Fantasy 🐺 What we call home

[Susi]

Nooa couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned in his bed thinking about Aspen and Alek. Mostly Alek and how he treated Aspen like filth. It was unfair. The boy tried to come up with scenes where they would meet and talk in peace and Alek would finally loosen up. As he finally drifted into sleep, he dreamt about flower fields and strawberries with no solution to his problem.

A bright light poked Aleksios in the eye. The morning had finally come after the restless night with little sleep and lots of walking around. Today they would take the halfbreed-.... he really needed to stop calling him that even in his mind. Today they would take the outsider-... Fine... today they would take Aspen to see the old mage's house, assuming Belanor was still going to allow it. And why wouldn't he? The halfbreed-... ahh, whatever, the halfbreed had been a model student charming anyone he met. Reluctantly Alek got on his feet and finished his morning routine, tying his hair on a high ponytail. As he got out of his room, he peeked in Nooa's room. He was still asleep and Alek knocked on the door softly, continuing then his way downstairs. After a while, Nooa followed.

There were just the two of them having breakfast. Father was probably off to repair something and mother was most likely tending her rose garden. Nooa enthused about the abandoned house which gave Alek a chance to ask if the younger one would go get the half-... breed. He would go see the elder himself. Nooa agreed, even if he frowned at the name Alek still used.

"If I start calling him by his name, it's like I'm acknowledging his existence", Aleksios commented.

"It's not like you can actually deny it..."

"I'll do my best."

After breakfast, the two boys headed to the village, Alek to the elder's house and Nooa towards the inn. They would meet back at Belanor's house. Nooa greeted Mr. Farsight cheerfully as he entered and climbed up the stairs. He took a deep breath before he knocked on Aspen's door.

 

[Scripted Away]

Aspen... Hadn't really slept much. Or rather not at all.
It wasn't too much of a problem, he was used to pulling an all-nighter now and then from working the late shifts at the inn, but usually he was busy serving people then, not wrecking his mind.
He's woken up shortly after the moon had reached its highest point, and ever since hadn't been able to fall asleep again.

And so he'd spent most of the night sitting on the roof, talking to the wind.
It had howled a lot, probably trying to talk to him or something, but what it had wanted to say was beyond him.

At some point, shortly before the sun had started to rise, Aspen had wandered into the forest to find a long, straight branch to train a little, and after his shirt had become wet from him sweating he'd freshened up in the nearby river and returned to his room to change into some clean clothes.

When Nooa knocked on his door, Aspen had just changed into a pair of dark gray pants.
"Door's open, come in", he called while he was standing in a loose white undershirt, stuck fighting with a button on the shirt he was about to put on- a streak of his hair had wrapped around it and was stuck.
"One second, I'm stuck!"
As he'd finally managed to free his hair and pulled the shirt down he looked somewhat exploded.

He just hurriedly brushed his hair before he smiled at Nooa excitedly.
"Alright! Big day! I'm so damn nervous."

 

[Susi]

"So am I..." Nooa sighed but put a smile on his face.

The elven boy sat on the armchair like the day before but today he looked tired. He hid his face behind his palms and sighed again.

"I'm so sorry for how my brother behaves.. I just... I want him to like you...", the boy whined.

The more Nooa thought about it, the more it drained him. He was a person who needed harmony around him to be happy and last night Alek had been impossible. Nooa tried to be understanding but Alek really had no reason to be a total and complete jerk to Aspen! Now he was supposed to be excited about exploring the abandoned house but all he could think about was how badly his brother would behave again. His palms began to feel warm again and he quickly slammed them together. Deep breaths, Nooa... Deep breaths...

 

[Scripted Away]

Aspen cocked his head as he watched Nooa slump down in the armchair, the poor boy really didn't look good... Basically he seemed to be as exhausted as he had felt the day before. The whole tension and frustration he had worked away tonight was still written in his friend's face.

