RP:Sandy And Shaye

Summary: After hosting their first Yule event in their new home, Elioyahazer and Lanara have finished cleaning up the house, and are ready to unwind for the night. However, the witch has a little surprise up her sleeve, and tells a white lie to get the ex-assassin to head into the storage room. Shaye, the ferruginous hawk from the sanctuary, rests atop a perch, and has been adopted in the sandman's name, much to his delight.

Part of the Of Contracts and Families Arc

It had been a little over an hour after the last guest had left the Yule celebration and the manor was finally back in order. The food had been stored away, the garbage had been taken outside, and all of the wrapping paper had been cleaned from the living room. The log still burned in the hearth, the tree sparkled with its new ornaments, and Aspen had fallen asleep on the sofa. Lanara tiptoes into the room, not wanting to wake the cub, though she does drape a blanket over his form and plant a kiss atop his brow. Toothpick had retired to his quarters, along with that bottle of sarsaparilla that he somehow managed to get his grubby hands on, and he wouldn’t surface until morning. The witch finds that now is the most opportune moment to give Eli his present. Sure, she had given him the locket that she had personally enchanted and engraved, but that had been more of a ‘thank you’ present for asking her to move into the gated home. This gift was sure to bring a smile to his face, especially since he’d been moping over this exact thing the past few days! The ferruginous hawk had caught his eye, as he had been volunteering for several weeks at the sanctuary, and had begun to work in her enclosure. Being a bird of prey, she hadn’t taken to anyone, and barely tolerated Lanara, which truly said something! Her sandman had felt that he was lost, without purpose in this world, and he had only escaped his shell upon bonding with the hawk. Naturally, all animals are either released into the wild or placed for adoption, and while this particular bird surely would have been placed back into her natural environment, it hadn’t happened that way. Lana had personally adopted the hawk, forged Eli’s signature, and paid the adoption fee. Her ‘reason’ for bending the rules was that this species of hawk was incredibly rare, and she’s believed to be one of the few remaining in this part of the realm. It’s the truth, and it made it acceptable for her to take the bird into her own home. The ex-lair of serpents, to be exact, as she knew Eli wouldn’t dare to peek in there for quite some time. Lana heads upstairs, kicks off her heels, and removes her jewelry, smiling at Eli through the mirror with her back to the male. “Hey… Can you help me with something downstairs, real quick?”

Elioyahazer finds himself shrugging out of the formal attire of the night, having helped Lanara and company clean the entire manor; which is no easy feat. Even for a professional maid, the clean up of glue and glitter alone would have been a nightmare. Though it had been a rather fun night, and as much is plainly written across his features by means of a big smile. He puts a plain white t-shirt on and slips into some comfortable pajama bottoms. Slides his feet into these rather fuzzy slippers and puts that nasty sweater back on, where it once again yells obscenities at him. He can’t help but laugh at the clever present. When Lanara calls to him his attention switches to her, and he snatches a glass of wine he had been milking the last ten or so minutes. “Sure Lanara, what’s going on?” He half expected her to ask for help with the dress she had chosen to wear this night. Which brings a different kind of smile to his face; remembering the last time she had asked him for a little help. He remembers those legs quite well in fact. He takes another sip of his wine and then places it down atop the nightstand nearby waiting patiently for her response. However, his patience doesn’t last for long, and she might see her Sandman approaching from behind in that mirror. His arms wrap around her for a moment, and he inhales her scent for moments. “I thought we finished cleaning already?” Perhaps he had missed something.

