| Thev's Dilemma |
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It isn't easy for the members of my folk to understand the humans. Their feelings show in their faces, gestures and reactions quite promptly and much stronger than with the immortals, but who can tell what caused those feelings? Thev's anger is very visible to me, and most fascinating, but I do not know why he seems to be so continually sullen. Sure, I caused some of his anger by my persistence, but I suspect there was already a lot of anger inside him to start with. I intend to find out the reasons for his emotions and actions, though with that little mortal's attitude it won't be an easy thing to do. But fortunately patience is a most elfish trait. Humans, on the other hand, are mostly a rather impatient lot, aren't they? --------- Thev didn't attack. Instead he drew a deep breath trying to calm completely down. Very pronounced he put the twig away that he had used to poke at the fire and then straightened up. After another gloomy glance at the elf he walked over to the corner, where the whimpering had come from. There was a partitioned area made of two planks; it was filled up with moss and leaves and covered by a rough woolen blanket. Joanathos closed the door behind him and walked closer to the corner with the makeshift bed, following the youth. Thev had knelt down beside the bed and put his hand carefully on a small heap of blanket that was pressed against the wall. "I'm sorry" he said in a soft voice "It's all right, there's just some blo-some elf visiting." Something beneath the blanket moved slightly and as Joanathos came closer he could make out tousled hair and the pale tip of a small nose peeking out at one end. Thev gazed back at the elf over his shoulder, his body protectively between Joanathos and the person on the bed. "Will you leave now." he demanded with forced calmness. "This is our place and I haven't invited you." "I know I'm not behaving exactly politely," conceded the elf, "but at least I haven't bruised anyone's ribs." Interested he tried to get a better look at whom the boy showed such protective urges. "It seems it wasn't enough... " The young mortal muttered under his breath, then clenched his teeth. "I at least-" A small pause. "-beg you not to upset Samiel." Joanathos raised an eyebrow. "So it's because you don't want to upset this Samiel, that you haven't attacked me again." he remarked dryly. "Give me an answer." Thev looked very serious and it didn't seem like he would relent on that point. After a moment the elf slightly inclined his head in acceptance. The youth gazed intently at him then turned back to the bed. Moving beside him Joanathos could get a clear sight at Samiel. A thin white face rested on the rough cloth stretched over the moss and dry leaves. This human seemed to be smaller and somewhat younger than Thev-a child. An ill child, thought the elf, staring at the almost ghostly countenance and the hollow eyes. Samiel's gaze was unfocused and dull, not being aware of the things around him. Even as Thev reached out and gently lifted the small human up into a sitting position, there was no reaction but a soft whimper. "Hush, Samiel." Thev murmured in a gentle voice and soothingly caressed Samiel's ruffled sand colored hair. He whipped some spittle from the corner of the boy's mouth and then tugged the blanket tightly around the thin shoulders. Samiel seemed not to notice the elf who observed him silently. For a moment Joanathos considered talking to the human child, but he got the distinct feeling that he wouldn't be heard. The elf became aware of Thev looking sharply at him from the corner of his eyes. "You don't feel angry or anything?" the youth suddenly asked. Puzzled by the question Joanathos turned towards him. "No. Why do you want to know? Surely not out of concern for me." he pronounced meaningful and slightly mocking. "Certainly not." said Thev with a soft snort "I just warn you not to feel anything...bad now, while you're in here. Though I'd prefer ye to leave." The strange request further confused the elf, but it hardly showed on his calm sculptured features. He just turned back to observe Samiel. "Why would my feelings upset this little human?" Joanathos hesitated, thinking about it. "Your anger has caused Samiel to whimper, hasn't it? That's why you're keeping a grip on your temper, because he is-how do you call it-an empath?" "Don't you make any wrong comment about it, elf." the youth threatened, but with a weird effort of staying calm at the same time. It was quite an unjustified accusation, for Joanathos knew that empaths were highly honored by the