So he crossed the room to squat down in front of Nooa, his sunny smile able to light up an entire room.
"Hey, don't apologize for your brother's behavior, nothing of it is your fault. And as long as I got a friend like you he can't ruin my mood for longer than a few minutes."
Chuckling silently he winked at Nooa and got up to braid the left side of his hair into three plaits to keep it out of his face.

That's when he... Felt... Something...
Instinctively he spun around just in time to see Nooa press his palms together like he'd done yesterday. Weird, it had felt like a wave of energy washing over him...
"Weird, I felt that", he mumbled surprised.
How had he felt that?
"Should we go or do you need a moment?", he asked softly, actually concerned for his friend. "Hey, what can I do to help cheer you up, hm?"

 

[Susi]

A small smile made its way up to Nooa's lips and the confusion faded. What exactly had Aspen felt? Nooa looked at his palms, they were good now and stood up.

"You felt my magic overloading?", he asked curiously, clapping his hands together a couple of times as in shaking off the excess magic. "I'm not sure if that's a relief or should I be worried.."

Nooa felt slightly better. It was probably silly to cling on to Aspen's kind words like that but right now they were what he needed. And... whatever Aleksios did, it really wasn't his fault. With new energy, he looked at Aspen again... and booped his nose!

"Right! So Alek's gone to see Belanor, we'll be joining them soon and then we all go to the house where you'll be doing your magic to get us inside!" Nooa explained, his signature enthusiasm returning to his voice.

 

[Scripted Away]

"I guess", Aspen said a little confused while he rubbed his neck, still feeling the tension that had built up like a weight around his shoulders the second Nooa's magic had started to overload.
It had been a weird feeling, somewhere between exhilarating and dangerous, and he really had no idea what to make of it...

But he had other things to worry about now.

He had to grin softly as Nooa's mood clearly brightened again. He'd always wondered what it would be like to have a little brother, and Nooa was basically an exact copy of what he had always imagined.

"Alright, let's go!", he said, the same enthusiasm mixing into his voice and smile. "Time to get you the books you needs, don't you think?"

 

[Susi]

Aleksios might have secretly hoped that the elder would not allow the halfbreed to the village, after all, but in vain. Belanor was excited to meet the guy again and see if he could enter the house. Alek sighed, he seemed to have done that a lot since yesterday. Carefully he asked what would happen if the mage's staff actually reacted to the outsider and received an excited chuckle.

"You'd better start doing your best to make him stay if that happens!"

Aleksios frowned as the elder kept on how the boy might even be able to raise the barrier again.

"So you're interested in him only to take an advantage of his possible skills?" he asked. Halfbreed or not, Alek felt annoyed by the thought until the elder corrected him... slightly. He did not wish to use the boy, as Alek put it, but it would certainly help if the barrier was back up. Aleksios felt confused about his own feelings, as much as he hated the halfbreed apparently, he still wanted others to treat him fairly. He sighed... again.

"You better tell him straight up what you want from him, or he just might feel used and leave."

The conversation was interrupted when the door opened and Nooa and Aspen came in. The halfbreed looked so vigorously happy it made Alek shiver a bit. If he could spread that around, the whole village would look like they were on something stronger than mint and cinnamon tea. The elder stood up, grabbed his shawl, and waddled to greet his guest again. He led the group out of the cottage and towards the abandoned house. It didn't look anything like a ghost house, as the previous owner hadn't been dead for that long but all the flowers were dead as the magic enhancing them was gone. The house was painted dark reddish, probably with beetroot and there was a hole on the roof. That would need to be fixed if anyone was to live in there. Nooa stopped first and glanced at the yard, he could feel the elements and they were... curious?

"Aspen, do you feel this...?", he asked quietly, eyes still focuced on the yard.

 

[Scripted Away]

"Good morning Belanor, Aleksios", Aspen greeted the two elves as he and Nooa entered the elder's house.
The old man however seemed to be just as excited as he was, he was quick to lead him towards the old cottage.
He looked between the elder, Alek and Noah and back at the house.

