|| -- Revelations -- ||

[Fallon Zane]

Since the moment he had been frozen mid step by the bond with Angel bursting to life once more, there had been very few opportunities for Fallon to fall back into his routine. Not that it was a routine he wanted to get back into; it was just sort of where he went. So much had happened, since the last time he had set foot anywhere near this place. Or seen any of these people. But that was how it went, right? People come, people go, until they're just ghosts and whispers, catching at the edges of your senses from time to time. Fleeting memories that grow more faded as the days wore on. It had been that way for as long as he could remember. Cameo appearances. Some people were just background noise, there to fill in the scene. Others made a serious impact in some way, becoming centerpieces for a time. But inevitably, they were gone as quickly as they had come. Fallon was the same way. He knew it. The lifelong struggle with his duality, the Sons of the Dawn, the rise of his Darkness. Even just random tantrums and sudden wanderlust. His comings and goings were just as much a contributor to this as those of everyone else.

It was so much more strange, though, for him to be here after everything that had taken place. The last few things he remembered about being here was... nothing. He had no real memory of this place, before his return for Angel. Or much of anything, really. Much had been lost at the hands of Malachai. Memories, thoughts, secrets, people... much of the history Fallon had helped carve out in this existence was just beyond the reach of his mind. Very little had come back to him, when he reopened his eyes. Very little had been regained in the years since. All he really had was the memories of those he had been closest to, when the Darkness took hold. And what he had done. Those dark thoughts were what kept him locked away in that empty manor, where the remnants of what good things he had left remained.

But now, his thoughts were torn. With each step he had taken within these walls, with each face that had been seen again for the first time in years, memories were beginning to return. Some good, some bad, some regret. The ridiculous things he had done with these people. Those awakening thoughts were drowning out the darker ones that had hung about him like a pall. Finding his past again was starting to become addicting. The influx of things he had forgotten and lost over the years... reliving those moments in those brief flashes. He wanted more. He needed more. The allure of finding all that had been forgotten was overpowering. And this place - this little speck of a building - was the only thing he had that could do that.

He... did not know these cliffs, however. They were not far off from the inn. But he didn't seem to get any memories from this place. He had seen a complex of caves on his way up here, though, that had triggered some memories as well... not in this place, somewhere else... but the distinct memories of a cave... a secret cave. A meeting place... see? Even just being within the vicinity of this place was triggering thoughts. He could not pin that one down... but that last fleeting thought had led him up the cliff, and now to its precipice. Crouched at its edge, peering out over the land below. It was all foreign to him... but it whispered to him possibilities. More of what he had already found. Possibly much more.

"Tel'Ranaemyn, huh." Spoken to himself as icy eyes swept over the unknown world before him. Maybe it would be nice... to get out of the house for a while. Rediscover some of the faces and names that had faded into the background. Cause a little trouble... one of the few things he knew he was damn good at. "... Tel'Ran." Was this place really ready for the return of the Madman?

[Arcadia Caughey]

When it came to wanderlust, Arcadia was quite the master.  To a fault, some would argue, including those who were closest to her.  Her nearest and dearest had come to reluctantly accept that she would just wander off into the wild depths of some remote forest with little warning and sometimes for weeks at a time, but that didn’t mean that they liked it.  One thing that everyone could always count on, however, was that she would show up for her shifts at the clinic that she had opened with Donald years ago – a clinic that was not too far down the lane from the Tel’Ranaemyn Inn.

So this day started out predictably, with Arcadia moving diligently from examination room to examination room with dedicated and attentive service to each patient that she encountered.  Twas the season for wintry joy and celebration…and also the season for any number of wintry ailments or mishaps, which meant the clinic was packed.  To be indoors for so long, and among so many people, it should be no wonder that as soon as she walked out into the night Arcadia was headed straight into the blissful quiet of the Eastern Forest.

Here too she intended to work, but unlike her time with scores of people, she always found scores of trees to be rejuvenating.  Nature made for excellent company.  Winter as it was, Arcadia did not feel the chill in the air as deeply as others might for the same reasons that kept her looking like the eternal twenty-year-old she’d always been.  Reasons of beastly blood, yes, but also reasons that tied her deeply to every root that grew into the ground beneath her feet.  The impressions and energies of all the life in these woods coming at her from all sides, she moved across the forest floor with inherent ease, every footfall perfectly placed without her ever needing to turn her eyes to the ground.  

