As expected, they had resolved the situation without much trouble - and even in consideration of the ... rocky way they met, and the surprise of the staff when they walked out of the troubled spring together, chatting, casual - they received the bounty split between them. Tatya would have to be okay with that; her shrewd nature not stronger than her politeness and the deference of how he had put equal effort into the job. Besides, she had two sandwiches squirreled away owed to his kindness already. She'd just send everything she received back instead of needing to keep anything for food.

Well, one sandwich. Something disappeared in unearthly swiftness when his back was turned out the door, only crumbs left on her face dotting along with her freckles. She wiped it away with a tight smile his way, motioning for them to head out together. She had already given him her thanks. He didn't need to know how much better she felt with the dizziness cleared. Her breath came more even, receding back behind the great swathe of her coat and pulling the fur up around her neck until she looked like she might just disappear inside it. "... It's not real." She mumbled for him, not looking up but relying on her peripherals to watch his giant shape. "The fur." She followed up after a few seconds of awkward silence. "It's weird as a Demi-Human."

The name of her race - or her original one, if she truly was something different entirely now - came clumsily and uncomfortable on her lips, as if the designation was bad. She had learned it was, remembering back to the coldness of her family to her and her father. It still sounded slurred. A hand found its way behind one of her ears, lightly teasing it through her hair. Twitch twitch. "I just thought -," she stumbled over her words, appearing much more out of place now that her hostility toward him had passed. She did not posit herself as socially inclined. "I thought it might be weird for you, too. Considering. You're all ... uhhhh." She would turn to look at him now, a sympathetic raise of her eyes behind those big frames and catching the turn of light in their deep blue. "F-fuzzy? Too?"

She shook out her awkwardness, darting her gaze away and around until she spotted nearby tables set up for some type of contest. That would do. "Saturn." She called to him to catch his attention before dashing off to the closest chair, depositing herself swiftly into its wooden embrace. It wobbled from the rough abruptness. She waited for him; only now thinking that he definitely wasn't about to fit into one of these, but maybe he liked ... standing? Should she sit in the grass instead? She had just jumped at the first opportunity for a performance of normalcy. "I had ... questions. You don't seem like you mind that much. And I don't think --" She cut herself off from finishing the thought of not wanting to leave him on his own, still colored somewhat by her initial impression even as he consistently proved himself trustworthy. It was so much to drop her guard, and it came too slowly.

Still, she was willing to sit and talk. She'd glance around the space again before seeming to disappear from her seat and slink back within moments at best, depositing two bottles she had taken unseen from a nearby couple on the table. She nudged one to him. "Did you mean it when you offered to help me get information? You said you'd pull strings. Are your ... Rune Knights? well-connected? I imagine, if they're Fiore's police state ..." She let him lead that dialogue.

The resolution of the prior infestation came to a close and he was fairly happy with the way it turned out. The both of them had performed admirably and saturn found himself making light conversation with someone that not even what felt like an hour ago had been so distrustful of him. The staff was surprised but saturn really wasn’t; they might have gotten off on the wrong foot but they quickly warmed up to one another. Admittedly if saturn had been asked he would have helped tatya out further. But that was another topic for another time; he wasn’t exactly hurting for money and the concept of it was never properly solidified for him outside of knowing that he needed it for some reason.

A small flick of his ear as they padded along the behemoth noticed something but rather than putting too much thought into it he’d smile back down at her. He was always smiling; always. Even when things were rough; it was just part of how he was. With the motion for them to head out he’d nod his head. He’d tilt his head to one side as she mentioned that the fur wasn’t real.

”Many places use synthetic furs, I’m not surprised. It’d be weird wearing real fur when you have your own. I get that hah.”

Saturn motioned to where his neck was, where the ‘fur’ lined extra style had been. It was void touched equipment and felt completely different than earthland stuff. Not weird but homely no matter what; he’d nod his head a few times. He understood the sensation. It wasn’t something he entertained; the two of them could mumble to one another and not really have to worry about people around them hearing them. He found himself watching her again, every little motion and every little instance; he had to admit it was a dizzying affair of curiousity. He met her eyes as she turned, the hostility had passed and there was genuine… emotion there. She didn’t have to be guarded around him. His hand rubbed the side of his muzzle and he’d nod.