humans. "Er... Ai'tike? I mean, 'pardon'... I see no wrong comments to make about it." he defended himself. Thev observed him full of distrust. "Anyway, leave him alone." "I don't know very much about empaths, but he is not supposed to be like that? To react to nothing but feelings." the elf asked calmly. "No, he is not supposed to." Thev said harshly, his black eyes sparkling with suppressed anger. His full soft lips were tightly pressed together. With worry, thought Joanathos, not only with anger. "What happened?" Not a hint of compassion tinged the immortal's voice, just cold interest. The youth gazed almost hatefully at him. "That's none of your business. I'm going to make something to eat for Samiel. So will you move away from the bed, for I don't trust you near him. Best you leave right through the door or otherwise go to the other side of the room, elf." he gave his orders shortly. The clipped commands slightly amused the elf. "I won't harm a helpless creature." he meant to reassure Thev. This time he wasn't able to block off Thev's backhanded slap. It left him with his ears ringing and his cheek burning. Completely taken aback Joanathos stared at the human, who turned a gaze on him that meant to kill. If he would be able to concentrate the element of Fire inside him and direct it, Joanathos realized in a flash, then Thev could be indeed able to do just that. The strangled scream from the bed made them both jump. Quickly Thev turned to Samiel and tried to grab the boy's wildly flailing arms. He got a scratch across his cheek before he could pull the raving Samiel in a tight embrace, pinning the boy's arms to his body and coercing his uncontrolled struggle. "Hush... hush, Samiel..." Thev murmured soothingly, his voice almost drowned out by the little empath's wails that sounded like they'd tear the boy's throat open. "Samiel... please... oh, please stop, Samiel. I'm sorry... so sorry..." The youth's own voice became husky and he half choked on his words. Quite suddenly Samiel's ravings turned into a low keening, a soft wretched sound. He curled up into himself in Thev's arms. Thev swallowed hard and he seemed to struggle to calm himself down as much as he tried to calm the smaller boy. Silently Joanathos had observed them, realizing how Thev's feelings reflected in Samiel. He knew empaths could normally control how much they wanted to pick up from the people surrounding them. They could protect themselves from other people's emotions, but this miserable little mortal clearly wasn't able to. Carefully Joanathos reached out and very lightly touched Thev's shoulder. "Human." he tried to get his attention. Thev tensed up. "Leave!" he pressed out in a harsh voice. "Listen only a moment." Joanathos insisted, not giving Thev a chance to accept his demand, but going on immediately, speaking low and utterly calm. "Your Samiel is wide open to your feelings and can't shield himself. It evidently hurts you to see him like that, but this feeling reflects on him and makes him more miserable. Elves do not feel that strongly. Or rather we feel differently, for Fire isn't our element. We are different, so Samiel won't be affected by me." Joanathos realized that Thev didn't really understand this and tried to put it in simpler terms. "You are shouting at him with your feelings, but if you give him over to me for a moment, it will be all calm for Samiel. I can shield him." Thev stared at Joanathos, his arms tightening around Samiel. The tense muscles of his jaw betrayed how he clenched his teeth while he thought about what the elf had said. Part of it obviously rang true to the youth, although he didn't like it much. "All right." He finally answered, sounding strained "But if you hurt him in any way, you can kiss your immortal boredom good bye, elf." Joanathos raised an eyebrow, but kept silent. Carefully he took the thin shaking body that Thev gently lifted onto the elf's lap. Then the youth took a step back, but still kept his gaze sharply on Joanathos and Samiel. In the immortal's arms Samiel calmed down. Joanathos could feel how the boy relaxed and for a moment he looked almost puzzled, his green-brown eyes shortly focusing on the elf. But then he closed them and seemed to fall in an exhausted sleep. Closing his eyes as well Joanathos tried to concentrate on the elements. This wasn't easy for him while sitting all still. He had to fight the urge to get up and dance, but he managed to center himself enough to be able to trace the elements around him and to sort them out. Carefully he concentrated on Samiel, who was now surrounded by a shield of Air and Water. But Joanathos felt the waves