As she made her way, Arcadia sent forth her energy which had long ago taken form as small tendrils of wind.  Off they breezed through the trees in every cardinal direction, a trick she used often to gather further information about what things lie in the wild on any given night.  Her pace slowed as she waited for the winds to return, a loving little smile curling her lips as she took the time to pet the bark of a few trees and channel into them some well-wishes.  It wasn’t long before her indigo black hair was suddenly swept off her shoulders, the return of her winds also stirring up the nearby branches of trees and the discarded leaves on the ground.  The tale the winds told of three directions was just as she expected – some woodland creatures afoot of various shapes and sizes, some disturbances in the earth and fallen rock, and many ailing plants and broken branches.  Typical winter fare.

Then there was the last wind to return, the one she sent off in the direction of the cliffs.  Alongside usual tales, that wind carried with it a scent that she hadn’t caught in years.  “Is that right?” she murmured softly to the breeze that settled around her to a current no larger than a breath.  Uncertainly she chewed on her lip as she didn’t look altogether convinced, adding skeptically, “M’ not so sure.”

There was only one way to find out.  And for one who was one with the winds as Arcadia was, it didn’t take her as long to get to the top of the cliffs as one might think.  When she drew near, she picked up the very same scent the wind had brought to her, and she used it to craftily strategize her approach.  Choosing to slowly ease up from behind to the figure she saw crouched on the edge of the cliff, she was just in time to catch him whisper of the Inn that had housed Donald and his ward once upon a time.  The voice just as familiar as the scent, there was no doubt in her mind now who she’d stumbled upon, though she could still scarcely believe it.  Folding her arms across her chest, Arcadia kept respectable distance from Fallon and the edge as she replied to him.  Her brogue as calm and reserved as it always was when she was trying to present herself as a respectable wise lass with no disreputable skeletons in her closet.  “…is a bit long off from here.  Especially when ye take the distance t’ the ground into account.” Her lips twisted into her usual ghost of a smile as she let that dry humor of hers fly.  

[Fallon Zane]

No skeletons. Ha. Once the memories of this woman came back to him, it would dash that hope into dust. Fallon may not have been very intimately acquainted with the stoic woman, but he knew enough to dismiss that concept offhand. Though the scent and voice would be familiar, there was a distinct difference in the Madman on the edge of the cliff. The darkness that had always radiated from him was gone. So too was the vibrant glow of life and energy that he always had about him. In fact, nothing seemed to come from him anymore. Only cold, emptiness. A shadow blending into the night that engulfed the two.

The voice, the balance that it had always held, caused Fallon's head to lift a bit, his gaze lifting from the shrouded valley below. It was... familiar. Just like so many voices and things around this place were. He had heard it before, but like before, he was unable to place it. Lost in his mind for a few moments, trying to gather the memories that were beginning to creep closer. His response was delayed as he grappled with this, but when it finally came, it was spoken over his shoulder. Not yet turning to face this newest ghost from his past.

"That's what these are for, ya." As that last word fell from his lips, the shimmer about him kicked up. The glamour falling away, allowing his huge, ashen gray feathered wings to come back into sight. And with the glamour gone, that also meant the rest of his effects were revealed as well. The black horns curling from behind his temples. The mouthful of needlish fangs. The long, spade tipped tail lurking behind him. Not that any of those had anything to do with leaping off this cliff and taking him where he wanted to go? But when one came out, they all did.

Rising up from his crouch, he finally turned toward the voice that lurked just outside of his sight. The silhouette was there, but no details could be discerned from this distance. Peering intently in her direction, as several slow steps were taken toward her. Wings giving one sharp shake and ruffle, before falling to drape about him, like an armored cloak. "Don't be lurkin' in the dark like this. Let me see you." He wanted a better look at this person, so he could actually recall that voice, and not be forced to ask who the hell she was!

[Arcadia Caughey]

Few were intimately acquainted with Arcadia.  It was one of her talents.  Or worst habits.  She bottled her truest self up, both in personality and purpose, out of...well, she had always been a skittish sort, no need to drudge up her past to talk about the whys and wheres.  Cracking her out of her comfort zone tended to happen at the same speed of a lumbering glacier, but those who had known her long enough had made decent headway; it was somewhat impossible to know someone for over a decade without getting somewhere, even when that someone was Arcadia.   Fallon was one of those people.  And she had come to care for him, in her own awkwardly distant way, even if he did insist on calling her a librarian all the time.  

