Helantri Deru

---

Felina wipes the sweat from her brow with the back of a hand, letting out her breath. She's not wearing her armour or overcoat, so she's just clad in the underlying basic, solid black garments. Black's good for working in the hot sun, huh? "Alright, Orrin...just a little few more, and I think we'll have plenty."

"Oh, sure. Didn't you say that three bags ago?" He smirks at his wife. Actually, he has no problem with the work. He just can't pass the opportunity to give her hard time.

She glances up just long enough to grin. "Yes yes...what if I said I was telling the truth this time?"

"I'd say you can't pass up being a masochist and taking me along for the ride, and we need at least fifty-three more of these heavy-ass plants." The dumen snickers and pats her head as he carries large bag past her to deposit with the other six.

"Ah-hah! You do know me well. This has been a test of the husband alertness system."

"And the husband's muscular system," he offers. Snickers, and deposits another bag between them. "I win. We're out of bags."

"Want to know how long it will take me to make more?"

"Hush. Out of bags."

"... almost sure that. Ah good, there they are. Right. Tomorrow. No, tomorrow! Boy, I will slap you so hard that your children are born backwards! No! I'm changing my number and you suck! Suck suck suck! No!"

Mara-kuru steps into sight as she's babbling into what looks like a phone of some sort, ears twitching agitatedly. She grins when Felina and Orrin are in range for it, though. "Telemarketer," she assures them. "Hiya Felina! Hiya whitey!"

Felina smiles, standing up and brushing the dirt from her hands. "Hi there. You're up awfully early for having had such a late night, mara. It isn't even two yet."

Orrin grins at Mara, and stands up, walking up so he's near Felina's side. "In light of that...good morning, Mara."

"Oh, well, you know. I had a few catnaps during the day, and I slept so well I was just refreshed really quickly and... alright alright you got me!" Mara grins. "Ai was at my house last night! We talked about stuff."

Felina grins, confirms a thought of Orrin's with an "affirmative" feeling, and he picks up the final, still-empty bag and heads over to begin tying these all shut. "Oh? Good talks, or none of my business thank you very much?" She's relaxed, and in a very good mood for her.

"Interesting talks. Ai said she'd been watching Dewei train with Gabriel just about every time they do, and she's just so impressed with your little sprout! This is related, I promise, but I forget why anyway she said that there's a moon next to her planet." Mara nods, as if such is the most crucial information of the entire babbling opus. "Some folks approached her about it. See she built a big huckin' arena there, when she was still crying, and never used it. Apparently some kind of athletics organization buckled under in her area, a big one. Like... galactic big. And the people who were left wanted to keep going and so they asked Ai about using the stadium and she thought it might be fun and she asked what I thought and I said maybe I'd have to ask Fel cause she knows these things and I don't and whatcha think?"

"Well...it might be fun, sure. It may also create problems for her privacy on Niven Ai...even if her father would have something to say about that, I'm sure. What kind of events are they talking about having there?"

Mara tilts her head this way and that. "Well I'm not for sure. I guess standard stuff, right? Running and swimming and boxing and biting and clawing and hugs!"

"And husband-killing!"

Felina snickers. "Oh. Right. Sorry, Orrin." She grins back at him sheepishly. She'd forgotten to put a levitation spell on a now very, very heavy pallette. "So when is all of this supposed to happen, Mara?"

Mara shrugs, and grins in her inimitable little way. "Dunno. Ai knows, though. I think she's going to run the whole thing. Since she doesn't really care for competition like some of us do. I think she just dunnit want to get all sweaty. But yeah! You could ask her. I think she's watching Gabriel smack Dewei around anyway." The red-haired Serinian is just beaming... though she does flick a little bit of extra teleportation towards the pallet to help poor Orrin out.


Felina snickers. "Has Dewei done anything to earn extra ire yet today?" She's over watching every single move that's made there...although she certainly has a deep connection with her kids to an extent that if anything felt wrong, she'd be right there.

"Ai was really praising him. How fast he learns, how strong he is, how nice his hair is. Lots of praise for Dewei! Though Gabriel is stoic on the matter. He still wants to pretend to be a tough guy. I think maybe he's just been too used to being that way. Anyway. Ai thinks Dewei is cute." Mara nods again, punctuating the point. "He is! He's like a little teddy bear who is taller than me."

Orrin has the pallette under control now, and is pushing it back towards the house. "Mara," he observes, "everyone is taller than you."

"Hm. He has a point. But what should we do to him for said point this time?" Felina queries, tone sweet.

"I think he would look fun with tie-dye hair, personally." Mara replies in an equally sweet tone, mischief blinking as ever in her eyes.

Orrin groans, though his facing-away face is amused. "I don't suppose I could dissuade you with cookies?"

"Aww... how dare you bribe an officer! Fel I wanna pounce him can I pounce him I promise I won't hurt him much or cuddle him cause he's yours even though it's hard not to cause it goes with pouncing and there may not even BE cookies how am I to know and please please?"

"Oh, there are cookies. But knock yourself out."

"That's not who I'm afraid of being knocked out," the dumen murmurs loud enough to be heard, smirking. He counts his steps. Three...two...

One! Gotcha! Mara vanishes, reappears above Orrin's head and drops, eyes flashing and smile baring pearly white fangs. Mara is proud of her smile, after all. 

"Gah!" It's a takedown, of course. 

Mara-kuru sits on Orrin's chest in a way that is far more feline than biped. She flashes a fangy grin at Felina. "Pinned 'im."

"That you did," Orrin and Felina answer at once. Felina snickers.

The dumen smirks, and just folds his hands behind his head. "Hmph. I need to invest in a squirt bottle."

Mara giggles, and hops off of Orrin's chest. "Silly, silly, silly. So... now that that's out of my system, I need to find something to do for the day. I heard somebody say something about a bridge game back home and I don't know how to play with bridges but I think it might be fun. When you two get a minute, talk to Ai. Kay?"

"Will do, Mara. Thank you." Felina smiles, and nods.

Orrin dusts himself off as he stands up. "It was nice seeing you, Mara. I think. Also, remember: bridges and explosions don't mix."