”The void touched equipment is different to regular fur or armor; it feels cool and gentle to the touch. Like a warmth I can’t explain. I’m glad I have it rather than the usual stuff they give out to knights. Heh. Though I imagine that if I were to wear anything that was real it’d just itch. Like a second skin I shouldn’t be wearing.”

”Tatya?”

He’d smile down at her again; the feeling of her eyes on him felt right somehow. When she shook her head and looked to the tables and she drew his attention to it he’d walk with her. Eventually looking at the chairs; tiling his head this way or that. The chair definitely wouldn’t be able to hold his weight so he’d move it aside and take a seat on the ground. Still being able to converse with her as his head sat above table height… and shoulders. He was bleeding massive after all. Her wish to ask questions, his idea of not minding them… she was going to say something and he’d tilt his head to one side.

”Don’t think…? And yes I don’t mind answering questions and I don’t mind them.”

He wasn’t sure what she was going to say, looking a little curious but he wouldn’t push if she didn’t feel like it. With him setting his arms on his legs and with the bottle slid to him he’d blink. When did these get here? Shrugging he’d take it; not wishing to seem rude.

”I meant it yes, it’s not difficult for me to ask people to give me information or to gather it. Rune knights have this funny structure where words of people having… rank? I think is the word for it? Are catered to as their desires are for the good of fiore. Or something. I don’t really understand it too well. But I’ve noticed folks listen to me a lot more as a colonel than they did as a major or captain.”

Saturn gave a small shrug, pulling out a piece of paper; passing a set of jewels to a passing staff who looked surprised that they had drinks. He’d ask for some food and motion for tatya to do the same if she wished. His treat.

”They’re well connected, we have outposts across the entirety of fiore and there are some countries we have stations and other outposts in too. Though Joya and iceberg handle their own affairs more than anyone else. I can’t say much for your home and desertio though; I’m still learning everything. My appointment of Colonel felt baseless but I’m making good use of it still. I also have my own connections outside of the rune knights although they’re… weaker than the rune knight ones.”

He’d sigh a bit, setting the paper and the following pen down for her. If she had a list of things she wanted from him she could write it down or she could just talk it over. He would never forget anything and eventually he’d mumble.

”If you don’t feel like writing down what you need, don’t fret. I can’t forget anything, or rather if I think I did my magic simply plays for me what I thought I had. Soothing in a way to know I’ll never be wanting for anything if it’s knowledge I’ve come across before.”

Saturn drummed his fingers on the table, taking a soft sip of the offered drink; his constitution and stamina were the stuff of legends. Being a fully recognized demon and a once demi-god of what he felt was justice and love? Well. It was something he had gotten used to. He also liked wine a lot; if they finished their bottles he wouldn’t order more drinks but instead pull from the void a wine bottle; ice cold and ready to be poured for the both of them.

"Can I ask you something?"

She'd regard his words with that same curiosity, more than allowing him his space to think and reply between the trade of their lines. She was thumbing thoughtfully across the synthetic fur that lined her collar, watching him call out his own. Ah. Maybe she was kind of silly for bringing it up. Her cheeks ruddied, imperceptibly pulling the fleece up to hide her mouth behind it with one small hand. Her eyes followed his arm instead of his face, mumbling in reply. "That makes sense." She was floundering. She was grateful he seemed to have enough to share to fill her uncertain silences. He was such an open book. She couldn't do that. Could she?

Tatya mulled over her next question just before she found their seats, chewing on - if not his own oddness, that of his equipment. "Is your spear also this ... void-touched? I've heard a little about the Void. It's uhm ... a big deal back in Pergrande, lately. My family's safe in Illingrad, thankfully. I think. I don't know much about it personally. I mean, they are okay, I just mean ... I don't know if that's the best place to be right now." She stumbled over her words, scrunching up her face as it went on until her eyes widened and suddenly turned her head away from him. She didn't mean to share so much. Blin. She redirected the conversation. "I know it's not a good thing to mess with. You seem to stumble into a lot of that kind of thing, Saturn."

He sat so politely; and as she figured, ultimately, in the grass. Her leg twitched. Wobbled. She shook it, almost jittering the table, and stared him down while he replied. He ordered from the waitress and she shook her head definitively, absolutely not when offered to get anything she wanted as well. She would ferret out the sandwich she hadn't yet secretly devoured and wave it as if it was proof that she was okay, moving to set it down on the table. The nervous energy moved to her other leg and then both were bouncing. She couldn't stand this.

