EXT to INT - Windgrace Manor
Dorian came down the gangplank, carrying a trunk over his head before the boat had even finished moving. This probably distinguished him among those disembarking, particularly in the first wave where there were primarily crew using the thing, as they finished up securing the vessel at the dock. He'd spent a great deal of time between this port and the one where he boarded on deck to lend a hand. The crew were obliging given his last name and absolute insistence to be involved. He never challenged command, did his best to ingratiate himself at all levels to those in his family's employ. It made asking favours easier, and being at sea for stretches at a time.
He even set down the banded leather trunk and moved to take up one of the hempen lines from a deckhand and tie it to the dockside cleat himself in its figure eight loop. That done, he heaved the trunk up to one side under his arm and set off on foot back toward home. For a few days after he'd been tanned and wind-blown his cheeks had shown the wear of his hikes, but by now his expedited regeneration had his complexion youthful as it ever was. Well except the beard and the overgrown curls. He'd not shaved his face since he'd last been on Callisto. So in the tunic of a shirt he'd gotten abroad and an excess of hair maning around his face, and laden with his luggage he came up the hill, whistling a snip of a jazzy song's melody.
Dinah hadn't been looking at the shipping manifests to see what was due to arrive from where; instead, Dinah and her son were stood on the balcony. She was murmuring quietly, promising him the world. Just as soon as he grew, he would be her prince. The jazzy tune drew her attention down into the garden, almost expecting it to be one of the gardeners, but on spotting her twin, she audibly gasped and dashed from the balcony, clutching the baby tight to her chest as she thundered down the stairs and flung the door open, staring at him from the threshold with teary eyes, opening her free arm out towards him
Dorian barely had time to spy her and by the time she was at the door, he had closed some distance toward the front stairs. He dropped the luggage on the grass and run the rest of the way to her. He slipped into her welcoming arm, then pulled himself in close and just held the pair of them for a moment or two. He'd move to nestle his face against the side of his sister's head and remember what it was to breathe her in. He reveled in her proximity, as with any long absence. Only now he didn't hide any of it's fervor as he once had to. He didn't move away even after trying to hold on for a protracted moment. His free hand would search out the bundle of baby, coming to rest on his nephew's head. He would eventually spare the child a look and further consideration, but first things were first.
Dinah buried her face against his chest, closing her eyes. She was sure he was real; this wasn't some cruel hallucination or a waking dream. She lifted her head from over his heart, pressing a kiss to his whiskered cheek, then his lips, her free hand reaching to tangle in the curls of his hair.
"you look like a wildman" she whispered, her voice playful. "My brave explorer, welcome home. I love you, so much. I missed you, dorian" she returned her cheek to his chest, content to knot her fingers in his golden curls. She had watched the sea in his absence, whispering to Dagon to ensure the safety of the ships both leaving and returning, just in case he was amongst the crew. She eventually moved her hand from his hair to reach over his shoulder, wrapping behind the back of his neck.
Dorian grumbled a contented noise as being kissed and fondled. He closed his eyes against the feeling of her pressed so near. At the rightness of it, being with her, who was such a part of him. Being whole. He'd rest his face upon the side of her head as she rested hers on his chest and break into a toothsome smile when he was called a wildman. He'd finally answer her apart from the psychical gladness after a little chuckle, "I missed you. And I love you. And this little potato you baked. I suppose I am going to have to pay the barber double if I go in like this, hm? You two look..." He'd give the pair of them another moment's scrutiny, actually taking in the tiny squidgy face, before returning his focus to his twin again, "...you look well."
Though he didn't exactly ask a question, there was one in his statement, in the way his voice intoned upward. It was very new, but from what had just transpired, even if the child was physically between them, nothing much had changed. Home was still his twin.
Dinah couldn't feel his smile through her hair, but she could hear it in his voice. she laughed when she called the babe a potato, squinting down at him "potato? you would be so cruel to your nephew? I shall tell him when he is older" she took enough of a step away that she could look up to his face.
"It makes you look older. more serious. it's a handsome look on you. did the sea make your hair so curly as that?" she grinned, turning to calll into the house "Emily! come and take the boy?" she called into the windgrace house, waiting for the former cultist to come to her side. She passed the baby to her, leaning down to smooch him briefly before the woman retreated back upstairs.
