07.07.3013: No Park for Old Men
Summary: Taryn runs in to Lionel and Jeremy in the park.
Date: 07 July 2013
Related: None
Jeremy Lionel Taryn 


Soliania Promenade — Arborenin, The Spine
This is just one of the many residential promenades of Arborenin. It stretches between the various trees, providing a safe and easy passage to the various stairways that spiral up the thick trunks. Nestled in the trees are houses of various size and classification. There are clusters of apartments, tiny neighborhood of houses, and even larger almost manor-like domiciles. Despite these obvious human dwellings, they maintain the same organic, sweeping architecture of the rest of Arborenin.

At the center of the promenade is a small, residential park with a mossy lawn, dwarf oak trees, and patches of wildflowers. It almost looks as if a patch of the lower forest has been transported up into the canopies.

July 7th, 3013

It is late afternoon, the shadows long and sweeping across the Promenade. Lionel Keats is waiting for Jeremy to return home from his patrol, stretched out across the mossy lawn of the residential park. He is looking up at the patches of blue sky that floats above the canopy, arms folded under his head. His coat is spread out beneath him like a blanket, and nestled at his side, fast asleep, is the golden-furred retriever puppy. Dax is hugging what looks like a ragdoll of a plush toy against his furry chest in a rather adorable manner.

There are very few knights that Taryn knows. Fewer of these knights, Taryn calls friend. Fewer yet of these knights knows that he is awakened. Sir Lionel is two of the three, and not the knight that the blond Valen stableboy is looking for. But when he sees the Rovehn knight, he steadies himself. Before heading over to the man's vicinity, he takes a deep breath. Slowly, he clears his throat to get the man's attention, before lowering his head in a respectful nod. When the two met before, Taryn looked tired and worn, now he looks like a man stretched thin at the soul. "Excuse me, Sir Keats. Might I have a moment of your time?"

Jeremy walks through the trees, the light plates of his scout armor faded to a simple gray-green. There's a little scratch on his left cheek, but otherwise seems unharmed. He may not know Taryn, but he's a knight and he's Awakened — look, two of three. He tucks under the last branch, then spots the sprawled knight, with only a single hanger-on. He frowns a bit, shaking his head, and then paces lightly up toward the pair, nodding to Taryn and then grinning down at Lionel, "Sorry to interrupt."

When that Sir Keats touches his ears, Lionel looks up and around to alight those blue eyes on Taryn. He blinks several moments as he realizes the state of the young man, definitely having seen that look before. He starts to sit up, neverminding that this causes Dax to roll off his chest and onto his back with a slight thump. The puppy yawns widely with a bit of a squeak, blinking those dark and steady eyes until his gaze clears. Lionel ruffles up his soft ears before he drapes his arms across his bent knees. "You look terrible, Wystrel," Lie points out casually, his bushy brows slightly arched. It is then that he notices Jeremy, and his expression lightens just a touch. "Not interrupting. Taryn Wystrel, this is Sir Jeremy Keats."

Keats. Taryn looks between the two, noting no familial similarities. He offers a tired smile to the other Sir Keats, followed by an equally respectful bow of the head. He then turns his gaze back to Lionel, "My apologies… I didn't realize that you were waiting for someone. It seems that I am the one interrupting… It's… not really that important." Taryn might be good at many things, lying isn't one of them. Whatever it is that he had approached Lionel over is more important than that, at least to him.

Jeremy chuckles at the introduction and the apology that comes after it, brushing aside his sword and crossbow to crouch down and give Dax a scruff across the ears. "It's alright, Master Wystrel. Lionel usually has someone pretty hanging around." His own eyes are shadowed, a bit of stubble lining his jaw. "Don't worry. About that, at least. Any news on Primus?"

"Taryn," Lionel says with a laugh, rolling up onto his feet before the young man can retreat. He brushes his hands together, stepping up toward the young Valen to gently grasp his shoulder. He squeezes gently, a hint of grounding in that grip. "None of that." Then he smirks at Jeremy. "Nor that." Then he shrugs his shoulders a bit at the question. "I have not heard yet, but… Taryn came looking for me." And he fixes his eyes on the man. "And it is very important."

Taryn opts not to tell Lionel that he was actually looking for Sir Agnes, but Lionel was a reasonable second choice. He combs his fingers through his hair, before rubbing at the back of his neck. "I… Okay, just bare with me… because I'm not really sure where this is coming from either… but is there any reason why I knight would be put to death, not in combat, but without stripped of their rank and title?"