When he took out the paper and pen for her to - what, list her inquiries in an official capacity? - she lost it, wrenching up from her seat and taking the table with her. Within the split of seconds it was moved to the side with all of their things warbling on top of it, displacing it and leaving only an empty, impressioned space of earth between them. She had moved her chair back similarly with a push of her leg, falling back down in a heap to mirror him sitting in the grass opposite. A hand fetched their bottles and else and set them back down, now on the earth, and she clasped her fingers around her knees. Much better. She was going crazy with her sitting in a chair while he couldn't.

She did not, however, discuss this at all, and instead opted to reply to his explanations. "Oh, yeah, that's pretty normal for a military, actually." She'd offer, bringing the pilfered drink to her lips and taking a sip before forcing a take of it to the side in a small sputter. "You're a Colonel!?" She'd squeak, her hair already messied by her various antics thus far and shook only more so. Her eyes encompassed him in watery spheres, catching the light from the area to sparkle overwhelmingly. Her lips fell in an 'o' of obvious and inescapable surprise. "Odin's beard, Saturn ...," She'd mutter, one more quizzical look before returning to her drink with both hands now firmly clutching the glass. "That's ... kind of a big deal, isn't it? You must mean a lot to the people of Fiore."

He was working on her. Splinters on a frozen lake. "Well, if you help me with Fiore, I can help you with ... s-stuff, about Pergrande, if you need? Consider it a trade of information ... sir Colonel." She sighed, trying to find her comfortable-at-a-distance middle ground while the sarcasm of his title bit her lips. She'd click her tongue, her look empathetic.

"That's a unique quality for magic. Is that from the Void stuff? Or ..." Downcast, pulling a little more into herself. "Demonic? Useful ... I guess." She wasn't completely unknown to drawing on the powers she was cursed with when dire, so she wasn't in a position to judge -- but it was such an uncomfortable, unyielding topic, and she avoided the thought of it whenever able. She had to learn more about him, though. No matter what she was digging up.

"... Sure. That seems fair. What's up? An answer for an answer."

Seeing her cheeks flush a bit, Saturn paused; blinking slowly as he felt like there wasn’t anything particularly worth… blushing about? Though maybe he missed something; he’d look down at his hands again and felt his ears twitch over and over. He wanted to make sure she was comfortable and didn’t feel as though she was being forced into anything. It wasn’t fair to her if she wasn’t feeling it.

”I’ve had a lot of people ask if when I shed if they can take my fur too. It’s weird.”

Saturn snorted a little bit at the idea and just gave a small shrug at it. He’d never entertain the fact for people that just wanted to profit off of him. He’d eventually pause again as she touched upon his equipment. He’d look down at the outfit that he wore at the moment. One meant for social affairs. It was luxurious and thankfully resistant to getting dirty. He’d scratch at his chin a bit at thinking this over.

”It wasn’t void touched initially, but it along with myself became intertwined with the place after some events in a land I couldn’t tell you the name of. We made travel to the void and there it seeped into our bones. My… ‘summoner’ was also responsible for much of my change with it. Tch, There’s so much about it that we don’t know still and here I am trying to do the same while exploring it. Ah? Well fiore has a healthy immigration policy and they could settle down in many a city here.”

Saturn learned about two new countries this day. Illingrad and pergrande. Places he didn’t know about before and he’d take a sip from his drink. Eventually realizing that he did indeed stumble into a lot and after a moment he’d laugh softly. He noted that she felt weird talking about herself or home; she was.. If he had to guess private and guarded because it was hard to get close to people.

”Demons, werewolves, bandits, slavers, magic of all sorts. Ritualists, cultists. I can’t tell you the last time that I had a week that didn’t have something ongoing that wasn’t threatening to the people I care about or the country haha.”

Saturn blinked a little bit as she declined his offer; he’d understand that she was having a hard time with it but the offer still stood even when she declined it for the moment. He’d eventually wave off the waitress after making his order, some food of course. He wasn’t super hungry but he felt like some hot food at the moment. Seeing the sandwich pulled out for him he’d give a small smile and nod.

When the table was quickly moved and saturn was left there blinking owlishly at seeing the motions; she sat with him and the two of them practically were left staring at one another. His hands busied with the drink and he’d rub at the open spot on his neck through the deep amount of fluff.

