Welcome to Gaia! ::

Wolframite had managed to lead Zinkenite in a swaying walk down up from the walk where he had been drinking with the General King into the ruins of the town. Very few people had ever bothered making a home here as some either stayed in the already established bunker-like buildings or had homes on the surface. As half-youma, Laven and Wolframite could not stay for any long time safely above and they had long since wanted a place they could call home. It took time, money, and manpower, along with a lot of help from the Negaverse to get supplise and skilled labor. But in the end, they had a home. And through those years, it had been painted, decorated, lived in, and upgraded. Among the crumbling ruins of old homes, the house looked like a home ignored by a tornado, untouched and pristine.

The warm glow of light from the generator in the back gave a soft warmth that stood out in the purplish glow of the stormy sky above and the even darker spires around.

Opening the door, Wolframite helped Zink in with a encouraging push before calling out. "LLlllaaaaavvvveeeeeennnnnnnnnn." He sang out, his mood greatly improved by the heavy dosage of alcohol now running full force through his system.

Tail wagging, he shut the door and locked it, despite there being no one around before tossing the house keyes in the little hook by the door.

The place was lived in and clean. A kitchen, dinning room, and a living room could be seen. In various places, soft fur throws were spotted here and there of various animals.

"We can - we can ask Laven if she wants food too." He whispered to Zink before walking past the entryway into the home proper to seek out his partner. "Laaavvveeeennnn." He sang out like someone playing Hide and Seek.

Lavendulan stirred reluctantly at the sound of Wolframite’s voice calling out to her from downstairs, wishing that, if he were home, he would have just come upstairs and lie down next to her quietly.

The last few days have been difficult. Sleep constantly evaded her; rolling over hurt, as did nearly every attempt to find a comfortable position to lie down in. Yes, there was medicine she could take, but as a half-youma, it often didn’t work as intended or wore off far quicker than if she were simply a human.

But before she could grab his pillow to cover her ear and block the sounds, she realized that Wolframite hadn’t come home alone, that there was a second aura downstairs with him.

“Oh god, what did you do…” she groaned, immediately assuming that he’d gotten himself into some sort of trouble that required a Sovereign to escort him home.

With a sigh, she carefully pushed the blankets aside and sat up, wincing as the movement pulled at her healing ribs. To think… This is only a fraction of what he must have felt after getting shot while protecting Tinaksite. Getting her legs over the side of the bed was easier said than done, and it took a moment before she felt awake enough to finally stand up without falling.

The trip downstairs was slow and careful, one hand occasionally finding the railing for support.

She stopped a few steps from the bottom, clad in teal pajama pants with a paisley print and a white tank top, simply observing the two for a moment.

Wolframite was near Zinkenite, tail wagging behind him so enthusiastically that it was almost comical. Either he was exceptionally happy to finally have company over, or they’d been out drinking, which was the more likely case. Though she had to wonder if the General King had a remarkably high tolerance for alcohol or had just somehow managed to pace himself better than Wolframite had.

The Sovereign looked deceptively dignified standing there, while Wolframite looked like he was one particularly enthusiastic tail wag away from knocking something over. Lavendulan smirked at the thought and held her breath to keep from laughing.

“You look like you’ve had an eventful evening.” She commented as she descended the last few steps and approached her partner.

"Does... his tail always do that?" Zinkenite said, slightly slurring his words as he pointed to the windmilling tail of absolute glory.
He was unmasked to boot, so his smile of delight was utterly unhidden.

"I'm so... You're so good together. I'm... So happy for you both. I'm... s. Sorry about the ribs." he waved a hand at Laven and shook his head with a slightly bemused smile.
"I think... that's why I got bitten." He waved his arm, which was still probably bleeding.
"We got...drunk." He nodded, like it wasn't absolutely obvious that they were quite hammered. He might hold his liquor a hair better than Wolframite, but he was smashed, and delighted by the very lighting in the house.

"... Meri's gonna be, um..." He wasn't sure.
"...Something." He nodded. She was too kind to be truly mad, but she would be in her rights to tease him for tomorrow's hangover to be certain.

"General King blood would be a statement piece." He joked, smiling as she nipped against his neck.

"If I leave a mark, then they're part of mine." He whispered into her ear before pulling his head back to speak a little more naturally. "But I think someone's already got their teeth sunk in 'em." He said with a grin over at Zink.

"What do you want to eat? I'll feed you the world on a pla-ter." He fumbled through the words as he tilted his head as she tugged his hair. The tail wagging slowed as he watched her.

"Look. He's sorry." He stuck out his tongue at Zink.

"Booooooooo. Don't be sorry for a good fight."

Laven felt her composure finally begin to crack as Wolframite seemed to taunt the Sovereign, going as far as sticking his tongue out at him, only for Zinkenite to slip into what sounded like a sudden existential crisis about who he belonged to.

She pressed her lips together, drawing in a breath through her nose in a desperate attempt to keep her laughter contained, but the effort only made her shoulders tremble and tears gather at the corners of her eyes.

Carefully removing herself from Wolframite, she lowered herself onto the stairs. The movement was met with instant regret as it pulled at her side. But she was genuinely worried that she’d end up folded over in half from laughing if she didn’t sit down.

A short giggle escaped her when she tried to speak. She paused, waiting for the ache in her ribs to settle before attempting it again. “Heh… I, um… I have no preference for food,” she finally replied. “Burgers, wings… whatever sounds good to you. I’m not picky.” Laven knew Wolfy’s choice would lean towards meat and while they did have food here in the kitchen, she didn’t trust either of them near a knife or stovetop if it could be helped.

Her gaze shifted toward Zinkenite again, amusement still tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Although she was glad to hear it, he certainly had a strange way of showing he was proud of the way she had fought in their spar. Perhaps next time he should try not glaring down at her so harshly when getting up was no longer an option. At least if she’d known then what she knew now, she wouldn’t have spent the last several days trying to figure out how best to avoid accidentally running into him in the castle.

“Only his mark means you’re claimed.” Laven leaned her head to the left and tapped the ring of slightly lighter blue scales on her right shoulder. Seven years later, and the subtle difference was still there if only you knew what to look for.

“Don’t worry, if the scratches I gave you left any scar, it doesn’t mean you’re mine too. If I actually wanted to claim someone, I think you’d know the difference.”

"You're a comfy spot on the couch," Zinkenite muttered and grinned at his own joke as he scrolled through the food options and finally chose a burger and an order of loaded fries to share. He seldom ordered this sort of thing despite enjoying it thoroughly because he always felt guilty about not finishing.

"What, even -are- knights?" Zinkenite added and swayed on his feet. "Is it just... a perversion of what we are? I remember before there were knights, but now they're everywhere, and they talk about 'the code' and...and...HMMM...."

He nodded decisively.

"HMMM..." He repeated, as if that summed everything up.
"I'm not saying we don't have, uh, Generals like that too, just leaving their recruits. We're... busy and that sort of thing. BUT, but... order is so disorganized!"