Glimmer flits into the tavern and anxiously awaits seeing all her friends again. To anyone around, she says "Hello all my dears. I hope everyone is well. I do hope I haven't missed too much in my absence."
"Astrum, I know of what happened to Ripper and what you've done. I understand she spoke for you about not having the normal lawful punishment carried out, but understand you have stolen a part of her childhood and given her no choice in matters of the fey race. I will come with you, but mind your tounge. I am sparkly and brilliant at times, but my anger is not to be taken lightly. I hope you have an excellent explanation for your actions." At that, Glimmer follows Astrum out of the tavern and to the Tower.
Taklinn walks into the tavern from the Warrior's hall, seemingly in a fine mood this day. He strides over to the bar, nodding and giving a "well met" to any he passes on the way. "Barmaid, a fire water and a holy water to chase it down me gullet if ye please! Tis a fine day in Jastrey and after such a long night of discussion with another of me kind, me pallet is a bit dry." Upon receiving his drinks, he picks up the small glass of firewater to his lips, then re thinks the action and promptly drops the glass in the tankard of ale, drinking the mixture quickly and ensuring that no liquid escapes his mouth. After draining the entire drink, he notices some ale that splashed out onto the bar and quickly puts his lips to the bar and slurps up the mess. "Ahhhhhh" he says following a loud belch "Another holy water fer me if you'd please" he says before climbing up on a barstool.
Glimmer flits liltingly into the bar, still humming and clutching her hands to her chest. Upon seeing Taklinn sitting at the bar, she can be seen sprinting through the tavern straight for him. In a blur of glitter and a flash of pink, Glimmer knocks Taklinn clean off his stool and hugs him tightly to her. Everyone in the tavern can hear her say "Well my dearest TakiSacks, it appears you've FINALLY come to your bearded senses. I saw what you wrote on the bottom of your notice to the town. T + G. And a heart. I just KNEW that showing you I don't mind being in the rocks and such would sway your opinion of my kind. So it's official then. You DO love me. I wish you'd have just come out and say it you bumble beard, but it's all the sweeter of you to display your affections on the town post. I do so enjoy such a surprise. And to draw a pictue of me as well. Such the romantic Taklinn Forgesplitter. And I accept. Now pucker up my buttercup." At that, Glimmer plants a smacking kiss right on the dwarf's lips.
Taklinn begins thrashing about, trying to get out from underneath the wild faerie. Upon gaining his footing once again, he holds his arms out to keep the kissing Glimmer at bay. His face reddened to match his ears, he stands mouth agape and at a loss for words. Finally he blurts out "I'm not fer knowing what yer talkin' about! I did write a proclamation on the post, tis true, but I never put anything up about me affections fer you or any other in Jastrey. I would hope that ye could control yerself in public!" he scolds Glimmer. "Now sit down and have some tea, and come to yer senses." At that Taklinn shakes Glitter from his clothes and beard and props his stool back up. "Now tell me what got yer wings flutterin' so lass" he states as he regains his seat, beckoning the faerie to sit beside him.
Glimmer sits down on the stool next to Taklinn with a pouty look and a minor thump. She looks to Taklinn and says "But the message and the heart. And the picture of a faerie. It's on your same notice you buffoon. You mean to tell me that YE didn't write it? Then who did? You are heartless Taklinn Forgesplitter. Mean and cruel and cold and every other bad word possible." Flustered and pouty Glimmer continues. "Do you want to know WHY I went with you to cocoon while you mined? I thought if I showed you I could adapt to something that is of such importance to you, those stupid ROCKS, you'd see that I'm just as good as any dwarven woman. Have you looked around lately Taki? Because there aren't any. Same as there are no fae men here. I didn't choose to love you you doof. It happened. And I thought you finally saw the glow and accepted me. Well I'll tell ye somthin' Taklinn Forgesplitter. I won't be waitin' for water to smooth yer stones. My love for you is as sharp as the pickaxe ye be minin with, it is. And it will be a cold day in those same stones without me. So you twist yer' beard on that little note and mind your tounge. Words strike hard and I'm no child." Glimmers wings flutter and she twitches her nose in a bunny like nature as her emotoins grow. She turns her attentions to her tea and empties a pouch on the bar beside Taklinn. "I clutched these in my cocoon. I suppose I shant need them any longer based on your fine vomit of words there." A pile of raw common gemstones tinker onto the bar.
Astrum catches the tail end of the action and begans laughing uncontrollably. As Glimmer finishes her tirade, tears began rolling down his cheeks from laughter.