of Fire from Thev that battered uncontrolled against it. The elf turned his attention back to the little empath on his lap. A sensation of rawness clung to the boy. He seemed to be burned out. But Joanathos had not much experience with empaths and didn't know how to mend Samiel's 'wounds'. He could only offer him a calm sanctuary for some time, so perhaps he could heal himself. Suddenly Joanathos became aware of something probing against his shields. A slight frown creased the elf's high brow as he tried to focus on the source of that irritation. There was Thev of course, with his overpowering potential of Fire, but the probing came from somewhere else. Something that had been connected to Samiel. The elf's leg twitched involuntarily and he lost it. He could not trace it. Not something that was Fire and Earth. With a suppressed sigh Joanathos opened his eyes again. Thev was still staring at him, wearing an expression of contradicting feelings that the elf couldn't quite read. "He seems to be better." Thev at last commented grudgingly, but then added with a sullen look "It was your fault anyway, damn elf." Unconsciously Joanathos reached up to his cheek. It felt hot from the slap and a red, Thev-hand-sized patch blossomed on the Fair Lord's ivory skin. "I want to apologize for those words that made you slap me, human." he said. "I wasn't aware I said something inappropriate." The youth hesitated distrustfully. "I won't let anyone make anymore-insults about empaths." "I didn't mean to insult empaths. What I meant to say was that I won't hurt someone who is obviously ill and at the moment unable to defend himself." Joanathos tried to explain, taking pains to put it in a way Thev wouldn't misunderstand. "I thought empaths were highly honored by your folk?" Disbelieving Thev stared at him. "What?" he gave a bitter sounding snort, "I'm going to make Samiel's stew." With that and another reassuring glance at Samiel, he walked to the corner right from the door and lifted a mat of woven and tied together twigs up from the ground. It had covered a small square hole that was dug into the floor of stomped earth. Thev got a cauldron covered with a lid out off the hole, which seemed to serve as a storeroom to keep things cooler. Letting the mat fall back into place, he walked to the fireplace with the cauldron. After poking at the fire and adding another piece of wood to it, he hung the cauldron up at the metal frame above the fireplace. Joanathos observed the youth and noticed how he gradually calmed down while he concentrated on his doings. "Can you help him?" Thev suddenly asked without turning around. "No." "No, you can't or no, you won't?" "No, I can't." the elf specified patiently, observing how the young human's shoulders sagged slightly. He picked up a twig from beside the fireplace and stirred the stew, then suddenly gave a soft curse and gazed at one of his wide green sleeves that had become sooty from where it had brushed against the cauldron. "Bloody damn elf, forgot to change cause of you." he muttered sullenly. Joanathos couldn't help an amused grin, malice sparkling in his icy-blue eyes. "Perhaps that is your queer way of honoring the Fair Lords and Ladies, Lord Greensleevs, by making them your favorite scapegoat?" taunted the elf. It got him a scowl from Thev, who walked over to the simple bed and started to carefully loosen the lace of the tight jerkin. Joanathos remembered Hylasander's remark on the change in human clothes. Thev's outfit looked especially curious, being cut as close to the youth's body as possible, and it seemed not very easy to get out of it. It took some time till Thev had cautiously wriggled out of the jerkin and hung it on a nail in the wall beside the bed. To get rid of the breeches seemed even more awkward and the youth gave a frustrated groan as he struggled to work his heels through the tight openings at the legs' ends. Most fascinated the elf watched him, absently caressing Samiel's damp, fine hair. "What are you staring at, elf?" Thev demanded to know, as he suddenly gazed up from beneath frowning eyebrows. "This looks rather uncomfortable and impractical." stated the elf. The young human shrugged, the billowing green shirt sliding down over one of his smooth, rounded shoulders through the movement. "I've got to wear it, when I'm working at the inn." He hung the breeches over the jerkin. "Bright green marks a harlot... at least here at the borderlands. Just like it's said in that song you sung." With that he pulled off the shirt, standing naked for a moment, his back turned on the elf, before he picked up a pair of rough loose breeches laying