"Awww!! Okay, promise. Love you bye!" And Mara winks out of sight, heading home for the day. Though with Mara, there's as fair a chance as any that she will be back on some silly errand.

Felina heads over to help get the pallette back in order after pouncing madness. Finishes, with help of course, and hugs Orrin from behind, to a smile. "Well, now is as good a time as any to see to Ai. Are you all right finishing this up?"

"Of course. Remember, though...no saving any worlds until we've had lunch."

Felina grins, takes a handful of hair, and pulls him down so she can kiss his cheek. "No promises. Bye!" And then she's off for Niven Ai.

---

When Felina reappears, she first checks that Orrin still has everything under control, and then heads off to find a certain pseudo-apprentice, pseudo live-in ally. "Makyon?"

"Over here," the slip mage calls, from his place on the step of her house. A book sits in his hands, something Felina had assigned for him. "What did I do?"

"Hmph." Felina folds her arms. "What didn't you do? It seems that everyone is after you all of a sudden. Ai wants you in pain."

"I'm too busy for pain, Felina." Makyon shuts the book, marked with a leaf to keep his page. "You seem in a good mood. What's up?"

Felina smirks, and unfolds her arms. He's getting too good at interpreting when she's serious and when she's exercising her very dry sense of humour. A rare skill, to be sure. "Well, said pain would be the product of some physical exertion. Ai's going to be hosting a series of athletic games in a few days, and wants to know if you'd like to participate. None of the exercises I have planned can't be moved with a bit of adjustment here and there, so that shouldn't be an issue if you're interested. Besides, a decathalon may give you a nice break."

"Games?" He tilts his head, letting his hair - which is getting much longer than Kaies ever wore it - spill down to the ground. "It could be fun. And anything for Ai, eh?" Seriously. "Will you be playing too?"

"I don't think so, no. The twins will probably be participating, though. Dewei certainly...again, for that 'anything for Ai' reason you so accurately named." Felina notices that a certain iris nearby has finally bloomed, smiles softly, and sits down beside it, examining it gently with a claw. "I'll also try to round up some more contestants from here and there."

"Pity," he chuckles, looking back to the cover of his book. "I would have liked to see you playing for fun. You know, I think I've learned that 'fake flying' trick you had me studying."

"Oh?" Felina looks up. "Show me."

Makyon sets the book down upon the step and rises, grinning a little. He'd been eager to show her this... it's irrational, but somehow earning her approval has become the number two priority in his life... right behind making her blush.

"Alright..." his eyes close for a moment. He takes one step, then two, rising a little higher on transparent energy platforms with each step. Then, breathing more deeply, he begins to phase shift up, using the platforms to give himself footing and mimic flight. It goes fairly well; thoughhe does miss one platform and only ends up recovering through a lucky step.

"Mm..." she may have been more critical without that misstep, actually. She doesn't want to discourage him too much. Felina nods. "Well done. You've been working off-hours again." She tilts her head. "Try creating two platforms to choose from on your next step. In as quick a succession as possible, preferably both at the same time. If not, we'll call that a goal."

"See..." he grins, beaming inwardly at her praise, "... that's my biggest flaw, as of now. I can only do one at a time. Were it not for phase-shifting I would just fall."

Felina nods. "speaking of which, get down here."

Makyon knows better than to show off, and just lets himself fall down to the ground. A neat landing awaits him, and he straightens up before Felina. He knows the student game pretty well, by now.

Felina stands up, brushes off her quite-dusty black garments--it doesn't help much--and picks up two stones. These she tosses in Makyon's general direction, but wide and in opposite directions. "Catch."

It's some kind of test. Still, Makyon figures that failing it immediately and being shown the lesson in it will be quicker than figuring it out, and so performs his typical shifting. One step left, catch, one step right, catch... at least, he hopes it will work out that way.

"Great." She already has three more in hand. Goodness knows where she's getting them in the manicured gardens...probably not fron here at all. Throws them all, again at the same time. "Catch."

He blinks, and shifts twice again. Three is too many, probably, and so he tries something different. A curved platform, just like the others, manifests in front of rock number three. He hopes to catch it with that, though heaven knows if it will just bounce out or what.

It does, but after a hesitation. "Fine. Decent improvisation, just make it deeper next time. Catch." Four this time.

Same routine... two shifts, one platform. This time he shifts towards the caught one, letting the energy dissipate and attempting - too late - to cause a field before the fourth one, too.

"Okay, then." Felina closes her eyes a moment and then steps back...but an entirely white duplicate of her remains exactly where she'd been. It's not clad, but missing quite enough details that this shouldn't be too much a problem. "This doppleganger is going to keep throwing stones at you, at wider intervals. You don't get to go anywhere until you can catch six. Your hint for the day is that you have to start concentrating on all of the stones at once, decide what's going to fall first and make independent decisions for each." She turns and heads back towards the house. "I'll let Ai know that You'd like to participate in the games."

"This is not fair," Makyon whines, "she's better endowed than you."

Felina smirks. "If you insist." And, although it loses her face as well, the doppleganger morphs into something quite a bit shapelier. Quite a bit. Though still all white, it's also marginally more detailed. "Contrate on the stone lumps, remember."

"Stones?" Makyon is just teasing her. She's fun, even if she is harsh. "Alright. Six of them... ready." He isn't going to tell her that his perception is still weak. But what the hell.

Felina smirks back at him a moment, and continues on her way, and the doppleganger starts its game. Now...who else to invite?

---

Felina looks up from where she's been punching the hell out of some poor stuffed bag when Dewei and Ai appear. Evaluates for just a moment, then looks down to where blood is slowly pooling on the floor. "Right then. That would blend in better with one of the cherrywood-inlaid floors, you know." She stands up, turning to them with her full attention. "So what can I do to help?"

"Sorry... about your floor," Ai begins, slowly. Her mouth is dry and it's extremely hard for her to talk like this. "The spell... that you worked to save me. I need you to undo it... if you can."

