RYSLIG; ic inbox

[isawallflower]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, CHEERYCHERRY. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 019.46.820.17 *** CHEERYCHERRY has joined 019.46.820.17 <CHEERYCHERRY> It's Riley! <CHEERYCHERRY> Please leave a message! <CHEERYCHERRY> Please be someone with their priorities sorted out properly!

main: CheeryCherry
anonymous: panthera, aed
retired: gflynn (anon)

Comments

[icy_veins]

Yes, and I still plan to leave with him one day, [Eridanus says, matter-of-factly,] after all, a vassal without his lord is nothing, Riley.

[He lofts a brow at her, like this should be easy to understand.]

You are free to come with us, my dear, though I must admit... you have a fighting spirit, but I do not think you would fare well in a warzone.

[isawallflower]

[ She knows little about them, lords and vassals, so she's not about to presume about someone else's relationship, even though it strikes her as...off. What she can presume, though... ]

I... [ Slowly, almost a little pained, she shakes her head. ] It...doesn't sound like...something I'd take to, from what he said about it.

[ Just minutes ago, he'd promised forever...but even that's a fantasy. Until the stars burned out... Riley never expects anyone to choose her first, and that's... She knows that. Especially in a place like this, where all of them have their separate lives to return to. Still, she'd let herself get a bit caught up in it; eighteen or not, she's still in many ways a child, after all.

So, it stings. Just a little. ]

[icy_veins]

I figured as much.

[Eridanus returns, sounding so much more apathetic to it—but in his mind, the moment he figures the way out of this world, he will be able to return to it.]

That is why I was already planning to come visit you, my dear. We may be trapped like this now, but I am an incredibly powerful Archmage. Once it is returned to me, I will have the ability to create portals and travel freely.

[He smiles at her as he steps closer. Eridanus is not ignorant to the pain that comes with her jumps to conclusions, and so he won't chastise her for thinking he would be like all the others. In his mind, he can have room for his duties to Lucius and Riley, both.]

[isawallflower]

[ Visit her?

This comes so out of left field for her that Riley can't hold back her surprise. Never once has she been the priority, so she assumed... And yet— ]

You... [ Her lower lip quivers. ] You'll really be able t- to come and go?

[ That big empty house. It doesn't have to be so empty. ]

[icy_veins]

Truly if she had not stolen what is mine, the Fog would be dead by my hand already.

[Eridanus' lips peel back from his teeth, his smile turned into a rictus of disgust as he thinks upon that loathsome entity.]

Before, ripping holes through space was simple. The only thing that would keep me from visiting you, my dear, is if doing so put my lord's safety on the battlefield at risk.

[Which, really, Lucius is an eleven thousand year old god-blessed, undying super soldier. So he can probably manage without his archmage for a bit.

He does step forward however, and smooths his claws over her ruffling feathers.]

Did you think I make my vows lightly, sweet girl?

[isawallflower]

[ This shouldn't be a surprise to Riley. Many people have strange, unpredictable powers, things beyond her wildest dreams.

But she never imagined they would be used to her advantage. Something to...work out, for her. With a watery smile, she shakes her head quickly. ]

O-oh, n-no, I didn't, I just... [ She can't articulate it. She just forces her smile wider. ] No. Never.

[icy_veins]

I could never forget you, my dear.

[The hand that had smoothed over her feathers like a doting parent, instead pulls Riley's face to plant firmly in his chest.

He continues to pet over her feathered hair soothingly.]

No need to worry your pretty little head, okay?

[isawallflower]

[ Riley doesn't fight it, not one bit. The amount of trust she's placed in Eridanus is frankly unreal, unlike any trust she's felt before.

Like this, she's safe. She's secure.

She just nods against him. ]

Okay, dad.