Jaska dug into the food hungrily, though he glanced up to Kailyn who only seemed to be stabbing his food rather than eating it. When Kailyn asked if he could leave, Jaska glanced up again, flicking his eyes between Barek and Kailyn as they spoke. When Barek said it was okay, he looked a bit disappointed, but didn't say anything.
------------------

Z'tan listened to Zebyvyll, not seeming too surprised by her confession, though his brows rose a bit as he realized who her 'master' was. "Hmm." His silvery eyes finally flickered in her general direction, You won't have to do that. He said finally, I would stop her as it got to that point... but for now she seems to have stabilized. He told her after a moment, That is the point of Imorvir. Whether or not you like him, he in most cases is able to balance her out, or at the very least distract her. He turned, feeling at the bedside table for the tie to his hair.

"Thank you," Narya smiled, leaning her weight into Imorvir's chest. She shifted her head back onto his shoulder. By the look on her face, if she had been able to purr, she would have been.

Kailyn briefly glanced over at Jaska before finishing off his salad and getting up. "I'll be back before dark." He said as he quickly walked out the door. Algeah flew out after him, clearly very antsy to get out and fly.

Barek shrugged, obviously not phased much by the boy's eagerness to leave. He didn't blame him. He wanted to go too...but he was a father and now was responsible to be one. "Anything you want to do?" He asked over a bite of his sandwich.
---
Zebyvyll growled slightly at his remark. "I like Imorvir." She said. "It's Narya I don't like. If I weren't bond...she'd be gone." She stated as she quickly reached over him and grabbed his tie. Handing it to him, she snorted in irritation and rubbed her face. "My master never gave me any details, just told me what to do. But I don't think Narya deserves the chances and the mercy she's been given." Her hand moved from her face to her long colorful hair. Just talking about it made her angry and upset. "She's blinded everyone into submission."

Her red eyes flickered away as she became quiet. She didn't get these men...all willing to give this stupid evil woman second chances, and from what she could gather, more than just one second chance...multiple. After a moment she turned her eyes back to Z'tan. "If you want to know...the last time I saw him...he looked healthy and sounded normal."

Imorvir smiled. "Tell me that this child will be different." He whispered. "Tell me she's not just a number for you. I know you've had many children...just tell me that she's worth more." He whispered. But in his mind he was desperate and pleading.

Jaska kept eating after Kailyn left, though his shoulders slumped a bit. He was pretty sure Kailyn was mad at him, or at least upset. Which, of course made him uneasy and upset.

He looked up when Barek asked him a question, shrugging as he swallowed some lettuce. "I dunno," He said uncertainly.
-------

Z'tan listened to Zebyvyll talk. He smiled a bit at the end, Thank you... He said, tying his ragged hair back. He glanced up again, Not all of us our blind to this. I am just more... tolerant of it. Narya's mother was much the same and the one who sent you here... it is hard to let go of the ones we love, sometimes. He finished softly, and shifted his legs off the bed.

He was taking it slowly, letting his body adjust to movement again. He still felt sluggish, probably a side effect of the serpent's venom, or maybe the blood loss. He didn't want to stand up only to end up back in the bed again.

Narya's orange eyes slitted open at his words. She studied his expression, before speaking, "She's yours, not just some random consort's," She said grudgingly after a moment.

Barek shrugged as well as he finished his food. "Well. If you don't think of anything I'll just go read." He said not as a threat but as a mere statement. He wasn't used to entertaining kids, nor was he creative. The two didn't really make for a good amusement factor when taking care of a child.
---
"But if you let go...you let go of the hope too." She said quietly, shifting her weight on the bed. "I mean...I don't know much about love...but I'd think that maybe, even if it hurts sometimes, having the memories and that little bit of hope to get it back...maybe it's better than letting go. At least you have something to fight for. When he spoke to me about Narya he sounded neutral, but I can read people easily, it's what I was made to do. And while he sounded a bit lost and confused...I could sense that passion." She looked up from her lap and laughed a little bit nervously.

"Sorry...these kind of things just get me hyped up a little. Maybe cause I never had it personally...so I think I should fight for others who have those things."

Imorvir frowned. "That doesn't sate me." he whispered. "Narya, this child is a girl and she will be ours...we'll...be around for her." He whispered gently. "Just tell me you care for her as much as I do right now." He stroked her tummy softly.

Jaska slid off the chair, once he finished, grabbing his plates off the table. He didn't seem to mind that Barek would just go read is he didn't come up with anything. the last year or so, Jaska had gotten used to having to entertain myself, but as he put his plates on the counter, he remembered something. He looked over at Barek.
"You never finished your story."
-----

Don't be sorry, Z'tan laughed when Zeb apologized, And he is all of those things you said he is but... if he is waiting to return when the girl he loved resurfaces... he may as well wait forever. Narya is not dead -not yet, anyways- but she is changed. Neither of them can go back to what was. They cling to their pasts, and it is killing them, and their chances of ever finding peace. The older drow said, his voice rife with dissatisfaction.

He saw his son making the same mistakes he did all over again. He would lose not only the woman he loved, but his child as well because of that fear, the caution, that if he intervened he would somehow make it worse. It was so very, very frustrating. Part of him wanted to reach out, and force them to see what they were doing... but he mostly understood that the attempt to do so in this case may work for a while... but the situation would only spiral out of control once more if he did. He had Seen it. He was blind to the physical world, but it had only sharpened that strange, innate magic of precognition. He could see where the roads lead, and what spiderwebs entangled their victims far clearer than those that had eyes ever could. It served him well, but Z'tan often wondered if one should know so much of the future as he did...

