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THE THIRSTY MINNOW - EVENING
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Tarbin walks through the cooling-but-still-just-pleasant evening air, mostly happy that the side streets aren't so crowded with the extended festivities. As happy as he is for all the people who have returned, Tarbin himself is exhausted from being on his feet day in and out at the clinic. He'd grown somewhat accustomed to the more peaceful life of a blind hermit after arriving in Respite, and despite everything with Melia being more or less positive until now, these evenings after working hard certainly leave him silently pining for something a bit simpler. Still, despite his inward mood, he does enjoy having the money for a hot meal once in a while, and tonight the Minnow is his and Melia's target. On getting to the door, he automatically holds it open for Melia despite likely not needing to.
Melia smiles at Tarbin at the gesture, giving him a nod. The very-frilled-lizard shaped elemental is in a giddy mood, having witnessed much healing and growth and happiness in last few days and it's rather infectious. She's started to be somewhat-visible to even those without magic, seeing at the very least an outline of someone else in the room. Still able to be undetectable if she wanted to, just that she's had very little reason to vanish anymore lately, having been accepted as odd, but very effective and positive part of the Clinic's crew. "Thank you, Tarbin. Not that you really needed to."
Tarbin chuckles, shaking his head a bit as he follows Melia in. "I don't know, one of these days you might just be solid and forget it. Where do you want to sit?"
Dorri is sitting at the bar, just enjoying a quiet drink after spending a day out at the festival. Having played an important role in the rescue, she found herself swamped with thankful and curious townsfolk. It's all a bit much for the quasi-hermit, so now she finds herself sitting in the bar in her new, slightly nicer than typical outfit with a content smile on her face. She looks
Dorri up as the other two enter and gives a polite nod before taking another swig of her beer.
Melia looks around, humming a bit before picking a seat at random, near Dorri's seating: "That one. It looks guilty."
Tarbin looks to where Melia points, taking a step in that direction before pausing and glancing at her. "Guilty? Is... That the right word?" He shrugs, heading that way and acting as a path-creator for Melia, in case someone doesn't notice her. He takes a seat with one stool between him and Dorri, nodding cordially to the markhor. "Good evening!"
Dorri nods back to Tarbin. "Evening." She also nods to Melia, though she finds that she keeps needing to blink to be able to focus on the other lizard. "You two have been helping at the clinic, haven't you?"
Melia nodnods with a smile: "Ooh, yeah, we have. It's been fun, well, except for the bits that haven't been fun." She frowns a bit at some memory or another, idly swirling some magic in her claws: "...definitely not fun that one broken bit. At least I was pretty sure bones don't work that way."
Tarbin nods as well, smiling a bit tiredly. "We do what we can, but really if doctor Doctor Plume weren't so ah [proficient]... Skillful, we'd only be able to do so much. Or at least, I would."
Nesseth steps into the Minnow a short while after Tarbin and Melia, having managed to drag Plume out to enjoy the festivities for an hour or two before they had to head back to the clinic. He's already looking a lot more relaxed, now that he's had a couple of days off in the comfort of home, with loved ones close by and nothing lingering over his head at the moment. He smiles upon seeing Tarbin, Dorri and (at least to his eyes) the mostly-visible form of Melia, and he makes his way over to the counter to join them, exchanging a few words with nearby patrons as he wends his way towards the stools. Once close enough, he waves cheerfully as he slips onto one of the stools next to the group. "Evening, you three!"
Dorri raises her mug to Nesseth. "Lieutenant." She looks back to Tarbin and Melia and shakes her head. "I don't know too much about anatomy, but bones should stay inside, yes. But I'll leave that to you and the good doctor and just focus on reading the stars."
Melia waves at Nesseth, as usual completely oblivious to her lack of clothing, not that she could wear anything anyway. "Hey Nesseth! And evening, which I think it is. Mostly?" She turns to Tarbin and smiles: "And shush, you, you're better than you give yourself credit for... not that I know what you'd buy with those credits."
Tarbin chuckles, shaking his head at Melia's protest. "I only point and prod Nature into working a little faster or slower. A little bit of study on the body doesn't make me a doctor. Speaking of..." He grins at Nesseth, waiting for him to have a seat before greeting him. "Evening, [brother]! You seem cheerful! Did the doctor have fun, at last?"
Nesseth takes a moment to order himself a good drink, then grins back at Tarbin. "Yeah, we got to enjoy a couple of hours around the festival before they had to go back to the clinic to check on patients. I'm hoping it was enough to help them relax a little from the stress of the job." He looks across at the trio, "How's the festival been going for you, though?"