Lanara can practically hear what Eli is thinking as that smile appears on his face, and she is unable to staunch the crimson that rises in her high cheekbones. She’d ask him to unzip her dress, most definitely, though she was too excited to give him his present at this particular moment. Struggling to unpin the sprigs of holly from her long locks, she leans against Eli’s chest, tilting her chin to lightly kiss him on his neck. As he inhales her scent and pulls her close, she gently nips him, before pulling out of the embrace, having pulled the final barrette from her hair. Loose curls fall to frame her pretty face as she unclasps her necklace, and turns to face Eli. Locking eyes, she wraps her arms around his middle and looks up at him from beneath painted lashes, a softness in her expression. “Hey… I had a wonderful time tonight. Thank you for opening up your home and letting my siblings and their partners come over and celebrate with us. It meant a lot to me… As do you.” There’s a pause, as the witch stares at her desert born, finding herself forgetting the entire speech she had memorized. The clock ticks by as she stares into that unique gaze, thinking that she wasn’t truly ‘found’ until she met this man, yet never before had she felt so ‘lost’ than as when they were staring intently at each other. She doesn’t have to say those three words, for he would feel it, as her form is pressed against his and her heartbeat is much faster than usual, and her silken flesh feels several degrees warmer. “I-I uh forgot what I was going to say…” It’s so like the woman to stammer when nervous, and she glances away and swallows, trying to regain her composure. “Even after all this time, I still feel like a foolish girl in your presence. You easily disarm me, Sandman… Um. Anyways. We –did- finish cleaning. But… One of Gordyn’s crew made such a mess in the storage room… You know, the room that you cleared last week?” She nips her lower lip, not wanting to spell out the snake room, but she’s pretty sure he would catch on. “I’m not comfortable going in there by myself. And some of the stains are pretty high up and I can’t reach.” What sort of stains was she talking about? Six foot high? Who did Gordyn Whamsey have working for him?!

Elioyahazer finds himself lost in Lanara for those few moments that linger on in his mind. Remembering details of their own past. If they had been fighting the last few days, you certainly wouldn’t know it by his attitude towards her. Things in his mind had already been patched up and taken care of. There wasn’t any need to linger on thoughts of losing his beloved snakes. It wasn’t her fault, but he had heard Shaye had been released into the wild once more, his hopes for a new pet and companion sank. When she admits that she’s easily lost in his presence he smirks once more and winks at her. He’s rather playful tonight. However, when her words go to the storage room, he frowns a bit. He hadn’t gone back in there since removing the snakes. Something he did so that Lanara would actually live with him. He mulls her words over for a moment. He dreads going back in there. “Yeah. Sure. I’ll go get some cleaning supplies and take care of it.” Well there goes his thoughts of other things. And really, once he begins to walk away, what was Gordyn’s team doing in his storage room? Unprofessional. The whole lot of them. “You coming with?” He asks in polite jest, but figures that this would be a task he must perform alone. Without any other word, just an audible sigh, he returns to the thoughts of her task that she has appointed him with. He really doesn’t want to go in that room. Which is apparent when he hits the bottom of the stairs, and just looks at the door for moments. It was empty. A hollow shell of a room. Void of any of those creatures he had cared for over the years. Eli pulls his gaze from the door and makes his way to the cleaning closet where he snags all of the supplies he will need. Including a tough and thick pair of gloves. What kind of a mess did these people make?

Lanara maintains a pretty persuasive poker face, even giving a sympathetic nod as Eli sighs and exits the room. She knew the mention of the snake room would cause him distress, but it was the –best- place for the hawk, as she knew he wouldn’t find it until the moment was perfect. Tonight was the perfect time. Where else could she have stored a bird of prey, with a guarantee that it wouldn’t be disturbed? Gordyn’s team was professional throughout the evening, and she’s surprised that her white lie was so easily accepted as Eli’s entire life was built on discerning fact from fiction, and reading body language. Maybe he was so taken with her beauty that he didn’t think it possible that she would lie? She is his canary, and this is the only time she thinks it’s acceptable to lie to someone’s face, though it nags at the back of her mind that he may become upset. What if Eli didn’t want the hawk as a companion? Did she do the right thing by bringing it into their home? “I’ll come with you, as it’s really bad in there. I can, um, hold onto the cleaning supplies while you scrub the hard to reach spots!” Barefoot, she pads down the stairs at his side, though as he reaches for the thick gloves, he may catch on that Lana also grabs a pair. “Um. It’s pretty sticky.” What is sticky?! Thankfully, Eli is so caught up in his own thoughts and reminiscing over the loss of his snakes that he semi-ignores his witch and stands before the door. Lanara puts her gloves on, turns the knob, and quickly enters the room, as though she didn’t have a care in the world that dozens of snakes were slithering in here, only a few days prior. Glancing over her shoulder, she gives Eli her most charming smile and bounces on her toes, “Surprise! Happy Yule!” In the far right corner, a thick tree rests in a planter, and on a long limb sits the majestic hawk. Her beady eyes studying the two that had entered the room, and she flexes a single wing, as though she had just woken from a deep slumber. The witch falls silent and stops her dancing around, knowing that it was likely she’d wind up attacked by the hawk if she continued this behavior, and so she rummages in a box and unfolds some parchment paper. A dead mouse rests inside, and she holds it by the tail, as an offering to Eli, so that he could feed his new pet.