"A dwarf being scolded by a fae on the matters of love. I never thought I'd see the day!"
Astrum stumbles back out to see the note for himself, still laughing and muttering to himself about a fae and a dwarf.
Taklinn sits quietly, staring down into his mug and contemplating the words of the fae. "Tis true that there be a shortage of our peoples here in Jastrey. It isn't a matter of affection for ye lass, it is a matter of tradition." He picks up a piece of Amethyst and inspects the gem, looking at the small inclusions in the stone. "I realize that I may have hurt yer feelings, which was not me intention, but I truly have no idea what yer talking about. Here you keep these lass" he says as he places the stones back in her hands. Now ye just sit there and drink yer tea, and I will be right back.". Taklinn stands up and heads out to the town post, finally seeing the additions to his bid to become Sheriff. He reads the words of Drux, and Astrum and sighs; looking again to the red crayon scribblings, and trying to figure out who could have posted this. His eyes light up in recognition of the handwriting, remembering a book he and Ripper had shared a few months back with the same types of writing. He walks back into the tavern shaking his head as he goes to explain what he thinks may have happened. "I'm thinking that yer kin may be responsible fer this Glimmer" he says when he returns to his seat. He explains that he and Ripper had shared a book from the library a couple mests back and that the same handwriting and color of crayon was added to the book each time he received the book back from Ripper...
As if on some cue, the vampire enters from the back doors of the tavern, cheeks pinker than they have right to be from fresh feeding. She busies herself with the process of getting off her suncloak and goggles. Piling the protective gear onto a table along with her weapon and shield she glances toward the bar long enough to see the dwarf and fae sitting near one another. Her crooked smile returns, unable to quite hear the two, but leaping to the conclusion that her jest had drawn the amusement she'd intended...and possibly the talk of affections she'd hoped.
She fishes into her things, pulling out a roughly-constructed journal..quill, ink, and pastels, and then sets about to sketching.
Glimmer watches closely as Ripper enters the tavern. She looks to Taklinn and says "Dont you be going anywhere Bumble Beard. I'll get to the bottom of this." At that, Glimmer approaches Ripper and quietly asks "Is it true Rip? Are you the one who wrote on Taki's notice? And I thank you if you are. At least it got him talking! Bumble the Dumble Dwarf over there might not see it yet, but he'll love me. Don't even bother with an answer; it helped either way. I'm going to go finish my talk with Fuzz Face. Let's get together for some nectar...errr...well nectar for me and blood for you tea shortly. I've missed you so." At that, Glimmer goes back to her stool by Taklinn and says "Whether Rip wrote it or not, you finally talked about it. Now what is all this tradition mess? Is it because I'm Fae? We have traditions too you know. So are you admitting it then? There's a smidggen of smidge of something? Can't we at least try?"
Ripper blinks at the quick commentary and then leans closer to speak at a volume she thinks won't carry.
"Glad to be of help cousin. Tak-beard will come around I'm sure. And just imagine the bearded wisps!"
Watching Glimmer retreat with a grin she glances down at the page in front of her, shaded almost entirely black and...rather melancholy. Her brow quirks, as if she didn't remember drawing such a morose picture. Giving herself a quick shake of the head she turns the page and starts in on a portrait of a lynx cub, still peeping up periodically to check on the status of the pair.
"It has been a long time since I have traveled with any others by me side Glimmer" Taklinn begins speaking softly. As he begins talking, his eyes take on a vacant stare as if he were reliving painful memories from long ago. " I left me homeland a long time ago and have been traveling ever since; not staying in one place long enough fer attachments. So even if ye were a dwarf with a lustrous beard tickling yer toes, I would be hesitant to start courtin ye" he says as he finally looks up at her. "And I ain't sure whether the immortals would smile upon our joining. In me younger days we were all taught that when a dwarf dies, his soul goes back to the forge of the immortals, to be reshaped again into another dwarf. The harder ye work in this life, the more noble the metal the next dwarf is forged from. I worry that if we were to join and forge a family, what would we be in store to receive. I worry about the soul that we would be receiving to raise. Just as a smith forges a fine hammer or axe, me gods will forge fer us a son or daughter. If the ore they put into its making is inferior, then the end result will be inferior. Even if the lad or lass grows to be strong of heart and mind, they will still only be half of a whole. What is a hammer head without a handle? And so it will go fer four generations until me great grand son or daughter becomes as broken as me..." Taklinn takes a long pull from his ale and looks back up to Glimmer. "So it has nothin' to do with me feelings lass, it has to do with the way me kind has been taught since the mountains themseves were forged. It ain't that I have not thought on it, but I have yet to form an opinion. It should show ye me affection for ye that I am even discussing me own private thoughts and feelings lass. I just ask ye to be patient lass." he states embarrassingly as he finishes his drink and orders yet another.