"we are well. at least, I assume so. I am well, as well as to be expected, anyway. and the little one has given me no real trouble beside sleepless nights." she reached to take his hands now hers were both free, lacing her fingers with his "Drystan will be so pleased you are home. we have all missed you, beloved."
Dorian looked into her face as he was being regarded and grinned his boyish grin under the bristly plumage. The humidity and untrimmed length had given his head a mass of hair tousled by the wind and tamed only by combing that had happened a while past. He watched the handoff of the child when that time came, taking note of how Emily did it, and how the women had held the child, crooking their arms just so. He followed along, even before her hands were occupying his, and laughingly inquired, "You're going to let me keep the beard, then? I know its not as stately as Drystan's." It wasn't as full as his brother's, but it wasn't as patchy as he remembered either, as it had been when he was truly young and first tried, centuries past. As they made their way inside the house, he neared her enough to whisper, "Have you always smelled so divine?" Stepping back apace, he continued aloud, "You truly look well. And like you have always known how to hold him. I was going to bring you a yak for him. Their milk is very rich. The only trouble is they won't eat grain, so transporting them is complicated, as they only eat fresh grasses."
Dinah grinned and she smiled, looking up to his face "What grows out of your own chin is your own decision, darling. though if it gets too much longer i shall try to braid it" she warned "you do look very handsome" di reassured him,remaining on the doorstep still.
"I wish we had some exciting stories for you in your absence but everything was blessedly quiet. the bunnies are all fine, I made sure to have Irene taken out at least once per day, and extra apples" she counted off on his fingers, but she laughed.
"I smell much the same as I always do, darling. I wasnt too aware that you were in the habit of sniffing me" she grinned, the smile faltering to confusion at the mention of the Yak "...arent they just...big hairy cows? I thought they lived on the side of mountains? I wouldn't imagine there was much grass there...i suspect our grass is different anyway?"
Dorian grinned when he was told he was handsome, and through showing his teeth in the expression, he explained, "The mountains have high meadows that are prized for grazing, more than the uneven slopes. I just thought we'd know the milk was pure if we knew where it came from, and those big hairy cows are sturdy beasts... but you are exactly right, what if I got them here and they didn't care for the grass here? Next time, perhaps, I shall bring you all manner of oxen and creatures as a gift for the child. And frankincense and myrrh, of course." But as much as he had stories to tell, he had more interest in what she had to say about how things had been. His smile redoubled at hearing how she'd taken care of his mount and his pets, and he'd press her twined fingers as he turned the topic to her once more, "You look much the same as you always do, too. More beautiful than the dawn, the dusk, and all of the stars in the sky. If you were cross with me, I brought just the thing to bribe you, right here in my pocket..."
He pulled from his trouser pocket a little cloth wrapped parcel that was wrapped further in paper. It was palm sized and inspection would show that it had been opened before. Inside were the remaining almost dozen candied walnuts, about which he'd explain, "I saw a forest where there were apple and walnut trees all around. Apparently they boil them down with honey and spices after roasting them and I couldn't get enough of them.... so I saved you some. I wanted to bring you half of everything I ate, well except butter tea. I did not care much for that."
Dinah tried to imagine a mountain meadow, rather imagining a familiar pasture tacked onto the side of the mountain. she reached for his mind, skimming the memory with an amused smile as she noded at the thought of what they were.
"I cannot imagine a hairy cow would be any more fussy than a regular cow, would it? but the heat would be a problem, i'd wager" she pulled a little face at the gifts suggested for the boy and she shook her head. "as many animals as you please..but no myrrh. it's for funerals" she traced her fingers over the backs of his hands, trailing along his veins.
"whatever would you need to bribe me for? though I do like bribes" she moved her hand as he lifted his parcel, reaching for a walnut and she grinned.
"do you think it would be...replicable here?" she nibbled at the walnut, trying to determine the spices, but paused at the mention of butter tea.
"...that sounds ghastly." she pulled a face "I cannot imagine i would like that at all either. who wouldn't want a cup of salty, greasy tea?"