on the ground and slipped them on. "I have to say that seems a rather strange concept to me." Joanathos admitted. He had been observing how the youth undressed and gazed at his naked backside. There was no likeness to an elf's slender grace and for a moment Joanathos felt almost repelled by the human's stockiness. In the dim light he could still make out the muscles showing on Thev's sturdy back, though a thin layer of fat smoothened their lines out. Fascination replaced the elf's first reaction. "Other humans do like your body? They give money to mate with you." Joanathos puzzled half to himself. Thev turned around tying the breeches around his hips with a piece of cloth, pulling hard at the knot he had made. "Seems so. And I don't give a damn that you think me ugly, scrawny elf." He snatched a simple, brown shirt from the ground with an angry movement and pulled it down over the broad smooth expanse of his chest. Then he went back to the fireplace to stir the stew. The youth's reaction made Joanathos raise one of his sweeping eyebrows. "Why are you working at the inn like that?" he inquired interested. "Cause I am a harlot, that's why. And cause we need to eat and there are not many possible jobs to do around here." It surprised the elf that Thev had really given him a worthwhile answer and he could even make some sense of it. My, my, he thought. "I see. And Samiel, is he a harlot, too?" he meant no offense with his inquery; he just wanted to know. But Thev whirled around and glared furiously at Joanathos. "Don't say that!" Slightly weary and confused the immortal sighed, so much for their communication working out. "Why are you angry again? You just sounded like being a harlot is just something like being a bard or a landlady for the humans." Joanathos explained with unnerving calmness. "But now it seems to be something like an insult again. I'm afraid I can't see the pattern to it." Thev eyed him with suspicion, then he relented. "Just don't say it in connection with Samiel!" he told the elf shortly. It was obvious that the youth began to feel tired and exhausted. The immortals didn't need much sleep, but Joanathos guessed that the young human was quite in need of it. Perhaps he could lull him into answering some question that didn't touch topics that got him worked up... given there existed such topics, Joanathos thought wryly. "All right I won't." He answered, making his voice a touch soothing, then added carefully. "Is Samiel your brother?" "No." The youth's gaze focused on Joanathos' hand that was still caressing absently over the little empath's head. "Stop that." Thev said looking sharply at the elf, who didn't quite know what Thev was referring to. "Ai'tike?" "I've just allowed you to hold him and do that shieldin' stuff. So stop caressing him." demanded the youth. Joanathos frowned slightly. "I'm not hurting him with it." "But I say, stop it." Thev was getting rather harsh and he grabbed a wooden bowl that stood on a small tree stump a bit away from the fireplace. "Anyway you'll leave now, for I'm going to feed Samiel and I get angry just by looking at you, elf." "Perhaps it would be better for him to be shielded some time longer." Joanathos suggested carefully. "You know nothing, elf!" snapped Thev. "You said yourself you can't really help him. And I'm really fed up of serving as your amusement. I won't let Samiel be used for your weird sort of entertainment or what ever it is. Just put him down on the ground now and then leave." Silently Joanathos stared at the young human, his eyes cold and hard, but still there was this fascination he seemed unable to get rid off. It was astonishing how close to the truth some of the boy's words hit, although it must be even harder for humans to read the calm and closed up immortals. Thev glared at him, waiting. For a moment Joanathos hesitated then wordlessly lifted the sleeping Samiel from his lap and put him carefully back onto the bed. He concentrated, leaving one hand lingering lightly on the boy's head, then gazed at Thev. "My shield will need some time before it fades completely. Use it to calm down." He told him evenly. Thev returned the elf's gaze, his soft full lips pressed tightly together, until Joanathos drew his hand back from Samiel. Then Thev slowly turned walking back to the fireplace and dipping the wooden mug into the cauldron filling it with stew. His back heaved with the silent deep breaths he took, to calm himself down. Joanathos waited for a short moment then walked over to the door and left, closing it behind himself. End of Chapter Three | Part 4 | |
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