Jeremy shakes his head at Lionel's words, offering up a tired smile and looking up to Taryn, "Have a," he starts to gesture toward the moss, then freezes at Taryn's words, " — an execution." His right hand rises up to the back of his neck, rubbing at it gently, "With a sword and everything?" Drawing in a breath, he glances over to Lionel, then back to Taryn, "You're Awakened? And you had a dream too?"

Everyone is looking for Lionel — at some point. He looks like he's about to say something in response to Taryn's question, but Jeremy jumps in. He blinks several times as he looks between the two — apparent — Awakened. He rolls his shoulders back a bit, and he releases a soft exhale of breath. "Alright… so… treason." He says to Taryn finally. "But he would be stripped of rank before that happened." He frowns. "What's going on?"

Taryn sighs slightly as he looks to Jeremy. Sure why not? At this juncture, is there really any point to hiding it. He nods, "Yeah… and seems like every time I close my eyes… I'm dreaming of demonic songs… or blood… or eagles in cages… eagles out of cages.. eagles in trees… eagles on the ground… eagles on scales… now this… and I swear I can still feel the greatsword hacking into my neck." He rolls his head and his neck cracks from the stored up tension. He looks somehow both relieved by the release of the pressure and like he's been shot by the cracking sound of his vertebrae. He closes his eyes for a second, "I don't know… I dreamed that I was some knight… I was forced down onto a chopping block… I could see and feel everything that the knight could… at the same time… I could see and feel everything that the executioner could… then the sword came down… I felt it cut through… then as my." he stops , "/the/ head rolled away, everything went black."

Jeremy rubs at the back of his neck again, shivering a bit, "Yeah…" and then he stops, tilting his head, "Wait… you were the executioner too?" He nods to Lionel, "Sounds about right. And uh… I had the same dream last night, except I was just the knight." Smiling just a bit at the recumbent knight, he adds, "Not as bad as the last one." And that's enough to cause him to shudder again, "Not anywhere near as bad. But I do wonder what it means if someone else had the same dream."

Lionel looks awkwardly between the two Awakened, and he shoves his hands into his pockets as he does. "Dreams… I dreamed of swimming in a landless ocean and the sky started licking my face. Then I woke up to see Dax staring down at me." He rolls his shoulders a bit. "I'm pretty sure that, that doesn't mean anything." He frowns a bit, brow furrowed in deep worry. "What would the execution of a Knight mean?"

Taryn looks at the way Jeremy shudders at the last dream remark. He wonders if it was the same last dream. The one on the table, being dissected by the Hostile. That would have been about the time that Lionel saw Taryn in the taproom, looking so haggard before. He chuckles softly and without any humor in it, "That we know that we're not just crazy?" There is a look in his eyes as if it is something that he often suspects whenever he dreams. "Seriously, you didn't have to feel yourself beheading yourself? That's so not fair…." He frowns, "I'm really crappy at trying to figure these things out… but obviously it represents a death or an end of something… the fact that it is an execution seems to suggest that it is a result of previous actions…" He looks to Jeremy, as if asking his opinion of the interpretation.

Jeremy smiles over at Lionel, "Lie… you always dream of the Plains, and I bet…" and then Lionel finishes his thought, and he points out, "It's means you've got an adorable puppy." Looking back to Taryn, he shakes his head, offering an apologetic shrug. The interpretation causes him to frown in thought, nodding slowly, "Makes sense, Master Wystrel. It was a knight though… what about a catastrophe in battle? I mean, if it's that direct? I don't know. I'm not so good at this myself."

Lionel snorts at Jeremy, but he does shuffle a bit just before Dax flops down on his foot once more. He glances down at the puppy who releases a bored yawn, starting to beat the ground with his thick tail. The Knight is listening to the possibilities, and he shrugs his shoulders a bit. "Don't look at me… Jeremy never shares his dreams with me unless I bully him." He frowns a bit. "Primus?" He half-asks. "Perhaps this is The Knight, not just a knight…"

Taryn shakes his head, at the second time he's called 'master Wystrel'. "Just Taryn… or Mister Wystrel… if you prefer…" He turns to Lionel a bit wide-eyes. "By the Six, why would you even suggest that? Who could execute The Knight?" He draws in a deep breath at the thought. He frowns, "What does it say about me if I was connected to the killing of him?" To Jeremy, he says, "I think I am envious of you just dreaming of being executed, regardless, but at that thought, even more so."

Jeremy shakes his head at Lionel, going back to scratching behind Dax's ears, "I don't tell you my dreams because I don't want to worry you…" and then he blinks at the other's suggestion, nodding his agreement with Taryn's horror, "That's… terrifying." Shaking his head and rubbing his free hand back over his hair, he breathes out a long sigh, "That can't be right, can it? It's got to be something more simple."

