Trial by Hospitality

The thing about elves when interacting with other races was the nuances of trying to maintain any semblance of a relationship, when every other species seemed to move at a breakneck pace.

One came to a point where they either withdrew to only interact seriously with their own kind, or made an effort to track these creatures' timelines, and approach everything with casual acceptance. Like, for example, being invited into a household after a week — people don't have time to wait five to seven years to learn your last name. You didn't slap a non-elf friend for the audacity of embracing you after only knowing you for a few months. You weren't offended when a friend makes a pass at you after courting you for only a year.

Then, you have groups like the one Talsyn was from; where there were different codes of behaviour. You suddenly have an elf wrapping his arm around you at a human party, because that was 'normal' to the rest of them. You just rolled with it, or consider the long road of isolation you were bound to walk.

For an eladrin it was even sillier, because the 'longevity' you supposedly shared with your species was in some cases tripled in timeline with the eternal blood of trees and rivers. The elves venerated their fluid nature and chaotic expression as a forgotten wisdom. They called it an anchor to the world. And so, Korruk getting deep with his feelings while Lavandul was half naked and half dead from his axe blow landed as trivial as everything always was with sentient beings. To the orc, this was important, so if they wanted to care or be cared for in return, they had to always make themselves present in the moment. 

They ran this alien calculation in the span of a few seconds as they considered development, a limited understanding of culture, personal quirks, and where things were on the scale of established rapport. All this from the perspective of a brief but feeling creature... and they personally responded to the private pain of adolescent trauma that naturally resonated with their season.

Impulsively placing a hand on his arm to see if the orc was going react poorly, Lavandul gave him a hug.

"You're going to do fine, Korruk. I think your optimism is a respectable thing."

Lavandul silently exhaled their frosted chuckle, noting the odd parallel of the paladin suddenly using magic to stitch their head. As Korruk weaved the spell, he felt it hit an odd wall — not unlike what he would feel when attempting it on undead or a construct. However, the energy had welded the wound, but it was layering plaster over a sink hole forming in the bedrock. The roots of the divine rite recoiled and died before it could dig properly into the earth, like the soil had been taken by a poison.

Black roots pooled across their heightened vision like veins had ruptured with their pulse, and the eladrin blinked it away with the twitch of a wince. They stared past the orc for a moment, not minding the hand on the shoulder as they mulled. "If I judged everyone by that standard, I would be on an island and foolish to ignore the wisdom of others. I understand you are an adult, and I do not say that to patronize," they explained, perhaps unnecessarily, but since Korruk felt the need to bring attention to it they in turn felt the need to offer perspective.

"Plus, if I felt like was perpetually surrounded by children I would go crazy," they laughed. "Oh goodness, could you imagine? Others seeking relationships would be irritating risk management, and I'd never set foot in a brothel again. I really am no smarter than anyone else. Longevity has not gifted me with perpetual growth." Like how kids picked up on knowledge like sponges. If only.

Then maybe it would feel useful rather than an isolating gimmick to be seen as gifted. And yet no powerful elven wizardry dripped from their mystic aura.

"Honestly, Korruk, you have been immensely generous already. I really do just wander city to city to make sure they aren't drowning in the shadow of entropy. I have rarely had reasons to stay longer. That is just how it is until my luck runs out."

The scar leaving a cleft in their lip lifted a bit as they saw the squire searching for the mess of armour they had shed through the house. "Does anyone actually look out for that one? He's a bit of a mess." They were referring the to unkempt appearance and constant dour mood.

"Ah."

They titled their head. They weren't the biggest fan of 'tough love' when it came to developing individuals, but obviously it wasn't their place to say as much. The squire eventually realized where the pair had ended up when Lavandul wasn't where he had sat them.

"Well I suppose that matches the familial patriarch." Dhakin had told them to story more than once at this point with the same reverence as an evening prayer. Their glowing sight eventually wandered back and up to Korruk, "There is something to say in a difference between seeding resentment and an expectation of cruelty, when support keeps one standing even when they are alone."

They smiled a bit, understanding the expectations in culture was a wall as both orcs were quite warm with the elf as some kind of proxy. "In common...? He's expressed without saying directly that he feels quite alone, though not to insult the support you have been providing," they added, trying to make it clear that Dhakin hadn't complained once about his situation other than express his vitriol and fear of the environment around him with aggression.

"How do you two get along with your fathers, anyway?" they laughed out of the blue, leaning against the door and crossing their arms over their bare chest and forgetting why they had slinked to the bathroom in the first place. They had told Korruk about theirs — sort of, in the same detached manner one describes a historical figure in a biography.

The Winter fey's painted smile held as they listened, staying engaged by watching the small things that made Korruk's experience unique ⁠— the way his tone shifted, micro expressions, and how he spun and voiced his perspective. They seemed to get second-hand contentment from hearing the other speak about a positive upbringing, though that clearly wasn't the case with Dhakin.

"Well, it is fortunate Logar saw the benefit in giving him a second chance."

