Five Dates and a Proposal

Log Info

• Title: Five Dates and a Proposal

• Emitter: Ravenstongue

• Characters: Ravenstongue, Telamon

• Place: The Cheerful Corvid, University District

• Summary: Ravenstongue and Telamon drop by the Cheerful Corvid Coffee Shop to visit Ravenstongue's cousin, Adelaide "Addy" Branfeax. The barista and pastry chef extraordinaire informs them that, since Ravenstongue name-dropped Adelaide and her coffee shop at a meeting of the Shining Chalice, she's been booked for five dates and even received an immediate marriage proposal from the eligible bachelors of the Shining Chalice. Ravenstongue and Telamon discuss these matters with a bit of amusement--and then it eventually comes out that Ravenstongue is feyblooded from her father's side of the family. Addy marvels at her adventurer cousin--but is overall content with her normal life, albeit one made more complicated by her potential man-harem of sorcerers. The visit comes to an awkward ending when Addy learns that Ravenstongue's fey ancestor is the man she buys her Crimson Pen books from, and she excuses herself to clean the shop... and then go have her 'soul cleaned' at a temple.

-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=- Dramatis Personae =--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-    
Ravenstongue         5'0"     99 Lb      Half-Elf          Female    Short half-elf girl with violet eyes and black hair.                       
Telamon              5'6"     140 Lb     Half-Elf          Male      A platinum-blond half-sil man with dancing dark eyes
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-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-=-= NPCs of Note =-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-    
Addy Branfeax        5'2"     110 Lb     Half-Elf          Female    Almost a dead-ringer for RT, just with green eyes.
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The Cheerful Corvid, afternoon.

There's a nicely-dressed man who leaves the Cheerful Corvid with a grin plastered across his face despite the fact he has to walk back out into a light spring shower raining down from the sky. Inside the coffee shop, however, Adelaide is more bewildered than anything as she holds an envelope in her hands and is looking at her tip jar, which is a little ceramic thing made to look like a raven opening its beak for coins to slide down its gullet, clearly inspired by Pothy... and also happens to be filled with silver and gold coins.

"That's the fifth date I've been asked out on this week," Adelaide Branfeax murmurs to herself. "What the hell is going on?"

Meanwhile, the two culprits and the feathered accessory to their 'crime' are walking to the shop. The sorceress of the couple is wearing a sleeveless cotton dress, light gray in color, with a knitted blue shawl hugging her shoulders--not necessarily the best outfit to wear in the rain, but she doesn't seem to mind anyway. "It'll be so nice to see Addy again," Cor'lana says cheerfully. Pothy makes a noise of agreement from atop her shoulder.

"Agreed. I've commented before on how much we need family. Finding Addy was ..well, there was a reason I accused Pothy of engineering it." Telamon walks next to Cor'lana, arm in arm with her. Dressed in a rather fetching deep blue tunic, durable wool breeches, and his well-broken-in boots. Hovering between the two is Tel's gyroparasol, keeping the rain off as an unseen servant carries it.

As the two turn onto the street where the Cheerful Corvid is located, Tel looks at Lana. "I wonder if her business has picked up? I'm always impressed with a good work ethic, whether it's scholarly study or simply making crops grow."

Pothy has, once again, been accused of things he is incapable of doing. He gives Telamon a bit of a side-glance. "Not guilty," he says, mimicking Cor'lana's voice. He's the judge, jury, and executioner in his courtroom--all self-appointed titles, of course.

Cor'lana pats Pothy on the head, giving him a little snicker for his miming. "Pothy, of course you'd say you're innocent. But I know the only thing you're good at finding intentionally is food."

She looks to Telamon a few steps before they enter the front door and says, "Well, I certainly hope it's picked up. You saw how all those people in the Chalice seemed at least a little interested in the shop--"

As the couple enters the shop, Addy's voice cuts out from the counter. "Hey, you two! What the hell's all this about... magic cup meetings? Business has really picked up, and I've gotten more dates booked than I seem to have room for on my calendar! I even received a marriage proposal out of the blue!" She laughs as she moves out from behind the counter to give Cor'lana a hug, followed by Telamon. "Gods, it's nice to see you again. You too, Pothy!"

Telamon snickers at Pothy as well, eyes dancing. "Indeed." He runs a hand through his hair, as they approach the shop and step inside. "Close the gyroparasol and wait at the door," he says quietly to the servant.