Glimmer sits quietly after Taklinn finishes saying all he has to say. Lost in thought for more than several minutes, she finally says "My mate is of my choosing. I don't forge a child. Fae children, of mixed race or not, have an upbringing you may not understand. We lay Taklinn. It's different from what you know. Our eggs are protected by the pixies. We are a nature based people. I don't know what would happen any more than you do, but to assume we are cursed before we even try is something you apparently feel strongly of. I'll wait, but not forever. Finding a mate is more than half the reason I cocooned to sylph. My home shard was burned to the ground. I've found a new home here. The only person left from my family is here. If you can't understand that I'm tired of travelling alone and you're scared to even give us a chance, then it stops here. I won't waste your time, or my own. We have traditions too. We have history, culture, a background. I understand you do as well, and I don't seek to change that. But all I see right now is a wall between us of stone. The stone of your past. And I can't fight that Taklinn. Not if you don't let me. I've lived a long time and you're the first I've ever felt this love for. I don't understand it, but I don't fight it either. I can't live in the shadows of your past. At some point there has to be a future for you." At that, Glimmer turns her head back to her tea with a silent tear falling down her cheek. She thinks of her home and her family that is no more. All she has left now is Ripper. She looks up for a moment to scan the tavern for her newly transformed cousin, longing to feel some sort of kinship, and says "Rip, if you're in here, I need you now."
"Well sittin' here cryin' in our ale aint gonna fix our ills or change our pasts" Taklinn says after hearing Glimmer's words, sniffing and roughly wiping his cheek. "I'm thinkin that yer durned herb tea is giving me allergies. If yer thinkin to make a go at this, ye need to be able to drink in a proper dwarven fashion." He slides his mug over to Glimmer and takes her tea and places it in front of him. After sniffing the tea he hesitantly takes a small sip. "Not bad, but it needs a bit more bite. It's more like sugar water right now" He pulls a small flask from his pouch and pours some fire water in the glass. He then takes a long drought from the cup and looks over to Glimmer. "Can't be courtin' ye if ye won't drink holy water."
Glimmer looks at Taklinn in awe as he drinks a sip of her tea. She looks from Taklinn to the mug of ale, then back to Taklinn and says "You really have no experience with Fae do you dear? We are a tricky sort." At that, Glimmer takes Taklinn's mug of ale and swallowws every bit of it in three gulps. She grabs Taklinn's sleeve and blots her mouth with it, then proceedes to belch quite loudly. She places the mug back on the table and says "It's gonna take more than a mug of your holy water to scare me off Taklinn Forgesplitter. And I need the sugar in my tea to stay awake. My nectar tea is to me what that mug of mud is to you. So bring on the next thing then." She wiggles her wings at Taklinn, quite mischeviously awaiting the next show of skills.
"Ha! Maybe ye have a bit o' moxy in ye after all!" Taklinn exclaims after watching Glimmer's demonstration. He smiles mischieviously as he pulls out his flask, unstoppering it and passing it to Glimmer after taking a healthy pull off of it. "This should pickle yer insides a bit. Hopefully it doesnt eat its way out of yer belly through yer belly button! Fire water isnt fer the faint of heart, nor is it fer the weak of constitution!" He bellows loudly, as he watches Stiers walk out of the tavern....
Glimmer takes the flask of Taklinn's "Fire Water" and eyes it amusingly. She puts it to her lips, takes a long pull from it and appears to be choked up for a second to anyone watching the display. She winks at Taklinn, take another pull and says "What did you call that Bumble Beard? Spark Water? It needs a little get up and go. Try this." At that, Glimmer pulls what seems to be a flask of stone from her pouch. "And do be careful dear. That might just curl your beard. It's very old and from the cellar of a home that is no more. This is the first daylight it's seen in a very long time."
Astrum walks past the tavern on the way to the Academy just as Glimmer enters.
"Glimmer! If I may, I'd like to have a word with you! Could you come to the academy as soon as possible please?"
Astrum continues on his way to the tower, muttering something to himself about equations and a large machine.