Closed to keep on.

[Caelum]

Timestamp: 9 Summer 515 AV The colored tents of the Zhongjie Bazaar were illuminate in the morning light. It was nearing on noon and people of all colors and sizes milled through the market and created paths of egress to and from it, winding up and down the cliff roads to the other tiers of the city. A breeze off the bay carried the scent of salt and worked to alleviate the heat so that even the most dense clusters of peoples were not too stifling. Merchants displayed their wares and patrons bartered and bargained. The Kavran, both on and off duty, were prominently in attendance and a number of foreign sailors and travelers shopped and explored, having wandered their way up to the second tier from the port. It was exactly the kind of bustling and congested scene that Caelum tended to avoid. The presence of too many people could be thoroughly overwhelming to the ethaefal and the press of such a crowd could be literal agony as it rattled the divine chains of his ranuri gnosis and set them sometimes in opposition to the requirements of Rak'keli's favor. However a neighbor to Alements had told him about a particular clothier who was returned to the bazaar and who always had a variety of every day children's clothes. Rosela re Ahnatep had his business without question when it came to the finer articles, but today Caelum really just needed some sturdy, basic items to refurbish his wild daughter's wardrobe for the summer. The stall was set up on eastern edge of the bazaar. It was fortunate positioning to the cultivated copse of trees that splayed sun dappled shadows over the ground. Some of these stray bits of light caught in the ivory and pale gold sweep of the ethaefal’s horns as he crouched to the side of the stall, looking a tiny konti toddler in the eye. He was holding up a serviceable tunic, one made of cotton and dyed the color of the summer skies. His eyebrows were raised with an amusing dramatization of patience as Lillian rocked slowly forth and back again on her heels. “I dunno,” she announced finally. “Seriously.” Caelum lowered his eyebrows, the line of his mouth flattening in an effort to maintain his sober expression. Sitting placidly beside him was a large, black hound, tongue hanging out of his mouth while a smaller puppy with too big paws gamboled around him. The konti was clearly well acquainted with the animals because she was not caught in raptures over their novelty. “I don’t want to wear clothes no more,” Lillian decided after a moment. “No clothes? None at all?” Caelum paused. “Ever?” Solemnly, she shook her head. The stall vendor was gazing at this amusedly but was shortly drawn away to another customer.

[Ayatah]

"It's very pretty here, isn't it Aya?"

"Yes, it is." The fact couldn't be denied. The tents, the breeze, the people of all different hues. Ayatah had learned that Riverfall was a feast for all senses, but particularly for the eyes. It was a beautiful city. She still felt herself fall a little breathless at some of the sights.

And with each passing day, she was feeling increasingly comfortable walking through Riverfalls streets. The Myrian no longer felt that she was being stared at or chastised for her jungle-blood heritage. In fact, she was slowly realising that the paranoia she had felt the previous season had been exactly that: paranoia. All in her head.

Kuame too, had started to report a growing group of friends. He returned home from school each day excited to tell Ayatah about the games he had played, or what words in Tukant he had learnt. His happiness had made all the travelling, all the difficulties Aya that had personally suffered, utterly worth it.

"Remember to keep close, Kuame." She murmured gently, and the young lad instantly raised his small hand to slot it into hers. Having come from an orphanage, Kuame knew very well what it was like to be a lost boy. He did not want to fall into that category again. "Now, do you remember what we need to buy?" She glanced down to the boy with an encouraging smile. This was one of many games they played together to build on Kuame's intellectual skills. She tested his memory, his spelling, his reading, his mathematics, his history... Just about anything that she could wrangle into some kind of game.

Kuame pouted his lips and scratched his left ear with his free hand. A scowl overtook his young face; a sign of intense, painful concentration. "Trousers. Socks. And..." He scrunched his face even tighter, earning a surprised look from a passing woman, "shoes!"

"Well done." Ayatah praised, squeezing her son's hand and grinning down to him. He was such a clever boy, and she was so proud of his progress. Her dark eyes slid back up to the throng of people before them, and with a gentle tug the half-breed led Kuame further down the bazaar. "Though at this rate, we'll be lucky if we get even the socks."

Finally, thankfully, the pair broke through a particularly slow-walking group of shoppers. They came to a stall that appeared to sell a variety of clothes. Hopefully nothing too expensive; at the rate Kuame was growing, he would be too big for these clothes by the turn of the season.

After dipping her head in a silent greeting to the vendor, Ayatah gestured to her son and explained their requirements.

Kuame, however, was suddenly less interested in fashion. He seemed distracted by another pair of shoppers who stood at the other side of the stall. After wriggling his hand out of Ayatah's, he approached the pale-skinned little girl and loudly declared, "I don't want to wear clothes, either!" He turned valiantly to the girl's supervisor, readying himself to defend his blonde peer's right to nakedness as passionately as any politcal activist, but he instantly seemed distracted by something on the adult's head. Eyes wide, mouth agape, the boy declared: "Aya This man has horns! Like a goat!"