Then the two are inside and Addy is there. "Well, it's kind of a funny story, but you know the old saying about word-of-mouth traveling faster than a quickling..." He gives Addy a hug back, once it's his turn. Looking around, he sees the tip jar looking like... well, like some fey horn of plenty, full of coins. "It seems you've become a bit popular. I wonder how that happened." His grin is impish, that naughty little boy expression that Lana loves so much.

Cor'lana can't help but grin, too. It's true, it's one of the things she can't help but love, and there happens to be a lot of those. "Well, Telamon's a member of a sorcerer's club called the Shining Chalice," she explains, "and he took me along to a meeting, because they've all been dying to meet me. I was asked if I had any sisters, and I said no, but I have cousins, and one of them is single and ready to mingle over at the Cheerful Corvid Coffee Shop."

Addy rolls her eyes, snickering. "Gods, is that what you said? No wonder. All these... You know, they're a little different from wizards, sorcerers. They kind of saunter in--like you do--and you know there's something innately different about them. It's so cool. Granted, I also had a couple of fellows show up, pay for a drink, and walk out when I told them I wasn't magical in any way, shape, or form, but nice of the trash to walk itself out, so to speak."

She grins wickedly. "It's nice to be the belle of the ball for once. More importantly, yes, the business is booming. I have to get here early in the morning to make everything from scratch, and I'm still selling out of most things by the time the evening rolls around. I might have to hire an assistant soon to mind the shop while I whip up a second batch of pastries for the evening crowd--maybe I can get this place going to be a round-the-clock joint for all those midnight owls that you magic folk tend to be."

Cor'lana grins at Telamon. "Mmm, I don't know any of those people."

Telamon looks innocently at Cor'lana. "I have no idea what she's talking about." He even bats his eyes at his fiancee, which is pretty unconvincing.

"But yes. During the meeting, we did mention that you were starting a coffee shop here. And while I can't help you with the... well, snooty types, there are enough decent folk there to give you some well-deserved, hard earned attention." He looks wry. "What can we say? We like to see friends and family prosper."

He rubs his chin. "But yes. Master Stiger might've dropped word at the university as well. Students need coffee almost as much as magicians do, and they do enjoy a good pastry or cookie."

"Oh, look at you two. So sweet I could turn you both into sugar cookie dough and everyone would think it's delicious," Addy says with a laugh. "Speaking of which, come on up to the counter. I've sold out of the blondie-swirl brownies, but I still have everything else on the menu."

Adelaide the businesswoman, pastry chef, and barista steps up to her counter again, taking her tip jar and popping the head off the raven. Pothy can't help but give a little concerned noise, which results in Adelaide looking at him with wide eyes and a snicker. "Oh no! Sorry! I shouldn't do that in front of my favorite mascot, huh. Lesson learned," she says, before she deposits the change into somewhere beyond eyesight of the counter. "Got a nice little 'piggy bank' down here to keep everything nice and safe. It gets delivered to the bank by a real fierce fellow I hired now that I'm making some serious coin. Nice guy--dawn elf, not too hard on the eyes, either--"

She pops back above eyesight of the counter and grins. "Don't let me talk about guys all day, though. Yeah, seems like once they finally knew I was here, all the magic folks are coming by. And I really do appreciate everything you've done."

"Drat, I kind of wanted to try the blondie-swirl brownie this time," Cor'lana says with a bashful smile. "How about... Oooh, the lemon-blueberry scones. And I'll take a mocha, please, with whipped cream."

"White chocolate, or regular?" Addy asks, already getting a cup out to start the magic of brewing espresso.

This question gets an 'oooh' from Cor'lana. "I do like white chocolate," she says. "Let's try that."

"People like to think elves are all airy and... what was the word mother used once? Fragile?" Telamon snorts and grins. "Algar -- one of my cousins, he's as tough as nails. Sometimes it's all about what you decide to do with your life."

He chuckles softly at Addy. "We didn't 'do' anything. If your place wasn't worth it, we wouldn't have mentioned it, and people wouldn't keep coming back. I think you'd have succeeded, eventually; we just gave it a little nudge." He winks at Lana. "We both know how much a little nudge can help, in the right place at the right time."

He taps the counter absently with his fingertips, hmming. "Lemon-blueberry scone, but coffee black with sugar for me. Mocha is a little too sweet for my tastes."

Beyond him, the folded gyroparasol continues to hang in midair by the door.

"Hmmm. Algar, huh," Addy says, the wicked grin returning to her face as she begins to make Telamon and Cor'lana's drinks. "Does he ever come around to Alexandria?"

