RP:Finding Home
Summary: Emilia and Irenic are forced to go house hunting when the home they planned on sharing isn’t available anymore.
Hilltop Ranch
At the top of a steep hill dotted with boulders, the land flattens into a wide plateau on which has been built a small but picturesque farm. The center portion of the farm is dominated by a massive walnut tree, its trunk surrounded by a circular bed of flowers. To one side of the trunk rests a small wooden bench, offering a relaxing seat in the tree’s dappled shade. A two-story log cabin stands to the east of the tree, a rocking chair set on its wide timber porch. Slightly left of the house is a fenced-in chicken coop, with fat brown hens clucking around their own little yard. To the west of the farm, six plots of land are separated by stick-and-vine fencing, in which grows a variety of crops. Behind the neat rows of vegetables is a charming pond filled with water-lilies and decorative fish; beyond that, a red barn for the work-horses and other animals. The plateau drops away sharply behind the cabin, and a rope ladder attached to two stout iron spikes offers quick access to a lower tier of the property which has been set aside as a private garden, a tiny bit of paradise with a serene fountain as its centerpiece.
Emilia had given Irenic the general directions to the farm on the hill in Venturil that was another home of the healer’s while they were in Gualon before taking off into the skies. The woman was careful to keep her new hand made from shadows and ice away from the heat of his flaming wings as Khitti had warned her to be careful around fire itself. She clung to him as he soared above the world below, hanging tight to the small pack she carried on her back that contained a few items for travel as well as his green short sleeve shirt so it wouldn’t burn up under his flaming wings. Flying with him was not the same as flying with her brother whose wings were made of steel coated feathers, but either way she enjoyed being air born. When she spotted the massive oak atop that hill she pointed down to it while she spoke loud enough to be heard, “There it is!” Down below there was the two-story log cabin farmhouse atop a hill. The little woman sure had a thing for two story homes. Landing she would carefully detach herself from him only after stealing a kiss. Feet on the ground she slid her pack off, dug into it to pull free his shirt and hand it to him. The motion was a bit awkward with her right hand more thrusting it at him while letting go quickly. It was a big adjustment having two hands again and learning to control one that wasn’t naturally there another task in and of itself. There was a smile on those blue lips reaching ear to ear to be standing on farmland again. The chicken coop was broken down in shambles, the fields were barren, and the house itself was in need of repairs. Time had gotten to it as did the chaos of this land. It brought a frown to her face as she started toward the house, “A little run down and beat up, but it should hold for a while. This land here was a gift to me from the old King for protecting his wife, the Queen, against an attack.”
Irenic makes sure to place Emilia down gently before catching his shirt she nearly dropped with a soft chuckle. “Really? An attack from what,” he asks with genuine interest while slipping on his shirt and then his silvery gaze takes in the sight of the rundown farmhouse. He follows behind her, “definitely needs some care, but we can make it work.” The avian reaches down and gently takes her new hand in his, “how does it feel having two hands again?” With a caress of his thumb over the backside of the dark and cool to the touch hand, he asks, “can you feel that?” Having to bend some as he brings his hand up to his lips to place a soft kiss where he ran his thumb over, “or that?” A charming grin curves up his lips and once they reach the front door, he awaits her next move - maybe she still has a key? He doesn’t know, but he does pick up on quite a foul stench coming from within and even though he is uncertain about what they might find, he won’t be leaving Emilia’s side. Not even if it’s his worst nightmare, a hoarder lifestyle hiding within the walls! It’s unknown who or what has been living here in its abandonment. Even when she gets the door open, he makes sure to stay close enough so he can slide her behind him in case there is something nefarious dwelling within.