"Mm..." Felina ponders this for a few seconds. She hadn't known how to do it when she'd cast it. Her lips twitch. "So tht's why..." she murmurs. "Heh...I can do that, Ai. Let's get you into a clean environment first, though. Right now pathogens could potentially live in your muscle tissue, and we need to make sure you're not exposed to any more that will remain there once you lose the resilience of undeath. We'll remove what's already there." She looks to her son. "Dewei, take her to the medical room and activate its protective spells, hey?"

Dewei nods.


Felina smiles reassuringly at Ai, and nods. "Don't worry. I said before that I didn't know how to do this, and that was true. But just before he left, Tel-tiono--his parallel, that is--left me letter. It contained all the instructions to reversing this spell set. Now I know why. I've already studied them. You'll be just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill vampire-dumen-goddess in no time."

"If... it wouldn't ruin your suit, I would hug you," Ai notes. She looks to Dewei, entirely under his power to lead around at the moment. There's something about blood and pain that keeps her sunny side down.

Dewei smiles too, trying to be reassuring, though he's quite freaked out under the surface. Hiding it well enough, though. He sets a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the nauseating squishiness of it, and a powerful pain-relieving spell encompasses the half-undead goddess. "Fixed in no time," he reiterates.

Then he and Ai appear in that room, since he doesn't want to make her walk any more than necessary. "Here...you can sit down if you like, Miss Ai." This is the same room she'd been in when the first spells had been lid, although she never woke up to know that. "If you lie down over the spell circle, you won't have to be touching anything physical."

She does as told. She's upset, anxious... really out of her element. The fact that she could watch her heart beat if she wanted to, and if it beat, freaks her out more than anything.

"You don't have to stay," she assures him, "I know it must be oth... oth..." she coughs. "Off putting."

Outside, a certain sorcerer appears from his conquest of spider-parts. He'd taken time to change clothes and wash goo off himself first, explaining the delay to Mara-kuru with the truth, which is stranger than most lies he could have told. Now, he just wants to be with his daughter, though he doesn't really raise any warnings that he's here.

"Oh, good," Felina notes. Her voice is nearby him, but she's not. "Come help me, I'll explain as I prepare. Having someone else support the energy for this reversal will help."

Meanwhile, Dewei shakes his head as he activates the room's ever-present spells, which set to neutralizing all alien microscopic bodies in the area. "No. I mean, yeah, you're scary, but...just because I'm worried about you, and wished you weren't hurting. But I'd rather be here...if you don't mind, of course, Miss Ai."

"Just don't look too hard," Ai warns him, "I don't want you to remember me this way."

Radivishe Moorn needs no prodding. This is his daughter's health, and he would ally with any one to ensure that she felt well. Felina at this point is more like a verbal punching bag and pugilist then an enemy, anyway.


"Well...I won't forget it. But then, you, ehm...did introduce me to your father's runecraft with your bare back. That image isn't easily pushed out by anything." Dewei grins a sheepish, slightly goofy grin, just trying to get her to relax a bit, if possible.

There isn't a lot of physical preparation to be done for all this...there isn't a circle involved, and no potions or such. It's further into the realm of pure psionics than wizardry. Felina's in her study, mostly reading through the spell set and her father's notes, and then rereading the spell again. Unlike last time Moorn had encountered her, there aren't any symbols or syllables or intricacies she doesn't understand. She's still in her workout clothes, though she's forced them clean: a black gi very much like Mara's, though it's tied at the waist with a sash in her trademark amber-gold. She'd taken to wearing black instead of white shortly after a long healing process, when Mara had dedicatedly tracked her down and brought her some new clothes. White simply hadn't looked right after wearing the new ones awhile, though the red she was perfectly happy to part with.

"This is going to be pretty straightforward," she notes without looking up from the letter when Moorn walks in, "but assistance would help a good deal. There are going to have to be two underlying energies supporting Ai's life, intertwined with one another...one supporting her life force as it is at this moment, undead-infused, and one of pure life energy to catch and carry it when the former can no longer support it." She looks up. "It would really help for you to handle that part. It gives me some room to work and a margin for error where there wasn't much before."

"I can handle that," the sorcerer assures her. "You won't have to worry about it. The spark of divinity she carries will aid that, as well. Will this hurt her?" He is her father, no matter what else he is, and though he does not doubt that Felina can undo her spells he does worry that his daughter is suffering.

Felina nods. She definitely understands. "Yes, towards the end. But she's already been in pain today, since her body is straining against itself and my spells. Dewei has that pain stifled for the moment, so you know. Anyway, this won't hurt for long, not even through the entire spell set, and nothing truly severe. Similar to what you’d feel on and off in a recently- regenerated limb for the first few days." She sets the letter down. "We should warn her ahead of time and reassure her that it won't be as bad as what she was feeling earlier, so that she doesn’t end up agonizing, anticipating something that isn't going to happen. That done, considering how relatively mild it should be, I doubt she’ll even remember the pain to any great extent once she gets distracted with having her proper form back."

"Then let us do this. I want to see her smile again." Moorn goes on ahead of Felina, hating to leave a statement like that in the air when he can see the look on her face.

In the other room, Ai is beginning to get nervous. "Should it take this long...? Is there something I don't know?" Questions like that roll forth from her dried-out tongue one after another as she grows more and more anxious.

Felina smooths the letter onto the desk, and follows, quietly pondering all of this. She doesn't expect any problems. It should be, though not easy, well within her realm of capability.

"I'm not sure, Miss Ai," Dewei answers honestly, sitting cross-legged on a wide stool-bench of sorts. "But...I do know that my mother sounded sure of the spell. And she's not one to lead people on about what she can and can't do. Especially if it's important, and especially if it's someone she likes. I'm sure it will go well."

"I trust your mother," Ai nods. She's about to say something else when her father arrives, leaning wordlessly against the wall. He does smile at her, a bit, but not at Dewei. He's too preoccupied for pleasantries.