At the other side of the stall, Ayatah groaned loudly and rubbed a very exhausted hand over her face.

[Caelum]

Little Lillian Sunwalker burst into giggles. They scattered and popped like bubbles in the ocean before she clapped a webbed hand over her mouth in an effort to contain them. Still her shoulders shook and blue eyes glittered as she looked up at the larger boy who had come so bravely to her defense. "See, Daddy?" She said, hands flying outward in an expressive display of grasslands signs. The language that came out of her mouth, however, was Common. "He doesn't want to either and if he doesn't want to and I don't want to then that's twice as many as you who wants us to. Right?" Certain her logic was irrefutable, Lillian settled back on her heels and folded her arms in anticipation of triumph. "Ma-jority." "Too bad this is a dictatorship, love," Caelum sighed. It was a gentle expression that sharpened when turned upon the dark skinned Kuame. Curiosity colored his face as he studied the boy and humor lightened some of the worst shadows trapped within it. "Baaaaaa," he deadpanned. Lillian squeaked with fresh laughter. "Daaaad, stoppit. Stoppit." She whirled on Kuame, smile huge. "He's not a goat. Honest! He's my daddy." Even if daddy was not quite a scientific term for any race -- beast, man, or otherwise -- it was still the most important term to the toddler and as such the only one that actually mattered. The tunic was folded between long fingered hands as Caelum unraveled back to his feet. Golden hair was closer to the color of embers this season, bloodied by heart ache. The clothes he wore were plain but well made, study and of good quality. A short sleeved, black tunic over a pair of riding leathers in the same color and split soled boots more suited to the Drykas world than Riverfall's sea cliffs and grottos. Among the Akalak, his height was not so imposing, though the nobility of his bones and the otherworldliness of his celestial form never stopped drawing attention. Fortunately, most of the city's residents were long familiar with him by now and did not stare as strangers often did. "I could be a goat," he posited, voice low and accent heavy. "I could have been one all this time." "You are not." Lillian huffed. "You're sure?" The corners of his mouth twitched and he blinked soberly at Kuame. Lillian cast her eyes to sky as if in search of divine intervention. "Yes." She turned her face towards Kuame. "He's teasing. He's not a goat. Promise."

[Ayatah]

Kuame seemed overjoyed to be the little girl's saviour, like all those brave knights he'd read about in books. He would save her from this Goat-man who claimed to be her father, and then the two of them would never have to wear clothes again. Or eat vegetables, for that matter. Arms folded, chest puffed outwards, the boy tried to look as brave and valiant as possible in the face of his horned villain. Authors would surely write stories about him after this great battle: Kuame, the bravest of them all, fought a goat-man who was ten feet tall!

It had a nice ring to it.

Unfortunately, this particular brave knight had an unexpected enemy in the midst. Ayatah, the Savage Scholar of the Jungle, was watching the scene unfold with an expression that was a mixture of embarrassment and amusement. Two seasons ago, Kuame would never have left her side for fear of being lost or kidnapped. Yet now he was declaring his right to nakedness in front of complete strangers. She ought to be proud, she thought.

The Myrian regarded the little girl who her son had decided to save, as well as the man who he was apparently protecting her from. Her dark eyes settled on the latter. The male was clearly familiar with children, and it seemed to come naturally to him to play along with their games and jokes. That, combined with the otherworldly beauty of an Ethaefal, made him incredibly attractive to her. After all, how many men were there in the city that were handsome and good with children? She found herself pulled towards him in some inexplicable manner.

Forgetting her usual coolness with strangers, Ayatah decided to finally intervene the great battle scene brewing before her. "I'm sorry," she started, her lips curling into a smirk as she glanced from the grown male to the two children at their feet. "Kuame, you shouldn't really introduce yourself to people by declaring your desire to be naked."

The young boy pouted in response, brow furrowed into a deep scowl. Nobody told Knight Kuame what to do or say!

Ayatah continued smoothly, shifting her attention back to the grown male again, "My apologies for him calling you a goat as well. I'll... talk to him about that. You certainly don't look like a goat to me." She paused minutely, quite surprised at the sultriness of her last sentence. Her cheeks flushed pinkly. There must be something in the water here, she concluded silently before extending her hand and offering her name at last, "Ayatah of the Scattered Bones. And this delightful child is my son, Kuame."

"Aya is a Myrian, from the jungle!" Kuame declared delightedly, all previous irritability apparently forgotten about. And then he frowned, pursed his lips and turned quickly to his blonde companion, "she doesn't eat children though, I promise. Not unless you don't eat your vegetables." He assured, apparently quite concerned that the Konti child and her father might assume his mother.