”They’ve got a good amount of roots and…”

Saturn stopped; blinking again and looking to the drink. Was it something he said or did her drink sour? Then of course came with her surprise about his rank; the squeak that came from her made him realize that he had never shared it before and really… didn’t outside of the rune knights too much. Feeling her eyes on him made his heart twist in his chest and he’d breathe out softly. She looked frazzled, but still… beyond beautiful to him.

”I forgot to mention that huh. Uh. I generally don’t bring it up too often. Never felt important before and didn’t really feel important now.”

Saturn sighed a little bit; feeling that quizzical look and the surprised motions of her body with her cursing? Was odin’s beard a curse? He’d have to ask later. He’d look down to his feet; flicking his ears a few time. Did he mean a lot to them? He didn’t know. He couldn’t. He was separate from them still but less so than before.

”I’d like to think so but I don’t really know. I just know that it means a lot to some people and more so than the people I want to help. I don’t care about wealth or status, I just want to protect the people I care about. The world I was brought to and the home I made here.”

She offered the exchange of information as a good way to learn what she wanted and what he wanted to know. Saturn rubbed at his chin; it was strange and then eventually he’d just wave off the title.

”Just call me Saturn, Tatya it’s not something I need to go around flaunting. But that sounds fair to me. I’m not exactly the best versed in culture outside of Fiorian or icebergian ones.”

He didn’t want his tile to push them apart; he didn’t want that level of strange professionalism with people he wanted to be friends with or people that he cared for. His mind trailed to the people that kept calling him by that title. He’d stare at his free hand, feeling the rumbling of magic through his chest and down to it. A little flame of light and darkness sprang up. He’d sigh.

”Forgotten Dragonslayer. I’ve never heard of it’s like before; a magic with two elements is rare enough, unheard of with this kind of magic. It’s unusual qualities compound with my own and my race. It’s… Useful but it sets me apart even further than before. The void itself intertwines with my being and my magic, but I’d think we’re all separate until we started to… work together with one another.”

He was reminded of the void being he interacted with that he had given time to. He was reminded to the way it reacted when he showed unbiased love to it. The way they had saved him and sent him back. Eventually his ears flicked a bit and he’d look to her. Staring into her eyes for a time before speaking; soft. Gentle, hushed. Curious; some people didn't.

”Most people have a last name. Do you?”

"Well, it's a pretty outfit." She'd offer, succinctly. When all else failed - nerves and cold shoulders, hostility and anxiety - you always had something left at the bottom of the box. Honesty. That's why her next words were blankly delivered, trying not to wrestle too much with the concepts and instead experiment with taking him at face value. Something new for her. He did it, though. He responded to everything with absolute earnestness and in the most literal senses. It was a ... how would she put it, a charming quality? A funny one. He was a funny guy -- not a creature. Just a guy.

"So you weren't your average God-parented Demi-God?" She'd wave a hand idly as she spoke, highlighting how unusual his situation was without directly stating it. Not even that would be average, and he still managed to be the weirdest of the bunch. One of her russet ears gave a quirk, and she felt a warmth in her chest and through her veins from her Obscura. Yeah, she wasn't one to talk. "If someone summoned you, I wonder - would it be like a worshiper, or some kind of death cult, maybe?" A sidelong glance. "Nah. Probably not. You came out too soft."

A first line of teasing, quieted by their following events but lingering with the idle quirk to her lips and obscured by the light catching on her glasses. "That's okay. They wouldn't leave Pergrande." Even if she tried, went unspoken. A lot of her thoughts trailed off that way. It was hard to give word to everything she'd want to say. Sometimes speech fails. She'd slink in her cloak, hidden somewhat. "And you sound like you have your fair share of problems here. Nowhere's ... perfect."

He seemed put off: by what, she was trying to figure out. He had said his position as Colonel felt baseless and she had writ that away as a general quality to downplay himself. Self-deprecation wasn't an unknown to her. The way he spoke more, though, about his duties and the people around him ... and whether he meant as much as he wish he did to them, it started to sound like something deep-rooted he genuinely believed. That he had a home here, but wasn't that confident in it. That he ... what, deserved it? That the sentiment was shared by others? She'd shake her head slow, untousling the locks of red that framed her curious little expression until the hair shifted over her eyes. She'd paw away her bangs with the band of her hand, peering closely up at him from under her glasses and the great distance between their heights. She'd tut. "If you love the land, the land loves you."