Felina arrives a few moments later, of course, in time to catch the interaction between the sorcerer and his daughter. She smiles at Ai, both reassuringly and in greeting. "Don't worry, Miss Ai...this should be quite straightforward. In twenty minutes or so, it will be as though you never visited the Aurian Marsh at all. Do you have any questions before we begin?"

Ai shakes her head slowly. "I just want this despair to go away. I'm no fun this way."

Felina's eyes soften. "You're just too peppy to be undead, that's all. Your father will be helping. He'll be the one making sure that nothing takes a really sour turn, so you'll be safe. Yes, Dewei, you can stay if Ai allows it. It shouldnt' hurt anything so long as you're quiet."

Ai lets her head lay back. If she had eyelids, she'd close them, but she doesn't, so she just relaxe as best she can.

Moorn lets his spirit and mind open up, analyzing his daughter's life force and supplementing it bit by bit on both sides of the living spectrum. It is not a task that requires a great deal of energy or concentration, though both are present in voluminous quantities anyway.

Felina lets out a slow breath, finishes clearing her mind...Dewei does as best he can, though for a different reason. His thoughts and emotions can't distract; it's what she'd really meant by "quiet."

Reversing the spells is far more complicating than laying them had been. Felina walks quietly over to Ai and first weaves a spell to largely keep the half-goddess from being aware of what's going on or the passage of time...it's essentially partial unconsciousness. That done, she sets to work.

First comes unwravelling the spells solidifying Ai's undead state, cutting it from its anchors. Then, with a silent indication to Moorn that Ai's life force is going to begin transitioning now, she begins to carefully, painstaking unwravel the spell itself, creating a perfect reversal of each at the same time. Her breath's a little quicker by the end of that, though controlled, and her mouth is just beginning to twitch towards exertion.

Still, no extreme fatigue rears its head, as per a certain sorceror's help in the right place.

Once every reversal is laid, it's time to essentially start again, and the elder psion goes through and meticulously breaks each reversed spell line while simultaneously threading and reconnecting the original, natural, newly-restored energy strand.

Felina pauses when this is through to carefully check Ai's energy for discrepancies before going on. Her body hasn't yet begun to heal...except, hopefully, by its natural processes.

Ai's image has dropped away with the unconsciousness, revealing again her mutilated state. Moorn eyes are closed all the while, not for concentration's sake. If he looks, he might do something he might regret.

"Is it over..." Ai's whispering, drugged-ish voice asks of them. Her fingers twitch, and they feel itchy, as the skin begins to grow over her muscles again.

"No. But we're mostly there. Just hang on a bit more, okay?" Felina touches Ai's forehead gently--or it seems she does, a little telekinetic push finishs the gap since physical fingers would have hurt. Then, she gets to routing all undead energies away from Ai. She grimaces, face severely pained for a moment, and then forces the expression away quickly. This part will be the trickiest from Moorn's side, since it's when the energy transfers over fully and has to be supported on the life energy side.

Then...it's done. Should be. Healed, repaired, totally fixed. "Ai... Felina breathes in a controlled whisper... "it's okay. You're complete."

Moorn finally opens his eyes. He breaths a slow sigh of relief, but says nothing for the moment.

Ai sits up slowly, feeling all over her face. Nose, check. Eyes... check. Hair... oh thank heaven, but check. Clothes... hey, check! It had taken about a seventh of a second for her to restore her image once she felt certain things coming back, and her cropped denim vest and jeans over black shirt outfit is back before the image fades. She looks around.

"I'll... something." She looks at Felina mostly, at first. "My eyes feel strange." They look different, too... as black as ever, but her irises are a stinging shade of blue, the kind of blue one sees on a stormy day, mixed with grey.

Felina has a sort of forced smile on her face, although there's certainly something genuine involved, too. "I'll see to it in just a moment, Ai. You look great..." this spoken, she turns and simply hurries from the room, expression fading and eyes closing as soon as her back is turned, step slightly off.

Dewei watches her go...blinks. Is torn between what to do, and not to do. Finally looks at Ai. "Well...it's a change. We'll have to find you a mirror. But it's nice to see you without skin and without strain at the same time." He smiles, and nods, though part of him's worried about his mom.

"It's nice to have skin," Ai remarks. "Dewei... you can go see to your mom. You can't hide anything from me. Father and I have to talk anyway and..." she hesitates. "I need to collect myself."

Dewei smiles sheepishly, finally jumps down off of the bench--his legs are really sore and really asleep, leaving him holding something for balance for a moment, since he hadn't dared to move much at all while the casting was happening. "Thank you, Miss Ai, and...congratulations. I really am happy for you." He smiles, nods and heads for the door.

"You will be," she remarks to his back, "once I find a way to brush my teeth."

Her father glares at her for a second. "For the record, Dewei, my reward for you will not mirror Ai's. Probably."

"Father," Ai asks... "what happened to your hair?"

Dewei snickers just before walking out. "That would be my aunt." And he heads after his mother, step quickening.

She lets him go without interruption. Her arms raise above her head to stretch, and it feels so nice that she practically squeaks.

"Everything seem to be in order, Father. I trust you did not let Dewei into trouble on my account...?"

Radivishe Moorn shrugs, his typical 'I can't be bothered with this' shrug. "Dewei did not need my help, only my advice. He can handle himself as well as anyone."

"Really..." she reaches up, toying with pocket on her vest. "My respect for him and his family grows each time I see one of them. Um..." her head tilts over. "My runes are gone. Would you restore them, father?"

"Of course."

Dewei catches up with his mother down the hall, her shoulder planted heavily against the wall and an arm clutching the lower part of her ribcage. He's sure that he catches a low groan. "Mother...?"

Predictably, the grimace plastered across her face fades away when he approaches, replaced by a stubborn blankness though she's facing the other way, and she straightens up after a moment. "Yes, Dewei?"

He's silent for a second. He knows the answer to this one ahead of time. Damnit. "Are you okay...?"

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about it, okay? Go see Ai. You did just arrange saving her life and all."

The half-dumen frowns. He knows what the problem is. Something in recent energy discharge had activated part of her scar. He can sense the very slight energy change...it is slight. Ting's never been able to pick it out exactly. But it's there. "Mother..." He puts a hand gently on her shoulder. "Maybe you should sit down, or something? Can I get you something."