The Valen Keats immediately launches up his hands in defense. "Whoa, whoa… I'm just… offering ideas. Jeremy said the last dream, there was the mark of the Chantry…" He then runs both of his hands back against his short-kept hair, scrubbing his palms against his scalp. He appears to be deciding it is safer just to listen for now, leaving the dream deciphering to the, well, experts.

Taryn offers a bit of a shrug, "You're idea is just as reasonable as any that I might come up with… I'm not really that great of a sorcerer… in fact, I'm a rather pathetic sorcerer… one of the reasons that I have kept it as secret as I could get away with for so long…" He looks a little green as he remembers his dream with the mark of the Chantry. He looks over at Jeremy, "You were strapped to a table?" That's all he says.

Jeremy smiles just a little at Taryn's self-deprecation, "They tried to make me a sorcerer when I spent time with the Caravan." He nods to Lionel, then looks back to Taryn, dropping back onto his ass in the moss and shaking his head, "No." Shaking his head and looking more than a bit green himself, he pauses, "I mean… yes, I was. I just, don't want to think about it at all. Worst. Night. Of my. Life." Pausing again, he shakes his head, "Second worst."

The Mane grunts at Jeremy's words. "You're all sorcerers to me," he says, even if he knows damn well that Jeremy follows the druidic traditions. He looks over at Jeremy as he talks about the dream, and he immediately reaches out to give his husband's shoulder a firm squeeze. "I know, the night you met me is always at the top of the list." Humor is obviously a defense technique because the Valen does look earnestly uncomfortable.

Taryn nods understandingly to Jeremy. He does add, "I admit that it is nice to not be the only one you know that is having dreams and have no clue if they are one of "the dreams" or just your mind playing havoc with you." He runs his canine over the right corner of his lower lip. "Well, thank you for both of your help…" He glances over at Jeremy, "Is there maybe someone that you can talk to that might have a better idea?"

Jeremy waves off Lionel's words, "Yeah, yeah. I'll druid your ass for that later." He blinks, then shakes his head, his cheeks heating just a little. The words that accompany the squeeze cause him to laugh softly, "That's number three, Lie." He blows out a breath at Taryn's words, "The uncertainty is, unpleasant." The request causes him to pause, and then he nods a little thoughtfully, "I'll see. There are other druids around. Some of them talk. I tend to keep a little more to myself though."

Lionel shrugs his shoulders helplessly at Taryn's question, and then he rubs at his scruffy jaw. "Lady Talayla Orelle is an Awakened, as is the Lady Lyrienne." He looks a bit helpless. "They might know more…" He then shoves his hands back in his pockets once more as he considers the pair of Awakened men.

Taryn understands keeping to awakened stuff to himself. He shakes his head to Jeremy, "That's alright… I'll see if I can find someone to talk to. Lord Aidan Peake is a friend, but he doesn't seem to be at home currently."

Jeremy nods slowly at Lionel's words, "I know a few more around Arborenin. Rangers." Looking over to Taryn, he nods, "Probably headed for one of the battles. Primus or the Vale." Looking over to Lionel, he asks, "Did you really not shave the entire time I was in the woods?"

Lionel grunts, reaching up to scratch deeply at the center of his chest. "I don't know what to do without you," he says dryly before he smirks at Jeremy. Then he sobers a bit as he regards Taryn. "It was Lord Aidan who told me about the most recent… well, most recent beyond this one… dreams. The one with the… table."

Taryn sighs slightly, "I didn't realize that I wasn't the only one that had seen that… " He shakes his head, "I don't really want to think about it, any more than Sir Keats does." He subconsciously rubs his wrists. He offers a polite smile, "Well, since I have already darkened your afternoon, I will leave you two so that you might brighten up your evening."

Jeremy pulls off the bandolier holding his his crossbow to his back, and then shifts the falchion from behind him so that he can lean back onto the mossy sward. "I would have told you. Eventually." He shakes his head at Taryn, tucking one arm behind his head, "Oh, stick around. Lie is a phenomenal flirt. He's very good at cheering people up that way." Turning his head over to Lionel, he smiles, "Not to put you on the spot."

Lionel the Mane snorts a bit at Jeremy, giving the man's shoulder a bit of a shove. Then he looks back toward Taryn. "Look, if you'd like to stay… you should." He plops back down to sit beside the Arborenin Keats just as Dax decides to curl up against Jeremy to resume his nap. Lie gestures. "You should get some rest though, Taryn… bad dreams or not, sleeplessness leads to madness."