Dorri smirks a bit. "Too many folk in one place for my liking, especially with all those saurs around now, but people are happy... and grateful. I won't say I did nothing, but it's not like I broke folks out of that Abyss or anything... I just pointed a telescope at some mountains for a few weeks and kept looking around."
Melia looks between Nesseth and Dorri, tilting her head before slightly shifting her position, cloud of magic moving as she does. "Many people, which kind of not yay, but happy people which is a yay? I will go with that."
Tarbin hums, nodding along with Dorri's observation. "The crowd is a little close... [dense]? For us. Melia gets stepped through a few times." He turns to the barkeep, ordering a drink and some vegetable stew for himself.
Melia frowns: "It tickles, but kind of not in a fun way."
Dorri laughs. "There's a reason I usually live alone on a mountain top, you know." She's about to say something else when Tarbin's comment catches her by surprise, causing her to pause and blink. "Stepped /through/?"
Tarbin gives her a grin. "I do not think they feel too good about it, either." He looks too Dorri, nodding. "Oh! You do not know?"
Nesseth hums and nods. "I can imagine that's more than a little inconvenient for you, Melia." He chuckles at Tarbin's comment, though, "And yeah... if it feels similar to when I was trying to channel magic that one time, it's probably a little uncomfortable for others, too."
Melia shrugs with a lopsided smile, her relatively long (if intangible) tail swishing: "It is what it is. I like it more out there again anyway, with my friends." She blinks: "Well, the other friends, the ones largely without legs. You know the ones."
Dorri shakes her head. "Considering that this is the first time we've met, no, I don't know whatever it is about her..."
Melia smiles at Dorri: "I'm special!"
Tarbin is about to answer Dorri, hesitating and glancing between Nesseth and Melia. "Is it okay? People will find out after all."
Nesseth tilts his head at Tarbin's question and shrugs. "I mean... I think that's more between you and Melia? I can see her, Dorri can see her, and others can probably kind of see her by now, so...?"
Melia smiles brightly: "I'm here for everyone to enjoy!"
Dorri cocks her head a bit before polishing off her mug of beer. "Why wouldn't I be able to see her?"
Tarbin hums his mild concern, still a little apprehensive of the idea that someone could somehow misuse the magic within Melia, but shrugs on Melia's reassurance. "Okay, you're right." He turns to Dorri. "She's an elemental, of Nature. Summoned by someone in Erika's garden, and now free... In a way."
Nesseth chuckles at Melia's comment. "To be fair, Melia can handle herself if anyone tries anything dumb. Otherwise, she can just call on you, Tarbin, for help." He shrugs, "And if anything, you two can always call on me and Xochi."
Melia tilts her head and muses towards no one in particular: "Does it count if I try anything dumb? I'm not sure I would stop myself?"
Tarbin can't help but laugh on Melia's question. "Then step two, I'll try to help."
Dorri laughs. "Oh, so /that's/ what Erika was going on about. We were talking at the festival, but she got so distracted by so many passers-by and jumped around in her story a lot. I'm glad that the whole problem was something helpful, though..." She accepts another mug of beer from the barkeep with a nod.
Melia shrugs: "Erika's nice, though she's a bit biased in the story. Probably." She pauses: "Actually, I don't think I have heard her tell it. Nevermind?"
Nesseth takes a moment to sip on his drink before nodding. "Yeah, it was a tangled mess for a while, but we were able to help Melia out, even if... er... we did maybe just kick the can down the road a little, so to speak. At least the way things are now, Melia can wander around town instead of being confined to the garden." He muses silently that the tangled mess is still technically ongoing, what with the elemental at the forge still being a thing.
Tarbin nods, looking to Melia. "True, there is that at least. I do try to help Melia see everything she wants to."
Melia hums: "Well, I can wander with him." She points at Tarbin: "Kinda still anchored-ish. Not that I mind."
Dorri nods. "Well, all's well that... proceeds well, I suppose. I guess I should be glad that I haven't had my observatory possessed by an elemental of the stars or the like."
Nesseth chuckles and smiles at Dorri. "That might actually be pretty neat if they're as friendly as Melia is."
Tarbin hums, turning to Dorri. "Oh? Why not? Talking with an elemental can reveal many secrets. An elemental of the stars, if there could be one, would probably have some great mh... [insights?]" He turns to Nesseth. "[Insight], yes?"
Nesseth nods at Tarbin's question. "[Insight]? Yeah, that's the word for it. Insight."