Normally the familiar sight of his wings would have drawn a smile out of her, but the study Arcadia’s violet eyes were making of him brought a concerned frown to her features instead.  “So they are...”  An agreement, albeit a slightly distracted one, as she peered at him.  Or the space around him, more precisely, where the healer was taking note of what was missing...or obscured...she wasn’t sure which.  

All the years she’d spent rejuvenating all manner of suffering and sick living things, one might think that staring at such stark emptiness would be just another day for the office for her, easy to behold.  In truth when faced with either Arcadia’s heart bled over with empathy, one of the reasons she kept herself scarce so much of the time and stoic nearly all the rest.  Even now, as she indulged Fallon by meeting him halfway, she was mentally tightening the lid on her golden being that wanted to surface so that it could be of service to Fallon’s state.  

It was hard to take her eyes off of him when his movements also held such a vastly different energy than she remembered.  Where was the chaotic, carefree gait of a man who prided himself on bounding right up into your face whether you were ready for him or not?  Brows heavily knit, Arcadia shook the thought off and forced herself to turn her attention upward to the overcast winter sky.  A soft, yet strong whoosh of energy flew upward as she put her winds to work on clearing the clouds.  Pushing them off to the east, where they’d cloud up the harbor, it allowed the glow of the nearly full moon to bring some additional light to the situation.

“Better?”  Asked as her violet eyes sought his.  Even though they hadn’t seen each other in years, it may as well have been yesterday if going by her appearance alone.  Not only hadn’t she aged a day, but she adorned herself just the same - a high waisted deep green dress that reached to her mid-thigh, deep brown tights, the same knee high black boots that she’d had for decades, and her well-worn long grey coat that wouldn’t be heavy enough for some in the deep of winter, but was just fine for her.  Her focus was on him, though, intensely on him.  She was doing a good enough job at suppressing her touch of gold, but there was no way she could suppress her concern.  “Are you...do ye need help, Fallon?”  A grimace acknowledged that maybe that wasn’t the most tactful way to ask that question.  Now that they were face to face, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her winds had brought his scent to her nose for something deeper than a simple reunion.  

[Fallon Zane]

At least the woman was being a good sport, and meeting him half way. And, it seems, parting the skies to allow the moonlight to bathe the little clearing they had come face to face in. He would have been able to identify her, even in the dark. Might have taken a bit longer? But it would have happened. But with them now both under the moon, the features of this dark haired woman were on full display. And clearly, she would see Fallon remained a Fashion Victim. Hoodie, cargos, black boots. Some things never change.

And as much as her face, her eyes would remind him of who stood before him, so too would her attire. She was always a very conservative thing. Even so, with the woman right before him, the memories took time to come back. She would even see the time it took to process who she was, by the eyes his eyes squinted and narrowed as he studied her. The icy cold gaze that drifted over her held the same haunted, almost distant look that the others had seen. For several long moments he stood silent. Assimilating the visage before him. The eyes.. something about her eyes...

Finally, his eyes widened just a bit, as a stark memory came back to him... that face, those eyes, behind round, black frames. A quick blink as those memories once again ignited in the dark corners of his mind. Hanging upside down from a tree, grinning stupidly back at the emotionless woman. Ah yes, how could he have forgotten this one? She did such a marvelous job of resisting the madness he insisted on bringing to everyone's life. But once or twice, he had cracked that frozen mask she wore, and dragged a few smiles out the woman. Arcadia... yes... but that was not what he called her... what was it?

"... Caddy." The name finally coming to his lips, after her question was posed. Accompanied with a faint curl of the corner of his lips, a faint smile given the woman. Did he need help? "You, of all people, have known that from the moment we met." ... ha. Broken or not, the Madman still remembered his gift of stupidity. Not that it wasn't true... but still. Serious question met with dumb ass response. Some things, man.

[Arcadia Caughey]

Once he was close enough, Arcadia’s study of him honed in on his eyes.  Many found her gaze rather intense, often made them feel like they’d ended up on the examination table in the doctor’s office without making an appointment.  How could she not scrutinize him so rigorously, though, when it was clear just by watching him that his mind was laboring in a manner that she’d never seen from him in the past?  That spark of recognition, that blink...and the length of time that had needed to pass for him to come to such small revelations were all troubling to a woman who’d been healing for more years than she cared to acknowledge.

Which is why his reply received a cluck of her tongue, and a cheeky look to match.  A reserved smile following, one that as usual showed no teeth. While Arcadia didn’t feel the need to hide what she was, she also found no need in putting it on display for everyone to see, which in turn meant that glimpses at her sharp little eyeteeth were few.  “Aye, true.  As surely as I’ve always known that ye have a habit of usin’ humor as a means of deflectin’ tough questions.”  Brow lifted at him as she called him out.  Perhaps not the politest thing to do to someone you haven’t seen in years, but when that someone was potentially in distress as he seemed to be she wasn’t the sort to beat around the bush.