Felina smiles. A little tightly, but...her eyes are warm. She puts a hand on her son's significantly bigger one. "I'll be fine, Ding. I promise. Okay? Don't worry about it. You know I've been picking this spell apart year by year. It will be gone eventually."

Another silence.

"...stop it. It was a long time ago. Things were different then, okay? He's been a good mentor to you so far; you know that. Now seriously. Go see Ai." Felina flicks his nose very lightly with the back of a claw, and smirks. "That's not a request."

Back in the room, Ai is twitching a bit. Her father was never good at keeping his runes painless, which was something Ai had worked on after his death. It doesn't hurt much, about as much as any other tattoo, but it's still enough to make her grumble at him.

"This time," he assures her, "I have something to prevent any undead interference with your life stream. Real demon blood is as close to divine as mortal creatures get, you know. The overseers won't miss it."

Ai, though, isn't paying much attention. She's feeling for Dewei, feeling for his mood, to gain a glimpse into what just happened.

The younger of the twins is no more in the habit of concealing his moods from his thoughts than from his face. He's happy for Ai, that's there, but...he's also worried and very conflicted.

Her once-again generous lips tilt a bit. "My games," she tells her father, "you're coming, right?"

"Of course. If for no other reason than to point and laugh."

"Good. Would you tell Dewei to meet me at Raufante? I want to show him the stadium. I'll leave a signature for him to follow." With her runes done Ai kisses her father's cheek, to little visible reaction as per his nature, and vanishes, bound for her moon.

Dewei smiles a bit at his mother, and nods. "Yes, ma'am. If you promise to sit down and get some tea...?"

Felina grins a little. "Don't push it. Fine. Scat."

Dewei smiles, nods, and turns to head back towards the medical room.

The mother closes her eyes when he leaves. Right. Sitting and tea, both good things.


Dewei blinks when he walks into the room. "Ai already left, then?" he inquires of Moorn, a hair disappointed.

"She wants you to go with her," the sorcerer answers tersely. "Follow her energy signature to Raufante." He cocks an eyebrow. "Now."

Dewei blinks, not sure what had cause the tension...but knows better than to so much as think of questioning, nods, and is gone.

Felina takes a few minutes to get things fully under control. Hurts still, sure, but nothing she can't hide fairly completely. Moorn's still here, even though Ai isn't. Just Why, she can't be positive of yet. So, she straightens her appearance and heads back to the medical room. It needs to be put back into order, anyway.

"I don't suppose you're part of the cleanup commitee?" she inquires once she's there, none-too-accusingly. It's a moot point anyway. Any blood Ai had left has already cleaned of its own accord. Still, she begins to set the place's spells back to their neutral, ready states.

Moorn shakes his head, however unnecessarily. "I was going to ask you about your leaving so suddenly. I imagine you won't tell me, but I am certain that slapping you around until you do might be nostalgic fun."

"You know, the sad part is, I'm not sure I wouldn't enjoy it? I haven't lost a fight in entirely too long for my personal sanity." Felina sets something back up on a shelf and, thus finished, turns to the sorceror. "The energy release had a side-effect. I needed a moment to shake it off, is all. I do apologizing for dampening a moment, however slightly."

"And what sort of side effect might that be?" His arms cross. He isn't going anywhere until this is settled, and wants her to know that. She'd just done a great deed for his daughter, after all.

Felina's arms fold as well. "How is it," she observes after a moment, "that after all these years, you're still able to make me feel like a cornered kid?" Actually, she considers that flat impressive. Not many people can freak her out. He's one.

"I have a villain's eyebrows. Stalling will only make me get Mara to style your hair, as well." The sad part is that he isn't kidding, and considers it a fitting punishment.

Felina has to snicker. "I'd refrained from mentioning the bows. I'll consider that permission." She considers for several very long moments, thoughts flung a thousand ways. She finally unfolds her arms enough to gesture, and points a claw at her collar, then traces it down off her hip. "When you do something, you do it well. But, today was entirely expected and planned for, since I knew what sorts of energy would need to be routed away. So, it caused no risk to Ai, Sparkles."

"Well, kitten, suppose you were talking to someone who could potentially undo the aftereffects of his own attack. You know. As if he had written runes into the wound." Moorn tilts his head. "I put everything I knew into that, Felina. It was you, or me. And I would not change it. Neither would you."

"No. Some mistakes deserve death. Doing research that could kill you without expecting retribution was the most damned foolish thing I've done in my life." An apology would be stupid. She'd neither give one in his shoes nor expect one in hers. The same goes for her retaliatory death blow.

"Foolish. It saved your life, you moron." Moorn puts his fingers to his the bridge of his nose. "Far be it for me to say what is right, though. Now will you let me undo my damage, or must I force you?" The jesting is done. At this point, the fact that she has done him a favor burns in his brain like a branding iron, not for pride's sake, but because of how deeply he treasures his daughter.

Felina frowns lightly. Purely for pride's sake. Flavored with just a hint of "I remember this guy, he's my mortal enemy." Appropriate terminology, since Moorn, for the last few years of their previous relationship, claimed the distinction of being the only person in history even now for her to have really applied the word "enemy" to. But...no. She really doesn't think that she shouldn't trust him now.

Not just from psionics. She knows him. Well.

She'd closed her eyes, thinking. Now she reopens them again, slowly. "What...do I need to do?"

He smirks at her frown. He's a good guy now, damn the luck, and she knows that. "Just as Ai did. Remove your articles and lie down. Cover with images what you must, I could care less what you look like under that potato sack."

"Considering 'too much information' moments with my nether double, I'd say you know plenty," Felina observes smoothly. She's not body-shy, normally. This being Moorn, she is right now. Pride counters that right back, though, and leaves no room for generated illusions. She sighs inwardly, and begins untying her sash. Before long, her garments are laid neatly off to one side of the spell circle, and Felina lies down atop of it...trying to swallow her reservations. Why is she doing this?

Because she's an idiot, of course.

