Peace and Quiet

"Hm?" Aolani replied groggily. "Yes, I'm awake." The angel gave a whisper of a chuckle. "Just very tired, is all. There was a lot of work to be done, and I spent most of it scrubbing the floors." She arched her back and stretched, her joints popping. It felt good, being able to stretch out and align herself, physically at least.

"It's why I was late today..." she trailed off, running her fingers, rubbed raw and red from the day's work, through her hair. "I do apologize for my lateness. It's been rough at the temple, with the oracle deaths." The angel sighed and rubbed her temples before moving to pinch the bridge of her nose. "It's been very busy at the temple lately, and I haven't even been able to tend to the oracles because of it. They must be overwhelmed. Especially Vaerath's oracle, the poor girl."

She shifted in the grass, bringing her legs to the side as she leaned closer to the stranger, resting on her hand for balance. "I don't know why I'm even telling you this," she laughed tiredly, at least somewhat more vibrant than she had been when she first arrived at the garden. "I know nothing about you, except that you're neither angel or demon."

Ahh the oracles' deaths. So this girl had been involved with the shrines where the oracles normally stayed and the gods preferred to be worshipped. It made a bit more sense now, but then there was the fact that she was an angel, well part angel, not a demon. Why would she have been at the shrine of Vaerath rather than at the one for Hailea? It wasn't often that the two would overlap, especially with the current war set between the two species. It was a shame for him sometimes, seeing two of his prey fight with each other. Half the time he wished they wouldn't so he could take care of them himself rather than the two battle it out, but unfortunately that was not the case.

So if the girl was associated with the shrines, which ones did she go to? As a hybrid, angel and dragon were on the table. She was in angel lands, but did that mean she typically travelled to her dragon homelands to tend to their oracles? Did she even go to the angel's or not? All these questions started to buzz in the tarsian's mind as he slowly started to see the girl for more than a simple sitting companion. She was different than a typical angel, or hybrid. There was something different that did not fully make sense to him.

A small chuckle rose from the male. She could sense he wasn't really either of the two souls. No, he was something else entirely even if his scent was a mixture of the three souls he harbored. At least she was perceptive, he'd give her that. "An angel who tends to the demon god's shrine. How interesting," he finally said as he looked to his new companion, wondering at what point she'd pass out. He gave her maybe half an hour tops. "You know nothing of me, yet you invited a stranger back to meet you the following day. I'm neither angel or demon, but I know you're both angel and dragon. So how does that work if you tend to shrines?"

She had peaked his interest. It was an odd concept though that he had to talk more. Usually his small cuffs and growls were enough to communicate, but she wasn't one of his own. No, these species required actual words.

It seemed her companion was more chatty today. Aolani smiled warmly at him, enjoying the sound of his voice. Rough and deep, it was nice to listen to, so unlike many of the angels she was surrounded by. And not only was he chatty, he was curious about her lineage and how she managed the temples.

Giving a chuckle of her own, the angel answered, "You must be assuming that I tend to one of the dragon shrines. In that, you'd be mistaken. I'm the head priestess of the temple of Haliea, and the head priestess at the temple of Vaerath." Her chest swelled with pride, and Aolani touched the pear, which glittered in muted colors of the rainbow, on her chest. "My mother married a dragon, you see. She was a general, and my brother...m-my brother--" her breath caught in her throat. It was always difficult to think of Pherae. Aolani waved a hand and took a breath, collecting herself.

"I serve at both temples in hopes of mending the bridge between the two gods and ending the war. To one such as you, it may seem a foolish venture, but to me, it's a cause worth dedicating my life to..." She smiled to herself, proud of her work, however thankless it was.

"Now you, my mysterious friend..." she teased with a slight purr, "If we're strangers and know nothing of each other, why did you come back to meet me?"

Wrath listened to the girl as she explained her situation. How interesting to see an angel serve not only the angels' goddess, but the demons' god as well. True, they were from the same gods but with the way the two races had been feuding, it seemed like they would never have one choose the other god or goddess, much less a priestess who chose both. How weird these creatures seemed to be. One second they'd be feuding and the next they were getting along and mating. Why did he even bother to learn more about these things? 