“There’s no need t' perform for me,  Fallon.”  A frown briefly touched her features as she tried to leverage the soothing, lyrical quality of her brogue to deliver that assertion gently.  It was something she’d said to him many, many times over the years.  The effect of which varied depending on Fallon’s mood and the circumstances of the day.  “I don’t tend to scale giant cliffs just so the old friend who's at the top can perform a bit of song and dance for me.  Especially when that friend is clearly having cognitive difficulties...ye had trouble remembering who I was at first, didn’t you?”  The pressing earnest of her words matched the glaringly obvious worry in her eyes.  Perhaps she was making cliffs out of cracks in the sidewalk, so to speak, but Donald was an avid student of the brain, which had opened her eyes to a long list of things that could be the cause of disrupted memory and currently her imagination was running wild with all of them.

Even so, the more Arcadia said the more she realized they’d been face to face for no more than five minutes and she’d plunged this conversation right into the deep end.  A slow, unneeded breath was taken and released, and she shifted her weight as she attempted to reset herself.  Lightening the tone of her voice again, and trying a smile that was a bit more relaxed...or relaxed for her, at least.  “What I mean t’ say is...hello, Fallon, it’s rather nice t’ see you again.  It’s been so long.”  Sheepish, awkward little Caddy.  Some things.

[Fallon Zane]

Ha. Another reason that Fallon, now that the memories of this woman were coming back to him left and right, remembered liking this woman. She didn't play around. She'd slap you right upside the head with what she thought, whether or not you wanted to hear it. Direct and blunt; qualities that Fallon identified with, and appreciated in a person. And she sure as hell went with that theme, right from the get go in this conversation. Calling him out for his habits, chastising him for The Fallon Show, and then pointing out the obvious issues he was having. Not all that polite at all, really. But what more could he expect?

Polite or not, it didn't much faze Fallon. Her direct words, or the intense gaze the woman had leveled on him. The faint smirk of his remained in place, even as Caddy railed on him for brushing off what was obviously an issue. Hey, he knew what it was, and where it came from. Despite the bluntness, he knew where it came from. Grudging respect, and care, from both sides. Likely far more from Fallon's side? He didn't much hide his feelings, back then. But nonetheless. Arcadia was being a concerned friend. So her aggressive attack on the situation at hand was taken, like everything else, in stride.

"... only rather nice?" Sorry, Arcadia. Deflection and performing were just Fallon's talents. And there's no sense in letting that talent go to waste. As that faint smile he had for her twisted just a bit more at the corner of his lips. Threatening to become that nasty ass smirk of his. But it faded as quickly as it threatened, blown away by the sigh that followed. Eyes remaining fixed upon her heavy stare. "But, to answer your question, Caddy. Yes. Until you were close enough for me to see, I didn't know who you were. It took a while, even after I could see you. And yeah, it's still comin' back to me."

Shrugging his shoulders a bit, a kind of what can you do? gesture. "It is what it is. But if you want to help? This right here, this will help." Standing here with him, talking to him, letting him gather the lost images, memories and thoughts of her. They did stretch back a long, long time. "Maybe..." Another one of those thoughts were coming through... and it was going from lost, to coming out of his mouth. "... maybe another spin around the pond... I remember how I made my skates." That memory.... that damn pond! It brought that faint smile back to his lips.

"But... even though I can't remember how long it's been. I know it is good to see you again, Arcadia. I would ask where my hug is, but the more I remember, the more I realize this is probably more appropriate." The stoic woman was not the biggest fan of touch, as he remembered. Or of people even being close to her. So, instead of stepping into her for a hug? One clawed hand was extended before him.

[Arcadia Caughey]

Arcadia cocked her eyebrow at Fallon with the same air of a school teacher giving a silent chiding to a misbehaving student.  Her youthful appearance didn’t exactly work alongside her in these moments, but she’d long stopped caring about that.  Here she was trying to paddle them out of the deep end with well-mannered reunion chatter, and he had to pick on her word choices.   “Aye, laddy, only rather.”  Said with a smart lift of her chin.  “I can’t be showin’ too much emotion at once, best to space it out over the course of a decade or so.”  Dry humor poking fun at herself, she knew she could be a wee bit difficult at times.

