Elijah has not had the best of weeks. Or months, really. But he is determined to see the silver lining in all that has occurred. So he arrives at the Windgrace house with a light step though he is certainly far more grounded than he has ever been – no wings to lift his weight. In fact, there is a mechanical thing sticking out of his back, it swirls with iridescent colors, much as his dust and wings had, but the magic does not go far from it. He has taken a vest and shirt and sliced a hole within them in an attempt to make room for it and for now, the pixie has not bothered to try and glamor it. Amazing what people just accept- or explain away themselves. The shadows are moving over him actively. Wisps of darkness coil about his mouth and run up into his hair. This too he does little to hide, though in one hand he holds a clove, rolled and smoked, though currently unlit. A stack of books is held under his arm. He is coming to the Windgrace estate to return them, select some more, and to see if the eldest is home. His knock is light, slightly hesitant. But it gets firm enough for the servants to hear.
Drystan had been rummaging in the kitchen, even though it was past dinner, and he was certainly full, the leftover dumplings wouldn't make it to see the next day if he had anything to do with it. With one of them pouched in the side of his cheek and another in his hand held between claws, he was making his way back around to head upstairs. He had been well today, not quite as off the rocker as he had been, which he attributed to the time he’d spent with his sister. So a mostly stable him heard the knock and was opening the door with the lift of his chin before any of the staff could have made it there. Drystan smiled with his mouth full, trying to keep his lips closed. He didn’t notice the lack of wings right away, but he could sense the general feeling of the young man. Always cautious, but a bit more of the darkness was with him, besides that which seeped from his being. “Well, hello gorgeous! Come inside!” He mumbled through his quick chewing and waved him forward with his free hand.
The doors part and an unexpected sight greets the Pixie. One he is quite happy, is somewhat nervous to see. There is a little surge of hope within him that he tempers down lest it run away with him. Offering up a shy smile in greeting, the pixie steps into the home but pauses when he registers Drystan’s greeting. There is a blush – it darkens his cheeks then spills down his neck toward the void in his chest barely hidden by the V of his shirt. His head dips and he eyes the ground then glances up as he slips the remnants of the clove behind an ear. Then, lo, the pix actually speaks. “Hello Drystan.” His voice is soft and holds a bit of a lilt to it. “I-I am glad you are home.” Eyes sink down again, head tilting so that his hair falls in front and it would be a good bet to say that he is staring down at the man’s feet.
Drystan blinks at him, as he’s stopped there in the foyer, and ticks his head to the side. “Isn’t that marvelous… your voice.” He shakes his head a bit and steps to the side to allow him to come in more fully. “I am glad that you’re here Eli. Listen - I’m sorry about all that mess on the Aethernet last week? I was doing what Lady Esher was too meek to do, and she did ask if I would see if I could locate you. It was never supposed to get out of hand.” He explained with the other dumpling. He let the book float from his hand over to the table where it stayed hovering. “Please make yourself comfortable…would you like a drink? I’m afraid we just ran out of dumplings. I do think we might have some sugared fruits left..”
As the pix has spoken, more wisps of shadow have escaped from his mouth. Certainly not the copious amount that had spilled forth from him when he has sung, or even when he had but uttered a word. The energy needed to derive the welling of darkness is not so readily available. Upon his back, there is a soft whirling sound. The magic spirals within the device and illuminates the door behind him. Glancing up again, Eli lifts his hands in a staying motion. “It is.. quite alright. If things had not gone the way they had, then I may not have ever returned to the Esher house. Or here.” He pauses, brow furrowing slightly. “I suppose the professor has a use for me.” Because he surely had no empathy for the pixie. A shake of his head follows and his hand lifts to rub at the back of his neck, “I have only just established a truce of sorts. I do not want to lose it.. no matter what has occurred.” The loss of the dumplings is less of a letdown to Eli’s mood then the possibility of sugared fruit is a lift. His features alight with a sort of joy and he murmurs quietly, “We ran out of sugar a while back. I may have used it all baking cookies.”