Dorian shared with his sister not just the vista limned with snow-capped mountains, cascading water in rivulets from jagged tops that misted in the wind, and lush green and colourful flowering fields awash in bright daylight, but also the verdant and cool smell of the place, the sensation of being far from many people.
When firmly back on the isle in the now, he'd press the candied walnuts into her hand, because he'd had a difficult time saving this many. He laughed and explained, "Why would I not want to bribe you? Oh, I know, I should call them offerings, that's what a queen deserves. We don't call them bribes in this case. And I would never trouble you with the stuff, it was ghastly. They boil bricks of tea with--" He turned up his nose and stopped himself even explaining it further, instead carried on about something else, "I think we can have the cooks try? Apart from my belongings which I carried there are some spices coming along after, and some good tea, just a few little things for all of us. You said the boy is keeping you awake at night, is he?" The way his lips twisted spoke of, though he didn't, that he felt he knew a thing or two about occupying her nights as a worthy pasttime.
Dinah closed her eyes as she shared his memories, expression softening. it was strange to her that there were still such...wild places in the world. She even tried to reach for one of the flowers in the memory, pouting at the limitation of the insubstantial vision. She popped the second half of the walnut into her mouth as he gave her the rest, cuddling herself against his side.
"a brick of tea. and butter. lords alive." she shook her head, but she grinned, clicking her tongue and chided him at his insistence of 'offerings' instead of bribes. "oh stoppit" she chided, swatting his arm lightly, turning to look back towards the house "if they don't know how, we could ask amongst the sailors. they might know someone that has experience with the strange foreign ways of candying walnuts from the mountains" she hooked her arm in his.
"he does sometimes. We have him a nursemaid now, and emily has been invaluable, but I don't like having him too far away from me too long. he gets restless sometimes, but it's to be expected, they tell me. he settles when I take him out to the balcony for a little air."
Dorian laughed when she mentioned finding someone to candy the nuts, because there were sure a raw satchel of them coming too, in the hopes that they could reproduce the sweet. His sister sometimes like to share such treats with him, and his thoughts never ranged too far from her. When she'd finished talking about the boy, he'd gotten close again, and looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was in view. When no one was, he'd press his face to hers to kiss her full upon the lips, and take his time.
After some moments of trailing his fingertips along her jaw, and attempting to occupy her mouth with his own, he'd pull back again, grinningly, and wondered aloud something he had more than thrice since he'd been away, "Do you suppose he will let me hold him? I would rather be held by you, I reckon. Emily... she's... well I am glad you have found her a place. How long before I can take him riding with me, do you think? I saw women with their babes tied to their chests in the mountains. If he likes balcony air, maybe he will love the forest." If his twin trusted the woman with the babe, he would try to as well.
Dinah 's eyes shone as he checked around first before giving her a long-awaited true kiss, and she skimmed his cheeks with her fingertips as he did with her jaw. She grinned up towards him only when he drew back first, toying with his pendant.
"of course he will let you hold him, darling. he's a baby, not a wolverine. He doesnt do much of anything yet" she tittered, reaching for his hand again with the one not occupied by her souvenir treat. "Emily has been so helpful. ever so helpful." she considered his question, smiling in thought.
"I wonder if he was older, then then. when he's strong enough to hold his head upright and spend more than a few minutes with his eyes open. Irene is not skittish, she would be safe for him if she is safe for you." she squeezed his fingers. "just beware the stag. he might not approve. if it misbehaves, slay the thing and bring me its head. Though I doubt he shall."
Dorian had long awaited that kiss. And something went alight in his eyes, wanting for more. Being near to her or far from her, both had their own sort of hungering that kept kindled in his soul. As she took his hand, he pulled it up to kiss her knuckles, a more chaste show of affection to satisfy him for the moment, like hold her hand. He'd murmur, "Oh.... certainly, the boy probably should be able to hold his head up. But as soon as he can, we'll all go together. Can you believe we were ever so small as that? So ruddy helpless? If that troublesome stag of yours threatens that child, I will bring you his head and his hide for a carpet. Or anyone else's, for that matter, who thinks they can harm my nephew."
