Ascending Legends

[Dragongal]

Arryn came into the kitchen and walked up behind Dayn to wrap her arms around him from behind. "Dia duit, mo chroi."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn jumped and stiffened slightly before relaxing into Arryn's arms. "Hey love." He laid his hand over her's right as the kettle began to whistle. "Gotta get the tea love. Waddle with me."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn laughed but let him go. "I'm a Lady now, so I couldn't do something so childish as that, sir." She didn't know why, but for some reason she was oddly peppy, especially considering how just a few hours before she had nearly blacked out from magic use.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn shrugged his shoulders before tending to the kettle. "You haven't spent enough time around my sisters then. They would have waddled with me." The gibe was delivered with a smile as Dayn poured the tea. He handed Arryn her glass before tending to his own, hoping to sneak the ginger and honey without her noticing. Last thing he wanted was for her to worry any more than she normally did.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn looked at the tea for a moment before going to the spice cabinet and putting cinnamon and mint in it. She looked up at Dayn with a smile. "Just a little Northern thing."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn shrugged before taking a sip of his own. "I knew something was missing.", he said as he grabbed a couple of mint leaves to add to his own brew. There, everything was balanced, and not a word from the wife either. Smooth.

 

[Dragongal]

Once they finished their tea, Arryn waited until they had their coats on to gently tug on Dayn's hand. "Come on. Just a little walk, I don't know if I could go too much further than that because of my back, but I think a little walk would be nice. And a little magic practice."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn smiled at Arryn as he nodded. "Okay, just a short walk. Nothing to crazy." I don't want to be out super late anyway. Not with this funk I'm getting.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled and nodded before pulling him outside. "Okay." Once they were outside, she continued to hold his hand and led him along a short walk. After a little bit, she stopped. "Should I practice some magic here...? Or... no?"

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn looked around them and nodded as he said, "Seems like a good enough place. As long as you keep it simple." Dayn opened their connection before wagging his finger at Arryn. "No straining. The second I see a physical strain I'm cutting you off, alright?"

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled and nodded. She knew that she had to get this down. She had to practice it. She had to prove... she had to prove to herself that she wasn't a danger. Deep down she knew that was why she was working so hard for it, but she didn't want to acknowledge it.


Since it was winter, she couldn't pull much moisture from the air, but could she manipulate that which was already frozen? It was still water molecules, no? Arryn focused and called out to some of the snow, willing it to shape itself into a simple ball. The snow refused to move. Arryn tried a bit harder and got the snow to move a little bit.... Arryn sighed and decided to work on small things first. Like, could she make a tree branch brittle? She reached up and pulled on a pine tree branch, which bent down and sprung back up when she released it. She pulled it down again and focused on removing the warmth and letting intense cold fill the absence.... She let go of the branch and it sprung up again, though slightly slower. She did this again, but when she cast this time she could feel the pain in her head and the black on the edges of her vision. Was her nose bleeding? It felt like it was. When she left go of the branch, again it sprung back up only a bit slower than last time. It was a bitter taste of failure and helplessness that accompanied the nosebleed that she tried to hide from Dayn with her hand.

 

[BookWyrm]

Thanks to the connection Dayn felt the strain and followed through with his promise, merging their streams so that he could cut her off temporarily as he walked over and laid his hand on her hip. "Here, let me see.", Dayn said as he gently turned her head towards him and pulled her hand away. His lips formed a line as he sighed, but he still pulled a cloth from his pocket and wiped the blood gently from Arryn's face. "You can't force it in the beginning. You have to coax it out a little at a time." Dayn cupped Arryn's cheek and smiled at her once the blood had been wiped away. "You are being grounded though. No more magic for today."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled a bit apologetically. "I don't think I could cast any more if I wanted to. I just... I thought I could do it. I need to learn to control it, and... I thought I could do it." She definitely felt wiped out now. She had been so caught up in trying to prove it to herself that she hadn't stopped when she should have.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn nudged his own mana stream to intersect and start Arryn's to regenerate a little quicker as he kissed her cheek. "It's okay Arryn. You'll get this in due time. You can't rush it."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn sighed and leaned against him a bit. "I just don't like this... lack of control. It scares me." Arryn took his hand and closed her eyes for a few moments. "Let's go home."