Curious, Drystan stepped towards Eli, and placed his now dumpling free hand on his shoulder, and simply turned him enough to see the gadget in his back, and his poor clothes. “Eli… What…Where are your wings?” His brows knitted together as he further examined the tech, seeing the glow of the Aether under mesh layers. “Tell me what has happened with you friend, and come inside. Go sit in the living room, and relax. I will fetch you what I can from the kitchen and larder. We have more than a few ways of hiding things in this house, one is being fucking taller than the other two or any of the staff. Tops of cabinets are lovely places to stash things.” He guided Eli by the shoulder towards the living room, hand on his shoulder, clasped there reassuringly. “A truce? With whom? I’m dreadfully curious and I know my sister would be terribly upset if I didn't get every last detail. She has retired for the evening already.” He waved a hand towards the ceiling, and then moved to take the stack of books from him. “These hers? She’ll get them in the morning, I’ll make sure of it.” All the way to the seating in the living room they’d go, and Drystan would have the books out of Eli’s hands and on the coffee table, where Di would find them. He let him pick his seat, and then wandered off into the darkened kitchen. When he came back he held a few things in his hands, and took a seat and piled them all in his lap.
Widened eyes lift up toward Drystan’s face as his hand settles on Eli’s wiry shoulder. When he registers what the man is looking at, he turns and offers an easy view of the device that has been crafted into his spine, into the very muscles that had moved his wings before. Most of that is hidden though, only a sliver of pale flesh seen through the butchered attempt at modifying his clothing. He twitters softly and tilts his face away, unable to look at the man as he observes Eli’s loss. He gently nibbles at his lip but does not immediately offer up an explanation. Instead, he heads for the living room as directed and settles down on the couch, lips tilting in a small smile as he hears that Drystan utilizes his height to hide things. Eli tends to hide in those places too, when he is small. That thought kills the smile. There is no way he can take on that form now. Not only would it be terribly unsafe with no wings – he also has the Aether device in his back. It would not shrink when he did. The thought of the repercussions of that pales him a little. The books are relinquished to Drystan’s care. The pix’s gaze follows them – he loves knowledge, and the books are a comfort as they represent that to him. “Thank you.” His voice is very quiet, but it seems that he is making use of it now, though Drystan might note that his fingers flip through the sign of thanks when he speaks. Habits die hard. “A truce.” He furrows his brow, trying to think of where to start. “Ah.. I came to this island to learn. To join the school and learn all about technomancy. This is the best place to come to learn it.” His pale lavender eyes unfocus and the darker ring of violet around them deepens. “But my brother and I.. we had nothing. Nowhere to stay, nothing to eat. We crashed in abandoned buildings and tried to find food. And a way to get me into the school.” He glances up toward Drystan as he heads into the kitchen then flushes. “This is relevant, I promise.”
Sat in the tall-backed leather chair he folds one leg over the other and is intent on everything he is saying, nodding along. “Please, go on, I believe you.” As he listened he felt in his lap and pulled some paper from off a box, wadding it up and tossing it into the fireplace. He opens the white box and peels the wax paper back and reveals a small assortment of sugar coated dried fruits - kiwi, pineapple, apricots, and figs. He passes the tray over to him after stealing a wedge of the pineapple to pop into his mouth and suck on while he listened. “The Academy is the best place, but it can be difficult for people to get in, especially without a sponsor or without having been headhunted. Only so much space to teach so many.” He shrugged.
“The academy was impossible to get into.” He admits softly, head bobbing in agreement though his gaze, oh that is caught on the fruit. As he is offered a piece he twitters softly and lifts a hand to curl against his chest, steeling himself from the temptation that he really can’t resist. He snags a bit of apricot and lifts it to his lips, nipping a bite of the sugared fruit and closing his eyes as the sweet taste explodes upon his tongue. The first wisp of pixie dust can be seen, gently swirling about him – but it is far less than Eli is known to produce. The soft whir of the machine on his back is heard again as his surge of energy is evened. The treat is fortifying. He holds onto the rest of it as he considers his next words. “I eat a lot of insects. I grew up in the woods.. grubs,, moths.. butterflies. These are all treats for me.” A glance is shifted up toward Drystan and he hesitates. “My brother found this .. atrium? It was a greenhouse attached to this castle in the clouds. Filled with all sorts of exotic plants. And butterflies.” The pixie nibbles his lip, uncertainty bringing his gaze to Drystan then back down to his lap. The bit of apricot is fingered. “He brought me there and we feasted. I used to love butterflies..” he trails off then shakes his head. “I ate far more than he. But that is the way he is.” Glancing back up, he presses his lips together, “They were rare butterflies. Magical I think. I ate them all and then passed out. When I woke up, I was in a cage.”