At least he has sparkly braids. They make her feel immeasurably better.

"It could be worse," he shrugs. "At least you can expect no comments from me." He's seen Mara, anyway. "Alright..." he moves his hand up, and over the scar, feeling the energies there. "Hard to believe they lasted for so long. Alright. Brace yourself, this will not take long, but you will likely feel out of body for a sec-"

The jolt is nearly immeasurable. Pure rune sorcery of ten different kinds running backwards in unison, more than enough to carve a crater in a planet should it be used in that way.

A startled, clipped scream actually tears from her throat at that, incredibly rare, followed by "holy fucking hell, since when can you cast that fast? Damnit!" Her eyes are crossed. A bone had actually shattered from her body's convulsion..but it's easily fixed, and she hardly notices it. Felina just leaves her eyes closed, catching her breath. Her senses turn to the scar when shegathers herself enough.

"Since I had a quarter second window to break out of hell again." Moorn turns away. "The runes are dormant, now. Still there, but not active, and only I, or Ai, could reactivate them. It's a short fix, but effective as any other."

Felina sits up once she's finished knitting her hip, hand still to her head. Ugh. That was a trip. She nods. "Well...it pains me to say it, but...thanks."

"I'm sure. So dress, and we need to talk." He turns all the way away, moot, but a gesture of decency anyway.

All told, she's a little stunned by what had just happened. She'd met his daughter. Then Tanru had gone away. Moorn had come back. Previously uneasy relations with the Pantheon had been properly established, in a good way. Orrin was healed. Now, something that's caused her pain practically as long as she can remember has been nullified. Admittedly, nullified and not destroyed, but...still.

Radivishe Moorn shows up and things get better? That's...interesting.

She pulls on her undergarments, then her pants. "So..." she begins as she reaches for her gi... "talk about what?"

"Two things. First, I should tell you that people are starting to pay attention to Istan Aiga. A planet just appearing will do that. I have seen a few scout-vessels in the upper atmosphere, but it concerns me more that the scouts are fairly heavily armed. Nothing has come of it yet, but still. And the second thing..." He pauses a moment. "I wonder if Ai and Dewei have not become too close?"

"Well...as for the first part...do you know whether they're strategically interested in the planet, or in you?"

"Not clearly, no." Another shrug. "There have been no attempts at communication, which makes sense. Stepping foot on an unknown planet is idiotic without reconnaisance."

"True, especially when that planet is very obviously under the hand of someone powerful. Is the technology consistent with that warbot that tried to squish our kids awhile back?"

"Quite. Are you decent yet?"

She's finishing knotting her sash behind her as he asks, and drops the ends after a few moments. "I am now."

Moorn turns back around, his beads swinging and flashing. "I am new to this 'decent person' nonsense. My instinct is to destroy one of their scouts, warn them not to come closer. But that is not right with the decency issue."

"Well, that, and reaffirming that you're hostile to everyone who expects it of you isn't going to help the whole 'live without a constant state of war' thing. The slightest hint that things will be as they are before will be a drop of blood in ocean waters." Felina ponders this quietly for several moments. Wow. Yes. He really is in a very precarious position. "So. If you needed to simply talk to someone, you'd have gone to Mara. What can I do?"

"Your word would mean a great deal more than my own. And you have experience dealing with technologically advanced cultures, where I do not, generally speaking. All I want is for you to identify the vessels and their apparent purpose, if you can. Mara would no doubt teleport into their leader's cabin and cute them into submission."

"Point." Felina nods, thinking. "All right. I'll look into it this way and that, and get back to you on what I find or do. I guess I owe you for fixing my chest, anyway."

"Hardly. That was for helping my daughter, so you are under no obligation. I can handle it, should it turn unfavorable." 

"Fair enough. I'll do it for my son, then. He'd be threatened should Istan Aiga come under attack. Speaking of whom..." She considers a moment. "I'm not what to say about Ai and Dewei. They...really did hit it off immediately upon meeting. With Dewei, it's perfectly explainable. First, your daughter is a very pretty girl, and, more importantly, she'd impressed him with her attitude and wit within about five seconds of meeting him. After that, casual flirting is a habit of hers, harmless, but...well...Dewei's a young man, and easily flattered. A crush was only to be expected."

Felina shrugs. "Ai seems to be returning it, though, or beginning to. That, I didn't expect. Although, to be perfectly honest, I might have seen it coming if I'd paid more attention."

"My concern is simply whether this would create tension considering our backgrounds. And do not bore me with lies about it being your son's choice. Any parent with half a moment in the field will meddle in the child's life as long as possible."

"Between us, maybe. But I think they can work through it fine so long as we can. They don't truly understand what went on between us despite knowing the outcomes. We both sheltered them from the knowledge. My bigger concern is the fact that she's your daughter and he's your apprentice. That's a conflict. I'm thirsty. Walk with me?" And she heads for the door, leaving little other choice to continue the conversation. Mostly because it's not inconveniencing anyone.

Moorn follows without affirmation. "How is that a conflict, if I might play the part of the uninformed?"

"Well, mostly it casts you in a dual role. On the one hand, you're his master, and the goal in that is often to push him quite relentlessly. So, what happens if he ends up tired for a few weeks due to a hard number of sessions, or just busy doing work after-hours? He's not much fun for Ai. What happens when she asks for some time off for him so that they can be together? What if she asks often?" Felina beckons a pot over when thy get into the kitchen, and begins scooping some tea to measure. "'Father' may end up a confusing role under the circumstances."

"You can imagine how I failed to consider such a thing. This interaction issue fills few pages in my biography, as I'm sure you're aware." THe sorcerer purses his lips, considering all of this for about three seconds. "This largely depends on what Dewei wishes to do with himself. I am only teaching him rune sorcery, which he is picking up even faster than Ai did by the way, and I do not intend to teach my entire catalogue. You above all should know that he would have little interest in the bulk of it anyway."

Felina nods slowly, thoughtfully. "Yeah. He's still acting on an extinguished goal, although there's nothing wrong with knowledge for knowledge's sake." She sighs quietly, leaning thoughtfully on the counter.

