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"Really? Thanks." Theodore replied and he moved to follow Aidan around. He was rather impressed that he walked around so independently, but he supposed there had been a time in his life he'd been able to do that as well. He still could thanks to his training, as he had to know how to navigate environments where light could not luminate the area.
He smiled as he saw Danielle, blinking at the little one attached to her. "Hey Danielle." He greeted with that sweet smile, swallowing thickly. He supposed he couldn't be too surprised to see a child. The boy was glad to see her either way, he'd missed them all, it felt so nice to be in a familiar environment and not under that strict training. |
"Theodore?" Danielle repeated, looking up with surprise. She had somewhat mixed feelings. Part of her was so sad for what her brother sacrificed. A full life span. But he was still here, and she was very forgiving. Rising, she went over. "You've grown so much..." Danny had stumbled and trotted after the girl. He began sucking at his fingers as he looked at the new face, hiding behind her legs. Once satisfied, the toddler grabbed her and pressed his face against her skirts. Out of sight, out of mind. |
Theodore nodded a little bit, rubbing his arm a bit. "Yeah, I guess I have." He smiled a little more again as he watched Danny hide himself a bit behind her. "And just who is this?" He asked as he moved to crouch down by Danielle so he'd be eye level with the boy should he dare to peek at him.
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Danielle would have been ashamed to admit who the father was. Nevertheless, she loved the little boy so much. He was absolutely adorable to her, and she wouldn't give him up for the world. "This is Danny....Danny, say hi. Theodore's my friend." The little boy peeked with just an eye, squeaked, and hid again. |
Theodore laughed a little at that and smiled. "Hey Danny." He greeted him after he'd hid again, moving to stand up again rather than pester the child. He didn't bother to ask who the father was because a part of him didn't want to know. He just smiled and gave her a gentle hug. "I'll be around for a while, maybe for good. My training is over so I'm pretty much free to do as I please unless otherwise called upon." He told her as he pulled back, not lingering in it too long in worry that it would make her uncomfortable.
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Danielle smiled. "It's good to have you around again. Are you hungry? I can get you something." She leaned in some to inform him that Aidan's - the old Aidan - room was still available for him. She wasn't working on anything rather important, just some mending of hems for a dress that would most likely go forgotten by a lady of the court. Her fingers were occupied in Danny's hair as he continued to hide against her. |
Theodore still smiled and nodded a bit as she let him know that the room was still open--that would make things easier. "I just ate before I came here, but thanks." He replied softly, chuckling a bit. "I'm going to go see Arturo too; let him know that I'm back."
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She nodded in response. "He'll be glad to see you." Danny peered at Theodore from behind the skirts again. The blond's eyes caught his attention. "Blue," he said with a broad smile. |
Theodore blinked and chuckled, carefully crouching to look at him again. "Yep! Just like yours." He replied, though there was a sadness hidden behind his smile when he thought about it.
"Aidan, would you please take me to Arturo now?" He asked as he stood up again, glancing over to Danielle once more. "I'll see you later, Danielle. You too, Danny." He said, giving the boy a little wave. |
Danny hesitated before waving back. Aidan led Theodore to Arturo. The water mage was training a few children, some as young as four, their skills to develop them. He had to douse quite a number of fires with his waters. He patted the children and rewarded them before letting them run off and play. "Arturo, your friend Theodore is here to see you," Aidan said with a smile, feeling a few of the children brush up against his legs as they giggled on their way by. |
Theodore smiled as he watched the children run off, looking up to see Arturo and give him a warm smile as well as he approached him. "Arturo..." He was glad to see him too, he'd missed him more while he was away than he'd expected he would! It was hard to be away from those one considered friends.