The male looked to the girl question as she seemed to hold up at the mention of a relative. Something had happened there, but she didn't seem to be in the 'sharing' mood for that kind of story anymore. Instead, it was back to the temples and angel vs. demon thing. An angel who wanted to bridge the two races together... The very idea had made the tarsian give a scoff as he turned away a bit. "Foolish is an understatement." He'd seen them for generations. There would be no 'building bridges' anytime soon.

But the angel had brought up a good point. Why had he come back to see her? He had no reason to other than to fill his day with something, but it was still not a good enough reason. Wrath looked up towards the sky, almost tempted to just give her another sound in reply. He almost did, but she was trying to talk to him. "It wasn't like you gave much of a choice," he commented. "Besides, who said I ever left?"

"There's always a choice," Aolani replied cooly in response to him. She chose to dismiss his comment about how her work--her ambition--was foolish. War was more foolish. Both sides were losing; neither could best the other, and both sides suffered. Especially the citizens...

Now was not the time to dwell on such things.

A smile graced her features as Aolani continued her previous line of thought, "You could have not shown up, and I would have gone about business as usual. I didn't say you had to come, that was a choice you made on your own." The playful smile reached her eyes, which seemed to shine even in the low light of the evening. She was glad the man had come back, though. His company was nice, even if he was a gruff...whatever he was.

"Though honestly, I do hope you left. It'd be pretty sad if you just sat here and waited for me all day? Though a tiny part of me is flattered," the woman laughed, her eyes twinkling at the corners as she closed them briefly in her amusement.

Her laughter faded away, carried into the silent night air until all that remained was the babbling sound of water and the singing of crickets around them. She let herself breathe and just enjoy being, already feeling much lighter than she had upon arriving.

"If you did stay here, aren't you hungry? You'd be more than welcome to join me for a meal. I should probably eat something, myself. It was a long day..." She stretched again, arms raised above her head as she carried the stretch through het entire body. "It wouldn't be any trouble."

Wrath gave a short tsk sound, not really wanting to have made an active decision. If he came to meet her it was a choice, if he didn't it was a choice. Couldn't he have just done something without it having to be a conscious decision? The outcome was that he appeared, but whether the male had chosen to appear willingly or not, he would not tell her. The male listened to the other female for a little, but his mind tuned her out in due time. She always seemed so... upbeat. Was this a trait from her angelic side, or was it just because it was her natural personality? How could a creature seem so happy, so cheerful all the time despite the hardships she has gone through? Not only with her people, but being at both shrines for demons and angels could not be easy...

Soon enough, he found himself listening once more to her words. Once more, another swift scoff emerged from the male. Flattered she said. It seemed to have made the woman happy, so he gave no comment on the matter once more. He was there and that was what seemed to matter. Hungry, not hungry, what this all they were going to talk about? Well, her. She was the one who did all the talking between the two and it was plenty.

"Don't you have some meditating or something to do?" He commented, consciously avoiding accepting a meal with her. Maybe if he avoided the topic, she wouldn't ask again. Why would she invite a stranger to share a meal anyway? Why invite him to appear with her once more, alone? His eyes trailed over to the female who now had her arms above her head. She was odd for sure... Definitely different from most he had met of her species. How could a female be so open with a male she knew almost nothing about? A male who he knew she could sense that he wasn't.. something she was familiar with. Most would run but her... She stayed and chatted while inviting him to dinner.

How odd.

My my, someone's a little cranky, she thought with a thin smile. But his gruffness was simply part of him, it seemed. Maybe to keep others away? If that was the case, she wanted to figure out why. There was something so odd about him; something that drew her in. It was fun, a refreshing twist to her daily life. Everyone she usually dealt with was so kind, so mellow. So afraid. It was nice to be round someone who held no qualms about speaking their mind.

Aolani intended to have fun with this. She wasn't ready to let excitement slip away from her.

Leaning in closer to the man, her weight propped on one hand, the angel smiled teasingly and tutted at the man. "That's not an answer to my question, and you know it." Her eyes were twinkling as she continued, "I expect a proper answer this time, alright?" She leaned closer again, looking up earnestly into the dark eyes of this strange man with hair as wild as his disposition.

"Would you like to join me for dinner?"

She was right. It wasn’t an answer to her question, but that was the point. He didn’t want to answer it and frankly, he’d rather her shut her mouth for once. Still, the girl seemed to continue to talk like it was the only thing she knew how to do. So much for this meditation crap.