"Mara's mentioned it often enough," she notes after a few moments. "'Pushing the twins out of the nest.' She says it that way to avoid picking on anyone. She doesn't mean Ting. Ting visits a lot, but she's forging her own life elsewhere. Dewei...doesn't know what to do with himself. And I don't know how to help him with that. He's far too powerful to be a Guardian. Knows more than his sister about my history with the Derrias--as well as Saea's and my father's--and refuses to entertain the notion of joining up with them. He can't even do what I do. At this point, problems fall into my lap by reputation. He hasn't established a name for himself yet. Tea?"

"No. You know, Dewei would make a fantastic dictator on some planet somewhere." Moorn is still working on that whole politeness thing, as well. "He is powerful enough to gain power easily, thoughtful enough to run a system well, and passive enough to avoid yielding to the frivolities of those who do not know what is good for them."

"Mmm..." Felina smirks a little as she sits down at what's actually a perfectly normal dining room table. "Well, I can honestly admit that it had never occurred to me. Although frighteningly true..." She ponders this. Blows the steam gently from her tea, and sips it.

"Mm. He really would make a good monarch, huh? The stumbling block comes in the 'seizing power' part. Dewei would never have the heart to hurt someone for his own advancement. He's too much my son for that. Too much like his uncle." Still, she's thoughtful. She's not sure how seriously it had been intended, but the sorceror had raised a stunningly good point.

"He need not seize power. When I ruled a nation ages ago, I did not seize anything. I convinced all those around me that I knew better how to run things than anyone else, especially their own lives. Dewei is not charming enough for that, but if he had a centerpiece he could certainly..." Blinks. "His sister would do famously."

"Mm. Mayflies are better at focussing on one thing for extended periods of time than she is. But...it wouldn't have to be too long, I suppose. Long enough to seat Dewei. Yes, I suppose that would work splendidly." She's not really planning, so much as discussing and working with an interesting problem.

About this time there is a bright 'poof' in actual, literal onomotopoeia just beside the table, and Mara-Kuru appears in its fading form.

"Ha! I knew that would work, and mmf!"

Moorn's hand was moving towards her mouth, gently, before she ever appeared. Oh yeah. He's learning.

"Mara."

"Mfdfsh."

Felina has to grin, fairly broadly, and then sips her tea. "Hi, Mara."

Moorn removes his hand and leans back against the wall, amused to no end.

"Hiya! I have a bird, Felina! Anyway how's things? Everything good? Did you find that thingy for Ai? Where's Ting is she here yet? I have rice balls. To eat, shut up. A whole bag! Somewhere."

"Bird? Things are fine. Everything's great. Ai's fixed. Ting's not here yet. Going to share? Beat me to it. And good luck finding that." So she missed one. Mara's still a pretty darned good memory workout, and Felina's smiling amusedly into her drink. "Tea, Mara?"

"Yeah a bird!" Mara sits calmly, smiling for several seconds. "Yes, please, I would love some tea."

Felina smiles, and gets up to get that. "So. Tell me about your bird. Where did you get a bird?"

"Oh! Dewei brought this goth chick home with him. He's a stud. And, she's got some energy irregularities. I think she's been enchanted by some ass who didn't know what he was doing, because now she has gills on her sides. Silly. But anyway, it's her bird, it's a crow, and it talks! Sort of."

"Huh...and where's this goth chick now?" Felina sits back down, herself. It occurs to her how very strange it is to be so at ease with moorn so close at hand.

The sorcerer is just quiet. Once you've seen someone naked, it's hard to feel quite the same animosity towards them. There is something about the peak of vulnerability that makes tension seem moot.

"She's in my room at Istan Aiga. Recoverring. She got gassed with knockout stuff somehow." Mara nods. "I love tea, and tea loves me, and leaves!"

"Mm. But not as much as it loves mysteriously turning flourescent pink." Felina swishes her tea interestedly in the glass. "Hi Dewei, Ai." Looks up Reads her son's face. Smiles a "good lord I'm trying to not grin from ear to ear" little smile, and looks back to her tea, sipping it.

"Hiya Ai and aww! Cute." Mara beams, sips her tea, and swishes in her chair as usual. 

Ai, for once, seems oddly modest about the situation here. She's pink, but only around her ears, and unusually quiet.

Moorn yawns.

And, of course, a more opportune moment couldn't have been had. A certain other bob-eared feline halfbred springs out from somewhere above the table, pouncing Mara clean off her chair. "Hiii aunt! Miss me?"

"Yeeeeep!" Mara goes down of course, but is laughing by the time she hits the ground. "Tiiiing! Hi hi hi hi bear hug!" And she does.

Ai giggles. Catches herself. Laughs in a more mildly amused way.

"Hiya!" Predictably, Ting's more than happy to hug back, and looks around. "Hey, this is a pretty full house!" She bounces to her feet, and helps her aunt up. "Hm. Short one. Where's...ah-hah!"

"Gah!" Orrin's pounced back into the hallway as he starts to walk in, though he rolls with it and ends up on one knee beside his grinning daughter. "My life is a slapstick comedy," he observes, smirking.

Felia glances around. Closes her eyes. Just smiles softly, and sips her tea. Life is...pretty close to perfect.

Mara gets back up into her chair, observing, and swishing her nonexistant tail.

"I know what you're thinking," she says to Felina.

"Only if she is thinking of blue chocolate," Moorn is quick to answer.

Mara blinks. "Isn't she? Aren't ye? You?"

Ai lets go of Dewei for a moment, and crosses the floor to Ting and Orrin. "Good evening, sir," she greets him, "and hello Ting!"

"Of course. Blue chocolate is my new personal obsession."

Orrin smiles at Ai as he helps Ting up, and is quickly bear-hugged by his daughter. He grins, and looks back over to the goddess. "Hi, Miss Ai. You're looking well."

"Yeah! Heeey...you're not all zombified anymore!" Ting oberves, letting go of her father. "Yay! How'd that happen?"

