ORIGIN - bit of a fixer upper

In the span between waking up from hibernation and now, not much has happened. Attikias has yet to reach out to the Forge, nor has he even visited the Palace, but he's kept his doors open for visitors all the while.

With wood from Pegasus and clay from the dug out flooring, their house stands notable in the field it sits in. The fringes of the space are lined with small wooden posts- a rudimentary fence system, marking out beds and gardens. Organized life has bloomed around within the land; it'd taken some trimming to organize the field of herbs and vegetables Attikias has growing, and much of it is pruned back to wait for it to regrow. Wildflowers sit at the edges of the stone well and house and give it color to combat the dull brown and gold of logs and thatch.

It's an impressive door on the front. It'd look more at home on a barn, complete with a track to help it slide across instead of swinging into the massive space. Of course, a lot of oil has gone to keeping the wheels working, but it's a small marvel for the relatively primitive Attikias to have made. It's just wheels, though! It's better than any doorhinge he could imagine; the door would surely be too heavy for it.

Besides, he needs the space for the rest of his home. It's big enough to hold a horse with extra space, with a packed down floor and a table and seats in the center. Urns and bowl are strewn about the place for various foods and keepsakes, a clay statue sits in progress on the table itself, herbs hang to dry in mud-reinforced windows. Signs of life are evident for how long the house has gathered dust in Attikias's absence. Though, it's messy; the fireplace for cooking in the corner stands uncleaned, and the pile of pelts raised on a large swath of wood are tussled, with a few needing washing from buildup over the years.

He's got a lot ahead of him. Attikias himself is busy properly tying a rope between the house and a line, all to hang up a few of the pelts so he can shake them loose of dirt and grime. He's topless, unbothered, immersed in his task as he jostles the deer pelt before him.

It's an average day for Attikias as he reacclimates to being alive.

@Thalia

Thalia was arriving quite by chance. That is to say, she was coming here deliberately, but in the idle sort of "I wonder if anybody's home" sort of way rather than a planned visit. That was her way: she wandered, mostly, spending her days idle in what she viewed as a mostly paradisical sort of existence, singing or eating or drinking or sleeping or... whatever caught her fancy. She only really left Eridanus and Orion when she was bored, or missed her family, and both were sort of ticking at her now.

As she'd travelled, she'd kept her eyes out for herbs and flowers, and those that were particularly pretty--or smelled good--she'd dug up with roots intact. By the time she arrived at the massive, barn-like door, she had a sort of big, bushy, living bouquet of plants that were useful, pretty and just kinda 'went together.' Her eyes darted over all the fresh work, and a faint sense of relief dawned in her--He's awake, then. Cool.

"Yo!" she called out, pacing on careful hooves to the door, lifting her arm to thud a few friendly knocks. "Anybody home? -Dad? You awake in there?"

She didn't want to just barge in, even though she almost had without thinking, but her lopsided grin as she leaned on the door was hopeful. Attikias had been sleeping for so damn long; it'd be good to actually see him again.

@Attikias

Thalia is one of his... louder children. That's not bad at all, especially as he's not likely to be scared by her sudden appearance, as used to it as he is. He didn't have the chance to see her first— her knocking was as loud as her voice, and Attikias finished the knot on the pole a little faster the moment he heard it.

"Around here!" Stepping away, Attikias hurried to round the house, hand up and waving. "I was just setting up a drying line— are those flowers?" His brows shot up as he leaned in, head tilting this way and that to look at the full breadth of the bouquet. "You know you can go in whenever. It's your home too, Thalia. I'm never too busy for you."

Case in point as Attikias reached around her to slide open the door. "Bit of a mess, sorry. Need to replace some of the lights too." He pointed up towards the dim baubled lighting hanging from the rafters. It'd been this way for a while, and while it worked, he could always use a little more. Perhaps a string that he could more easily put up and take down? It's a project for another day. "But—! Not as bad as it was when I first woke up. Good thing you weren't here then." His laugh was free, happy, especially as Thalia was around.

"Here, c'mere." He waved her closer as he picked out a somewhat wider jug, looking for something that the sheer bush of a bouquet could fit in. It goes to the table and gestured at. "For the flowers? They're lovely, maybe we could replant them after they get some water." Said water from a second pitcher he's picked up and set next to the first jug. "In the meantime, how have you been? I'm sure it's been a while, what've you been up to? Anything new?"

Perfectly content, Attikias didn't hide his pleasure, letting his tail flick happily as he reached out one hand for a hug. "Missed you."