Elioyahazer was still trying to muster the strength to go back into that empty room. “You know, since they were wandering through my house, I think that’s the last straw. I won’t be hiring that team for any events after tonight.” He obviously believed his Canary and had no reason to read her body language or gauge her actions this night. His mood is beginning to sour the longer he lingers on going into that damnable room. Of course he has no idea what Lanara actually has in store for him. Finally, he finds the wherewithal to stomach entering that storage room and steps in behind the smiling and bouncing Lanara. What greets him inside is so far different from what he expected that he doesn’t even know how to react at first. “Shaye?!” His gaze moves from the large Ferruginous Hawk to Lanara in complete disbelief. In these moments a few things wash over his mind. First it was the irritation of having to walk into this room again; which she seemed so damn happy to enter. The other is anger over the cooking team making a giant sticky mess that was out of her reach. Lastly is the fact that he had been surprised by what sat in the corner. The Hawk he had been working with for some time before it was supposedly released. His gaze falls on Lanara finally, and the objects she held. “You’re kidding me, right?” He couldn’t believe it. “I thought she was released! What’s she doing here?” He’s taken back further. He believed the bird had been injured again and Lanara had found her. “You mean, she’s here. To stay?” Elioyahazer is a swell of emotions all of a sudden. Bird or not he throws his arms around Lanara’s midsection and hoists her into the air. He carries a broad smile and begins to spin her. “You freaking devil! I was so bummed when she was sent away. I totally thought of trying to adopt her, but when I came to the decision to do so, it was already too late. I was told they released her into the wild.” Finally Eli sets his witch down and grabs the mouse within his thick gloved hand. He approaches Shaye slowly, “Hey, you remember me?” His tone of voice is calm - she is a rather large bird of prey. It only takes her a moment to register Eli’s voice and lifts a clawed foot in his direction; as if to say hello. The mouse is held out for Shaye who snatches it up with her beak and gobbles the thing down. What happens next, he isn’t quite ready for. She flaps her wings and hops over to his heavily gloved arm. Thank gods for that.

Lanara felt the swell of emotions building up in the ex-assassin, and she was pretty sure he was seething as she had breezed past him into the room, without a care in the world. Her own nerves were getting the best of her as she had fumbled around in the box for the dead mouse and she wasn’t sure how Eli would react when he discovered her fib, and the fact that she had turned the storage room into a suitable enclosure for the hawk. Of course, once she was familiar with the area and listened well enough to her handler, she’d be allowed to fry freely over the gated grounds. For now, however, this large room was more than equipped for her needs, as she would have shelter, food, fresh water, and there was plenty of planted trees and unique shelves that had been recently installed, so that she’d be able to climb and hide, and do whatever she wished. Lana had made certain to clip her wings enough so that it would be at least a week, should she have escape into another room, so that she could safely be reclaimed. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have lied! Yes, she –was- adopted… By YOU! I may have forged your signature… And completed the adoption in your name… She’s entirely yours! I know that she’s a wild animal, but I honestly see something in the way she looks at you, Sandman. And I really wanted to get you something special, a companion that you can train and travel with, and… I know she won’t replace your snakes, but I hope you two can form an unbreakable bond.” If she was expecting anger, she would be delightfully surprised as Eli closes the distance, picks her up into his arms, and spins her in the air several times. The mouse dangles in her grasp, and the hawk hungrily eyes their circulating forms, before Lana is once again planted on the floor. She squeals, her excitement growing as she watches Eli’s expression, and she doesn’t even take offense when she’s referred to as a devil. The look on his face was priceless, and Lana can’t help but be giddy for the man and his new companion. Stepping back to give them their moment, she presses her back against the wall and watches as Shaye digests her meal, and curiously eyes Eli. She remembers him from the sanctuary, and so she surprises them both by flitting onto his arm, and letting out a low, welcoming screech. “Wow…” The witch stays put, having a slight hesitance with birds of prey, as she had nearly died due to an attack from one that Emrith had once sent upon her in an act of rage.