Melia giggles: "That'd be neat! I could have someone to relate to in that regard." She pauses: "Possibly. Actually I have no idea what's up there in that regard?"
Tarbin nods to Nesseth, "Thank you, [brother.]" He turns to his soup, focused on mumbling to himself between a couple spoonfuls. "In sight. In-sight. Insight."
Dorri sips her beer and shakes her head. "I've heard stories from others. Whatever is up there, it's not friendly. Not malicious mind you, it just doesn't care one whit for what us folk down below think or feel." She shudders a bit. "Of course, those were just the ramblings of a couple old drunk astronomers... but I'm not about to discount it fully."
Nesseth hums thoughtfully. "I suppose we wouldn't really know if anything up there is friendly or not before we actually encounter something from there? Like, I've always figured that nature is pretty indifferent, but... uh..." He grins as he glances at Melia, "Aspects of nature are pretty bubbly and fun to talk to, it seems like."
Melia hums: "Can I be both bubbling and indifferent? Or does it not work that way. Hmm." She swirls her being about, seemingly vanishing for a moment before sitting next to Nesseth: "I'll take the 'fun', though."
Tarbin shudders at Dorri's concern, nodding slightly. "Oh, I... You could be right? Not all aspects are so positive, after all. Fire, for example. It has a focused desire to consume until it has nothing left to consume. Doesn't care for what is alive and not, only that it has something to consume. Very focused. The strings of [Hexing] as well. Not exactly... Positive the way folks use it, but is so tied into everything that the world probably couldn't exist without it there to bind everything together."
Dorri ponders Tarbin's words for a moment as she drinks her beer. "Sounds about right, yeah..." She looks to Melia. "Do you know anything about other kinds or no?"
Melia tilts her head: "I don't really know anything much that Tarbin doesn't."
Tarbin chuckles. "Sorry, don't mean to be a shadow on the evening!"
Nesseth blinks as Melia seemingly vanishes from view, only to chuckle and smile as she reappears on the seat next to him. Before he can comment on her apparent ability to 'teleport' short distances, however, the question from Dorri makes him tilt his head in thought. "Well... there's still that incident at the forge I need to deal with once I get back from my time off. I'm pretty sure that involves another elemental, but if it's a fire elemental, well... the forge hasn't burned down or anything."
Melia blinks, tilting her head at Nesseth: "There's another? Here in Respite?"
Tarbin hums, nodding. "Oh, that's true!"
Dorri blinks. "At the Oldhammer?"
Nesseth nods at the three questions. "Yeah, the Oldhammer Smithy. It happened at basically the same time as when you appeared, Melia, and... well, I think another elemental is involved in some way, similar to you."
Melia hums at this: "...like me... like me, like I was in Erika's garden without being Erika... though I sorta was... Cavro?"
Tarbin gives a nervous chuckle, glancing past Nesseth at Melia. "My 'help' will be a last resort, of course."
Dorri drinks her beer as she ponders this more, eventually turning to Nesseth. "I suppose all this saur nonsense kept that from being resolved?"
Nesseth nods at Dorri. "Yeah... once we'd helped Melia out, the things with the Saurs started up. Thankfully, I've been getting occasional observation reports and... well, other than the forge running way hotter than normal, there doesn't seem to be any issues coming up as far as I'm aware." He sighs a little, "Still, it's something I want to resolve, so Cavro can get back to work again. Poor guy's been stuck at the barracks for a long while."
Melia looks at Nesseth: "...if I can help, I could help, right? No rule saying you gotta have a heartbeat or something?"
Dorri taps her hard fingertips on the bar. "Hmm... it can't hurt, right? I mean, one elemental to another?"
Nesseth hums and nods. "Help would be appreciated, yeah. I just hope the whole nature versus fire thing doesn't cause any issues for you two."
Melia blinks, realizing this: "Oh. Oh yeah, fire. Not good. Pretty bad, actually."
Tarbin hums, finishing his soup as he listens to the conversation. "Perhaps. Might even be able to figure out the anchor but... A forge is a very... Unnatural place. All that stone, steel and fire. I would have nothing to offer. Melia... Might, being of his kind."
Dorri sets her mug down as she gets an idea. "Aurelius... the loremaster. He should know something about this, right?"
Tarbin: "You would think, yes. I hadn't considered it, but perhaps he has a book or two on summoning elementals that might have a clue."
Nesseth blinks and nods after a moment. "You're right! Aurelius has contact with the Loremasters on other continents too, right? Even if he doesn't have anything on hand, he could probably find something elsewhere."