Emilia shook her head letting her curls dance around her for a moment, “Remember the attack that got me stabbed and healed by an ancient undead shaman? That attack.” Yes, her famous wild white untamed curls were back with the dreads being recently brushed out. Her hair was in dire need of a drastic cleaning after surfacing from below. Undecided, but she planned to have them properly redone in the near future. Holding onto his hand she shook her head slowly, “I cannot feel a thing in that hand, I am sorry…” she frowned after his lips had kissed her hand. Neither shadows nor ice that formed the hand sported any connection to nerves for feeling. Just like the rest of her, numb. “I know it isn’t much and rather run down into a sham, but a little fixing should make it livable until we find someplace else. Then we can just demolish the house and make a great big farm!” It was an exciting idea. A new home for them that held no trace of the past for either of them and, of course, a bigger farm here on the land that held a treasured past. Standing at the door she dug around in the pack for the key. Fumbling with her right hand she couldn’t get enough hold to use the key properly to unlock the house. Switching it to her left hand after two fails she easily unlocked the door. Practice, she needed lots of it to get used to another hand or being able to do much of anything as a right handed person. A triumphant grin on her face as she managed to unlock the door. Then she pushed it open with her hand and let it slowly swing itself open. Her nose scrunched at the smell that was even more pungent now that she opened the house up. “Oh, that is gods awful!” she exclaimed rather loudly before taking the first step into the old house.
Irenic nods in realization, “-that- one? Yeah, the free plot of land will just about cover that act of bravery,” he grins down at her, infinitely impressed by her strength, tenacity and willpower. The avian will continue to do small cute things like that for Emilia, even if she can’t feel it, “it’s okay. I still like holding it,” he states with a shrug before allowing her hand free to search for the key. Watching the excitement light up her face is everything and even he looks happily excited at the idea, “I even spotted a pond from above. The summers are scorching hot here in Venturil from what I’ve heard. Maybe once we get it cleared out and cleaned, the kids will have a place to cool off.” Already addressing them as ‘the kids’ and not ‘her/your kids’. Irenic doesn’t offer to open the door for her when she struggles because she’s no child and he understands that she just needs practice with her new hand. It reminded him of the time he had metal wings and had to adjust to those as well. He is right next to her when they step in and even though the smell assaults his senses, he keeps a straight face and cautiously continues on in, “yeah. Whatever that smell is, cannot be good.”
Emilia laughed softly, “..yes, that one.” She smiled happy he was happy to be holding her false hand, though it felt like a real hand or well closer to her old hand that had been chopped off being made of dark ice. “I think they would love that…I mean…I have no idea if they can swim, but you can take the kids and you can teach them to swim…” she said softly, easily adapting to the same phrasing of simply the kids. The idea of being near a pond sent a shiver down her spine with a deep-rooted fear of water. Ocean, lake, pond, river… she wanted to avoid them all. Inside the small woman wiggled herself between Irenic and his arm so that she was as close to him as possible, mostly due to the fact that the closer to him the less she smelled of the stench and the more she smelled fresh dirt. Glancing around as the pair made it farther into the old home the Genasi let out a disgusted cough as if she was about to vomit. Wait, nope, that was actual vomit that came spewing out of the woman’s mouth as she turned away from Irenic with a few steps. Her body doubled over as the contents of her stomach hit the floor. The house stank already, what is a little throw up going to change? In the other room the rotten corpses of different farm animals could be seen together. They’d gotten in at some point for whatever reason and died there together, then rotted there together trapped in a house that was easily heated by the climate here. Wiping her lips as she stood she spoke, “Found the smell…” all the while pointing at the mass of once animal bodies.
Irenic holds her close as they continue to try and find the source of the wretched smell, but when she begins to hurl, he turns his attention fully on her and holds her frosty white curls back with one hand while the other rubs her back. When she is done, he hands her a kerchief from his back pocket that would also smell like him and instructs, “hold that over your nose and mouth to filter out the smell a little, Lia.” He pulls up the collar of his own shirt and pretty much does the same as they are back on the prowl. The source is absolutely horrid! He wants to look away, but it’s like watching a train wreck, you just can’t. The infestation of flies, maggots, and who knows what else living off the rotting carcass was something he is definitely going to have nightmares about, “I somehow wish this was where I was reborn as a Phoenix avian.” The joke is an attempt to lighten the mood, but soon enough, he’s trying to lead her back out of the home. Once they reach fresh air, he takes a large greedy gulp of it and runs his hands through his hair before chucking, “so, how soon did you want to demolish this place?” He bunches up the hem of his shirt as if he’s going to pull his shirt off, “I could burn the place down and it will take less than an hour,” of course, this is all said in a lighthearted joking manner. “Where do we start?” He glances around to see if there is a nearby town or something, they are going to need a lot of supplies.