It seemed as the more he let her speak, the closer the girl would get to him. It was almost unnerving. If this kept up, she’d be in his lap doing gods knows what. Was she even that kind of woman? Reluctantly, the male have another tsk before looking back at the partial angel. “If keep asking, then fine. I’ll join you for dinner.”

The words barely left his mouth before regret washed over him. Why the hell did he agree to go eat dinner with her? It wasn’t like he knew this girl nor she knew him. But the creature had already accepted the invitation. What could go wrong?

"You know," Aolani teased as she rose to her feet, brushing herself off as she continued, "No is a perfectly valid answer, too. But since you've said yes, please follow me." The angel gave a bell-like chuckle as she turned on her heels to walk, gesturing for the man to follow. No doubt he was irritated with her persistence, but that was nothing a meal couldn't fix.

-x-x-x-

The walk to the temple was peaceful and still. Aolani made no conversation as the darkness of night grew more intense, swallowing the world in deep blues as the stars grew brighter. In the distance the shrine appeared, an observatory of gleaming white stone under the moonlight. The glass dome of its vaulted ceiling glittered in the moonlight, reflecting the stars above. As Aolani drew nearer, attendants opened the golden doors for her, which were inlaid with engravings of the sun, moon and stars.

"Lady Aolani," said one of the attendants as they bowed in greeting.

She bowed her head back as she continued through the doors into the main body of the temple. Her body was perfectly reflected in the deep blue floors, likely the one she had helped to polish earlier that day. The angel paused before the altar and bowed before turning to walk down one of the many hallways branching off from the observatory. Her quarters were in the back, likely to give her some privacy as head priestess. Her door was more ornate than the rest, a gleaming platinum rather than gold, engraved with an image of Haliea creating angels, and the subsequent fall of their demon brethren.

Aolani opened the door with a flick of her wrist, and gestured for her companion to enter. "Please make yourself at home. I'll go request to have food brought in." She gave a shallow bow as she departed down the hall once again.

The woman's room was pale blue, like a new winter's sky, and consisted of a sitting room, with her chamber likely beyond the closed door at the other end of the room. The furnishings were comfortable and well made, if not a little modest. Books were lined neatly on shelves, many of which appeared to be well read. The most jarring pieces of the room were on either side of the grand fireplace. A large shield, nearly the size of Aolani herself, sat to the right, while to the left sat her poleaxe. The silver shield had seen use, with minor dents and scratches, but was obviously well cared for. Engraved with her family crest, it was obvious that this was one of the woman's most cherished possessions.

Slowly behind the elegant walk of the hybrid before him did the oddly large man follow behind with little sound. Even his footprints fell silent to the ground as if he were not walking. It was an odd to say the least given the sheer size of the man, but that's what years of training could do. He was grateful for the silence. The gods knew this creature could talk off the ear of any unfortunate soul, but luckily this journey remained blissfully quiet. Each step was mindless as he followed his new dinner host, curious as to how she would explain the rather odd company, but if she was who she said she was then it wouldn't be much trouble.

It wasn't long before the glistening temple appeared before them. It had been years since he was last here. There was little reason for his kind to interfere in the affairs of religious figures, but on occasion it was necessary. Would there be anyone who recognized him here? It had been long ago, but it wasn't too far that anyone who resided here would have not been around. He shrugged off the idea as an attendant called out to Aolani. Wrath watched in silence as the priestess went through her daily motions of her job. His eyes looked to the attendant who was quick to avoid locking eyes with the guest. It was a wise move. The tarsian paid no homage to the goddess as his companion had. Why would he when he didn't recognize this goddess as his? Instead of fussing, he simply followed Aolani's lead back to her room.

Black scala eyes scanned the room, taking in what an angel priestess's quarters would appear. It didn't disappoint him one bit as he looked to the pale blue walls and overall 'angelic' feel. It made him almost sick. He glanced to the shield, taking note of its unusual size. How odd of a girl of her stature to have an item probably larger than herself. Could she even carry it? The male took a few strides towards the shield, making no sounds as usual. His eyes fixated on the way the silver shined, the minor imperfections as if it had been nicked more in moving over the years rather than battle. The large chest did stand out to him though. It wasn't everyday to see one of these, but which family did it belong to again?

"...I'm pretty sure this is larger than yourself," he commented as he pried his eyes away from the shield and to the angel. "You don't take it out much do you?"