He nodded silently at the boy's question.
Yes, he could feel... Something.
It wasn't only half of the entire village watching them, there was something else, eyeing him carefully.

When the group had approached the house, the ivy vines had moved to cover the door, clearly warning them that they wouldn't let anyone in, while the torch next to the door had lit up burning on its own.

Aspen swallowed hard as he hesitantly made the first step towards the cottage...
And was met by the wind, prowling around him like it expected him to do something.
Remembering yesterday evening he whistled the melody etched so deeply into his memory, and the wind answered almost immediately as it made the wind chimes ring loudly.

And suddenly it rained cats and dogs.
Aspen blinked surprised, but he'd always been someone who enjoyed the sound of it and had never minded getting drenched. Why should he mind, he could just dry up later, no damage done.
But it certainly was an interesting way of the water to greet him.
Grinning softly he looked up towards the clouds while the pouring rain made his hair cling to his head and his shirt to his frame.
"Well, nice to meet you too", he chuckled, but silenced when he noticed the warm glow of the torch next to the entrance door fade slowly, the fire giving in to the rain.
He carefully approached to move the torch under the roof overhang where it would be sheltered from the rain.

As he turned to face the door again the vines were suddenly in his face, like snakes threatening to bite him.
He stilled, breathing only shallowly.
They seemed to be waiting for something, but he wasn't sure for what.
"Look, I-... I don't know what you want me to do", he mumbled helplessly. "I don't even know if I am the person they think I am. How am I supposed to know whether or not my mother was Lennara Aspenvale?"

Aspen froze, in fact his whole body stilled like time had stopped running, when the vines wrapped around his head like a crown.

He wasn't standing in front of the cottage anymore. He was laying in someone's arms.
His vision was blurred, but slowly cleared up, catching sight of a beautiful woman.
Her golden hair was ruffled, pearls of sweat running down her face. She looked so exhausted, like she could fade any second, but the look in her eyes was one of pure love.
'... M-mom...?', he wanted to whisper, but didn't make a sound.

As the vision faded and he was back in the here and now Aspen exhaustedly fell to his hands and knees, barely noticing how the door swung wide open for the vines to reach into the darkness of the cottage.
It retrieved a long staff made of twisted aspen wood. At the top it split into several smaller branches that tightly held a gem, most likely a Topaz.

He leaned heavily onto the staff as he forced himself to his feet and turned to look back at Belenor, Alek and Nooa, not even noticing how he had just made flowers grow where his hands had touched the ground.

 

[Susi]

The elves had watched the show first in awe then in horror. It didn't seem so bad until the rain started. Belanor tried to shout some advicing words but the rain muted everything. When the vines assaulted Aspen, Nooa desperately tried to rush towards Aspen but Alek held him firmly still. Now Alek finally let go, his eyes fixed on the halfbreed who had just conquered the elements. Loud coughing brought him back to the present and he turned to look at the elder, who was shivering violently. Quickly he moved to support the man, holding him close.

"Nooa, take care of the half-.... take care of him, I'll take Belanor home!" he adviced and carefully started heading back. It didn't feel good to leave Nooa, but the boy could handle himself... he hoped.

Nooa acted swiftly and rushed to Aspen's side, making sure he wouldn't fall again. He searched for signs that he was hurt, but saw none. His heart was pounding in his chest and he tried not to shake madly.

"A-Aspen..? Are you okay?" he breathed out, grabbing his hand.

The door was open now, but Nooa had never seen anything like that in his life and it frightened him.

 

[Scripted Away]

Aspen hadn't even noticed how Alek had brought Belanor away, he still was fighting to stand straight.
Whatever magic the vines had worked, it had exhausted him to the point of barely being able to stay conscious. His vision blurred, Aspen turned his head to nod at Nooa's question with a tired smile crossing his face.
Even speaking felt as impossible as lifting a mountain; he really needed a moment to catch his breath.