The look on her face after his shrug, though, that crash of befuddlement and discontent was like a facial firecracker before she got herself in check.  Glancing away, she pressed her lips together for a few seconds before looking back at him again.  “It is what it is?”  The echo was quiet, but incredulous.  He’d just admitted to her that his memory was ailing, she was having a devil of a time just letting that go without pressing back on him.  In her agitated silence, all that showed externally was her shifting her weight and folding her arms across her chest.  Well, that and the wind picking up.  They were outside, and while Arcadia practiced an almost fanatical level of self-control over her abilities, in a moment like this it couldn’t be helped.

It died down, though, almost as quickly as it’d picked up.  Violet eyes returning to watch his, she nodded.  “Alright.  It is what it is until it’s something worth speaking about, and that decision is obviously yours.”  Behind closed lips, she had to bite her tongue to keep herself from adding more.  He’d defined what help meant in his current situation, and she’d do her best to honor it even if her impulse was to come at him like a mother hen.  So naturally she looked sheepish when he referenced a time they’d spent together where she’d put on display just how much her maturity level actually matched her appearance.  Not something everyone got to see from her.  Only those she trusted.  “That particular pond is a pretty long distance from here, all but abandoned from what I’ve seen.”  Of course Arcadia had been back there.  With the amount that she wandered, and the hidden treasures in the land that surrounded that compound, she’d gone back many a time.

“And it’s been a few cycles of the seasons since I’ve last seen you.”  Her look apologetic as she added that, she was a bit useless when it came to measuring time beyond the natural cycle of a single year.  She always had been, thanks to a life spent mostly traipsing about alone in the wilderness.  

Then, without warning, she laughed at him.  A sound far more musical than her reserved demeanor, it popped out when he held out his hand to her like they were a pair of bankers.  Oh she knew why he did it, and she appreciated that while his memory was fractured he was still working at being mindful of who he remembered her to be.  But honestly...no.  A handshake would not do.  Slipping around his outstretched hand, she hugged him, and tightly.  While no mortal warmth came from her body with its stilled heart, there was the hum of a different warmth, that strong golden light of nature under the surface that was the more truthful representation of who she was.  Arcadia wasn’t trying to heal him, but it certainly seemed she was trying to squeeze the “okayness” back into him with her embrace.  A few muffled words carried up to his ears by her wind.  “...were ye serious, about ice skating?”  With him it was sometimes impossible to tell.  

[Fallon Zane]

That look, right there? The five seconds away from either a long lecture about behaving, or a throttling with a ruler? The librarian look? Amazing. And that exasperated, incredulous look that crossed her face and made her look like she was about to leap out of her skin and flail at him? Priceless. And the reason that fainst smile was growing brighter and larger upon his lips. Fallon may have lost the people that made up his past, but he still knew himself. Dragging a reaction out of people with his antics was what he lived for. Especially with one as reserved and controlled as Arcadia. That's badge of honor stuff there.

So his smile did grow, and become a bit more twisted, at the reaction to his words. If he ever got Arcadia to the point of actually yelling and ranting at him? Life could end with him at peace. That would be the ultimate. Mainly because he had limits with this woman, he was slowly beginning to remember. A genuine fondness for the woman, well before she had ever thought of him as anything but an annoying little fop. But more importantly, a deep rooted respect for her. He did not want to chase her away because he didn't know when to quit, or where not to go. So, for her, he learned. And only for her.

The momentary whip up of the winds around Nature's Favorite Curmudgeon was just the icing on the cake. He had to actually fight the urge to snicker in that moment. If he got her that riled for a second that it let slip? Oh yeah. He was damn proud of that. Sure, it wasn't the greatest subject to do it with? But he would ensure she understood his nonchalance and reasoning. For right now though, he would just bask in the glow of her mini blowup. Making sure the twist of his lips into that nasty smirk lingered long enough to possibly make her deck him one.

He gave her a short nod though, when she seemed to relent on him for not spilling the dark of what had happened. Which he was a bit relieved over. Things had been okay, so far. That would not have been very fun times, anymore. "I promise, you'll know, in time. I know what caused it. There's just not anything that can really be done about it, Arcadia. Outside of these little visits, to keep everything coming back. That's why I decided to hang around, after Angel is better, and not about to throw herself into a vat of holy water, or something. It's just..."