Taryn blinks a second at Jeremy, then he looks at Lionel. Completely deadpanned, the younger Valen says, "But… he's just so old." There is, however, a tell-tale flicker of mirth in his eyes, that betrays his veiled humor.

Jeremy brings his other hand around to pat Dax's side. He nods at Lionel's words, then gasps at Taryn's pulling his hand from behind his head to point at the Citizen, "You take that back right now, Master Wystrel. We are in the absolute prime of our lives. And we know it."

Lionel grasps desperately at his heart. "Old?" He points toward where the Ways lie. "Just… go… just go!" He then drops his arm, shaking his head a bit. "My age equates to experience, just you remember that, Taryn. Those younger boys…" Or girls. He's not prejudice. "They don't know half the stuff I do." He does smile toward Jeremy though, nudging his shoulder against his own. "He just doesn't know what he's talking about."

Taryn chuckles softly. "So are you saying that you are very experienced, Sir Keats, or just somewhat experienced?" He arches an eyebrow as he waits for the answer, an impish grin dancing on his lips. Apparently Lionel isn't the only one that can flirt.

Jeremy tucks his hand back under his head, "You're losing this one, Lie. He's quick." He closes his eyes a moment, taking in a deep breath and letting it slowly out, "Of course, if he wasn't just a baby, he might know that being quick isn't the best thing out there." He scritches at the puppy's side, actually seeming to relax a bit.

Lionel narrows his eyes thoughtfully at the young Valen before he glances over toward Jeremy. Though this is just in time to catch his husband's words, and they cause him to chuckle wryly. "Well, yes… but we may have to forgive him for that. He probably doesn't know any better." And he casts a dubious glance up at Taryn that is full with dancing amusement.

Taryn looks at the two through a veil of dark golden curls. "But youth also has a relentless endurance too… a stamina that can sometimes abandon the elderly." He waggles his eyebrows. "Oh, I'm pretty smart at figuring things out." He pauses, "But really this could never go anywhere… I'd hate to be rsponsible for wearing out two of Haven's knights… I'd just never forgive myself if one of you were to throw out a hip or something…."

Jeremy lifts his hand from Dax's side to gesture from Taryn to Lionel, "Go ahead and try." He seems quite casual about the whole thing, "But Sir Lionel is a valiant Rovehn lancer. Everyone knows the sort of rider the Rovehn are. You can banter back and forth with him all you want," He smiles, his eyes still closed, "but if you call me old again, I'll knock you over the edge, Master Wystrel." Laughter runs just beneath his words, however, showing he is quite clearly joking.

Lionel snorts. "I now see what they mean when they talk about the Valen ego." Then the Knight broadens with a grin before he reaches over to give Jeremy's shoulder a squeeze. "There, there… I am fond of my old man." He flashes a warm smile to his husband before he breathes out a sigh, starting to stand. "You win this round,

Taryn grins, "I hear that some are as good of riders as me." While there is more than a bit of jest in that, there is also a touch of pride in his words too. He offers a slightly flourished bow, "Well, never let it be said that I am not a gracious victor." He stands up, "I will bid you two a good night." He looks at Jeremy and winks, "You're right, he isn't a half-bad flirt."

Jeremy shakes his head at Lionel, "Over. The. Edge." Still, he's smiling, and he pries his eyes open to nod at Taryn, "Nice to meet you. And yes, he really, really is good at it. Good night." He waits until Taryn is a few steps away, then looks over to Lionel, "Cute kid. Nice eyes." Yes, he's avoiding the topic of the dream, "How was your time while I was out in the woods?"

"Half-bad…" Lionel snorts. "I wasn't really even giving it my all." He then looks down at Jeremy, offering out the man a hand-up. Once he has helped his husband to his feet does Lionel glance over toward Taryn and offers the fellow Valen a wave. "Come find us if you need us for anything, Taryn. Jeremy could use more friends." Then he looks over to Jeremy once Taryn starts to walk away, and he glances off toward the departing stableboy. "Yeah… cute… eyes." He then shakes his head a bit. "You know… like it always is… went out partying every night…"

Taryn nods. "And likewise, if I could ever be of help, just let me know Sirs Keats…" He grins. Then he's gone. As he walks down the way, his voice can be heard trailing off, singing an old Valen song. "Well, I'll sing to the morning… and I'll sing through the night… and I'll sing to the swiftness of our swords… and I'll sing to comrades who go bravely off to war…"

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