire smile in response. “It was easy, really. You just show up and ask them if they want to come back to your home and then Khairi and I would take them there and they’d see if they want to join.” She shrugs again. “It was easy as a kid because they thought I was lost all the time and wanted to return me home.”

is it too much to ask to be famous yet unknown?

to be a wanderer, yet have a home?

KIADA

HARPER

"That's kind of nice," he says softly, not wanting to diminish the loss of her companion at all. "He's always a part of you that way. Your souls must have been very intertwined." Or at least he assumes so with his own outlook on such things. His soul has never been tied to another's before to say the least. "What is it like to be tied to Auni? How did you find him?" Wondering what it would be like to have that kind of connection, one that can only be broken by death. It appeals to his tired heart.

He chuckles at her deviousness, at the simplistic but effective approach she had utilized. "Very slick of you, though I'm not sure how I would feel about my daughter wandering off to bring strangers home so young." That already makes his stomach twist at the mere idea.

this is your ocean, an ocean of night

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

i want to be a mystery, yet be known

i want to be together, yet alone

“They were.” She agrees quietly, shifting a small amount to focus on Harper the best she can while she considers the vulture form – how she thinks she’s merged with him, stole some part of him to add to her impulse control and what little of it she has left. Instead, she focuses on the question at hand of the little Luxere laying in the corner. “He’s different. Gentler, calmer.” She inhales a sharp breath before running a hand through her dark hair before the hand flops on the bed.

“I got him the Longnight before last. There was something wrong with the Luxere herd we had protecting us and I went out with a few others. There was… A monster in him, exploded out and killed someone before he was left weak and small. I brought him back and he bonded to me.” She murmurs quietly, shaking her head and focusing on him again.

As he tells her that he’s not sure how he would have felt about his daughter wandering off, and she snorts lightly – a quiet snicker of a giggle leaving her throat. “Most of the time they didn’t know.”

is it too much to ask to be famous yet unknown?

to be a wanderer, yet have a home?

KIADA

HARPER

There is no condolence he can offer her in that moment that will ease the sting of that broken bond, so instead he merely shuffles closer and gives her his presence and undivided attention. It is all he can really do, all he has been doing for most of the night with how little he can do to help ease the pain of her past. His own gaze drifts to Auni where he is lying on his bed in the corner, curious in more ways than one about the adorable Luxere. Though the creature's origins are darker than he anticipated, and the mention of a lost life only brings a wave of regret down upon him for having asked.

"He is lucky to have you then," he murmurs quietly in the aftermath of her retelling. "Sometimes I think it would be...nice. To have a bond like that, like the one you share with Auni or Phoebe shares with Pim." There is an old, aching loneliness that he doesn't bother to hide as he speaks the words. So used to being abandoned or left behind, to being alone when all he has ever wanted was the comfort of loved ones remaining close. "Can you communicate with him? I know so little about how it works." And that, at least, will hopefully be a lighter topic than Auni's origins.

this is your ocean, an ocean of night

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

i want to be a mystery, yet be known

i want to be together, yet alone

She doesn’t mind that he’s asked – it’s an interesting idea after all. Especially for someone that hasn’t experienced something like this before. It’s different than in Helovia, that’s for sure. She can’t speak with him directly, not like she could have with Khairi – simple conversations carried between companion and person – this is more closer to pictures and emotions, but still communication nonetheless.

“It is nice.” She says softly, moving to sit up a small amount and encroach on his space to tell him that she doesn’t mind that he’s asked so much, a small softer smile crossing her face to that and the next question. “I can, yes.” She begins easily, a small shrug of her shoulders to that. “It’s mostly pictures and emotions, and the further away we are from one another the harder it gets. But I can tell when he likes someone, when he gets excited… He likes to take things though. The shinier and more interesting the better.” A quiet laugh leaves her throat. “She stole Deimos’ bag once. Filled it with sticks and rocks he thought were unique.”

is it too much to ask to be famous yet unknown?

to be a wanderer, yet have a home?

KIADA

HARPER

Her warmth and closeness is appreciated, and as a very tactile person it translates her openness in a way that eases the anxiety away from his breast. It's not common to feel that way around her in the first place, and she sets him to rights with the simplest of motions.

Admittedly he hangs on her every descriptive word like a child learning of fairytales for the first time. Trusting wholeheartedly in her personal account of the bond between them, and chuckling to himself at the admittance of Auni's kleptomaniac tendencies. "At least Deimos wouldn't be the type to hold it against you," he points out, amusement clear on his face. "I don't think I'll have the luck to save something like you have, but it sounds...nice. Definitely less lonely." His old life hadn't allowed for pets with how often he was away from home, and returning beaten and bloodied to an empty apartment had been harder and harder each time. "I'll have to collect some shiny things for him to win his favor."

this is your ocean, an ocean of night

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

i want to be a mystery, yet be known

i want to be together, yet alone

“He doesn’t.” She chimes easily at the fact that Deimos wouldn’t hold it against her for such things. They were family, after all. She’s not even sure what the worst, most unforgivable thing she could do would be. She hasn’t thought about it, hasn’t wanted to. So when Harper continues to speak about pets and companions and the like, she reaches up to brush a hand through his hair with a small playful smile on her face.

“You’re accepted, right? I wouldn’t be surprised if you went and simply asked if you could find something that fills that void?” A tilt of her head curiously before she shrugs. At the mention of collecting shiny things for Auni to gain his favor, she snorts, nose wrinkling a small amount before she shakes her head. “Oh, he already likes you. Don’t worry about that.”

is it too much to ask to be famous yet unknown?

to be a wanderer, yet have a home?

KIADA

HARPER

Her touch is gentle and affectionate, and his smile in return is shy and endearing. He cares for this woman so very much, and there is still so much to learn about her. So much he wants to know, or better yet to see for himself.

"I'm not sure I'd have to confidence to ask Safrin for something so silly. Asking a God for a pet seems a little out of bounds, but I'm still learning how to interact with her at all." It seems so presumptuous and self-centered, no matter how deeply he longs for companionship. Though he grins widely at the admission that Auni already favors him. "Exactly, and I need to give him daily offerings to cement my place as the eternal true favorite."

this is your ocean, an ocean of night

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

i want to be a mystery, yet be known

i want to be together, yet alone

She understands the anxiety it might bring, to ask a god for something that seems so small. But the smile she offers him is encouraging nonetheless. “They’re soul bound, you know. They’re there, they can feel what you feel. You share it all. I think that’s more than just any old and normal pet.” A small shrug, as if it made all the difference when it came to speaking to the gods. “Though for Safrin? I have only met her with my family around… Ludo is the one I favor, typically.” She purses her lips thoughtfully. “Though I suppose asking for a companion might sound a lot better than showing up and asking to speak to a dead boyfriend.” She smiles to that, without any sorrow – because the idea of having the audacity to do it was perhaps far more of a selfish reason than a companion anyway.

His wide grin at Auni’s favor does grant a quiet snicker to leave her. “Please don’t make him fat.” She whines, flopping back onto her back and covering her eyes as if she can’t imagine it. “He already likes to steal snacks at the bakery when I’m working.”

is it too much to ask to be famous yet unknown?

to be a wanderer, yet have a home?

KIADA