The smirk, smile, all expressions leaving his face as he trailed off a bit. Gaze falling from violet eyes, to the patch of ground between them. Touching upon that subject usually resulted in this reaction. He offered another little shrug as the words escaped him for a time. Some wounds ran far too deep to be easily shrugged off. The ends were necessary, but the cost had proven far greater than he had ever thought, from the moment his knowledge of it arose. "I'm still fightin' with this. Losin' it all, ya know." But his haunted gaze lifted back to hers a moment after his words. "But I promise. I'll tell you."

And hey, talk about timing, huh? After Fallon's little regression back into the darker parts of himself, he got himself a hug. A good, hard, tight hug as she stepped past his hand, and into his arms. He wasted little time in wrapping her up in them as well, returning her embrace just as close. And that of course meant that his wings even closed about her a bit, as well. A deep, heavy sigh at about that time, too. One that both lamented their reunion feeling like he was learning about the woman all over again after all these years. And one of content, as the memories he did have reminded him just how rare this embrace was.

The whisper the winds brought to her ears brought him pause, though. Was he serious? Truthfully, he had made mention of their little ice-capade only because the memory had flickered back to life. But here she was, sounding an awful lot like she didn't think it was a bad idea. And let's be real. Going in circles around some little frozen puddle as they played this little game remember me would be more entertaining than the two of them standing around on top of this cliff. His response was delayed by just a few moments, before the arms about her gave her a single, tighter squeeze. "There any ponds 'round here?"

[Arcadia Caughey]

Poking the bonny beast of nature was all fun and games until one found themselves growing actual roots into the ground like a tree.  There was a collection of trees just north of the Alliance that were once a pack of bandits who’d interrupted her preparations of the area for spring, thinking she could be their newly acquired possession.  Their twisted, gnarled shapes remained the only sign of their disgruntled distemper over their new stationary lot in life.  Contorting their bodies into trees was one of the most euphoric, satisfying moments of sweet little Caddy’s life.  Nature was not always kind, and its justice was catastrophe when it found those that sought to abuse its bounty.  It was a channel that had only widened and strengthened in Arcadia the past couple years...and well, there was a reason she kept a lid on herself when she wasn’t rolling about in the wilderness.  

The more Fallon smirked, the more she narrowed her eyes at him.  Her wind stayed quiet, however, beyond its normal soft movement around her; like an aura, just a sort that didn’t much care for staying still.  There was scarce a memory she had of Fallon that didn’t contain a standoff moment like this, and while outwardly her sweet youthful face was puckered in a withering look of warning, inwardly she was relieved to see him light up like his usual mess of a self.  It was a welcome shift from the huddled form she’d discovered a few minutes ago.  So she eased off her glare when his eyes dropped to the ground; she knew that was pain she was witnessing, raw pain at that.  

His promise eased Arcadia even more.  It likely fed the strength of her embrace.  A hidden smile following when she felt his wings slip around her in addition to his arms.  Sneaking one of her arms back, she reached out to give a soft little pet to some of the inner feathers.  A tiny bit of her golden energy slipping from her fingertips.  Out of affection, she wasn’t about to kick his legs out from under him and force a healing down his throat.  “A person who fights the battle of their life alone is quick to become exhausted, said the pot t’ the kettle.”  She used to be somewhat famous for waging against her internal wars without accepting a lick of help from anyone, but she’d grown in that way even if she was still stubborn when it came to other things.  "Not that I’m sayin’ you’re lookin’ old, but..." A rare grin.  Not for long, though.  She never showed those two sharp little teeth for long.

Arcadia returned his last squeeze with a pinch, of all things, before she drew away.  A tiny flare of immaturity, because a bumbling aptitude when it came to touching moments was something that ran in the Caughey family.  “Mm...aye, a modest one.  A wee jump off the cliff and a few paces off that way.  We’ll have to make apologies to the deer, though, it’s a spot of theirs…”  The pond was set in an uncharacteristically rocky area, and the ability of the deer to leap gracefully through the large rocks made it an easy escape from predators.

Then it caught up with her, a few of Fallon's words that had slipped past her ears while she'd been busy glaring.  She turned to face him again, her brows knit.  "Wait - there's somethin' wrong with Angel?"  Clearly Archer hadn't thought to drop her a line.

[Fallon Zane]

Now, this may come as a surprise to some? But Fallon and Arcadia were like seriously nothing alike. There was a thing or two that they did share a liking for, true. But in Fallon's eyes, the common theme of his and Arcadia's inexplicable friendship was based on mutual respect. Ignore that Arcadia was aloof, ultra serious, and kind of a drag on Fallon's need to be brain damaged and stupid. But unlike everyone else that just fawned and played along with it? She never gave an inch. Just glowered at him. And spit those dry, snarky comments back. How could he not have respect for that?