She gave this advice with a level of both solemnity and matter-of-factness as if fixed into a single brew she now poured for him. She spoke her truth of the universe. "Then it doesn't really matter if other people like or recognize you. The world does. You do. ... Do you?" It felt too personal to ask - intimate - whether he liked himself or not, but wondering about his general sense of appreciation for everything he was doing seemed fair. "No one really knows me. ... They won't, ever." She'd continue quietly, pulling her legs up to her chest and pushing her feet through the grass. "But I know I'm working hard for everything important to me. Even if no one else knows that ... I do. My homes do. The faith I think my world has in me ... that's worth protecting. Right?"

Though she'd end with a question, almost silent in its softness, she'd be distracted by his display of magic. The flame in its odd hues and unique tones would be enough to shuffle her out of her sit and onto her knees, craning forward with a momentary forgettance of her current position and his. Her hands came up, gingerly, and stopped before they brushed his - instead lingering at either end, her sights on the spot his mana had manifested. Her eyes briefly shone, the wind lifting up for a breeze across her ears and pulling them in the tender gale. Her 'own' magic hummed along her edges, starting a muted chorus. "Cast something else." It wasn't an order, but it wasn't a request. She was dazzled by the concept behind what he had at his fingertips.

"And I'll tell you my name."

Saturn blinked a little bit and then looked down at his outfit; looking somewhat surprised at the mention of it. He really hadn’t thought about it too much but it did look good didn’t it? He’d nod his head; yeah it was. The same way that her outfit looked good on her; the both of them were stylish it seemed no? He eventually would speak; seeming rather happy.

”I think we both look snazzy honestly.”

Saturn paused; looking a little owlishly at her as she seemed to joke about the fact he wasn’t an average demi-god. You know, the things that don’t happen too often. Maybe he shouldn’t mention vestige or echo yet. Given that both of them were different entities and they both were demi-gods or… well just literally a part of a deity. He found himself staring at her ears as they moved before speaking.

”Well, from what I know the deities of earthland when they have children rarely help rearing htem, it’s usually the mortal component so you could say that yeah I guess I wasn’t?”

Further still they mentioned the summoning and how did he put this? He’d fidget a little bit; this topic was already hard to talk about in some cases and there was a soft hush to his voice. As though speaking about it gave it a little bit too much power; his ears slightly drooped and his tail stopped moving too much.

”...If only that was the case. Lady wolfenstein runs a cult and ritual group that’s murdered and slaughtered hundreds if not thousands of people to use their mana for their rituals. When they summoned what I can only describe as a brother to me but in all the wrong ways they had… likely done the same thing for me but something about their ritual at the time was amiss.”

Saturn sighed softly; leaning on one of his arms and considering quietly what else they were trying to do even now. His people were keeping eyes out for ritual sites and for areas that were dense in mana. Fiore did have its fair share of problems, but everywhere did.

”A lot more than what I’d like truthfully. Even central fiore, the headquarters of the rune knights are plagued by problems. I just hope your family is safe then if they’re more likely to stay.”

When she spoke up about the land he felt his heart ache in his chest again; something deeper and he wanted to say something but couldn’t really. He found himself sitting there silently for a few long moments. She’d continue through, moving through the grass and there was that saying of her not having people know her. Ever. He wanted to. He wanted to badly.

”I recognize myself, I love myself. I just… question me more often than I question others.”

He had an unbiased and parental love for most if not everyone in the world. Without bias, without question. Everyone was deserving of it and he had so much to give. But people quickly would remove themselves from that love by doing foolish or hurtful things to others. It was a difficult instance. He’d grasp his knees and he’d speak out softly.

”I would like to. It’s worth protecting, you’re- I think that they recognize what you do even if you don’t think they do.”

Saturn breathed out, his hand still displaying that overlapping flame of purple and gold. He’d sit there quietly for a moment and with her slowly moving to him, her hands so close to his and with the two of them like this he found his heart aching even deeper. His eyes looked to hers and at that request the demon gently fed into the magic. A small seal appearing in his hand.

The warmth radiated outwards, it was such a lovely feeling. The music, the tone, the sensation, there was an overwhelming sense of love that thickened the air. A strange sense of friendlyness. No apprehension, no concerns, none of the underlying issues that plagued many. It was such a powerful feeling that it was shared throughout the room. Staff members stiffened and the few patrons seemed in strange moods by the effect of it. But none of them looked at the source, deciding to go about their day.