Naturally, Telamon's is easier to make and isn't as sickly-sweet as Cor'lana's order, so it comes out first, followed by the other drink and the twin scones. Cor'lana takes an experimental bite of the scone and she makes a rather dreamy expression as the taste hits her tongue. Once it's polite to do so by common manners, she exclaims, "Addy, this is so good! Tel's right--the hard work is all yours."

Addy grins as she puts down a plate containing a generous pile of peanuts for Pothy. Apparently, she hadn't forgotten her 'mascot'. Pothy's eyes go wide as dinner plates, flapping off Cor'lana's shoulder to begin powering through the legumes. "Doesn't mean I can't be grateful, shush."

Telamon hmmms. "Honestly? He's a sylvanori, so not often. He's a good man, but incredibly blunt spoken. He says what he thinks. Granted, he doesn't talk much at all -- he's always been kind of quiet." He arches an eyebrow at Addy. "Perhaps I should arrange a visit, hm?"

Further commentary is delayed by the arrival of drinks and scones, and he applies himself to that task adroitly. After a few minutes, he nods in agreement with Lana. "These are definitely good. I think you need to start thinking about an assistant soon, too. If word spreads, you're going to have more business than you can handle."

He watches Pothy go beak first into the peanuts, and he smiles. Shifting gears mentally, he inquires, "You mentioned you'd gotten multiple date offers and a marriage proposal?"

Adelaide leans onto the counter rather casually now--one gets the impression she does this if there's nothing immediately to do and there's just people who want a chat. "Sure, a guy who doesn't mind if I talk for the both of us sounds like a good fit, and when he does talk, it's exactly what he thinks... Sounds like a pretty good match to me. But he's gotta be cute."

She takes a look at Telamon again, grins, and says, "Eh, I don't think that'll be a problem. You picked well, Lana."

"Thanks, but, well--I didn't pick him for the sake of having a companion," Cor'lana says with a smile as she puts her cup of coffee back down. Apparently it's quite tasty--half the cup's gone already. "I fell in love with him after... An adventure we went on together."

Adelaide looks incredibly interested. "Jeez. That even sounds like a classic adventuring story. How long have you two actually been together, anyway?"

Telamon chuckles. "I'll see what I can do. He's a little unpolished, but he's a lot wiser, I think, than me." He takes another pull off his mug. "Cute? Hm. Cute is not the word I'd use. He's always looked... fierce, to me. But then he's older than me, in any case."

"How long? Hm. We met about midway through Rhaltaas if I recall right, though we started courting just after Yule." His expression grows wry. "I thought she would have a line of suitors much more impressive than a fellow from Ylvaliel, and she was so dense her grandfather had to kind of push us together. Then we both realized... well, the other one was what we were looking for, even if we didn't know it."

"Grandfather?" Adelaide looks curiously at Cor'lana. "Oh, from your dad's side of the family, right. I didn't talk to your... uhhh, actually, dad's not the word you like, is it. Anyway, what's your grandfather like? Mom's part of the family are kind of scattered all over, so I don't get to meet them, but they've always struck me as nice people. Probably helps they don't have sticks up their butts."

Cor'lana looks at Telamon for a moment. And then she looks at Adelaide. Before Telamon can say much of anything, she says, "Grandfather's more like... Ummm, a great-great-great-great-great... Tack on however many greats you need to get to the end of the family tree that started thousands of years ago."

Adelaide blinks. "Uhh... is he like, a vampire or something?"

"Nope. He's fey nobility."

Adelaide huffs. "Okay, stop messing with me, Lana. Be real. He's..."

Cor'lana's just sipping her coffee as Adelaide slowly realizes. Cor'lana's not kidding.

"It's a weird, strange, wonderful family," Telamon adds helpfully. "I mean, my father works in the diplomatic corps for the Mythwood, my mother was -- well, is -- a successful trader and merchant. So getting acquainted with Lana was such a step up for me, socially." His eyes twinkle, teasing.

"But in all seriousness, Addy, you should know that those who traffic in the mystic arts tend to have... interesting lives. I mean, you live in Alexandria, you should be seeing six improbable things before breakfast."

Tel opts not to discuss all the other weirdness the couple have dealt with. Poor Addy's probably getting enough shocks now as is.

Adelaide finally just holds a hand up in the air, like asking Telamon to stop talking. "Okay. Okay. Sorry, Tel, I just am... Woof. Okay." She shakes her head, slaps her cheeks, and looks at both sorcerers. "You mean to tell me, Cor'lana, that not only are you the long-lost daughter of my dad's cousin, who was this beautiful free spirit of an adventurer, but you're also descended from fey royalty."