Emilia gladly accepted the piece of cloth from him and kept it held over her mouth. Not much compared to being able to smell fresh earth to the woman who had long adored that smell above anything else. Rather she did not mind if it was dry soil, wet soil, or a mixture of different soils it all warmed her thoughts. Not everyone’s favorite smell and she would accept that. Once the two had finally reached the outside world she stepped down off the porch to distance herself from the smelly place. It was just a rotten stink in there. Lowering the handkerchief she took in a long deep breath of the fresh air that was around them followed by another, clearing her nose of the rotten animal-maggot smell. Turning to face the house now she smiled softly, a look of old memories flashing in those blue eyes. “Well, if we are going to burn it, we better find someplace else to at least rent first. I would also like to save some of the metal furniture that is in there…Leone worked hard in the forge below the house to make them. Study and solid bed frames…the children’s bassinets… the ceiling thingy that held the candles that never got used. I know a fresh start is what we plan, but I really just cannot see myself destroying those gifts.” In all honesty Emilia didn’t think she could stomach being in a house with a daily reminder of all her farm animals dead and rotted on the floor like that. Burn it might be the best option now. Sighing, “You know, that living room is the room that the triplets were born in. Leone delivered all three of them. The boys came easy, but she had to slice Lynn out and then get me all stitched back together again.” As she spoke about the memory her left hand fell as if out of old instinct to rest over her stomach.
Irenic meanders close to Emilia and is grinning softly down at her, “I’ll help you with whatever you choose. Don’t you worry about the furniture, I don’t care if I have to do it all myself. I’ll get everything out and clean it for you,” he gently caresses some of her wild curls behind her ear just before she looks down to her stomach. He rests his own hand over hers and a strange sensation comes over him. Children. It is definitely something he wants of his own and even though she has shared with him that it’s improbable for her to have anymore, they could always adopt a baby in the future. It would be entirely on brand for them anyway. Blinking out of that thought process, he wraps his arms around her in a loose hug, “lets see if we can spot anything from the sky that you like, okay?” Gently snaring her chin between his thumb and finger to guide her head back until she’s looking up at him. “How does that sound?”
Emilia rested her other hand over his hand on her hand. There was an internal part of her that feared someday he would grow tired of being with someone that couldn’t give him the lifelong gift he always wanted, his own children. It lingered in her thoughts before he was speaking again pulling her slowly out of that fear. That embrace of his had a way of warming her from the inside without actually changing her physical temperature, she did not know how he did it, but she loved it. There would never be a day that his hold alone couldn’t quell her emotions and warm her frozen soul. She smiled at him as she gazed into his eyes, searching for the answers to her fears about the future with him. Those too melted away in his silvery eyes. “I like the sounds of that,” she said softly reaching up to gently stroke a finger along his jawline.
Irenic continues to look down at her for a moment as there is an unexplainable expression on his face as the Genasi’s cool touch graces his face, it’s a loving mix of delight and awe if anyone were to guess how to begin to describe the way he looks at her. He can’t help it, he’s amazed by her strength every day. “Okay,” his hand grips the back of his shirt’s collar and he slips it off with one fluid motion before handing it down to her. “We got this,” the avian says with confidence as he positions himself behind her and bends at the knee so he can secure his arm around her middle. This way, she is facing the same way as him and can just tap his arm and point once she spots a place she wants to pick out. Flying west over some great plains, they find themselves in Denubyrg. There happens to be a decent sized home with lots of plots surrounding it, but this place looks abandoned as well. As he lands and adorns his shirt again, he mentions, “well, it doesn’t smell awful so it’s already got bonus points in my book. I didn’t see anyone from above and there is no chimney smoke.” His gaze catches on a large sign on the door that says ‘FOR SALE’ and he chuckles shortly to himself, “well. That answers it, shall we?” He asks with a hand out for Emilia to take as he makes his way to the door.