Melia looks at Tarbin: "It could work, maybe? I don't know."
Dorri laughs. "One loremaster is the same as all of them together, yes. That's kind of the point. Individually, Aurelius knows a lot, but no one by themselves can be a loremaster."
Tarbin nods to Melia, smiling. "Possibly, but only if you think it's safe. I honestly don't know, either."
Nesseth nods again. "Yeah, better we get all the information we can first, before we try to do anything. The last thing we want to do is... well... you know..." He gives Melia an awkward, sheepish smile. Clearly, the incident that managed to sever her connection to the garden still bugs him a bit.
Melia looks at Nesseth: "Another...? Ooh. Oh right. Yeah, wouldn't want to do me all over. Besides, I don't think Respite could take two of me, it'd drive Tarbin crazy."
Tarbin: "I suppose the difference is Melia's power was threatening to cover the town in plants, and the forge elemental is... Potentially an inferno waiting to happen? I... That doesn't sound right."
Dorri sips her beer more. "But there hasn't been one. I haven't heard a peep of gossip about the forge since I got into town, so nothing's off enough to have anyone worried..."
Nesseth shrugs a bit. "Well... really, it was more whenever we accidentally looked threatening, did things get worse. An angry jungle is scary, but a raging fire is probably harder to contain. Best we do all the research we can first before we try anything this time around."
Melia gives Tarbin a look: "I wasn't going to cover the town completely in plants. They need space too."
Tarbin chuckles, looking to Melia. "I know, of course." He turns to Dorri, "Though you're right. Nobody in the clinic seemed to have anything to say, and doctor Doctor Plume got their new instruments promptly..."
Nesseth nods. "That's more or less what the reports have been saying, yeah. The forge has been running pretty constantly, and the parts and instruments that are crafted are of a pretty good quality. Best case resolution, Cavro and the elemental can work together or something..."
Melia looks down: "This is a weird situation. I mean, I'm a weird situation, but this still sort of beats it. Beats me. Although beating me would be hard since I don't actually have anything to beat. At." She blinks: "I think I lost my point."
Dorri sets down her empty mug, frowning a bit. "Not sure what all I can do to help, but I'll be in town for another week and I'm at your disposal until then."
Tarbin sets a few coins down on the bar to pay for his meal, standing up. "I will also help, as I can." He gives a nod and wave to Nesseth and Dorri. "I am exhausted from work, though. Thank you both for the company."
Melia nods at Dorri, smiling: "Maybe we can find something via Aurelius?"
Nesseth hums quietly, smiling at Tarbin and Dorri. "Honestly, even just idea people will help a lot. Folks to help think things through, see perspectives I can't." He gives Tarbin a salute as the lizard stands up, "Then have a good night, Tarbin. I'll see you and Melia probably tomorrow for that check-up on my arm."
Melia hums, turning to Nesseth: "Yeah, guess I have a bit of an unique perspective. The, uh... elemental type one." She looks at Nesseth's arm: "Or perspective on that, too."
Dorri slides the empty mug back on the bar and stands as well. "Think I should get some sleep as well. Have a few meetings lined up for tomorrow and today was a long day. Keep me in the know of this whole Oldhammer situation, though."
Nesseth nods at Dorri as she gets up. "I'll be sure to keep you posted, Dorri. Thanks for suggesting Aurelius, too. I doubt we would have thought of seeking his help if you didn't suggest him." He looks back at Melia and smiles as he lifts his arm up a bit, "Thanks to you and Tarbin, I've gotten most of my arm's function back already."
Tarbin nods, glancing at the arm in question. "Absolutely. We can work a little more on the scarring if you have the time to rest!" He grins, turning away and heading toward the door. He steps aside, holding the door for Dorri. "I would like to discuss the stars with you some time, miss Dorri."
Melia smiles at Dorri, then at Nesseth: "We do what we can." She sits at the bar, humming to herself after that.
Dorri smiles at the other three. "Goodnight, then." She makes her way to the stairs and heads up to her room above the bar for the night.
Tarbin chuckles, blushing a bit as he realizes Dorri isn't heading outside. In his embarrassment, the lizard steps out of the tavern and into the street, starting to head off in the direction of the West gate...
Nesseth waves to Tarbin as he leaves and Dorri heads upstairs. "I'll stop by, then. I've got the time for it, since I'm on vacation." He turns to smile at Melia after a moment, "Seriously, what you two can do is pretty amazing."