Drystan observes his gestures and mannerisms and slowly as the pixie speaks, he pushes out small waves of comfort, and belonging. Safety and respect. He unwrapped another item, in paper and aluminum foil and broke the bar in half, reaching over and handing it to Eli mid sentence, even if he wasn’t done with the rest, he was gifting him whatever he gave him, no matter. So dark chocolate is passed to him as he says what he already knows now. “The Dashrix Castle. I cannot imagine Thirteen putting you in a cage, but I can somehow easily picture her partner, Sato? Or Professor Dashrix himself.” He made a small bit of a face, nothing all that telling, but it was the pulling of his jaw tighter and a small tick of muscle under one eye that set him quiet again. Again the soft waves of emotion easily flowed between the pair, as his foot began to bob on his crossed leg as he chomped into some of the bar, using those double fangs to take a rather large chunk and chew it along with the pineapple already melted in his mouth.
The welling of comfort, the sense of belonging – it could not come at a better point in this tale. The chocolate that he is given is like a comfy blanket wrapping him up on a cold day. He actually chirrups his excitement and lifts both the apricot and the bit of chocolate up in a near hug to his chest. “Thank you!” There is a glitter of moisture in his eyes, bright eyes, but he blinks and allows his hair to obscure his features again. A nibble of the chocolate is taken and then another of the apricot. It is a lovely experience, the flavors mixing together beautifully. But then Drystan names the location and Eli freezes. He worries his lip a moment then murmurs, “13 was a balm. A light in the time that followed. It was .. a very long time. I am not entirely sure how long.” He glances up at Drystan, gaze a bit haunted. “He would drain me then heal me, drain me, then heal me. He broke me. Broke my ability to hold my Aether. To ..” a hand gestures with the chocolate, “Temper it.” Eli furrows his brow then glances down at the treats in his hand. He takes another nip of the chocolate, a bit of the apricot. Savoring every sliver. “Something happened to Sato. Professor Dashrix’s experiment was interrupted and whatever it was so urgent enough that he just left me. I was dying. He probably thought I would be dead when he got back. But my brother. He broke free, grabbed me, and threw us off the side of the island. I am pretty sure he flew us down. I don’t really remember a lot after that. It took months for me to be healed enough to actually fly about on my own.”
He was just about to unwrap the last item he had in his lap, when he stopped everything and his shoulders slumped. “Dashrix ..did that to you?” His eyes were full of concern, mainly because this is something that occurred before, and he and his family were entering into a very delicate position of partnering with these individuals. They needed them though. “Fucking disgusting. Over …butterflies?” He rolled his eyes wide and a small slip of the madness he’d been fighting off since Di got her eyes back leapt out of him and scurried about in his mind. He wasn’t looking at Eli but just past him while he spoke dissociated, “Smart man, big man, ..small man, big vision, bad blood, not his fault, he choses as we all do though, maybe after. After. Maybe after all is done and the world breaks I’ll see what he’s made of, on the inside. The red parts.” He blinked and refocused on Eli and stared for an odd period of time before breaking it by inhaling in deeply and just handing Eli the last item he held. A small jar of pectin, a sweet jelly of some sort, that was a hazy pink. The label didn’t give away much other than handwritten on the label, “Sweet balm, it will soothe your throat as well, you don’t need much.” Back to same ol’ Drystan.
The nod from the pixie isn’t needed, really, to confirm what Eli had said. Drystan knows. He can probably feel it. Perhaps senses the ghost of the terror the pixie had felt before for the man. Still does on some level. The hint of madness leaking out freezes Eli though. He watches with wide eyes, the bits of chocolate and candied fruit in his hands clutched close. He doesn’t have to worry about things melting in his grasp. The pix is always cool to the touch, It's an innate part of who and what he is. So the treats remain mostly in the shape they came to him as, aside from the nibbles he’d stolen. He glances down at his lap again then gently curls his hands into it. Another glance is shifted up as Drystan extends the jar toward him. He licks his fingers on one hand then reaches out to accept the jar. This? Is a treasure. Like honey, only different. He makes a softly pleased trilling sound. The simple things make this man happy. Sweets, belonging. Knowledge. He looks back up at the Windgrace and offers up a tremulous smile. “You are so kind to me.” The jar is held to his chest, almost hugged, and then the pix continues on. “We hid. I did some work for a few people. I even worked for Professor Dashrix and he had no idea who I was.” A gesture is given toward himself, “I was little. In the cage. I had no energy to do anything magical, let alone take on a larger form.” His fingers tap on the jar’s lip and then he is opening it. “I struggled. I haven't been well. I was dying still.. I couldn’t keep the Aether in me. Or I would produce too much and it wouldn’t settle back in me. I made too much dust.. the shadows were out of control. I was very, very sick.” He glances up, peering toward Drystan, “It was from the butterflies. Not the experiments. The butterflies messed me up.”