 

[BookWyrm]

"No." Dayn put his hand against Arryn's chest and gently pushed her back before lifting her chin to meet his gaze. "Not yet. Not until you realize that this isn't something you should be scared of. Elemental magic is in some ways affected by emotion, and my thought is that your frost magic is tied to fear since it came from the banshees. You can't live in fear of this Arryn, otherwise you will never be able to master it."

 

[Dragongal]

Dayn caught Arryn entirely off guard. But she knew he was right. She could feel some tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she explained, "B-but... I'm trying, but... I don't want you to get hurt. And I know that if I mess up and hurt myself, that will hurt you too."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn shook his head even as he wiped away stray tears that fell on Arryn's cheeks. "I understand what you are trying to do. I know you are scared that you will slip up and hurt me or hurt yourself, and I know deep down you are scared that you will disappoint me. I know that because I feel the same way. I always wonder if one day I'll slip up and hurt you in some shape or fashion, be it through some magic incident or losing it as a wolf." Dayn's eyes blurred up but he blinked away the tears before they could fall. "You've got to lock it down and control it, otherwise that fear will control you."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn slowly nodded a bit. He'd nailed it, she was scared to disappoint him on top of scared of he magic. Arryn moved closer and pulled him into a hug, silently promising that she would do her best to not be scared of the magic anymore.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn wrapped his arms around Arryn and tucked his head down against her, holding her there for several long minutes before finally taking her by the hand and offering a smile. "Home?"

 

[Dragongal]

Arrryn returned the smile and nodded, taking his hand for the walk home. Once they were home, she took off her boots and jacket and went straight to the blanket nest.

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn kicked his boots off outside the door before laying them in the usual place. Even now he could feel whatever crud was affecting him flare up. An ache set in deep in his muscle and weariness in his bones. At least, that is how it felt. He was cold, stopped up, his nose runny, and feeling crumby. Once he'd shrugged out of his jacket and turned he noticed Arryn sprawled out on the blanket nest. A smile crept across his face as he went about to tend to the fires throughout the home. When the fires were tended to Dayn walked into the kitchen to brew some more tea, though this was mostly a ruse. He had an idea for something to cheer Arryn up. Even despite his own discomfort he wanted to see her smile. He searched through the cabinets before finding a small stash he had hidden away. As he unwrapped it he smiled. The chocolate was untarnished and whole. Perfect.


Dayn set two small cast iron pans into the oven alongside the tea. By the time the kettle whistled it was time to pull the pans out. He plated up the two cakes before pouring two cups of the cinnamon tea, grabbing the tray, and joining Arryn in the great room. He smiled widely as he sat down and handed Arryn her plate and cup. On the plate was a small, warm cake with a gooey chocolate center.

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn had been dozing very, very lightly, listening to Dayn as he moved around in the kitchen. She wasn't really thinking about anything, just... listening to Dayn. When he joined her she opened her eyes and sat up, before suddenly being surprised by tea and a cake. Her first order of business,though, was to move closer to Dayn and lightly lean on him. Next was the cake. The gooey chocolate in the center caught her off guard, but was fantastic. The tea was similarly wonderful. While she wasn't hungry enough to eat the whole cake, she appreciated it greatly. Dayn had known exactly what she needed: sugar and warmth. And what woman doesn't love chocolate? She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I love you, mo chroi. Now, how about you finish the cake? It's spectacular, but... you know I can't really eat much after backlash."

 

[BookWyrm]

Dayn had expected Arryn to cuddle up to him. After this amount of time together it felt weird when they weren't laying together or cuddling. He had to admit, though, that he was pleased to see the cake had the intended reaction. In truth he had just finished his cake when Arryn passed her plate over. She had made a good dent in it but he understood how backlash worked and finished off what was left. Once he had put the dishes into the kitchen Dayn came back and rearranged the pillows before laying back against them, pulling Arryn to his chest, and wrapping her in the blankets as he warmed himself slightly with his pyromancy. "I have to confess that I was a little worried how the cakes would turn out."

 

[Dragongal]

Arryn smiled and nuzzled against him as she got settled. She hadn't realized that she had cooled down as the backlash had set in, but now that she was cuddled up to Dayn it was apparent. But warm food, warm blankets, and a warm husband made it much better. She was already almost dozing again, but she wanted to cuddle with Dayn before sleeping. "I don't know why you don't your cooking skills. Everything you make is fantastic."