"Your brother did this," she nods, doing a turn with a half-bow at the end. "He took father and hunted down the malefactor that had bitten me.  You might say that Dewei breathed the breath of life into me." She glances at him. Looks at Orrin, the picture of innocence.

Orrin suspects. Then glances to his son. Then looks back to Ai, and grins. "I'm sure." There's nothing derisive in that, though. He's just amused...and maybe a hair proud of his son, eh?

"Ooo...that's so cool! Dewei, how did...?" Ting stops. Blinks. Scrunches up her face. "Eew. That means you went to that nasty centipede marsh again." Appears next to her brother. Then she slaps him, though not very hard. "Bad! No getting bit by stuff."

Dewei's taken aback. Rubs his cheek. "Everyone else got a hug." He smirks.

Ting grins, and hugs him. "My baby brother has to be careful. The jerk."

"Oh, Gabriel was with him. No worries, right?" Mara pokes Moorn, who is just glad that Ting hasn't noticed his hair yet. 

"Dewei handled himself just fine. Defeating a two-story spider seemed like a warmup," Moorn nods. He was impressed. Still is.

"Ting," Ai tilts her head. "When you get a second, I want to talk to you about something that might be fun. Once the hugging is over, you see."

Mara smirks. "It's never over! Dibs!" And she pounces Ai cleanly off her feet, just like that.

Felina grins. Smiles at Orrin when he kisses her hair and sits down beside her.

Ting is perched on a chair, head tilted. She hadn't noticed Moorn much until he'd spoken up. She's just silent a bit. Then... "your hair's pretty. But it would look a lot better with green tips to go with that pink bow." She nods wisely.

Mara-kuru looks up from her frantic tickling of Ai, who is thrashing around and giggling madly. She's sensitive to pretty much any kind of touch, and has about fifty good tickle spots, each of which Mara knows by now. "That's a good idea! Ting, you need to help me style him next time."

"Felina, where is that black sword of yours?" Moorn looks at her, head tilted. "Green tips or overseers... hm..."

Felina looks down to her tea, then holds it up. "Well. The tea's probably radioactive by now. It may either kill you or colour your hair and save them the trouble."

Ting giggles, and wanders over to Ai, leaning over so she's face-to-face with the half-goddess. "Hi! So what's this fun thing?"

Ai looks up at her, still flustered from tickling.

"Dewei," Mara whispers to him, "I hope you were taking notes."

"Well, Ting... I am going to host some goodwill games on my moon. Would you be interested in playing?"

Dewei sputters something quietly...then, ears hot, just clams up. Orrin grins.

"Sure! What are goodwill games?" Ting grins at Ai. Exactly opposite her brother. Agree, then figure out what she just agreed to.

"Well... a series of athetic contests, purely for sport." Ai nods. "I already have several participants, but I thought extending the offer to my friends would be a nice gesture. And I wanted to see you compete."

"Can I beat anyone up?"

"There will be wrestling, does that count?" Ai looks around, holds out her hands. "Someone help me up."

Mara is busy combing through Moorn's hair, examining it, and muttering about 'lime or kiwi...'.

Dewei, of course, is quick to offer Ai his hands.

"Hee...sounds fun!" Ting bounces. "I can wrestle a little. But not a lot. It's kind of easy. You just yell 'hey, let go of my boob you pervert!' and they usually do. Then you pin 'em."

Ai snags Dewei's hands and gets to her feet, dusting herself off and primly resetting herself immediately.  "Thank you, Dewei." She smiles for him, looks back to Ting. "Events like that would probably be gender-separate. That way only women like your aunt might grab anything."

"Hey!"

Ting snickers, and hops over to her aunt to pat her. "Yay! So when are these, anywho?"

Ai thinks about that for a second. "Felina, was it a whole day since we spoke under the tree at my place? I cannot remember... if so, two days, if not, two and a half."

"Close enough." Felina nods, looking out the window. It's dark. It's pretty late on Helantri Deru, though not on Istan Aiga or Niven Ai. "It's been quite the eventful six hours, anyway. So, two and a half."

Ai smiles at Ting. "Two and a half. I was showing Dewei the arena earlier."

"It's very nice," Dewei assures his sister.

She grins. "Well...yay, then!"

Felina sips her tea. "Well. This is a cozy little houseful. I don't suppose anyone wants something to eat or anysuch?"

"Rice balls!" Mara squeaks, just as a bag poofs onto the table. "Lots of 'em."

"I, actually, should go to check those scout ships." Moorn pats Mara's hair. "If you'll excuse me, Felina."

Ai perks up. "I could eat, if you have something..."

Felina nods to Moorn. "I'll look into my side of it first thing in the morning." That way her time before fatigue impaires her is less finite. He's never been huge on empty words, so she leaves out words of parting, but for the nod. She looks to Ai, and smiles. "Well...we seem to have plenty of rice balls. I can throw something else on the table, if you have any special requests."

"Would fish be out of the question?" Ai snags Dewei's hand and heads for a chair, smiling a little over her shoulder. "I apologize if... I mean... no cat references, just..."

"Foot in mouth." Moorn pats his daughter.

Felina smirks at the Orrs, amused. "Yes, well, least not everyone on the premesis gets a hairball as a result. Any particular sort, Ai?"

Ai blushes a little big more brightly. "Grouper is good..."

"Yeah! Grouper is good." Mara hops up and puts her arm around Ai's shoulder, to lessen whatever's pinking her cheeks. 

"Grouper I can do." Felina nods, and stands up. "Want to help me with drinks, Ting?"

"Sure!" Mostly because it gives her a chance to pull off a showy jump onto the back of a chair and over the counter, somehow without incident. "Whee!"

Felina rolls her eyes a little, amused. My life in a circus. She looks back over to Moorn, after a moment's thought, as she heads back towards the kitchen area. "Sure you won't stay?"

The sorcerer shakes his head. "I should probably go ahead." He rises, takes a moment to touch the cheek of his daughter and pat Mara's head. "I will be about." And he vanishes, in typical Moorn-ish fashion.

Mara grins. "He's so rude. It's cute. I'll get the bread!"