The drow realized he'd fallen quiet, and swiftly turned his attention back to his ward. Keep fighting then, Z'tan said quietly, Someone needs to- and god knows I can't do that and keep Narya safe at the same time... I apologize if our tasks... clash. He said, a twist of irony in his voice.

Narya rolled her eyes when she saw Imorvir's frown, turning her head so if was more away from Imorvir. He was being irritating again... "Imorvir." She said, her voice cutting, "I haven't raised a child in the centuries I have been on this throne." She said bluntly, "Let's just say we don't mix well- okay? Its not that I hate them or anything- its more of a personal thing. I'll make sure she's safe, and the person that looks at her wrong, will really wish they hadn't." The Matron said testily, "I'll protect her, and you're more than free to keep her by your side for as long as needed until she's ready to begin proper schooling- but don't expect anything else of me!"

Barek stared at his son for a moment. "What story?" He asked, though whether he was being sarcastic or not was unclear.
---
Zebyvyll listened to him but didn't respond. Instead, she stood up. "Are you hungry? I can go get you some food." She said calmly, pulling her long hair over her shoulder.

Jaska blinked, and stared back, his head tilting like a curious animals at Barek's response. "...The one from earlier?" He questioned, seeming now quite confused.
------

Z'tan didn't press the issue, but rather shrugged his shoulders. [i]Not really.[/i] He answered, [i]More thirsty... but I'll come with you if you don't mind.[/i] He said, [i]It would be better if I stretched a bit, rather than letting the muscles stiffen and set.[/i] Just make sure I don't walk into any walls.[/i] He added with a slight laugh.

Barek smirked and stood up to put his dishes away. He began cleaning up the kitchen as he spoke again "Right, well...we talked about my mom and my dad..." He paused as he ran a wash cloth over the plates. "So basically I just did what I wanted. I dabbled in a lot of nasty things. Pretty much anything you can name, I did it. It was a way of rebellion I guess...but it also provided me with the basic skills of survival down there. I was pretty much on my own. I fed myself, found myself a place to sleep, and all that."

He finished cleaning the plates before sitting back down and folded his arms over his stomach. "So what do you want to know? I told you the basic time-line."

"Nooooo. You said you'd tell me how you killed your mom. And met mine. You only said that you DID meet her, not how. And you skipped the killing part." Jaska told Barek, matter-of-fact. He was like his mother in the way that often times, while he seemed distracted... he usually remembered what he needed to. Usually.

Barek gazed back at him with widened eyes before breathing out a laugh and shaking his head. "You say it so casually. Like what I did was as moral as washing clothes or taking a stroll." He said as an aside, mostly to himself. "We should change your view on killing...but in the mean time I guess I can finish telling you that." He stretched out his legs and leaned back in his chair.

"Well I met your mother in the underdark. She was there trying to escape capture from my mother...as was I. She was with your uncle, Arien too. I remember I ran into them and we had to fight off a bunch of soldiers...of course we couldn't get rid of them all. Arien and your mother weren't too experienced in fighting, and I hadn't quite tapped into my ability at that time. So we were merely three kids in trouble. So were taken to my mother and I convinced her to spare their lives as long as I stayed around and kept an eye on them."

He licked his lips and looked to the side, watching the world beyond the windows. "We spent a good deal of time together, most of it was me being a jerk to the two of them. Eventually their dad, your grandfather, and your...I guess uncle...made an attempt to get them, but only succeeded in saving Arien. Your mother was left with me. And I guess that's how we started to become closer...of course then I didn't realize it was happening, neither did she I think...then again she did tend to tag with me everywhere and did things I found annoying, but now that I look back...she was only trying to be kind or do something to help out."

Jaska tilted his head, "She was a bad guy..." He protested at Barek's derision towards his comments on killing. He fell silent when Barek was talking.

"Did you love her?" He asked unexpectedly. The boy pulled himself onto the counter, crossing his legs, and looking expectantly at the man before him.

Barek shrugged at Jaska's comment. "She didn't know anything else..." He said patiently. "Sometimes I've wondered if maybe I were a better child, behaved more, if maybe I'd have seen a different side." He looked back at his son when he continued to ask questions.

Giving a soft sigh he made a face as if asking Jaska if the question were serious. "I'm not like many drow men. I don't throw myself at every woman. If I didn't care for her or...love...her, we wouldn't be having this conversation, because you wouldn't even be alive."

"She didn't know how to be nice?" Jaska questioned, scrunching up his face a bit. But he fell silent when Barek looked at him incredulously.

"...sorry." He said quietly, looking around, shifting, suddenly uncomfortable. "I dunno. 'S just that people who love each other try to stay together, right? ...that's why I knew mom was always coming back. Cause she wouldn't just leave me there," Another thought occured to him, and he glanced back at Barek, wondering if he'd get glared at again for his question. Probably, he realized, but it wasn't like he could just not ask, because then he'd be stuck wondering about it FOREVER, and asking questions randomly out of the blue because you couldn't hold them in anymore looked pretty stupid.

"...Do you still love her? Even though she's all... evil now, and stuff?"