"Fey nobility," Cor'lana corrects her. "If I was descended from Queen Titania or King Oberon, I wouldn't be here. I'd be elsewhere."

"I mean, what's the difference? It's still all... fey... fancy people shenanigans!" Addy says, almost exasperated. "Anyway, just like... Lana, what the hell? You mean that your fey ancestor got you two toge--"

Suddenly she's staring daggers between them two. "Oh my gods. No. You two are fucking with me. This is some stupid 'fairy godfather' joke."

"Swear it's true," Cor'lana says. She unwraps the shawl around her shoulders to reveal the mark of the Feathered One on her chest, which gets a very, very wide look from Adelaide. "This is his mark--to indicate I am the head of the Lúpecyll family now. He effectively declared my father 'not welcome' in the family and made me the head instead."

Addy... simply looks like her whole world's been rocked. Eventually she just groans and looks at Telamon. "You know, I know that adventurers are special people. I just, uh. I didn't think one of them would be my COUSIN."

Telamon simply smiles over his mug. "What, did you think adventurers just spontaneously leap out of the earth? Like that gods-awful stupid story about khazadi? Adventurers can have families too -- relations that are both good and bad. It's not some tidy fairy tale -- it's messy, and occasionally painful, because we're all prone to mortal failings."

He sets his mug down, his expression becoming more serious. "Sometimes it's hard to tell if it's pure accident, or the will of the gods, or something in between. I find it works best to not worry too much, and adapt as needed." He looks at Addy sympathetically. "Are you worried you might get dragged into things? That this..." He gestures at the small, neat coffeeshop, "might get pushed aside because of your relationship to Lana?"

Adelaide eventually seems to recall her senses enough to find a stool that she's stashed away to just sit down for a moment, looking at Cor'lana like... Well, like she's suddenly turned into a fairy princess. Likely because that's all Addy can compute her as at the moment.

But she looks at Telamon and just gives him a big, big sigh in response, pausing before she elaborates, "Honestly? It's... Well, you know. I don't want to live in a life of danger, and I know that adventuring isn't all long-lost lineages, romances, and whatnot. It's easy to look at people and go, "I'm happy for them. They're just strangers that I could sell coffee and food to who happen to be great and powerful adventurers, and I'm probably some tiny, tiny little footnote in their story." That's fine, honestly. Nobody would ever sit here and weave a bardic song about me because it'd make for a pretty lame one. It's just, well--sometimes you do look at people and you think: Damn. If I'd been born to just one other person in the family tree, a few years later..."

Cor'lana smiles a little, reaching across the counter to offer her hand to Addy. "If it helps, Addy? I used to wish, all the time, that I was just 'normal'. I know that you don't necessarily want to be an adventurer, but I think you're describing a sort of... listlessness, almost, that I used to have. Sort of like you've suddenly realized that there really is a whole world out there, and that people really do live lives beyond your imagining--and you're left to wonder what things could have been like if you weren't born one way or another."

Addy takes Cor'lana's hand and squeezes it, smiling back at her. "Yeah, that's more or less it," she says. She looks to Telamon and then replies, "Honestly, I don't even know how I could get dragged into any of that. I have an insurance policy on the building since I own it, anyway, so if someone burns it down, I get to have a nice payout and just set up shop again elsewhere."

Cor'lana blinks. "Wait. Insura--ohhhh. Because you're in the University District."

"Yeah, just in case a student's fireball goes wide and the whole thing goes up in smoke. 'Act of Magic' clause." Addy smirks.

"Footnotes are important too, though. Sometimes you need those little details." Telamon smiles at Addy as well. "And before you say 'oh those adventurers are off doing deeds of derring-do', I would like to note that they don't tell stories about the ones who don't hit the big time. So I don't think you're wrong for wanting a quiet life."

He cocks his head at Lana, then continues, "There are better ways to deal with that 'listlessness', though. Having someone come by and tell you tales might help. People to help keep things in perspective." His eyes glint. "Family, perhaps."

He shakes his head. "'What if' is all well and good, but I'm not a fan of it. You can sit there and wonder 'what could have been' until you're old and gray -- better to address what is, and what might be."

Addy takes Telamon's commentary in with a nod. "Yeah," she says, finally. "At least it gives you more reason to come by here other than to wonder how I'm holding up under the onslaught of men trying to take me out for a date."