”...I can… share my emotions and feelings with other people when I do this. There’s another one that… well lets me understand or read languages. I also can heal people but not myself. Used to on the latter part.”

He found himself explaining the music in front of him; she could likely feel the intense love that he had within him. It was unrelenting as it was unbiased. It was soft and warm, gentle and kind. It was all encompassing. He’d mumble softly.

”I bet it’s as beautiful as you are.”

Spell Used:

Shit. Uh. Fuck. Her hands found her head and riffled through her hair, frazzled, while she refused to meet his eyes - or even look at him, at all. She was kidding about the death cult. It was an attempt to be ... personable!! Worst mistake of her life! Why did she ever think that would work!? How was she supposed to know that he actually was summoned by some psychopath replete with human sacrifices!? She yells silently in frustration and exasperation, her face and body turned away from him, and lets him finish venting his origin before she so much as laxes her shoulders again.

This is why she didn't talk to people. Good girls were meant to be seen and not heard, Mother had always said. Take a note, Tatyana. "I'm - uh. I'm ... sorry about all of that???" Her voice is thin and pitched, coming semi-hoarse out the side of her mouth with her gaze still wandered off in an opposite direction. "You ... turned out pretty good???" Her attempts to console him - or at least as she thought about the situation - were like raking down a chalkboard in her chest, her little heart pittering until she felt dizzy all over again. Her life was hard. It wasn't anything like this. Great, much needed perspective. She sighs.

"My family will be okay. I'm making sure of that." And her tone evens out, resolute, before quietly masking again. Yeah, he had been through his ringer - and she'd be getting through hers. At least they were in like company. Funny, how this had turned out. She barely considered him as the strange, demonic giant he was anymore -- he was too ... it was just too soft, too innocent, too eager. She imagined he could be a threat if he wanted to be. He just wasn't - not to her, and if she was careful, not to anyone else here. She was certain she'd be able to do something to stop him if something went awry ... and, she was more sure that he wasn't going to let that happen. She couldn't imagine it anymore: the vision of evil she had assumed prior. She shakes her head, another wispy sigh.

Then they were talking, sharing, her needling her cheek with a hand until it smushed up all her freckles and framed the peering blue that lain on him. "I don't think it's a bad thing to question yourself," she responds, her tenor shifting more casual before she catches herself again. Here, just for a moment, he'd have an easier time at discussion. "To make sure you're on the right track. Especially ... for people like us." She waves her hand at the wrist and over her knee, angling it up. "But that means you just need someone like you to tell you they know what's up."

She finds his eyes again, studious and sure, and her expression softens. "... Thanks. I think people recognize you, too, Saturn." Her words palliate into a hum under her breath, settling into the gentle comfort offered by that shared moment - the passing breeze, the weight of their beliefs and actions, the time they took to validate the other - until she practically falls over herself for his display of magic.

Even before her training, even before her curse, Tatya was something of a fiend for the knowledge of magical principles. She'll dive into any study, research anything unknown or unique or exciting or mundane enough to spell out everything she already understands for a deeper sense of it -- she was a proper nerd when it came to the properties of the universe, both in how they function in and of themselves and how they can be used and applied. It's a big part of why she enjoys idle tech work, in free time she never finds: how to incorporate all of these crazy, unknowable concepts in actionable mediums. She wants to know them. She wants to feel them. Staring into the mix of his light and his darkness, coming into this twilight refracted by the amazed sight in her eyes ... she has to understand it.

Her hands close around both sides of his, incomparably smaller, and her fingers brush just around where his seal flickers to life. She closes her eyes, her eyelids fluttering, and her lips part soundlessly; and from them comes an addition to the chorus he plays, a quiet rendition of an alto to tread along the lines of his song and join it in harmony. Her eyes open with runes that swim around them, glowing - burning - ever-blue, and within moments ... within lines of their wordless choir ... his magic meets him back, backing vocals solidified with the addition of her mana and sharing her own senses in tandem with his own. While his was affable and warm, almost overwhelming in its kindness, hers was more of a dirge -- exhasuted, lonely, but hopeful. It chimes upward, casting a pallor of blue feelings from a mix of bright and dark seals that lighten its shades.