[Caelum]

"Don't worry about it," Caelum responded to the young woman's apology. "He's only trying to make a new friend, and what better way to do that than common cause?" Even if the cause in question happened to involve nudity and unnecessary protection of his daughter. Caelum was pleased to sift through the cotton soft layers of the boy's desires, relishing them for their simplicity. A moment was taken to focus, breath drawn deep into his lungs, and he snapped his mind sharply in two. It was done so that he could place the desires that the divine magic of Rak'kali was whispering to him in their own corner, sorting and processing them in a manner that was by now automatic while the rest of him focused on what was in front of him -- namely the lovely Myrian. "It's a great pleasure to meet you, Ayatah," he admitted while accepting her hand for a warm, courteous shake. It was done in the manner of sailors and accompanied by an abbreviated bow of his head. When he looked up, a close lipped smile crawled across his face. It destroyed the sober expression he had maintained while interacting with the children but it did not quite manage to dispel the darkness that clutched at him through the afternoon light. They were not, after all, thrown by any sun. "I'm Caelum," he went on to say, and he made his study of the Myrian. Curiosity crept into his face and he released her hand before the slow pulse of Ayatah's desires drove too deeply through the dividing wall of his mind. "And the wannabe nudist here is my daughter Lillian." "Hi!" Lillian offered brightly, blue eyes beaming up at Ayatah with ample interest before she looked back at Kuame. "Does she often eat people?" She asked, innocently wondering and having not the faintest idea why such a statement would otherwise have been made. "How are her table manners? Daddy says I have to work on mine." For a long moment, Caelum's smile deepened between the children's chatter and the simple compliment of Ayatah's appreciation. He lifted a hand to absently brush back against the curve of a horn and something sardonic edged his words. "Kuame isn't the first child to call me a goat. I'm sure he won't be the last either." Feeling a series of tugs, he looked down to see Lillian trying to pull the sky colored tunic from his hand. He offered it to her and then traded a look with Ayatah. "I'm trying to find her some everyday clothes to replace the ones she's worn out or out grown. She's of the opinion that her skin and scales will grow with her so are all she needs." He paused. "Are you new to Riverfall? I haven't seen you around before."

[Ayatah]

Ayatah allowed a smile to flutter across her face at the male's words. He had accepted Kuame's political activism in his stride, without even a trace of embarrassment or annoyance. The Myrian admired this about the man, in a way only a mother could. Even as a parent, she sometimes found other children frustrating and boring - a terrible thing to admit even to her self, let alone someone else

His introduction was well mannered, all very clean and polite. "A pleasure to meet you, Caelum." She replied, voice light and airy, but weighted with a strong Myrian accent. Her attention then turned to the young girl, taking note of the pale skin, light hair. She was quite the opposite to Kuame, with his dark complexion and broad shoulders. "Hello, Lillian." She offered the child a wide smile and spoke in a soft voice, the one she used whenever she interacted with her son's peers.

Kuame glanced from his mother to Lillian before shaking his head in response to the girl's question. "No, not unless someone's been very mean or naughty." He said, face stern with sincerity. Even with his active imagination, it was beyond the realms of Kaume's reality for his mother to lie to him. Her word was gospel, as far as he was concerned. He frowned up at Ayatah with a critical eye, evaluating closely her for some award or punishment. "Her table manners are okay." He said carefully, after much consideration, "but her cooking isn't very good. She burns everything."

Ayatah chuckled, though again her cheeks pinked with mild embarrassment yet again at the brutal honesty of her son's words. Though it was true of course, and she was far from a great chef. Her dark eyes slid from Kuame to Caelum in an indicative sort of way, silently giving the young lad some order. He frowned minutely, glanced to Caelum and then back to Ayatah, finally nodding. "I'm sorry I called you a goat." He muttered to Caelum, humiliated at having to apologise in front of Lillian. Kuame the Brave had turned into Kuame the Scolded. "You're not a goat. You're a nice man." He added, just in case Caelum needed this confirmation.

With that, the young the lad turned to Lillian, dismissing the presence of the adults and instead moving onto matters of far greater import: "Do you like cakes? Aya and I went to a place the other day that had really really really nice cakes."

The Myrian allowed her son to indulge in his childish chatter. She never usually had the opportunity to see him socialise with his peers, and like any mother, she fretted that he had few friends. But as she watched Kuame and Lillian gossip away together, Ayatah realised just how much her son's confidence had swelled since their move to Riverfall. "Oh, tell me about it." Ayatah said to Caelum, smiling as she fully understood the demands of a growing child. "I never realised how quickly children grew until I had to start to buy Kuame's clothes." Aya glanced briefly over to her son. She was sure he had grown an inch or two since yesterday. "And yes, we are. We moved here last season, from Zeltiva." Her dark eyes met Caelum's and she gestured swiftly to the busy street they stood on, "have you been in Riverfall for long?"