Cor'lana snorts. "Please, Addy--we'd be coming here for the coffee and the food, too. Maybe one day we'll come in here and you'll be so busy that Tel and I can pretend we're on some little coffeeshop date like we've just begun courting all over again."

Addy looks between Cor'lana and Telamon for a moment. "Oh please. I don't think either of you could keep up that ruse for longer than a minutes. You're both pretty nuts for each other--hey, maybe I get to have an Atlon man to fawn over, too, if this whole thing with Mister Algar works out."

Telamon laughs softly. "You never did say who came calling. Any notable names?" His hand idly slides over Cor'lana's -- it's not even clear if he's aware of it, it seems to be an instinctive thing.

He looks at Cor'lana's suggestion, and chuckles. "Oh, but Addy, it's such a good idea. We did date, of course, but there's something to be said for going back to revisit simpler times. We'll definitely have to do this."

Tel pauses, and then his eyes twinkle again, a sly grin on his face. "Maybe I could talk about my gardening work. I could try and impress Lana with that."

Adelaide pulls out a little black book from the pocket of her apron and opens it up. "Jeez, let's see... I've got a date with Aldric Prior tomorrow night. Then I have a date with Hunter Brook the day after, Dallan Gelder the day after that, Kris Twinstone the day after that, and finally, Ephraim Grancourt the day after that. Just have them all packed together on my evenings--and the guy who gave me the marriage proposal was Tristan Valance. He showed up, looked at me, said, 'Yup, this is for you,' handed me an envelope, and left."

She snaps her book shut and sighs a little. "I am... a tiny bit overbooked. And I'm definitely declining that marriage proposal. Yes, I want to date. I don't want to rush into something, though. I want to find something... special!"

"What could be more special than having a harem of magical men who are all fighting over your attentions?" Cor'lana asks as she raises a brow. She looks over to Telamon and says, "Don't get any ideas from that question. I have zero interest in anyone besides you."

Although she does lean in and kiss him on the cheek. "We'll have to make a coffeeshop date at some point then... you very handsome and alluring stranger."

Even Pothy stops in his eating. That one was pretty smooth. Is the fey influence finally rubbing off on her in this regard?

Telamon grins at Lana. "Never expected it in the slightest, love. And your lines are definitely getting better. Must be my influence." His voice is teasing, genial, and warm, as she kisses his cheek.

When Addy rattles off the list of names, his eyebrows rise. "Well, the good news I know most of them. Don't know Ephraim all that well -- he's a newcomer to the Chalice. Aldric and Hunter aren't bad sorts, though Hunter could out-pun a Tarienite. Dear gods. Poor Stiger looked like he didn't know if he should laugh or lose his mind."

He continues, "Dallan is definitely looking for a significant other, but he's willing to do the hard work -- he's actually from non-noble stock, his family's got serious money sunk into the shipbuilding industry. Kris is... a little flighty, but I suspect he'll at least be a fun date. And I have no idea what the hells Tristan thinks he's doing."

Addy actually snaps her little black book open, as well as a small charcoal pencil, and starts writing down notes as Telamon talks about them. It's like she's writing down someone's very complicated drink order, except it's notes about all of the men. "Don't mind me," she says, "I just like being prepared. Sometimes you go on a date with a guy and you realize beforehand you have no clue if you just agreed to go have dinner with a serial killer or something."

"I'm pretty certain Master Stiger wouldn't allow a serial killer into the Shining Chalice, Addy," Cor'lana says with a little grin.

"Yeah, well, if you're a good serial killer, you don't get caught and nobody else knows. You know that, statistically speaking, you'll probably walk by someone who's murdered another person in cold blood before?" Addy says, raising a brow. "And I'm not an adventurer like you, so I can't just turn these men into newts."

Cor'lana blanches a little, and she leans back to Telamon's ear and whispers, "Suddenly I'm even more grateful I fell in love with you after I got to know you more as a friend. I didn't realize dating was so dangerous."

Telamon leans in to whisper back to Cor'lana, "This is why chaperoning is so common." He does raise his eyebrows. "So have it at a public location. Invite someone along that you trust to keep an eye on things."

"Also... newts?" He looks at Lana. "Have we ever turned anyone into a newt? I mean, there's been the glitter spell, and I blasted that clockwork wizard off the catwalk..." He scratches his head. "Besides, why would you turn them into a newt? They might get better and then you've got a real problem."

