MARIA

Smoke billowed out of the forge's chimney where the pound of the anvil resounded through her ears and the childhood she remembered the most. Stalks of lavender swayed within the potted garden which hung off the porch fence. Maria unlocked the gate with a smile at the familiar creak of the one rusty hinge when she swung it open. "Come on," she said to Yuven, who kept quite a distance behind her with his arms folded and feathers rattling against each-other. Up the small, cobbled path to the porch. Windchimes crinkled in the soft breeze of the ocean's breath. Off to the side, another hiss sounded from the forge. Father, hard at work no doubt. Her knuckle smacked against the thick oak door, and she tugged Yuven forward when he continued to hesitate on the edge of her life. His own slender hands fidgeted with his sleeve, though his feathers raised at the sounds of footsteps on the other side. The runelock drained of its power, Maria straightened herself out when Mother slipped open the door with a curious chirp, but then froze when her gaze processed them both. "Maria?" It opened further, and Yuven took a small step back when her attention landed on him, her pupils tightening into beads in one slow motion.

"Hello, Mom," Maria said and nudged Yuven forward again, who leaned into his heels from the attempt and slipped his fangs over his lip. "I want you to meet somebody. This is Yuven, he's the one I told you about in my correspondence. I'm sorry it took this long to introduce you and Father to him." Her elbow knocked into his ribcage, and he winced. "You can say hi, you know. It won't kill you." Head tilted, she smiled when he straightened himself out with a puff through his nose and nudged her in return and stepped forward, though she frowned when Mother examined him with no small amount of scrutiny.

"Warden Yuven Traye," he drew out the surname through a hiss. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

Mother relaxed her tense posture and shifted to the side to let them in. "Come inside for some tea. Leave your boots in the shoe rack."

She swept deeper into the house, and Maria indicated for Yuven to follow, slipping off her boots to put them in their proper pace, and he followed suit without further complaint, though from the way his feathers fluffed out he was none too pleased to be without any type of armor for any situation to befall him. Into the warmth of home, she led him into the living room to sit on the couch, angled towards the solar for the sun to peek through and light up the room. He sat with a stiff posture against the cushions, hands on his knees. Bubbles of water sounded from within the kitchen, and Maria elbowed Yuven once more when he shifted, agitated from the way his feathers fluffed out.

It took a couple minutes for Mother to return with a tray of cups. One placed in front of each of them, including an extra for Father, Maria smiled at her when the older Avaerilian slipped into her chair to study Yuven, who met her gaze with a twitch to his fingers. "Maria told us a lot about you," she remarked in Common, her accent shifting with a familiar melody, and when Yuven held his tongue, she went on, "Don't be shy, it's just chocoberry tea." A smile quirked her lips. Yuven took his cup into his hands, taking a cautious sip. "If you wish for more, I can bring the kettle out." Her own tall, blond feathers lifted in response. "I'd like to hear things from the mouth of the person though."

Yuven avoided her gaze and leaned back to angle himself so her body hid him, and Maria looked between them. "That depends, what have you heard about me?"

"You were raised by Neven Lotayrin. You are also a well-respected Storm Warden, though you were struggling with the Corruption for quite a long time," she listed off.

"Not anymore on that last fact... I just deal with flashes," Yuven muttered. "I still live thanks to Maria."

Maria sipped her own chocoberry tea, then said, "It was also you, Yuven, don't sell yourself so short. It's not like you." The porcelain clicked onto the coaster and she considered the two. "I'm hoping that you will get to meet Neven Lotayrin at some point. He..." Maria tapped her foot against the floorboards, causing Mom to lift her attention to her with a frown. "He helped me out quite a bit during my stay in Asairai and when we were setting up the Irimount Outpost."

Mother tapped a slender finger against the rim of the cup, with Yuven retreating once more with the topic no longer on him. "You didn't speak on that subject much, little sun," she commented.

A birdlike shriek stabbed into her ears when Neven slammed himself against his chains for freedom of his wings. Yuven narrowed his eyes beside her, straightening out from his uncertainty. Maria put her hand on his back to stop the words which surely grew in his throat. Full of self-blame and dismay. "You once told me you left Naveera because you could not settle yourself into the role that was decided for you," Maria commented, clasping Yuven's shirt to keep him quiet. "And, I discovered what you meant by that."

Mother set the cup down with a frown. "I would never want you to experience it first-hand, Maria." Her gaze flicked to Yuven, who avoided it by twisting his face to the solar. "Yuven, you hail from Irimount, correct?" He turned with a stiff nod, and Mother let out a breath. "Hofvasedylon," her Navei clicked through her teeth. "I know the weight your name carries, Yuven Traye."

Maria held onto Yuven tighter when he sank into his shoulders, but held himself strong in the spine. "Most do, Miss Ollain. It matters naught to me." Mother studied him, and he continued, "It has brought me nothing but trouble, so if I was to go by any name at all, it would be Neven Lotayrin's, not the Traye's. It is his crest I use, not the family name I was born into. I care not for their politics and games for a glorified chair, and I have less than zero intention to have your daughter thrown into it." The unspoken hung between them, and them alone for her time in Volaris' clutches, but Maria let him say his piece, as he always would. "I mean to stay far away from Naveera if I can help it."

It fell quiet between them.

Mother sighed, then smiled. "More tea?"

Yuven swung his attention to the half-drained cup. "I'm fine, thank you."

Her nervousness eased out of her legs when Mother relaxed substantially. "You are more than welcome here whenever you find yourself in the area," she said after one last, delicate sip. "I am glad to have met the man my daughter holds in such high regard... and that it seems she has found someone who adores and loves her, which is all I can ask for. If you make her happy, you will have no complaints from me."