Later he'd show her the great long length of silk that he'd learned how to wrap around the shoulders and back to bind the baby to him, as he'd seen those women do. By then someone would have carried his luggage into the house or he would have. He spared a thought for his objective which was tucked into his trunk, but about that, he only explained, "I found what I was looking for, I do have further gifts for you. And I had quite a time. It snowed when we made camp one night, if you can believe it. That was the night I was thinking about hot chocolate and how much I wished for a cup." He remembered thinking that at her, at the time, when he was checking in and letting her know from that distance that he was faring well.
Dinah 's smile only grew fonder as he kissed her hand, reaching for his cheeks again though her hand was otherwise occupied with walnuts. she giggled, nodding softly. "to us it will be a blink, i suppose. he will be up and walking before we realise." she worried her lower lip with her teeth, looking back towards the house. "you would have been bigger than me. i've always been smaller than you. it's a wonder any of the family got any sleep at all with two little ones at once, though" she stared up towards him, silvery eyes searching his expression. "I was worried that...you would not accept him" she said quietly. "I am glad to see you are a better man than my worst fears spun into my mind" she murmured, though she squeezed his fingers at the story of the snow.
"i hope you were not too cold. we should have sent you with more furs. We could have had more made. I should have given you some of mine" she said quietly, worry in her voice, though he was obviously more than fine. "i'm just pleased to have you back with us, my beloved. just think of all the stories of such adventures you will be able to tell the little one when he is old enough to listen"
Dorian who was so pleased to find her fingers upon his face once more was no longer thinking of chocolate, nor mountains, nor monasteries, nor cows, nor the sea nor anything else to tell her when she mentioned that she thought he would not accept the child. His face drew in on itself the way it did when he was deeply concerned and gave no thought to how much it showed, it looked more stern with the beard, even under all hose curls. He didn't answer with words at first to that, or to anything else, just pulled her to him and wrapped both arms around her. Once he was that close he could tell her, "I am and always will be with you. And your son. Even if I am out of reach for a few weeks. I needed to find-- well I will tell you all about it, but later. I wasn't fleeing the boy. I was going to go before he was born... I know my timing was rather terrible. I am sorry for that, my love. But I will do my best for the boy. He shall want for nothing I have to give." He'd squeeze her momentarily to punctuate and then move to step back again to a distance that was socially acceptable, though he hadn't and wouldn't let go her hand until she took it back. Staring into her eyes the same colour as his own he'd reaffirm that he meant it, with a nod a couple of times. Thereafter a smile dawned upon his lips again, bearing away the gravity that had reigned there moments before, up one side, then the other, before he remarked with a few sniffles of laughter, "You think we would figure it out by now, wouldn't we, that our worst fears only find us when we're not actually in one another's company?"
Dinah 's expression searched his as he became serious, it looked so much more intense with his beard and his brow heavier with curls "you look like you should be wearing a crown" she murmured, drawing his hand to her to press a kiss across each of his knuckles in turn. "I didnt think you would turn from me" she murmured "but i didnt think you would accept the little one. or, rather, i was worried that you wouldn't" she stepped in to press a final kiss to his chin.
"we have always been so insular. So... excluding of outsiders. and then there is just.. all this" she gestured her walnut carrying hand vaguely in the direction of where Emily had taken her son. "Well. I have, at least. you have always accepted nigh everyone with open arms. I ought to have known better" she smiled, her expression softening.
"our fears can only find us when we're without the other because we're unstoppable together" she agreed, sighing and wrapping her arms around him. "I will need to choose a name for him soon. Decide on if he ought to be christened for appearances sake"
Dorian didn't know what to make of being told he looked kingly, other than shaking his head. And going pink in the ears at the feel of her lips on his knuckles. It only made him wish to feel more of her mouth. He addressed the matter directly as he could, and it was important that he did, looking her in the eye, because as he'd concluded within himself, "He is your child. Of your body, which is most sacred to me. He is my nephew." Which of course would be the only thing her children could be to him, as they were not free to marry. Yet. Maybe in time... he only had to wait. All things might come in time. They had so far. He kept very near, and rested against her, fighting the impulse to carry her upstairs while the baby was with his nurse, and offered, "My nephew Augustus, and should we christen him? Gods, we were christened, I remember the fuss mother made when she was made to give up our little gowns. I am sure those became moth-eaten rags ages ago... I don't think I have ever set foot in a church on this island."