Rolling Plains
Here the planes seem to roll along gently, up and down up and down ceaselessly like the waves of the ocean. Walking over these hills will become a hard slog as you must constantly change your footing and most of the soil here has turned dry and dusty and simply slides away under a heavy boot making your journey all the more tiring. There is very little to see here besides trees that have been stripped bare of their green watery leaves by hungry animals.
Emilia took a moment as Irenic was stripping free of his shirt to take those wild curls and braid them back to not get caught by his flames or in his vision in the air. Last thing the Genasi wanted now was a surprise crash landing somewhere in Venturil. As he handed over his shirt she gladly accepted it from him before he scooped her up into his arms for an aerial search for house hunting. After the flight over to the town, she lost her concerns that she would give him a bit of frostbite from prolonged exposure to her chilled nature. He wasn’t like anyone else, there was a fire within him protecting him from her. The two opposite elements finding a harmony with one another as if it was the most natural occurrence. The healer chuckled softly while Irenic redressed himself, “Ah, well that is a bonus from me as well.” Her nose couldn’t take another wave of that awful rot they inhaled earlier. With a smile across her face she laced her fingers with his, gave a small squeeze, and started up the path that led to the front door of the ‘For Sale’ home. Before they could enter she sized up the house mentally trying to determine what aspects it had inside. Grinning, “I bet you there are four bedrooms…” she would wait to see if he chose to bet with a counter offer before adding, “Loser cooks dinner.”
Irenic quirks a brow as a thoughtful expression delights his face, “hm. It could have four rooms. I am thinking that there are three large rooms and one that is slightly smaller and more like a study that we will have to convert into a room.” Once they enter, they can tell the space has been neglected for some time and few furnishings had been left behind. Either the family that was living here did so in a hurry, or they just didn’t care to take everything with them. They do find that the house for sale has four full bedrooms on the second floor and a tiny nook-type study. After they give themselves a tour of the perfect seeming home, they stand in the warm light of the living room and Irenic stares out the large bay window which has a lovely bumped out window seat that he can envision Lynn curling up on with a good book. “This place really does seem perfect, Lia…” When he peels his gaze from daydreaming out the window and down to Emilia, there is something else stirring in his mind. “Well, it seems perfect -for now-, if you get what I mean,” a subtle grin curves his lips as he waits for her to catch on or ask him to spell it out. “Looks like I’m cooking dinner, by the way,” a short low chuckle escapes him and echoes in the emptiness of the house.
Emilia gave Irenic a playful nudge with her elbow, “Bet is on!” she exclaimed before the duo went in to explore the home. Four rooms, she called it. A small study, he called that. It came with enough rooms that the boys if they wished could choose to have their own rooms. The house was a bit bigger than she thought from the outside and in a good way. Standing in the living room with him she smiled gazing out the large window. A brow raised and Emi slowly turned her face up to look at him with a questioning gaze, “For now? I don’t get it…” she said softly having not caught on to him. After he explained her eyes would go wide while her cheeks flushed, “oh…Oh….OH! Yes, for now, it is perfect.” Her face was priceless as everything clicked. A giggle left her blue lips as her arm wrapped around him while she laid her head on him with her gaze staring back out the window. She was a big fan of the bay window that came with this house. “I think we will both have to cook. I called the room number, but you called the study room. So we both got it part right,” she said happily admitting neither really won the bet.