@Thalia

Her grin was bright and open; her laugh hearty and genuine. "My house? Man, I appreciate the thought, Dad, so thanks," she said, glancing up and around as she stepped in, "but I've hardly been here since... well, since it was built!" Then she looked around, trying to peg the 'mess' that Attikias had mentioned.

Back in Eridanus, they'd had that... camp. It was still there--she still lived there, a lot of the time, using what had been left behind or tweaking it to be more comfortable. But it'd always been a 'mess.' Tents and logs strewn about, a fire pit, maybe hanging herbs and skins here and there. "A mess? If you say so," and there was, again, humor in it. "You need any help with any of this? I could help string some lights or whatever? Not that I can make 'em glow but I'm an extra pair of hands. You just recently wake up, then?" she added, handing over the cluster of herbs and flowers as Attikias reached for it. "Guess my timing was good."

An easygoing grin, again, and she'd returned his hug--strong, unreserved and happy.

"It's good to see you, Dad. Oh... The herbs--the flowers, and shit. Stuff," she corrected idly, "I kept the roots so you can. It's the kind of things Vivilene grows so maybe some of it's useful?" A shrug. She'd probably misidentified some, but hey; she didn't know how often Attikias left Cepheus, so maybe some Eridanus plants a a 'refresher' to his supplies would help. Then again, he had a whole-ass garden, didn't he-?

"And nothing, really," she went on, pacing through the house, brushing fingers across a dusty bit of wood in absent thought. "The Seven're doing okay. They have a ton more family," she added, thinking of the clusterfuck of dragon hybrids and the lion-grub that had just sort of... turned up. There were others, too, like the dog hybrid, and... well, there were a lot. "So I've been hanging out there, but... Y'know it's funny you ask that. What I've been up to." She offered her father a squint. "I saw Vivilene awhile back--at the Deathmatch? I remember thinking how she's doing so much, and I realized I'm not, and I'd planned to do something but... I feel like I'm still waiting to find out what that is. Stupid, I guess," she added.

But it was blurted with embarrassment. He'd asked what she'd been up to, and to say "absolutely jack shit; getting drunk and sleeping it off in trees" was a horrifying thought.

She tried to turn it into humor, though, flashing him a grin again. "What about you-? Aside from sleeping, anyway--and are you okay? Did anything happen, or did you just sleep?" Faint concern edged in at this last. She hadn't actually known whether Attikias had taken injury--or just drifted off into a chrysalis sleep again.

@Attikias

Alright, so maybe it wasn't that bad of a mess, but it felt like it to Attikias after not particularly cleaning up in depth just yet. "I've been awake about... a week or two? We can save lights for when everything else's done." That amount of time compared to how long he was sleeping is probably minuscule to her. Definitely not enough time to clean. The most he'd done was dust off and make sure nothing's broken or rotten or anything else.

So yeah, a mess to him! At the very least, he could be a little better about being a role model— ... until he snorted at Thalia correcting her language. Lips twist into a smile as he broke away from the hug and turned his gaze from herbs to her. No way did he care about her cussing then; she was an adult (or, close enough in his eyes) and it's not like it'd do anything to say 'shit' or 'fuck'. They're good words. Still, the correction is endearing, and he nodded along when she mentioned roots and Vivilene.

"I'll replant them out front. I need to clear out a bunch of old plants anyway; it's so overgrown." Eyes went closed for a brief moment as he shook his head in silent self-beration. Yes, others had come around, but how could he have let it get that bad..! Nevermind that he wasn't even around to maintain it, but he could joke to the tune of it anyway.

It'd been a while since he'd heard of the Seven. While he did listen, did show interest, his gaze trailed her fingers through the dust— there's an internal cringe at that. More cleaning. He'd live. He'd do it later, when he and Thalia were done catching up, no matter how much there was to catch up about. Hanging out with the Seven sounded good. He should see them sometime.

He frowned lightly to her easy dismissal.

Brows raised to combat the frown the moment he caught it; no need to look frustrated at her. "Yeah, I'm fine. It was just... sleep. I'm awake now, but I hate missing out time like that. Leaving you in the dark. It's shit." The smile he gave her in poking fun was brief, chased down by that same frown coming back around. "... I mean, I'm doing less than you are. Don't feel bad. I know there seems like you need to do something, but— ... what about your music? That's something. I have my figures, sculpting, that's something. Deathmatch was..."

His jaw worked as he brought his knuckles to lips in thought. "You're not gonna know what you want to do if you force it. You kind of won't know if you don't go looking for it, though. But— ... sometimes, I think you just kind of... realize it's already what you've been doing? Making music and just— ..." His attention moved between the herbs and Thalia. She was thoughtful, thought so much of her family; being alive was one of the greatest things she could do, after all, so why should she feel bad about that?