Dinah 's smile turned near wolfish at the pinkening of his ears and she gave him a soft laugh,stepping in close to enfold her arms around his middle beneath his arms again.
"he is. still our blood, even if...dilute. but blessed" she pulled a face at the suggestion of Augustus, shaking her head "Gracious no. I shall not name him after a Caesar" she grinned "I had toyed with alexander, but I think it might not suit a child of the woods" she sighed. "it's a difficult decision. the poor little blighter will be stuck with whatever I pick forever. it needs to be something fitting enough. I haven't even decided if i should tell mother. We'll hear her shrieking across the sea if she realises I'm not wed with a baby" she tittered. "a little white beaded frock for him? do people even still do that? I suppose the decision isnt mine alone but... I will probably be the one to decide it regardless. I do quite like vexing priests, but I haven't been to church either. Maybe one day I shall"
Dorian grinned at her rejection of the top two conqueror names that he'd chosen. Well thought of, knowing only while he was away that she'd mentioned the A-name. His mind ran yet along that track and he murmured another offering, "There's Attila if you would prefer another sort of warrior. I will teach him to ride as well as any Hun... though I guess they were not forest people either.... ...as to mother... ...I think she might squeal more that she is not here to tell us what to do nor to see him. But I shall not tell her if you don't." Dorian would think that though, as he was willfully blind to a number of their mother's less loving qualities.
All of a sudden his face went serious again and he turned his ear toward the house as if listening inside, and he asked rather intently, "Do you hear that?"
Dinah giggled and she looked back into the house "Attila Windgrace. Little Attila. No, darling, the other boys will call him Tilly, we cannot have that. I should like you to teach him to ride, though. you would be an absolutely splendid role model for a little boy. I don't see anyone else mucking around with a boy like that" she pursed her lips and shook her head "I think the less parenting advice I take from that woman, the happier the child will grow up, i think" she said thoughtfully.
At his suggestion that there was something she hadn't noticed, she drew away with him and stared into the house. "....hear what?" she asked softly, looking uncertain. It was rare the times she could trust her own senses
Dorian chuckled at her response to the name Attila and nodded his agreement that they couldn't let the boy be nicknamed Tilly. He had held close to her for this embrace they'd partaken of once more, and he stepped back when she asked verification of what he was hearing. She'd see all of his mischief in his face which spread his grin from ear to pink ear, then just before he bent to scoop her up off of her feet to carry her inside. He'd explain, as if it was of dire importance, because--it was, "I hear my room calling me. And it said I needed to bring you with me."
He would be running toward the stairs with her if she didn't make a flap, and calling down after him to unseen staff, "Please bring my trunk to the bottom of the stairs, I shall carry it thereafter!"
Dinah initially...momentarily... looked displeased at the realisation she'd been duped, but the expression on his face and looking so pleased with himself, any vexation would melt on her face and she giggled as he lifted her so easily. "well, far be it for me to argue with the will of The Room" she agreed, burying her face into his curls, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and she grinned. "it's better to agree with whatever The Room says. it's better that way" she didn't make a flap indeed, instead allowing herself to be carried off up the stairs, peppering kisses against the whorl of his ear to at least distract him as he moved up towards his room.
Dorian was not trying to prove that he wasn't a fit role model, he absolutely intended to be that... ...one day. Starting in a few hours perhaps. But there was something else he yearned to be in the moment. Somewhere else. A place only his twin could take him which reached higher heights than the mountains he'd left to visit. And if he was lucky he'd get a chance to find that horizon a time or two before the child necessitated opening the door to his room.
Before he cleaned the king of the wildmen up and got his civilized face back on, he'd seek to make right the time he'd been away. Getting kisses on his way only emboldened him to do what he should not and leap from the landing with a flap of his own spectral wings to just before his room door. He nudged it open with his knee and shut it behind them with a boot as he was leaning to kiss her again. To steal her away for what precious moment he could.
It was good to be home.