Elioyahazer lifts his other hand while talking to the bird “Hey now, I didn’t think I would see you again.” His voice is still velvety smooth and calm. So much so that the bond he had already established at the sanctuary might actually surprise Lanara. That raised hand makes contact with the hawks feathered chest and literally pets it. Shaye’s response is only to tilt her head to look at his gloved appendage for moments. When she’s satisfied, those beady eyes switch to him and then to Lanara, who is pressed up against a wall. Eli turns his gaze to his witch. “You forged my signature?” He can’t help but chuckle at how she plotted this whole thing out. “I can’t believe that you turned this room into a sanctuary for her, right under my nose!” Of course, Elioyahazer had no intent of entering this room for a very long length of time, so it’s not entirely unbelievable. “Just stay calm, and breathe Lana.” He can tell that she is a little uncomfortable in the presence of this bird. “Animals respond to you like no one else. I’m sure if you do what you always do, Shaye will love you too.” He motions that raised hand slowly for her to come and join them all. Shaye doesn’t look the slightest bit annoyed by either of them and only ruffles her own feathers, already missing the petting she had just received from Eli. “When I first met this bird she wouldn’t eat.” He goes on, knowing that Lanara obviously knew what troubled the bird and why it was at her sanctuary; she had grown weak, lost the will to even hunt. “And I remember the day I was assigned to clean her cage. The only birds I’ve seen that were big were the vultures in the desert. Gross birds. But this one,” you can totally tell he loves this bird. “Is different. When I finished cleaning out her enclosure I just stayed in there with her for a while. Eventually she got curious. So I tried to feed her, and that didn’t work out so well. After a day or two she had warmed up to my presence and started to eat those mice, so long as I warmed them up for her.” Now look at her. Healthy as any bird of her kind.

Lanara can’t be sure that she’s mentioned the dire hawk that had split her throat down the center and nibbled on her innards. The pain. The blood. The six weeks in the infirmary, getting transfusions, and having an around the clock nurse to tend to her wounds. The heartache she felt when her sister had taken the vampire’s side, stating it was all some twisted accident. The disgust the empath had felt when she was forced to defend herself and take the hawk’s life. Lanara didn’t fear any animal, aside from a snake, and though she was cautious around birds of prey, she often warmed up to them after a bit. Or at least enough to tend to their injuries and send them back into the wild. She doesn’t want to spoil the moment with the story from her past, so she smiles sweetly and listens to Eli talk about his encounter with Shaye, and how he had managed to earn her trust. Would Lana ever earn the bird’s favor? Slowly, she approaches the two, taking steady breaths, and peering into those beady black eyes, which are always so alert and calculating. “Hey, Sweet Girl… How are you doing? Do you like your new home, Shaye?” The witch stands to the left of Eli, peering over his shoulder, at the hawk on his opposite forearm. “She really is magnificent, Sandman… I wish you both a lifetime of happiness.” Lana’s voice is soft, while she continues to watch the interaction between the man and his new companion, seeing a possible future of how Eli would treat a child. She makes no move to touch Shaye, though every so often she will verbalize a soothing compliment, so as not to spook her, as she wanted her to know she wasn’t a threat. “Yes… I –totally- forged your signature. I broke my own rules at the sanctuary, falsified an adoption, and moved an exotic animal into our new home. I’m totally your partner in crime, Sandman.” Lana winks at him and smiles, “If it wasn’t for you, Shaye may not even be alive right now… I remember the veterinarian was deeply concerned when she was brought into the sanctuary. You gave her a second chance at life… It’s fitting that you gave her a home, as well.”

Elioyahazer listens to Lanara’s story and explanation of his forged signature and her broken rules. What were rules for if not for breaking? He smiles and offers another pet to Shaye’s feathered chest. It would probably take Lanara some time to warm up to this hawk, but he’s not sure why. Instead, when she’s peering over his shoulder Eli throws his arm up into the air, and Shaye takes flight; glides rather, over to another perch on the other side of the room. She’s completely content, though possibly miffed about not being able to actually fly due to the previous clipping. Elioyahazer would have to spend more time with her, growing more comfortable and training her. “Thank you Lanara.” Whether she spazzed out from the bird of preys flight or not, he’s pulling Lanara into another hug. Where he lifts her chin and plants a very deep kiss upon her lips - hopefully melting away any stress she just previously gathered. “Best first Yule anyone could ask for.” The Kelvarian elf would find herself being dragged out of the room, behind Eli who had a devilish smirk of his own, and up those stairs...