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Arturo approached the two and pulled Theodore into a hearty hug. "Wow, Theodore! You've grown so much." The man smiled and looked him over. "Not the little scrawny boy anymore, hm?" he teased. "Are you staying for awhile?" |
Theodore gasped as he was hugged like that, smiling and hugging him back happily. He hadn't gotten a hug like that in a long time--too long. Affection like that hadn't been so common while he was being trained. "Not a chance." He replied to the teasing, giving a chuckle as he looked Arturo over. "And it looks like you're still in one piece!"
"Yeah, I'll be staying in the same room as before. I don't know how long I'll be around--but hopefully a while. I'm pretty much free now unless they summon me." |
Arturo laughed. "Yeah, I've been lucky. Though, even though I kept being the one to return near death, I keep escaping it. I must have a couple lives left. "Sounds like you need a vacation," the mage said with a nod. "If there's anything in particular you'd like to do, just ask and I'll take you there." |
"Sounds like you're one lucky feline." He replied with a laugh, just relieved that he was okay. He'd almost been afraid to return to Caer Elise to find that he was alone now other than the tribe and his scattered siblings.
"Thanks Arturo, I'll remember that." He smiled at the man, moving to hug him again. "Mm, I've missed you. It was lonely in the villages. I was always kept away from everyone to minimize possible distractions." He huffed a bit as he pulled back once again and let go of the water mage. |
"What did they put you through?" Arturo asked, concerned his friend may have changed forever. Had he experienced things young people his age...shouldn't? |
"A lot of mental endurance training... and pain endurance." Theodore frowned and raised his shirt to show Arturo the various whippings and stab wounds he'd endured over the years. "I don't even flinch anymore when I get wounded."
"They wanted me to learn how to not remorse over those I killed too, but... I couldn't do it. I can't even cry anymore after they got threw with me." He whispered the last, looking down and closing his eyes a moment. "I trained for days straight sometimes, without sleep or food, they said it would increase my stamina--I can survive longer if I get trapped somewhere, but it was so hard..." |
Arturo looked over the boy's face and sighed. "It's not fair what they do to people...with...powers," he murmured. He would have spoken about the fates of children who were picked from the kingdom to serve the king. But the talk was depressing and he would much rather do other things. "Can you handle drinks?" |
Theodore let his shirt slide down his body again and he smiled at the new subject, giving a nod. "Yep." He replied easily--he seemed like he was the same boy--perhaps a bit more matured but he had a carefree air to him still, despite all he'd been through and he still felt remorse for things he did, though thankfully, the boy had managed to let go of Tobias' death.
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Arturo led the way to the pub. He wanted to just talk and relax. He had grown a fond taste for a few drinks and companies of one of the servers. "Did you get to do any traveling that you wanted to?" |
"I suppose." Theodore chuckled, walking with him to the pub so they could sit down and drink. "The villages are all over, and I traveled between numerous ones for different types of training. I'm still hoping to travel more though. I didn't really get to experience anything outside of the training."
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Arturo nodded. "Since the lands are more peaceful, I'm free to travel." He smiled as he had a seat at his usual spot in the pub. Waving the server over, he placed his order. "The Oracles haven't spoken of anything as of late. It's such a relief. There's nothing but trouble when they do though." |
"Really? Well, would you like to travel with me?" Theodore offered, ordering the same as the water mage. He rather hoped so, traveling alone wouldn't be near as fun as having a companion like him around.
"Are there new mages now?" |
"That sounds like a good idea. We could watch each other's backs. And you know I don't seem to have that many lives left," Arturo said, teasing. He was grateful for his good fortunes for surviving so many times. Despite all of the pain he had endured, he was still able to laugh it off. He nodded. "They've replaced the positions we lost. You might have seen them...before you left?" |
"Well, you shouldn't be losin anymore of those lives any time soon." He replied with a chuckle, watching Arturo a moment. "Yes, I think I did the day I left. Which reminds me... Danielle's boy, Danny? Do you know who the father is?" He hadn't felt it right to ask Danielle since she hadn't told him--though he didn't feel going behind her to ask was any better, his curiousity was perhaps getting the better of him.
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