Melia shrugs and gives Nesseth a bright smile: "I just... sorta direct Nature? Or myself, since I sorta am Nature. Help encourage heal... it's hard to describe."
Nesseth hums. "Mmh, you facilitate healing, but still... repairing nerve damage? Plume was worried it wouldn't heal completely, when I first arrived." He lifts his hand up and flexes his fingers a bit, looking at them in a bit of wonder still, "The fact that I have almost complete control again so quickly... well, you and Tarbin... uh..." He blinks, then looks towards the door leading out to the street.
Melia looks at Nesseth's hand and smiles: "Happy to help, of course. Do what I can and all that... well, whatever 'all that' means, I've lost count. So many have thanked me and half of them don't even really see me?" She flexes her headfrills for a second, humming at that thought.
Nesseth blinks as he looks back at Melia, realizing that Tarbin definitely didn't wait around, but can't help but smile when he sees her wiggling her frills. "You did so much to help folks, something like not being able to really see you won't stop the gratitude." He glances towards the door again, making sure Tarbin isn't just messing with him, before he looks at Melia once more, "Also... did you two manage to figure out how to separate or something, while I was out west?"
Melia nods along with Nesseth's words, before the last bits hit her: "...wait, what?" She looks towards the door: "Wait, what?!" She gets up and hesitates, looking like she's about to bolt. "We... didn't?"
Nesseth tilts his head as he watches Melia stand up, his bemusement clear on his face. "Wait, so... you didn't, but... You're not vanishing like you did before whenever you and Tarbin got too far from each other." He reaches forward and lightly pokes Melia's arm, encountering the same bit of resistance he usually does whenever he prods her, "And... you're obviously still right here, so...?"
Melia looks confused, scared and shocked at this: "I... I... d-don't know if this is... a good thing or not." She takes a step towards the door, hesitates, gives Nesseth a brief warm smile and sprints out of the bar and to where she thinks Tarbin went.
Nesseth blinks and watches as Melia darts out. He gets up and runs to the door as well and leans out to see if he can spot which direction Tarbin went, and if Melia's going the right way, too. By the time he reaches the door, however, Tarbin's out of sight, and Melia's semi-corporeal form is practically invisible in the low evening light. He sighs a bit, now feeling rather concerned, but decides to go and finish his drink before running a quick, unofficial patrol towards the west wall, just to make sure the two found each other okay.
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SOMEWHERE IN RESPITE - EVENING
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Tarbin finds himself roughly three quarters of the way to the West gate from the Thirty Minnow, quite a few blocks away, and a little bit lost in thought. The first little bit of his wander was spent in a minor loop of embarrassment over holding the door for Dorri, despite her resting at the tavern. That faded quickly, and he started just enjoying the night air and relative silence, as many folks wandered off to bed or have wound down to happy private conversation. Shortly after that, and most of the way to the gate, he realized that the 'silence' was far too silent. Tarbin's paused in the street, looking about with a nervous gaze. He can't feel Melia's presence within him. He can't see her unique bundle of magic near him. He shudders, weakly asking the night air, "M-melia? Where are you?"
Melia is running after Tarbin, panting just out of unconscious habit as she rounds the corner somewhere behind him. "Stupid stupid stupid stupid...! Should've felt the pull..." She's almost certain she will 'pop' any moment now, and lose good chunk of her progress so far, vanishing into Tarbin for weeks. Not wanting to take that chance, she keeps running, not daring to look at herself in fear of seeing the signs of disappearing again. Oh gods is this what losing consciousness feels like?
Tarbin turns slowly, almost trying to will Melia into existence, though of course that wont work. He's more concerned that he can't feel her presence at all. usually when she's lost herself, she's returned to residing with him, but now, it's neither. He starts walking back the way he'd come, tail swishing nervously as he slowly picks up the pace.
Melia continues forward, still muttering under her (non-existent) breath: "Just had to keep on doing that dumb, dumb, pointless dumb talk with the pretty lizard instead of paying attention to the pretty lizard that matters!" She runs around the corner and finds herself just half step in front of Tarbin, yelping in surprise as the two threaten to collide.
Tarbin catches Melia's form coming around the wall, the stone making the 'blob' of magic fuzzy until he lets out a happy cry... Which is cut short by an alarmed grunt when he is suddenly stopped by the magic-filled lizard-shaped lady. He stumbles backward, his tails thankfully bracing him during his fall enough to not get hurt.
Melia falls forward, finding herself laying on top of Tarbin. Not in him. Not vanished, she can still... still see, smell and feel. While trying to process this, she stares at Tarbin and feels like she needs to say something profound: "Hi."