Irenic drapes his arms along her back when she wraps her arms around him, “so… you don’t want to look for anything a little bigger in case our family expands?” Irenic understands that there would be no ‘in case’, heck, they haven’t even gone that far in their relationship yet, but she divulged to him back when they were in captivity that she was lucky to already have three kids because her Genasi powers provide an inhospitable environment for anymore children. “Possibly an adoption in our future?” It is fitting for both of them, reall, with the way their upbringing came to be somewhat similar. “I know that may be sudden to suggest, but if we are finding a place together - I wouldn’t want to up and move if we decide to adopt. Also, we have been best friends for so long and now all I see in my future now is you.” Leading her over to sit with him on the bench that’s attached to the bay window, “what do you think? Does this feel like a forever home? Or would you want to try and find something a bit bigger for our future, together?” His hand finds her own again as he takes it and laces their fingers together.
Emilia listens to him with the idea of a future adoption of a child or possibly more. They were already a large family in consideration to most so it was not much of a leap to have a larger one to the Genasi. Emi sat in silence next to Irenic in the bay window, cuddling up to his side while holding his hand. The silence was her imagining a life in this house with Irenic and the triplets, the five of them along with other children in the house, and of course any possible animals that come with having children. Eventually she spoke, “I think this house is a perfect starting house for a family that is our size, now. I love this window seat and I can imagine us living here with the triplets along with a dog or a pig. With the age of the triplets now it depends on when we adopt and how old the youth is, which may cause the space to become more full and possibly crowded. I think we will be fine in this home for a time, but we will outgrow it at some point. Either it will become too big for us when all the children grow up and move out or we will have a need for more rooms to accommodate people. However, we can always buy a plot of land somewhere once things are settled and begin working on building our perfect house from the roots up.” Turning she would plant a gentle kiss on his cheek, “I love you, Irenic.”
Irenic leans down a little so she didn’t have to strain too hard to plant a kiss on him, “I love you, Emilia.” He kisses her forehead softly and continues to sit in the comfortable silence that is their new home. He imagines meals in the dining room, cookouts out back and game nights in the living room. “I think we can expand on this place a little more. Maybe a wrap around porch and a slightly larger study because it’s simply not large enough for the amount of books that’s going to need storing. We can maybe hire someone to help build a guest house in case we have company.” With a large exhale and an optimistic grin, he concludes, “it’s going to need a few upgrades, but I do like it here.” Hopping up to his feet, excited to get to work, “let’s contact the seller and after that, I’ll go fetch the kids and see in what capacity they would like to help with cleaning and moving things. Sound like a plan?” Irenic asks with a hand held out to help Emilia to her feet. “Once we get this place in shape, maybe we can go furniture shopping with the triplets and they can pick out their beds and things?”
Emilia smiled one of those ear to ear smiles that brought a light to her face that wasn’t always present. A pure happy bliss smile that came from watching the excitement of Irenic about purchasing the home together and working with the triplets to make it their home as a family. One could almost not tell that Irenic wasn’t their father or that he had only recently met them. It was a natural connection that had formed between the four of them. “All lovely plans, Dear,” she said taking his hand to get back up on her feet. “Since we are going to be getting this place, I am going to have to get a new pet pig…or a piglet? Yes, I think we need a piglet as soon as possible. No better way to make a house lively than to have a little pink fella oinking around.” The farmer in the woman shining out with her desire to have another pet pig already and the home wasn’t officially theirs yet. “Also, we might just need to build an add-room to the study that is simply a library itself! I can’t read the best, but Lynn sure loves books. You can never have too many books.”
Irenic shrugs, “fine, but you’re cleaning up after it,” he jokes because of course he will help keep the place in order with his neat freakyness. “Also, only if you name it Chris, Chris P. Bacon. No, Piggaso, wait… Hamton,” there are just too many good pun based pig names, Irenic can’t choose one. “Really? Even another thing Lynn and I have in common,” which reminds him, they didn’t check for a basement, but they will worry about that later. Nothing can be weird or scary about a basement, right? As he takes one last look around the open floor plan of the first floor, natural lighting spilling through the many large windows and high ceilings, he can't help but feel a sense of comfort. Something about less doors and being able to see outside is soothing to him. “After you my lady,” he holds one of the large double doors open for Emilia to depart first so they may send word to the seller that they definitely have a buyer.