And so, with that smile returning, Attikias leaned onto the back of a chair and crossed his arms on it. "Thalia, I think you just... you're one of the greatest people I know. You don't have to do much to make people smile, make me smile! Seriously, you're one of the best people to hang around, and I'm so proud of you, even if it's just 'whatever' to you. I'm glad I got to raise you, okay? Don't worry about being something when you're already something to me. Not to sound— ... I mean what I'm saying. I think other people would agree. I like having you around."

"I mean— if you want things to do, I could always force you to do stuff. Not that I'd force you, but— you get it." A huff of a laugh fell from him as he straightened back up, perched his hands on the chair instead. "I thought I'd be someone completely different when I was younger. Y'know, going out to be some... hero of the caves, going to take down the bad guys, but I think I'm... happy, living like this? Being able to keep a home ready for people like you to come home to. And, y'know, it's not like any impressive magic or massive gardens or keeping everyone safe, but it's keeping some people safe. That's purpose enough. Making people happy's purpose enough."

Out stretched one hand, palm up for Thalia to take. "Doing something can just be... being alive. That's something enough to me."

@Thalia

Thalia leaned back against the wall, mostly just staying out of the way in case her father wanted to continue his cleaning with her there. Arms crossed over her chest, antlered head nodding along with lips thinned in sympathy as he mentioned his dislike of missing out on time. But his words transformed into... something else, entirely: the focus of his brief monologue shifting from he to her, and in a way that left her a little speechless. It was... comforting. Reassuring. It made any unease she'd felt flood away with a sense of acceptance she hadn't realized she'd been looking for, and now a smile shifted her face from stoic to bright. His purposedly-placed 'shit' had her laughing, too.

She was about to answer, but he went on--oh, he's not done?--and oh, it was praise of her. Unwarranted, she thought, but immeasurably kind nonetheless, and the smile turned into a grin as she listened, a darker violet blush touching her cheeks.

It took her a moment to find her words, after he was finished--and rather than speak straightaway she went not to take his hand, but to simply hug him again, a wordless thanks. But she had to add words, of course, or she wasn't a 'bard' at all--what kind of awful storyteller and singer couldn't find her words-?

"Well, shit, Dad," she began, with deliberate humor, "I didn't come down here for a pep talk but it sure looks like I got one. Best one I've ever heard, and I'm meant to be good with words! You ever considered being a singer-?" and her words, though full of light and laughter, were genuine. "I guess we've got that artist thing in our veins, or something. But-..." She sobered a little, grin sliding back to smile. "...Thanks. That means a lot to me. It's, uhh-" (one embarrassed laugh later, with a hand coming up to awkwardly scratch at the base of an antler) "--I hardly know how to answer! But... yeah. Thanks. I barely know what to say to that, y'know? I like having you around too?" she ventured, with another grinning laugh--and here came the inevitable half-joke: "And hey, you know, there's still time to go out and be a hero. You could, I dunno," her gesture and playful smile showed clearly enough that she wasn't serious. "Pick up a sword, head out on weekends to slay some monsters, come back and make tea and garden for the rest of the week. Maybe you could get a secret costume; nobody'd ever know it was you."

Cave superheroes: invented. But she put up her hands to show that she was joking, in case the self-deprecating grin on her face wasn't enough indication. "I see what you mean, though, the-... This," and one arm rose farther, gesturing around the dusty home, "-It's nice. There's... I guess if you look at it another way, there's a lotta people out there fighting every day, those kinds of... violent lives where they think they're changing things but nothing really changes. But you've got something different? You've made something different, for your family," she corrected, squinting. Her bard-like mind was onto something now: a more abstract concept, a pretty feeling rather than anything concrete, and she pursued it. "Not everyone has a home--not a house but a place that feels like home, safe, quiet, someplace they can come back to, with family. Someplace they can be accepted and told that 'hey, you can just hang out, and that's all good,'" she added, flashing him another grin.

"So-... thanks for that. And, uh." She cleared her throat with another awkward, apologetic grin. "Since this got way more serious than I intended. Is there any tea or anything? Maybe we can talk about the weather."

Her smirk scrunched up her nose, and flashed her teeth, silver eyes full of humor.

@Attikias

Conversation came and went--a little deep, at times. But that was the risk of family reunions, it seemed.

Eventually she turned the conversation toward something a little lighter: tea.

"Right--this is getting outta hand. How about we make some of that tea you keep around?" she suggested, with a grin. Lighter, less messy--just a nice hot cup of herbal tea.

(sorted this fade to black on discord! Exit)