Tarbin blinks, a bit winded by the weight lying on top of him. He looks to Melia, and although his vision of her is still rather wavy and green, Tarbin can't help but notice she looks a little more solid. And certainly feels a lot more solid. The first thing that comes to mind isn't that point, though. "Ah! Melia I left you behind... Sorry!"
Melia stares: "But I stayed behind! I'm a dumb-dumb elemental, that's what I am!" She's not perturbed by being on the street laying on his chest, not that there are that many witnesses this late in the evening. She shifts her hands on his chest, unconsciously enjoying the very tangible and physical feel of it.
Tarbin chuckles quietly, glancing at her hands. He reaches for one, patting her right arm. "You are ah... Touching me. When did you learn to do this?"
Melia blinks and looks down at her hand: "...right now, probably? Oh hey." Her panic abated somewhat into confusion, she moves her fingers around Tarbin's chest in slight wonder.
Tarbin blushes under his scales, realizing what the situation may look like as he glances around. "M-mind if we get up? The stones are not comfortable..."
Melia blinks, then tries to awkwardly back away, sitting on a kneeling position next to Tarbin: "Right. Um, right. Let's do that." She's staring at Tarbin with a definite pink blush in her otherwise mostly green being.
Tarbin sits up, remaining on his butt with his tails supporting him. He remains looking worried for a few moments before grinning. "I... Think this might be good! When did you leave the tavern?"
Melia blinks again, turning to look behind her, then at Tarbin: "Like... a moment ago? G-got caught talking with Nesseth and didn't see you go and... wait, good?"
Tarbin nods, still grinning. "I was alone for a few minutes... And started walking back. So we... Melia, we've never moved so far apart before!" He pats her arm again, gripping her shoulder reassuringly. "And you're still here. More here than ever!"
Melia glances at her shoulder in surprise: "I... I am? I am." She looks at herself, wondering if she's actually more tangible now... before turning back to Tarbin and focusing. After a second, she looks rather crestfallen: "I... I c-can't feel you anymore. Or move to... with... in you?" She sniffs, swallowing.
Tarbin feels his smile slip at her change in demeanor, hesitating before he manages to bring it back a little. "You can't? You're trying, right? I... Do not know what this means. We're... You're free, maybe? But I can't protect you now?"
Melia sniffs, reaching her hands towards Tarbin's, just feeling this is the thing to do. "It's... weird. I can't just..." She gestures vaguely: "...go, around you." She swirls into a puff of green magic, then appears sitting on the other side of Tarbin. Tarbin doesn't feel anything of the usual from this, she just goes around him instead. "...d-do that." She swallows again, unsure.
Tarbin watches her magic shift around him when her physical body vanishes and reappears. While he can't feel the familiar tingle of her power passing through him, he still senses her proximity. He feels the blood drain from his face for a moment, a thump of panic in his chest. "What... You can still but..." He looks about at the ambient flow around them, setting his hand on the cobble near a tuft of grass next to him. His scales shift in color as he goads the flow toward the grass, causing it to grow a little taller. The panic he was feeling subsides a little, though he's left curious. "But what does that mean, then..?"
Melia looks at the tuft of grass and put her own hand onto it, willing it to grow some more: "I'm... I'm not sure. I have gotten stronger, but..." She looks at Tarbin, at loss for words. She feels awkward, both very right and very wrong at the moment. Right in that she's more in one piece than ever, but wrong in that she can't feel Tarbin in much any way beyond the magic flow they share and the new physical contact.
Tarbin turns to Melia, gripping her shoulder again before leaning toward her and embracing her in a hug. "You're not part of me any more. This is good, Melia. You are you. Every bit of you is you, now... Maybe. We'll see."
Melia sniffs confusedly before leaning into the hug. The hug that feels very real, not feeling like she's about to fall into him again. "This is... so weird. I'm still me, just not..." She pauses, humming: "Er, whatever this is. We'll find out?"
Tarbin chuckles, nodding. He doesn't want to voice it, but half of his current mood is in favor of Melia's progress. The other half if a deep feeling of relief. While she's regaining herself, he's doing the same. She's losing a connection, and he's regaining himself. "We will. I am still here for you, of course. I will keep helping. I promise."
Melia swallows, then looks at Tarbin: "P-promise? I'm... I d-don't know what I will do now, Tarbin." She feels adrift, without any connection... or anchor, if you will. She looks around: "I guess I can do... more, now. If I figure out what that is."