“Hm.” He made a noise in his throat and sat back into the chair and rubbed his shoulders against the leather. “Kindness isn’t hard when the one receiving it is deserving.” He folded his hands and set them in his lap, keeping up the empathic flow, despite the little mad moment. So used to it he was that abilities did not hiccup when the distraction in his mind pulled him from other things like conversation or eye contact. He thought for a long time. “I wish I had known, I don’t know that there would have been anything I could have done, but I do hope you know I would have tried, we…the family, would have tried anything. Minus putting you in a birdcage and abusing you.” He snuffed and added quietly, “..unless that was desired, of course. To each their own.” He waved his hand in front of him before returning it to his lap.
“I didn’t know.” Eli confides, trying to assure Drystan that he hadn’t purposely kept it from the family. “I thought.. I thought I was getting better. I had learned ..'' he gives the man an abashed look, “Corruption. I was siphoning energy from the world around me. Drawing it in to keep up with the flow out. But I wasn’t sick anymore. I could use some of my magic.. but the shadows. Those were ..” he focuses on a strain easing free of his mouth as it waves across his face then edges up into the inky blue black of his hair. “I wasn’t better. I was .. a blight and I didn’t know it.” There is an earnest expression on the pixie’s face here, he doesn’t want to be thought badly of for doing something he had not intended. He then flushes brightly as Drystan just briefly touches on the concept of being caged, because he asked for it. The Pix wets his lip then lowers his gaze back to the fruit and chocolate, both of which get a solid bite taken. He chews on this a moment before stating, “Sato found me. He ah.. kidnapped me.” The pix flushes with color again and he looks anywhere but at Drystan. “That lady on the net was right. I should have listened to her. He threw me back in a cage.” There is quiet for several minutes and then the pixie chirps softly. “Lex took my wings.” He glances back up toward Drystan. “I do not yet exactly understand why. But the dust.. I was constantly hemorrhaging dust. All the magic really. And I was draining everyone, everything around me. The professor installed this thing.” He gestures at his back, “It's like a battery. Stores excess energy and feeds it back into me when I am depleted.”
Drystan looked down at his hands and spoke softly, “We are corrupted by many things, and sometimes, we are unaware of how much we are taking from the world around us.” He spoke as if he knew. “My sister and I, …we are corrupted but we don’t use it, wield it. Not yet at least.” His eyes snapped up at Eli when he casually spoke the professor's name, and that he indeed had taken his wings. “But it seemed like you were quite willingly doing work for Dashrix, when you responded on the aethernet. Or perhaps work for yourself, learning from him? Is that a part of all of this? Just to teach you something and ‘fix’ you, ….inventive ways of doing such.” He rolled his neck and let out a sigh. “I can’t say I agree with the approach, but..you seem free enough right now. Do you return to a cage when you leave here? Just a larger one?” His eyebrow went up some.
Eli’s gaze goes a little distant and he curls his fingers about the jar tightly. He stares toward Drystan, but isn’t exactly focused on him. Listening, he nods at the man when he refers to being corrupted. When he speaks of power he doesn’t use, yet. Eli hadn’t realized he had called the professor by his first name so the sharp glance is not understood, but he holds Drystan’s stare. “I could either make it hard, or work with him.” Eli murmurs, “I could have fought him taking my wings. I wanted to. He pinned them while they were still attached to me.” Eli’s eyes close, lips pressing together. He flushes then pales and remembers back to the pain. And his reaction to it. To Sato, holding him in place. Something is very wrong with him. There is a hint of excitement, his heart rate spikes as he remembers those moments. A swallow follows and he cannot quite look at Drystan again so he stares down at his hands. “He told me if I submitted, he would give me freedom. He wouldn’t hunt us anymore. Myself, or my brother. He was going to do it anyway.. so I just .. I gave in.” Eli bows his head, flushing. He is not a very strong creature. Fighting wouldn’t have ended well. “I asked him to teach me technomancy. I demanded it, really. The whole point of me coming to this island was so I could learn, and learn from the best.” He glances up at Drystan again, “Professor Dashrix is the best. But he didn’t agree. Or disagree. But he gave me a test. So .. perhaps this is it.” The pixie shrugs, “I would give much for knowledge. Even.. even if it's suffering. I have already. I no doubt will again in the future.”