He groaned silently as he slowly took a seat on the bench in front of the cottage and rested his elbows on his thighs, eyes closed.
After a minute or so he looked up to smile at his friend reassuringly.
"I'm okay", he finally spoke, sounding quite lost in thought. "Just exhausted...the vines, they-... I believe they showed me my past? I think I saw my mother..."

His gaze wandered towards the staff in his hand before it moved towards the garden... where beautiful fire lilies were blooming, along with a white plumeria tree spreading the scent of freshly cut peaches.
"So...guess I made it?", he chuckled silently as he got up. He gave Nooa a brotherly pat on his back as he motioned his free hand towards the door. "Let's get you your books, nay? ...wait... where did Belanor and Alek go...?"

 

[Susi]

Nooa's white face slowly began to regain some color when Aspen spoke again. With only slightly watered eyes he wrapped his arms around the older boy, sobbing quietly how worried he had been. A moment after a smile formed on his face again and he pulled back, a thought had occurred to him. If Aspen saw his mother... then he was a part of the Aspenvale line... and that meant...

"I think.. the books are not only for me anymore..." he pondered out loud and turned to look at the garden. "I'm sure you made it and you did that, too. I think you're a mage." Nooa said with widening eyes, his smile even wider and his mind speeding up to the two of them going through the books together, trying to figure out their gifts. Surely the old mage's house would provide them with lots of information! And the house wasn't really the old mage's anymore, it belonged to Aspen now!

"The rain wasn't good for Belanor, Alek took him back home", Nooa told Aspen and looked at him again. "Are you sure you're fine?"

 

[Scripted Away]

Aspen was very surprised and a little helpless when suddenly Nooa was hugging him, sobbing into his shirt and telling him how worried he had been. Wow, they'd only known each other since yesterday evening, but for some reason the boy really seemed to like him. With a small smirk he had to admit, though- it was mutual. The guy was like the little brother he'd never had.
He'd just wanted to say something to reassure Nooa that he was fine, just a little exhausted, when he told him that he most likely was a mage.

"Wait, what?", he asked softly as his gaze wandered to the garden again. He had thought that had been the working of the elements...or something!
But a mage? He?!
Man, if his foster parents would hear about that they'd tell him to be careful and responsible.
I promise, he chuckled internally.
He looked at the gem in the staff...his staff... for a moment, as it gently pulsed with light and energy.
"Huh...whoa."
Okay he was a little speechless.

"I'm fine", he promised with a smile as he slowly started to feel a little less like exhausted. "What do you think, should we go check out the cottage or check up on Belanor and your brother?"
Honestly he was dead curious to see what Alek's reaction would be. He'd probably explode...

 

[Susi]

Nooa looked at the gemstone, its pulsing soothed him, and even if it wasn't his staff it felt kind of inviting. Nooa couldn't really add anything to reassure Aspen, but he was sure that he was right.

"You really are not curious to see what's inside your house?" Nooa teased as Aspen thought about checking on Alek, and peeked in from the doorway but all he could see was a dark hallway with a corridor that ended up to a room that could have been kitchen. There were two doors on the both sides of the mentioned corridor, so that meant two rooms. He didn't dare to enter though as it was Aspen who had calmed the elements down. His house, his rules.

"I'm sure Alek will return shortly... I didn't think you'd miss him though!" Nooa grinned as he stretched out his neck to see more of the house. Dead plants on the desk were't too inviting, but maybe Aspen could fix them too. Or then they would just get new ones.

"Can we please go in?!" Nooa begged.

 

[Scripted Away]

"haahaa", Aspen laughed sarcastically at Nooa's comment about him missing Alek.
As if.
The day he'd miss Alek would be the day the river would flow backwards.
Honestly he couldn't imagine ever feeling less uncomfortable around the eternally angry elf, but he'd do as he had promised- be friendly towards him nonetheless. At least until he'd really go too far.