Tarbin laughs a little, leaning back from the hug to give her a smile. "We'll do the same as we have. We'll help folks, and tend Nature, while you find yourself. You already know what you like, after all."
Melia smiles warmly if hesitantly: "G-guess that's true... do what we have been doing, e-except now you can go for lunch w-without me..." She's definitely feeling conflicted about that statement.
Tarbin sighs lightly, nodding. "I can, and you can chat with the trees without me holding you back."
Melia tilts her head: "You don't hold me back. Or haven't. Or don't. Or... I don't know."
Tarbin: "I did. From going where you wanted to go when you wanted to. You might not have thought about it much, but this is what we wanted from the start. Back in Erika's garden. You deserve to be tied down in no way, and we might be there, now."
Melia blinks, thinking on this: "...well, yeah, but... why does it also feel so difficult now that we are here?"
Tarbin shakes his head a little. "You can't lean on me like you did." He hugs her again, chuckling quietly. "You can lean on me like this though, when you need to."
Melia sniffs once more, leaning on Tarbin: "Y-yeah... I can't hear you, b-but I can feel you. I can't... f-feel you like I did, but I can hear you out here now." She takes a deep breath, finally seeming like calming down. She gives a chuckle: "O-or something like that."
Tarbin nods, giving Melia a reassuring squeeze before starting to stand up, reaching for her hands to help her to her feet. "Something like that, yes."
Melia reaches up with a smile, and manages to get up with slightly shaky legs. "Yes." She gives a smile, a sigh and looks into the town with a new kind of feeling, that of uncertainty and hope.
Nesseth fast-walks through the streets, wending around the remaining festival-goers as they make their ways back home from wherever they've been spending the evening. The streets have long since been lit up by Kira (and the generator providing power), so he's at least not stumbling blindly along. He has no real idea where Melia and Tarbin have gone, save for their place just outside of the western walls, so he's making his way in that general direction.
Tarbin sighs, as he and Melia walk along the night street, heading toward the West Gate via the main road around that side of town. He's mostly letting Melia take in the new events, the lizard himself at peace with the situation, though a nagging thought sits in the back of his mind, fleeting for now.
Melia is looking around the place with seemingly new eyes. Even though the sights are familiar, there's now a slightly agitated feeling of freedom underneath. And fear, which is why she really hasn't been more than a step away from Tarbin since they got up.
Nesseth rounds a corner and spots a familiar twin-tailed lizard heading westward next to another familiar lizard walking next to them. He lets out a bit of a sigh of relief, glad that they managed to find one another, but picks up the pace to ensure they're alright. "Oh good, you two managed to find each other quickly. Everything okay?"
Tarbin turns on hearing Nesseth's call, chuckling. "Oh, Melia left you worrying? I mean... It would be something to worry about before, right?"
Nesseth smiles a bit as he jogs up to join the two. "Well, Melia looked kind of panicked when she ran out of the Minnow. I wanted to make sure you two at least met up before either of you really panicked."
Tarbin grins, patting Melia on the shoulder with a reassuring squeeze. "It might have been a blessing in disguise. You got here at a pretty good time, [brother], we've only just started moving. How far do you think we are from the tavern right now?"
Melia looks slightly embarrassed: "Yeah, um... something sorta occurred to us? Or happened to us? I'm not sure."
Nesseth tilts his head curiously and glances over his shoulder back the way he'd just come from. "Uh... maybe a few streets out from the Minnow, give or take?" He looks over at Melia curiously, "Something... happened?"
Tarbin looks to Melia, wondering if she'd rather tell it, and knowing his own excitement is definitely going to bleed through. He doesn't want to make Melia feel worse, after all.
Melia looks to Tarbin, then gives nod: "We're uh... not really linked, anymore. I'm..." She flexes her arm slightly as she looks at it: "...free." She doesn't sound terribly excited, and says the last word same way most would say 'alone'.
Nesseth hums curiously, glancing between Tarbin and Melia. "And... you two didn't do anything specifically to achieve that? Melia said as much just before she left the Minnow to catch up to you, [brother]."
Tarbin shakes his head a little, trying to tame his smile. "Nothing as far as I know. I only have guesses, but they don't matter. Melia is going to have a lo to adjust to, as will I. For one, we can't hear eachother's voices any more."
Melia nods: "It's so... quiet, now." She looks at Nesseth: "A-and yeah, don't really know why this happened, after all the searching it would just... like that." She looks confused and somewhat shaken, not sure how to take this still.