She could feel his love; he could feel her wonder, and the aching with its every breath. His warmth balanced with a cold not of callousness but something barren and wandering, finding a heartfelt balance in what soft clouds their temperament formed in its middle. Hm mm hmmh. Mmmh.

Her eyes fall shut again, blocking their shine, but the small smile that plays on her lips radiates enough in the seconds it lives to measure it back. She laughs, just one quick sound, in regards to his compliment - not quite derisive, not quite committed - but she replies. "Tatyana. Tatyana Nikolaevna Romanov."

Old Friends:

Saturn found himself tilting his head to one side as tatya started to riffle through her hair at his response; she seemed a touch frazzled and didn’t even look at him during the fact. Was it something that he said? Maybe she was trying to be playful regarding the joke about the cults and he took it too seriously? Her response that followed made him chuckle softly, sighing and leaning a bit on one of his legs.

”It’s all right; I’d like to think so. Echo, one of my companions was summoned in the same way too. We both turned out better than the others that were summoned by her. I'll tell you that much. Her disregard for life and her want of wonton destruction is the reason I’m keen on finding her.”

Admittedly she was harder to find than most; playing it careful for decades compared to his trivial time of just under a year of life now. He’d exhale a little bit; glad to hear that her family would be safe. He was glad that the both of them while struggling had managed to make things work. He had to wonder what sort of events that she went through to make her distrustful from the get go; likely nothing good. His tail curled about and sat a bit next to him while his ears started to twist and turn.

”Then I suppose I’m doing it the right way; people like… ah. Yeah I suppose. If I didn’t I’d probably have ended up… much more different? Mm.. I mean there is someone like me right here.”

Saturn would motion towards tatya; the two of them were different sides of a coin in terms of experience and life it seemed but they both ended up in the same place. Saturn adjusted a little bit and feeling her eyes meeting his… He felt his heart twist and ache again. He felt his cheeks tint a bit but under the fur it was hard to tell. He enjoyed hearing that hum quite a bit and he’d breathe out slowly.

”One can only hope… But you’re welcome Tatya.”

He couldn’t help but keep singing this somber lovely song for her, the magic in the air thick and rife with his experiences and emotions. He kept it up, the runes in his hands gently turning as he let it just simply continue. It wasn’t anything complex or dastardly. But his strong emotions were made even more so apparent. He found his magic brushing against his own body and his emotions were slightly blurred as he felt hers work within that music. Exhausted, lonely, but hopeful. They were really two sides of the same coin. Her wonder and his love seemed to go along with one another; there aching shared in a semblance of what could only be described…

He’d shiver a bit as he could feel that motion of what he could only describe as barren, wandering. But that warmth of his seemed to touch upon it ever so briefly, wanting to help. Wanting to be warm for her. Hearing her melody and hearing her name; the knight sat there quietly. Absorbing every bit of it, gently going over every syllable and every little bit that he could feel. There was no doubt that he felt that it was a beautiful name.

It took him till now to realize that her hands were brushing around his own; he could feel his heart ache so badly and the love that was within his song became flustered but was also certainly filled with enjoyment. He had taken the time to watch her eyes with those playful runes; it was something he had never seen before.

”Tatyana… Nikolaevna… Romanov… I’ve never heard a name like that before…”

He found himself mumbling, his hands still projecting those seals, his eyes still wanting to find hers. His breath came out slowly and he was slightly hunched over. The mana was thick in the air again; but it was warm; pleasant. He’d want to show her more of this; he couldn’t help it. There was an ache in his heart and she’d be able to tell it wasn’t just from the world around them. It was because of her.

”Such a graceful… lovely name…”

"We're both just looking for people, then." She murmurs, tailing a single orange lock down the full length of a slim finger that disappears into its bundle; only to twirl it back out, dragging strands with it. She fiddles with them for a moment - rubbing them between her forefinger and thumb - before running her hand down her braid, wistful and quiet. A nervous habit, he had guessed, but a centering one all the same. Despite being such a reserved person - due to circumstance and necessity - she has this hidden current of energy she can only fuss about and out, handling it within her little bubble and her eyes cast to the side. So many thoughts at so many moments. Mental pacing. "Threats. Villains. We're just doing what we can for everyone else ... aren't we? ... And ourselves."