He laughed softly at Nooa's more than obvious excitement as he brotherly wrapped on arm around his shoulders and led him into his... His house.

The second he entered the rorridor, something started to change, like the house itself was adapting to what he liked best.
Right, he noted, even the garden had done that... He loved fire lilies and plumerias...
The color of the walls changed to a very light gray while the age-old chandelier hanging from the ceiling lit up on its own.
Even in here were a few vines running across the walls, and right now they moved to straighten a couple of framed pictures.
"Duck!", Aspen gasped and hastily pulled Nooa back out of the corridor as the wind blew through it to dust off the interior.
"Wow, well... Thank you", he said with a sheepish smile as the wind was done.

Upon following the corridor to the room at its end he discovered a beautiful, cozy living room, stuffed with books.
"I think I found our books", he remarked. "And I'll have to repair the roof..."

 

[Susi]

Nooa's feelings had shifted from fear to excitement and back to fear and the rollercoaster didn't seem to be ending just yet. He had never seen the house doing... what it was currently doing when he had visited the old mage before. Then again she had lived there long before Nooa was even born. His thoughts were interrupted when Aspen told him to move and in awe, Nooa watched the wind dash back and forth.

The room Nooa had guessed to be the kitchen turned out to be the living room instead. Tall bookshelves caught Nooa's attention just before he noticed the hole in the roof.

"My dad could fix that", he mentioned. Saevel would surely come help now that it was safe to approach the house again.

Nooa let his eyes browse through lines and lines of books, intensely looking for a manual for healing arts. While he couldn't really tell one book from another, he suddenly heard a scraping sound to his left. Just as he turned around, a book flung through the air, on to a desk in front of him. Nooa's eyes widened and he looked at Aspen startled. Carefully he stepped closer, the title on the cover was 'Healing Arts'. Nooa looked at Aspen again, bewildered. He had just only thought about needing a book like that, but why would the house help anyone else but Aspen? Maybe... just maybe because he had magic too...?

 

[Scripted Away]

Aspen had still been busy inspecting the hole in the roof as Nooa told him how his father could probably help fix it. He nodded, looking a little thoughtfully.
"I do have some experience in repairing roofs, we once had to rebuild half of the roof of my father's Inn after a tree had crashed into it during a storm. But some guidance from a more experienced craftsman would be nice. I don't-"

He broke off the second the book suddenly flew out of the shelf and onto the table and just looked between Noa and the book for a couple of seconds, not less surprised than he was.
"Well, I guess my house likes you", he joked with a small grin crossing his face.

Healing arts however wasn't really what he needed right now... Rather the... Total basics.
Thoughtfully he looked around the room, but honestly he felt quite overwhelmed by the sheer masses of books waiting to be read.
"So... Where am I supposed to start?", he asked into room, hoping the vines or the wind would help him. Fire and water probably weren't the best to help him when it came to books.

One of the vines reached into a shelf on the left and retrieved a book to put it right into his hands.
"The Arcane Arts- Sources and kinds of magic", he read the title aloud. Seemed to fit.

 

[Susi]

The whole house was magical, Nooa thought delighted. In case it hadn't been obvious by the time it had started remodeling itself. Nooa looked at Aspen, now they would just... start reading?

"I'd say this is rather convenient..." Nooa smiled and then bowed his head slightly. "Thank you, house!"

It was probably silly, but Nooa thought he'd thank just in case. And he was a little worried that if he didn't, the house would be mad at him, he was just a visitor after all. The boy lifted the book carefully, it was heavy and decorated with elven symbols. Just as carefully he opened it and eyed the text; it was in old elvish language. Immediately he turned his gaze back at Aspen, who would probably come to the same realization with his own book soon enough. Nooa didn't know if Aspen knew elvish, but he kind of doubted it.

 

[Scripted Away]

Aspen had to chuckle a little when Nooa thanked the house, but he couldn't deny that it did kind of make sense. Though he rather expected that the elements were the ones who should be thanked. Could a house be magical, after all?
Honestly he wasn't sure.