Nesseth takes a few seconds to actually understand what Tarbin means, since he and Melia are clearly standing right next to each other and conversing. He blinks and nods once he figures it out, though, and gives Melia a sympathetic look. "Considering how long you two were linked, I'm not surprised you two have a lot of stuff to figure out again with this split."
Tarbin nods slowly. "Perhaps you needed to grow, as a caterpillar. Trying to break free too soon always ended in failure."
Melia looks at Tarbin with some confusion, then turns to Nesseth: "I really do not know what to do, now... do nothing, do everything?"
Tarbin shrugs, giving Melia a one-armed hug across her shoulders. "Live life. Anything you want to do."
Nesseth hums and nods at Tarbin's comment. "I could see that, yeah. Grow and develop before being able to leave, as it were." He smiles at Melia, "You have the freedom to do what you want, when you want to, as Tarbin says."
Melia nods slowly, then tilts her head: "...but what DO I want?" She gives a somewhat-frustrated sigh: "I'd say I need to sleep on this, but that's not really a thing I can do..."
Nesseth hums, rubbing his chin in thought. "That'll definitely be something to think about once you've had some time to rest and come to terms with all this. The good news is that you've got a place to stay while you figure it out, since you've been staying with Tarbin all this time."
Tarbin pauses, blinking. "Oh, yes. I suppose that's true... She has a place to stay... I'm going to have to grow another bed. Or well,,, I suppose you could grow one for yourself, Melia."
Melia nods absently: "Yeah... I can do that. I think my abilities are... mostly, what they used to be?" She idly swirls a bit of green cloud around her, as though the cloud is pondering the same with her.
Tarbin watches Melia's magic, smiling at her. "If anything, greater without me holding you back."
Nesseth chuckles a little, remembering that the two are especially strong with nature magic while working together. "Heh... right. I was about to offer a hand if you needed help setting up extra furniture, but I forgot you two can grow stuff easily."
Melia glances at Tarbin, frowning: "You don't... didn't, hold me back." She nods at Nesseth: "It's not like I really... probably, now... maybe... sleep?" She blinks: "...I actually don't know."
Tarbin chuckles, nodding. "You almost sound like a tired person, Melia. Maybe sleep is something you can enjoy now."
Nesseth shrugs a bit. "Something worth finding out, hm? Sleep is nice, speaking from experience, and I'm sure Tarbin agrees."
Melia blinks again, turning to Tarbin: "I do? That's what tired sounds like?"
Nesseth shakes his head a bit in amusement. "More like just general, directionless babbling. The more tired someone gets, the less likely they are to speak clearly compared to their normal."
Tarbin rubs Melia's back for a brief moment. "We'll get you home and find out, yes?"
Melia looks between the two, then lets out a shrug: "I guess? It's not like I have any-" She lets out a big yawn: "-plans, right now."
Nesseth notices the yawn and chuckles. "Yeah... the sooner you two get home, the sooner you can get some rest, Melia. That kind of yawn, you probably need it after such a hectic evening run."
Tarbin chuckles as well, nodding to Nesseth. "I agree. Thank you for looking for us to make sure one or the other would be alright, [brother], I appreciate it."
Melia looks at Nesseth with a smile: "Yeah, good to have such friends like you." She lets out a small sigh, shaking her head: "Crazy things..."
Nesseth dips his head at both Melia and Tarbin. "I'm just glad you two found each other quickly enough. I'm guessing you two are okay to make your way back home without a guard escort, though." He grins a bit, obviously joking, "If anything comes up, though, feel free to let me know if I can help. For now, though, I'll let you two go and enjoy the evening."
Tarbin nods, bowing his head a little. "Thank you, Nesseth. We'll talk again soon, enjoy your evening and sleep well!" He turns to Melia, though certainly waiting for her to be ready to move on before he wanders off again.
Melia smiles at Nesseth, giving him a small wave: "Thank you... be seeing you around, I guess." She turns to Tarbin and gives him a small nod, blinks, then opens her mouth with a blush: "...tried to talk to you the other way. G-good to go, though."
Nesseth waves with a cheerful smile as he turns to head back the way he'd came from, feeling glad that a potential spot of trouble with a panicked elemental got resolved really fast. "I'll see you two soon enough at the clinic, I'm sure. Good night!"
Tarbin smiles, offering his arm to walk her home. "I think I still understood. Let's get you home, Melia." They make their way back, though in the dark and so late at night, they share Tarbin's bed one last time. Luckily he'd made it large enough for two people to rest in without much discomfort. Expansion of the hut could happen in the sun's light.