Any tension left in Yuven's body broke in an instant, only to make a return at heavy footsteps from the door to the forge. "Was that a certain someone I heard?" he drew out in sing-song. He swung himself around the archway, but slammed to a stop when his eyes rested on Yuven. Maria hopped up to interject before Father's boisterous energy could slam into Yuven.

"Dad! I want you to meet Yuven! He's the one I've been talking about," she said and pulled Yuven to his feet, who let out an alarmed chirp. Hands on his shoulders, she brought him forward when Dad's expression shifted. "Yuven, this is my father. He's been especially excited to meet you." Yuven leaned into her at the huge berth of a man, hands calloused and arms strong from working at a forge and anvil for days at a time. Maria poked his spine, and he slid his fangs over his lips. "Yuven, you did it once, you can do it again." Yuven raised his hand and gave an awkward wave. Dad's shadow swallowed him, and his feathers straightened out further into his hair. In the silent, tense moments, Mother gathered up the cups to put them on the tray, though left the fourth untouched.

"You're skinny, have you eaten at all?" Dad remarked with a firm poke into his brow, causing Yuven to jerk. "You look like skin and bones. Would you like some mead?"

"Dad..." Maria warned and came from around Yuven. "He's been sick for a while. I have him on a diet for the time being so he can't drink mead all willy-nilly."

"Willy-nilly sounds like something Miesero would say..." Yuven grumbled.

Father dropped his hand from the space between him and Yuven. "Aye, a little mead never hurt anybody — unless they are allergic to honey — are you allergic to it?" he jumped from question to question.

"No, I'm not allergic to honey."

Maria prodded Father in the chest, causing him to take a step back even though her pokes had no force behind them. "He can have mead when I think his body has become accustomed to it," she interjected between the two men. "Next time we visit."

Father brought his hands up to give a little clap. "Excellent, I will grab a fresh batch from the distillery when the time comes." He then threw his hand out, though Yuven eyed it when it sat between them. "It's a handshake, lad," he said when Yuven took too long to take it. "I'm just happy to meet the man my daughter spoke so much of."

"Hope I met expectations," Yuven said shortly, then after a moment, took his hand, giving another little alarmed chirp when Father shook it with aplomb. His gaze flipped to her, and Maria smiled at him.

"Hard to have expectations when your own daughter won't say much. Likes to keep things as a surprise, she does," Father complained with warmth. "She was probably worried we wouldn't like you or approve of you in her life — not that that would stop her."

"Dad."

"Daughter."

Mother gave a quiet chuckle from her seat. "Elias, I made you some chocoberry tea," she called over to their huddled group by the archway. "Just the way you like it. You've been working all day today. Besides, evidently we have one more person to meet."

"Oh, who else?" Father turned to Maria for confirmation.

"Neven Lotayrin."

Father squinted. "Sounds like an Avaerilian name. Maybe Maria has mentioned it in one of her letters. More Avaerilian's are getting tossed to me as I get older."

"Elias."

"Natala."

Yuven shook out his hand, then turned to face her parents. "Neven Lotayrin is my father. If you do not approve of me it is of no consequence, I do love Maria with my heart," he said with a stiff bow. The man who never bowed or knelt to any higher power. "And... It was a pleasure to meet you after all this time." He straightened himself out, all the way to the tips of his feathers. He turned to her. "I still have some work to do back at the castle." It was Yuven-speak for 'Can I go now?' but Maria set him free the way she could not for Neven back in Volaris, in the cold, damp cells which stole his dignity and will to survive. Lost in apathy. Maria nodded, and he bumped his brow against hers before retreating out of the house.

"I hope we did not scare him off," Elias remarked once Yuven rushed off the property and towards Sivaport proper.

"No!" Maria waved her hands at him. "He's just been dealing with a lot as of late and he throws himself in work when stressed."

"Sounds like someone I know," Mother said with a huff and a side-eye towards Father.

Father released a soft scoff between his lips then nodded at her. "Don't let us keep you if you have outstanding things to do, Maria. You know you're always welcome to swing by and talk."

Well... I can't help Yuven and Fenrer with whatever is going on between them, that's not my fight to fight for them; and they've got Adara and as much as Yuven can complain about her, I know he takes her seriously when it comes to Fenrer. Maria folded her arms to consider her options, but with life never so promised with the depraved creatures called Derelicts, the ones she shoved her crescent blade in before they could sink their teeth into her. Her time in the cell haunted the edges of her mind, so she came closer to her parents, to warmth and security. "I don't mind sticking around for a little longer. I don't have anything to do right now," she said. "Besides, now that you met Yuven, I can talk your ears off about him."

Mother's eyes crinkled. "Please do," she said, her voice distant, and Father appeared to notice as well, because his attention lowered to her with her same curiosity at Mother's behaviour. "It has been Turns since I last met a Traye."

Maria jolted. "Wait, what?"

Father scratched his beard and let out a low whistle, deciding to sit on the couch.

Mother sighed and drew herself up. "It was a long time ago, Maria, when I came of age to be betrothed... I just found it passing amusing," she admitted. "Yuven Traye is the near spitting image of the younger of the two brothers I was presented to. It just brought me back there for a moment." Her hand brushed through her locks of hair, and Maria frowned. "I can tell he loves you though and that you love him in turn. If you wish to go to him, do not let us keep you. I would never seek to dictate the people you choose to keep in your life — not the way it was almost done to me."

"Mom." Maria frowned, then pulled her in for a hug. "Thank you."

Mother shook her head then nuzzled her. "I seek only your happiness, little sun."

Nonetheless, she sat down with her parents, to share all she had learned and to let herself slip back into the sense of safety stolen from her in Naveera.