They were becoming aware of the odd pivot in dialogue they had forced, but were at a loss themselves on why Korruk had created this situation in the first place. Had their leave of the courtyard cause alarm? And if that was the case, the orc hadn't been forthcoming in his questions other than continue on after confirming Lavender was doing just fine. The eladrin fidgeted, self conscious in their childish delight of fleeting connection with this family. It didn't undo the negative pit they fell in after miscalculating the Squire's prowess and not measuring the sparring appropriately.

The fact that Korruk could just rattle off how shitty Shar had been without a filter also felt like witnessing a superpower, and they stared dumbly.

"You do not rely on surnames?"

Or maybe he was just referring to praise by foreign species.

"You made it sound more traditional that knights take squires, so I assumed you would eventually select one. Do you have siblings, or are you expected to inherit?" Korruk had mostly spoken about Dhakin's familial unit.

Maybe his father was prepping him for more responsibility, but again Lavandul wasn't an expert on tracking expectations between the obvious markers of children, adolescents, adults...and then at some point their hair starts to grey (though stress and disease could influence complexion). Korruk struck them as on the younger side of adulthood, though to be sent away when he was already touring with his career seemed like an odd pivot unless the patriarch was anticipating that this somehow held less risk to his bloodline. But a knighthood in court seemed safer than a foursome in foreign territory...? Unless they were on the precipice of political collapse, where Houses would be put to the sword as they decided upon a new status quo.

Nations seemed to do that a lot.

Their mind briefly wandered to Tordora, mulling Korruk sounding unsure again. "...Oh! No, that was not... I was not mad at you. You will know when I am angry it is a lot flashier and quite dramatic." The fact that the elf carried their own localized temperature drop and blooming ice shards forced one to muse on how Lavandul viewed this as subtle. "You expressed you wanted to thank me for helping during the assassination attempt. I did not know if there was more to it than that... I also admit that I assumed paladin oaths were about embodying ideals as a living symbol than servants of a higher calling."

They would have assumed Korruk's people would look down on prostrating your soul to something.

Lavandul seemed surprised, assuming nobility would have more than one child in case something happened to the first.

"Cyrus would refuse to swear himself to anything," the elf admitted, taking the question literally instead of banter. It seemed to be due to being thrown off by the obvious connecting point about their own situation.

"Oh. Um, maybe, but I never met them if that was the case."

...Similar situations? Their eyes traced the room as if they expected the shadows to produce something, picking at their nails.

"Are you talking about the fact that I radiate frost? The answer to that is no. Maybe not for lack of trying? The situation is difficult to reproduce."

The lopsided smile from the joke had dissipated as Korruk pitched his theory. Eyes flicking again as they grew unsure on how much detail was culturally acceptable, but also well aware that the concern was ridiculous and hypocritical to their rebellious lifestyle. Tordora would be the one to be weary of, but the knight didn't have a warmongering or manipulative bone in his body.

They leaned a bit to track Dhakin, or maybe hope he would take it as some kind of cue to disrupt or distract with orcish nattering. "W-well the cold is just an extension of my personality. The Wilds bleed from my movement and announces itself...umm...like a clap when you displace the air? Enough force overwhelms the mind, when normally the song is just a whisper among the world's noise. Paying attention will evoke certain reactions depending on what mood I'm in. If I'm having enough fun, I can even drag others with me — to the chaos between places and time."

They laugh stiffly, unused to offering details but working with the moment. "Involved, like, they bred? Yes. My father raised me for the first stretch and eventually my mother started poking her head in, when she found it interesting enough. And yes, the people of the Emerald Court find me quite special. There's quite a lot of superstition around it."

Sanguine, actually, but the secretive xenophobic habits were well embedded and it was close enough to reality.

"Elves that shape our culture," they surmised. The cleric's attention flicked as Tordora called out, unsure how the woman was listening through the walls. "It is just a genetic quirk. The importance of such things are as real as someone somewhere deciding which bloodlines in a country are elevated as aristocratic."

It was a complete non-answer as to whether Lavandul found any of the 'superstitions' legitimate or if they were truly important.

Their smile was tight, trying to mirror the energy. "Oh, um it's not really a spell that I direct. The fire is..." their hands fluttered around themselves, "...localized. Why rage hurts and sadness frightens I don't reflect deeply on. Denizens of the Feywilds serve to frustrate when you try to...understand."

You're sounding strange.

"Your sister is a sorceress?"

"I am a poor litmus test for the wider Elven experience," Lavandul snorted. "It's been niche, to say the least. As for warriors, we have been fighting since we got here, so I do not think it has been exclusive to class? No one grows up without weathering a raid or two, or their city destabilized from a natural disaster."

They blinked, not sounding bitter, just listing the nature of living in a realm that would never be static. "We have an adaptive attitude because of it, despite the lifespan. Death is just as inescapable for us, but definitely more sudden."

The eladrin nodded at the explanation of Dhakin's sister having magical capabilities. There was an inherent bias that it likely didn't compare to the archmages of So'Danna, but the shock of it had been decidedly more advantageous against invaders than bragging to the world.

"Have you tried, Dhakin?" They knew Korruk healed and directed explosive energy.

There was a pause as they quietly mused on the question of elements. "The Common term referring to the feral beings born of natural power? No. My mother is Fey. It's different."