"I don't even know how to polymorph someone into something else yet, Addy," Cor'lana says with a grin. "Jeez. Maybe we ought to have Telamon's cousin come down to act as big, bad, and scary enforcer."

Addy puts a hand to her chin as she grins a little. Just a little. "Yeah, and it'd be hilarious if it turns out I don't like any of them and I go on a date with Algar instead to find out I like him. Plus he'd have to be a hell of a guy to put up with chaperoning me through five dates."

Cor'lana finishes off her scone, finally, and she pauses for a long moment before she says, "Sounds like a plot for a romance novel, Addy. You ever consider writing for the Crimson Pen?"

Addy snorts as she collects Cor'lana's empty coffee mug and dishes. "I like reading them, Cor'lana, but they're not the greatest things in the world. There's been this new elf gentleman at the bookstore I go to lately with excellent taste in fashion, though, who always calls me 'young lady' in this voice that's... Ooof! I have to collect myself for a moment afterwards. He has really pretty violet eyes, too."

Cor'lana... just shuts her mouth very tightly. And she facepalms very hard. "Addy. That's my Grandfather you're talking about there. He takes on a more conventional humanoid form to work at the bookstore."

A pindrop could be heard in the very tense beat of silence that follows after that. Addy finally just gets up from her stool and says, "WELL, I think I'm gonna go... clean the shop. And then I'm gonna go to a temple and go have my soul cleaned. Have a good night, you two."

She disappears into the back behind the employees-only doors.

"Well, he is an elf. And he's very patient." Telamon grins. "Tell you what, I'll go ahead and send that letter, see if he'd be interested in coming by." He does seem quite pleased at the notion...

And then, hoo boy. Telamon opens his mouth as Addy waxes poetic about that 'nice elf gentleman', and Tel's eyes immediately become wary as he's not stupid -- especially with the mention of violet eyes. When Cor'lana opens her mouth though, he winces. "Lana... you probably could've done that with a bit more tact. Poor girl's going to be terrified to go back there now."

He sighs, heavily, as Addy flees into the back. "Daeus's teeth and toenails. You gotta learn to space out these shocks, love. Not everyone is as mentally flexible as I am."

"What? I figured she deserved to know!" Cor'lana exclaims, sighing heavily. "If it was me, I would want to know as soon as I brought it up that the man I thought was incredibly alluring is actually my cousin's ancient ancestor. If I told her later, she'd probably be upset with me. Girls are... complicated, Tel."

She hops down from her spot at the counter, managing to get down from her stool safely--she's too short for her feet to reach the ground when sitting on the tall seats, making it somewhat more perilous of a venture than it ought to be. "Trust me, she's upset now, but she'll probably be thankful later. I mean, it's not like they were dating. She just thought he was physically attractive, and, well, he's a fey lord--of course he is. You tell me all the time that I am and I'm only feytouched, so..."

Cor'lana pauses after seeming to imply the only reason she seems to justify Telamon's attraction to her is because of her fey bloodline. This probably makes some sort of logical sense to her that doesn't really check out in reality. "Does that make sense?"

Pothy looks at Cor'lana. "No," he says, followed by his little nobleman's laugh. "Haw-haw-haw-haw-haw-haw-haw."

Telamon pours some coins onto his plate, as he slides off his stool as well. "Yes, but there are ways to do it that don't involve giving your cousin a possible complex." He shakes his head. "Look, it's just... you kind of dropped that on her. I know you don't always handle surprises well either, think how she feels."

He lets Cor'lana keep talking at that point, and just... pinches the bridge of his nose. "Let's... let's go home, love. I'll try and explain things as best I can, but I don't think you quite have the specifics in the right order. Your mother really, really should've explained things to you better."

Cor'lana still looks horribly confused. "Did I mess up something again?" she asks, which recalls a certain day after Yule not that long ago...

A day on which a half-elf sorceress met a half-elf sorcerer in the courtyard of the Society for Progressive Arcanists, and the sorceress confessed to the sorcerer that she felt strange feelings for him... and then proceeded to ask him if that was what having a 'really good friend' felt like.

And it so happens today that the half-elves leave the shop (after leaving a tip, of course), and Telamon finds himself having to educate and elaborate on things again. Cor'lana, of course, proves to be an attentive student on romance.

A violet-eyed raven sits above the rooftop of the Cheerful Corvid and sighs nostalgically to himself. "Ahhh, young Telamon, how you play the same role for Cor'lana that Lana'lel played for me long ago," he says. "Things change and things do not change. Such is the cycle of life."

The raven takes off into the sky to follow them home.