That and, of course, she was a challenge to tease and harass. But he knew he could do it. And that made him happy! It was hard to see sometimes, but he knew. The tongue clicks. The withering looks. The intensity she came back with her comments. Sometimes he even got the sassy little huff. He could tell when he was pushing the buttons. But to get her so ruffled that he could get that little gust of breeze free from her? That was absolutely sublime. But just like tonight, he always smoothed it back over. He didn't do it to actually anger her? He just loved the reaction. No harm meant, Caddy!

Arcadia would learn of Fallon's demons, in time. He was not just placating her with those words. It had been years, and Fallon himself was still coming to terms with everything that had been done, and the cost that had been paid. And he knew those words were true. He was exhausted. It had been many, many years now, that he had fought those battles alone. Maybe soon, he would let people in, and let them help. He seemed to have at least one person here now, that he could lean on. Likely at least one more. But all the same. All in time.

Besides, who wanted to screw up such a touching, heart wrenching moment like the one the two of them were sharing right now? And the prospects of skating with the timeless vampiress again? Not to be passed up. Such offers did not come around often. So, after her pinch, and right before she pulled away? Arcadia got another quick little glimpse of the seething hot mess that was the Fallon Zane of old. She pinches, Fallon swats. You already know where that swat landed. Light, playful, nothing suggestive. Other than don't pinch me.

"Sounds like a plan, then." A hop down the cliff, and a few paces. He had planned on jumping off this cliff anyway, before Arcadia made her presence known. "Shall I carry you down?" Ha. Like she really needed to be carried. He was pretty sure she could make the jump just as well as he could! But he paused then, when the topic swung back around to his comment about Angel. ... guess she didn't know. "Yeah. She lost someone she loved. I felt it through her bond. There was a bunch of us that came to her. Including your nimrod brother." Yes, Archie. You are a nimrod. Suck it.

[Arcadia Caughey]

Whack.  That sharp, windy retaliation was delivered without hesitation, and without Arcadia flexing any muscle but her mind.  Did he really think that he was going to get away with swatting her arse?  So-called librarian that she was, it should be unsurprising the chilly blow of air smacked up against the back of his head.  “Takes one to know one, Fallon.”  Nimrods, that is.  The words floated casually with a darling smirk upon her lip.  “And no, y’ absolutely shant.”  

But as a tight gust of wind swept around her and Arcadia’s shape disappeared from the top of the cliff, inwardly she frowned.  She had no idea that something was amiss with Angel, but then again, how could she?  Where Archer was spending much his time these days, it wasn’t a place where either of them were mature enough to be in each other’s company often.  Frankly, she was surprised that he'd known the woman was in need.  Something she’d have to ask him about later, depending on where he was when she tracked him down.

At the bottom of the cliff, her winds tunneled once more and there she stood a moment later.  While she’d likely never admit it, it was shyness that fueled her to obscure the fact she’d just put her vampiric skills to use to travel as the mist.  She saved her question for when they were at each other’s side once more.  “Who was it, that she lost?”  It was funny how memory worked, how it stretched the farthest back it could go even when logic whispered that the reach was too far.  Arcadia was thinking of Venom.  Venom, and his temper, and how long she had been tied to it by blood until Adrian had come into her life and severed the connection with his own embrace.

She set a brisk pace in the direction of the pond.  While she was a woman who spent an incredible amount of time wandering about the wild without a particular destination, she was as quick as she was quiet.  The more ground that was covered, the more one was able to see, after all.  As promised, the closer they got to the pond the rockier the terrain.  The stones starting small, easily stepped over, and piling from there into larger rocks that were a couple feet high by a couple feet long.  The sort that were easy to scale, and fun to hop off of.  Ahead, the keen eyes could spy the glassy surface of the pond in the distance.  

[Fallon Zane]

Well what in the blue hell did Arcadia expect? Pinching him like that. She was as likely to get away with it unscathed as he was after swatting her backside. Fallon, for the most part, did a very good job if keeping that side of his personality suppressed around Arcadia. It wasn't done out of lack of interest? She was a lovely little creature, despite all her aloofness and guards and walls. Sure, every once in a while he cracked a joke about it, or made some stupid comment. But their relationship did not walk that road. A good thing, too. Those relationships never last. He wouldn't have it any other way.