A rhetorical question, but it lingered. She didn't need the validation. She didn't expect he really needed it, either - she gave it anyway, but he seemed far more stable in his position. Her lips twitched at this. The passing consideration of a smile. That was good. So much trouble, so much evil ... and even still, he stood so tall and broad and ever-grinning. She had to breathe easier in this company. It had started to untense at her shoulders ... loose down her wrists as her hands trailed over his during their magical serenade ... and for a few brief seconds - a flash of lightning, humming along with all that electricity discharged in sparks between them - she was comfortable, unguarded. At peace and majesty. Enjoying herself.

A little tug at her heart, a little warmth in her chest, and her eyelids fluttered; and as they opened wider, curious and searching the song they spun together, they began to simmer with that demonic blue and her runic arts flickered. She felt it pulse in her blood. She felt it gnaw at her -- and as it did, his feelings, whatever they were meant to be, communicated with too much clarity with the combination of their magicks: they gnawed, too, and she wrenched back.

The gentle music was cut with a startle and the girl now standing her full height with an expression of exertion and flushed cheeks. Embarrassment and temptation. What had she been doing? She trembled, staring at nothing straight ahead while she refocused her eyes, and rubbed away the hue that had tried to urge her towards its sin. She'd swallow back her obscura and the moment that had just passed between them.

She took a few steps back, barely reaching his height even while he was sitting, and hugged her arms around herself. She wouldn't meet his eyes. Her contribution to their performance had faded into nothing, static, and she was fussing over the fur on her coat with a russet-marked hand. She almost looked shy, if she looked anything the more she receded in the darkness of her cloak. She'd have half a mind to lift the hood -- but she didn't want to be caught hiding away like some schoolgirl. Her heart just had to settle. Confusion. Abrupt, inducing, but still just confusion. She maintained control over herself; and she'd turn in place, sharply, facing opposite him and speaking only when her breath came more naturally and with less panting.

"... I have to go wash off!" She'd yell, suddenly, immediately taken off guard by her own volume - not meaning to speak so loudly and only adding to the red on her face and the threat of her voice cracking. And then she runs, scampering off back to the springs proper. Whether he followed or not wasn't the concern; she just needed to move.

”It’s kind of funny honestly. Though it’s difficult to find what you’re looking for sometimes.”

He sighed a little bit, looking down at his hands. He had noted the twirling of her hair and the fidgeting being something of a nervous tick. He figured that it was because she was in a situation she wasn’t entirely familiar or comfortable with. He could feel the softness of her voice and he watched her for those long moments. He wondered what sort of events led up to her curse and what sort of ramifications ending it would have. A small flick of the ear and he’d bob his head in a nod.

”It’s the most we can do; for them and ourselves.”

It was something that he had focused on for so long he wasn’t sure what he would do after she was found. After he had dealt with his ‘villain’. It was something to consider; he and many others would be safe from their clutches. Her question may have been posed as rhetorical but he gave it an answer anyways. With the both of them so close and performing the same spell he could feel his heart ache with something he couldn’t entirely explain. The both of them were enjoying themselves for sure but the moment he felt those…

The gentle music cut; he felt that wrenching back and he felt himself fall into a momentary daze. His own music stumbling, stuttering and falling short. Looking down at his hands once more as the mana seals vanished. He could feel the emptiness from the lack of their interaction take place and he’d rub at his face with a hand. The sudden cut off of something so genuine and soft was something he hadn’t expected at all. Her contribution was something he thoroughly enjoyed and now she was fussing with her coat. The both of them likely felt confused; with her turning about he started a little bit.

Then came the shout; he realized that the both of them had bared their feelings into the air of one another and from it came… He felt an ache in his heart again and he’d exhale slowly. She ran off; her voice cracking; he couldn’t see the red on her face but his wasn’t exactly… He’d stand slowly; watching her run off. He felt a longing to go after her. Biting his lip before he’d slowly following suit; he wanted to apologize, maybe talk some more. Figure out things.

Tatya…

He found himself thinking, whispering, mumbling; her name felt right coming from his lips. This ache that was in his chest wanted to make sure she was okay; wanted to make sure that she wasn’t going to be hurt from all this. His golden fur bristled and he’d stop as he passed by a mirror. He saw his blush, his jaw slackened a bit and he felt his tail freeze in place. His breath caught in his throat and then he pushed past it; following after her.

We should… talk… still…