However when he opened the book...
"Old elvish", he said surprised, blinking a couple of times.
Back when he'd still lived with his foster parents he had tried to learn the language, but the barely had been any books or other ways to gather more informations. Basically he could only say 'Hello, I'm Aspen' and 'may the sun and moon light your path', something he guessed was an age old saying to wish someone good luck.
He did recognize a couple of the ancient characters, but by far not enough to be able to read this book.

A little helplessly he looked at Nooa, just to see how he was looking back at him just as cluelessly.
"We might have a problem here", he sighed silently.

 

[Susi]

"I suppose you don't know elvish..?" Nooa asked carefully. He could probably handle his own book, asking help here and there, but two books? It was way beyoned him. Generally speaking any elf knew old elvish language, some better than others... Then Nooa chuckled as a fact occurred to him.

"Your elements or whatever fate you carry around must have amazing sense of humor!" he kept on chuckling. "Wanna throw in a guess who taught himself fluent in old elvish?"

It seemed that the more Aspen tried to avoid Aleksios, the more some strange force seemed to push them together. Nooa wondered how long would it take Alek to notice.

 

[Scripted Away]

"I can only wish you good luck and tell you my name in old elvish", Aspen admitted a little frustrated while he scanned the pages of his book over and over again, hoping for... A miracle, or something.

And then Nooa told him who - of course - spoke fluent old elvish.
Groaning he slumped down on the couch and rested his forehead on the table in front of him.
This had to be some sick joke of the elements. He could almost feel the sheer amusement in the way the Wind ruffled his hair.
He glared into the air where he expected the cheeky nature spirit to be.
"I know you're laughing your windy ass off", he grumbled silently and immediately was met with another breeze ruffling his hair.
Jerk.

"Fiiine then we'll go to Alek", he sighed, maybe a little overdramatically.
He just really didn't want to imagine the guy's anger when he'd find out that he was a mage...

 

[Susi]

Nooa chuckled again and closed his book. Alright, so they had to ask Saevel's help for the roof and Alek for translations. They definitely needed to clean up the house and the yard and plant some new herbs and food crops for Aspen. At least he could help with cleaning and garden. Nooa was just about to get up on his feet when he heard a voice from the front door...

"Is it safe to come in?"

Aleksios had rushed back to the house as soon as he had made sure Belanor got warm tea and a blanket and was sitting in his favorite chair comfortably. The rain had ceased and the yard was calm now. Carefully, with his head respectfully down he entered from the gate and approached the front door; Nooa and Aspen were hopefully inside.

Nooa jumped up and peeked back in the corridor, nodding to Alek. The older brother stepped in, speaking calming words quietly, Nooa recognized some old elvish words. The two returned to the living room and Nooa showed Alek the book who browsed it gently. This should help the little brother greatly, Alek thought and smiled. Until he registered the halfbreed in the room. The warm emotion changed into a formal one as he nodded at him.

"Old elvish, I see.." he said, gesturing with his hand towards the book.

"Yeah! And can you believe that book just flew into my hands when I thought I needed something to help me!" Nooa enthused in his typical way and explained how another book was handed over by a vine to Aspen when he needed one. And that Aspen is a mage! Aleksios stopped and looked at his brother in silence.

 

[Scripted Away]

Aspen remained silent while Alek entered his house and browsed the book Nooa had handed him, however when the boy explained how he was a mage...
Aspen would've loved to sink into the ground.
He had planned to break it to Alek a little less... 'in your face'. Something told him that it would only make the elf angrier, if that was even possible. He really liked Nooa, even started to see him as a kind of little brother, but right there he'd been subtle as a brick. And he strongly doubted that bluntness was a good idea when it came to telling Alek something that would tick him off.

That smile however... That smile that had crossed his face had made him seem like a completely different person, and it made Aspen smile, too.
At least for a moment, until Alek was just standing there staring at Nooa like he'd been struck by a lightning.
Bad sign? He felt more nervous with every passing minute.