Just like that, a bit of understanding came over Drystan, as he watched the pixie explain, as his heart suddenly thundered faster, how his body flushed, how his emotions changed in such a hurry. He let out a long breath and shook his head. He felt the sting of guilt and Drystan shook his head, centering his emotions on Eli. Soothing. Reassurance. Acceptance. “I believe I understand. I want you to look at me very carefully, and remember this. -- Never feel shame around me for what makes you tick. You have a choice, their little hodgepodge of a family cannot force you to stay there, to endure. But I respect your thirst for knowledge Elijah. If this is how you go about getting it, and…the lessons you learn along the way, the tricks you pick up, the pleasures that come from …accomplishments, and other things, then it is how it will be. But if at any time, it becomes too much, you have a home with us, a place with us, hell - a job with us when the time comes. I need a good technomancer, and I highly doubt I will be ringing up Dashrix for that anytime soon, plus, I doubt he cares for me. He sees the use in my sister. That’s okay. I like being underestimated. Gives me some room to have fun.” He gave Eli a grin then, and then closed his eyes and let the smile settle into a softer one that met his eyes in the soft crinkles on the outer corners.
The shame that Eli felt is washed away in the well of those soothing emotions. He blinks rapidly then lifts his head, peering toward Drystan again. Inside he is feeling both tight and light. A warm tingle of emotion that fills him and draws moisture to his eyes again, brightening them. A little tremble claims his lower lip and then he is swallowing and taking a steadying breath. He nods, agreeing with the man’s words. “I will gain his knowledge. I will learn everything I can and then bring that back to you. Your family has always been here when I have needed you. Your sister..” he pauses, overcome, “She got me into the academy.” His hand lifts and he quickly wipes at his face, moisture smearing across his face and turning it oil slick radiant as the pixie dust released from his skin is smeared across his cheek. “I am not leaving your family Drystan. Even if there comes a time where I have learned all I can from your sister? I will still stand with you. Because you would stand by me.”
Drystan unclasped his hands and slowly stood, and made short work of the space between the couch and where had sat. He came over and put his hand out to Eli’s shoulder, and sat on the edge of the couch, turning himself to face his sparkly friend. He eased his hand gently across the back of his shoulders and pulled him in a bit closer, leaning his head down, so that his eyes would be on the same level of Eli’s, even if he looked down, Drystan would crane himself lower to keep that eye contact. His clasp on him was close but not overpowering or demanding, it was inviting and judgment free. It could easily turn into a hug more fully, but Drystan wasn’t going to force that, but he wouldn’t shy away. “We will support you. And I understand more than maybe you realize. So whatever may come… you know the Windgraces are quite long lived right? I fear you may be stuck with us.”
At first, Eli is not quite sure what to make of Drystand moving closer. But the connection – very few people actually touch him. He isn’t the most pleasant to touch – no warmth. Quite the opposite in fact, as the pixie tends to exude an aura of cold that is most noticeable when sitting right beside him, when his personal bubble is breached by the comforting grasp of his friend. If the pixie still had his wings they would be flaring, his emotions on full display. Alas, it is the subtler clues that paint the story of the joy Drystans words bring the man – that and the Windgrace’s uncanny ability to piece through what the Pix is feeling. Eli might long for the connection, the hug. But he is too used to the restraint that keeps him unnoticed, that blends his face amongst many. So he does not lean into the comforting curve of Drystan’s arm any more than an inch or so. He smiles at the man and wipes his hand across his cheek, spreading more of that rainbow sheen. A choked laugh is given then and he murmurs, “You say that like it’s a bad thing. I can think of no other family I would prefer to be stuck to.”