So needless to say, the wind slap he got just made him grin at her faintly. As did her parting words. See, this was how he liked their friendship. Mostly serious, but they still were both able to have a little fun. Mostly at each other's expense. She centered him some, he gave her a moment or two to let her guard down. "Yeah... probably not a good idea," as she backed away, and a moment before she wrapped herself in the winds that would carry her to the bottom of the cliff. And before she got too far? "Wouldn't want ya gettin' over excited, or anything..."

Just as Arcadia used her winds to bring her down there, Fallon did the same. Only... in a much more direct way. Once Arcadia swept herself away, Fallon walked to the edge of the cliff. And jumped. Sure, he could have just blinked himself down... but where was the fun in that? Free-falling was an exhilarating experience. And it wasn't like he was gonna make impact and splash all over her at the bottom or anything. His massive wings unfurled and flared out as he got closer to the bottom, slowing his descent enough so a handful of powerful flaps could bring him to the ground in a crouch with minimal impact.

Rising from his landing position, wings fluttering once before falling in place around him once again. Back toward where his companion for this trip awaited him. He landed off a bit from her, obviously, so he didn't batter her with his wings. "Raph... or somethin' like that... I ain't for sure," in response to her question about Angel. The name was not familiar to him really. Maybe it would have been at one time? But not under current circumstances. "Someone she loved though, obviously. Ya don't bawl all ugly like that over someone ya don't care about."

In step with the little treehugger, matching her pace as they scurried along the valley floor toward the pond. Even as they walked, the memories of that day became more vivid, as did other memories of her... "... I sang to you once..." his words just coming out, as they scaled, hopped, and maneuvered through the terrain. From the images his mind was conjuring up, it did not seem like the most pleasant of experiences, though... confusion and horror seemed to have tainted the woman's features, from his hazy recollection. "What did I sing to you?"

[Arcadia Caughey]

Arcadia expected more of Fallon than most, she of high standards that she was.  What had always fascinated her were the times he rose to the occasion.  She was no dolt, she saw the amount of effort the man put into channeling his energy into a more steady stream when he was in her presence.  And it was appreciated, even if she didn’t say so near enough.  Deeply in tune with energy as she was, getting immersed in chaos for too long tipped parts of her personality that she kept a tight leash on for good reason.  It wasn’t that she turned her back on those impulses and behaviors, in truth she delighted in the primal energies as much as all the others.  Maybe even more.  But rarely in the company of others.  As if it was a shameful secret...or maybe she was just that damn shy.

It was why there was a wry smirk waiting for him at the bottom of the cliff when he came back to her side, and a dry retort on her lips.  “No, we certainly wouldn’t.”  At least she’d taken care of her thirst already, so the beastly side of her was good and quiet.  And while she was itching to play with the nature around them, that was a desire that could be scratched anytime.  It could wait.  

A frown touched her lips as he explained more about Angel.  Now it was Arcadia’s turn to think back, to times she hadn’t thought about in years.  “Raph.  Raphael, perhaps?  There was a member of the Alliance by that name....a temperamental sort that got into a bit of trouble more than once, but I had no idea that he had any connection to Angel.  So I might be thinkin’ of the wrong person entirely?  I’ll be the first to admit that I was more service oriented when it came to my time at that place.”  Said with a bit of a grimace, because that was probably the understatement of the year.  Whenever Arcadia was on the grounds, she usually had her nose buried in running the healers or the magical society, depending on the year.  “I’ll have t’ pay her a visit, then.”  Though knowing Arcadia...well, we’ll see how long it took her to come onto the radar.

“An’ Archer didn’t think to say a thing.”  That quiet grumble was added with a roll of her eyes.  She bit her lip before any words about him came spilling out.  Those two were in the midst of a rather strange time, and they’d gotten rather good at avoiding each other lately.  As was the Caughey way when faced with awkwardness.  She was happy, then, to have the subject diverted to Fallon’s trip down memory lane.  A dubious look shot at him as he spat out that memory out, of all things.  “You did...sort of.  Sort of sang, and sort of you...I suppose?”  What a polite way of putting it!  A cluck of her tongue followed, as she attempted to keep a smirk in check.  “What you sang, though, I haven’t the faintest.  I don’t exactly keep up on that sort of thing.”  

With the pond just ahead, Arcadia’s steps slowed and quieted.  Violet eyes gave a careful scan of the area, as she kept her ears peeled for any sounds of stirring.  If the deer were here, she didn’t want to scare them out of their wits.  But all was quiet, as it happened, and it seemed they had the small frozen pond to themselves.  Looking pretty as a picture in the soft glow of the moonlight.

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