He silently cleared his throat, but just as he had wanted to speak up the vines left their places on the walls and snaked across the floor towards Alek.
Aspen reacted without thinking twice and reached out to pull him aside, shaking his head at the vines.
"I'm nervous, but he's no threat. It's okay, you don't need to protect me", he spoke silently. The vines seemed to hesitate for a moment, but lastly did as he said. Turning to Alek, he smiled apologetically.
"Sorry, they seem to be a little overprotective..."
He sighed silently.
"Alek... Nooa mentioned you speak fluent old elvish. Would you help us here? I'd pay you back, of course, just let me know how."

 

[Susi]

For a moment Aleksios gathered his thoughts; the vines, the halfbreed pulling him away from them... He had tried to be respectful to the elements.
Were the halfbreed's emotions linked to them in the house? The fact that the other one was still holding his arm, made him look down on it first, and then back up to the halfbreed.
Why did he have to be so tall? And why did he look so... compliant? Alek looked around; there were so many books, more than he could remember. He looked at the halfbreed again, feeling somewhat uncertain, and thought about his answer.

"Fine", he said after a moment, looking away.

Nooa watched the two closely, almost holding his breath. Alek seemed oddly calm.

"See, Aspen was sure you'd be really mad when you found out..." Nooa started and Alek looked at him.

"Mad?" he repeated and turned to look at the halfbreed. "Why do you think I would be mad?"

This just proved that the halfbreed was indeed an Aspenvale and since that was true, it came as no surprise he had magical abilities. This only proved that Alek had been... well... wrong.

 

[Scripted Away]

Honestly Aspen was utterly surprised. Alek still didn't sound like he'd enjoy spending a day at a funfair with him, but he seemed to be calmer than yesterday. Maybe it had all just been a little too much for him?
To be honest he wouldn't hold a grudge against the elf if he'd come around; he just wasn't that kind of person... Maybe they could just... Coexist in peace?
On the other hand maybe he shouldn't get his hopes up too much just because Alek wasn't glaring daggers at him for once.

He'd been so lost in thought that he'd almost missed how Nooa just leisurely told his brother how he had expected him to be pissed beyond comprehension.
But only almost.

Eyes wide he stared at Nooa in utter disbelief for a long moment until Alek addressed him.
It took a moment for him to comprehend, honestly, this had probably been the first time he'd directly talked to him. At least more than two words or snarky comments.

"Well", Aspen huffed with a bit of a nervous chuckle, "You don't really make a secret of how much you despise me. Aspenvale seems to be quite a name here, I would've expected you to, I don't know, tell me how I'm not worthy bearing that name, or something", he admitted. "The more I'm glad you'll help us. Thank you Alek."
He even managed to give the elf a small, sheepish smile.

 

[Susi]

Alek was proud of himself. The halfbreed was right there, mumbling nonsense and had even touched him, but he kept his cool. He couldn't act like a spoiled five years old brat while he was representing his clan. He collected his thoughts for a moment.

"You are going to need all the help you can get once the word gets out that you say you're a mage. People want the barrier back up and they will be looking at you, the elder more than anyone", Alek spoke, recalling the conversation with Belanor. At least he was being honest.

"You don't want to let anyone down, do you?"

Alek didn't even need to be mad at the halfbreed for being a mage, and why would he, there was nothing he could do about it, the pressure would certainly make him leave as he'd realise there was no way he'd learn a spell like that. As far as Alek knew, only the old mage had known the magic needed to raise the barrier, even Lennara hadn't learned it. The halfbreed had her books now but the guy didn't even know the basics. A small voice in the back of his head noted that if the had grown up in the village, his magic would have emerged sooner. It was probably true but played no part now. Alek glanced at his brother and then back to the halfbreed. He would help the guy, but only because that allowed Nooa to focus on his own learning.