"I don't have time today!"

Farin felt troubled, unable to convey to Alvarr what exactly he wanted. The other man's ears were twitching continuously, picking up his sounds and a concentrated frown was scrunching up his face. Farin pointed at the basket he had set to the ground and the blindfold in his hand. "Can't stay", he tried again, then "Leave fast".

He had snuck in again yesterday, only to find out that Alvarr was suddenly able to answer his greeting and say several words in his language. He had no idea where the God suddenly learned those from but was delighted to see that Alvarr was willing to learn and happily taught him some more. In return, Alvarr had tried to explain some things to him as well, such as teaching him the sounds that corresponded to their 'yes' and 'no'. Farin proved to be a slower learner that Alvarr, but the God was exceptionally patient. 

Today was the first of the sacrificial days, which meant Farin had to leave rather quickly, only now noticing it was a hard thing to explain to Alvarr. In the end, he didn't know which words Alvarr already knew, so he simply repeated the same sentence in a dozen different ways in hopes of the other understanding. Finally, Alvarr gave an understanding tail curl, then asked with his husky voice: "Goodbye?"

Farin nodded. "Yes." He picked up the basket, took two steps back, and then walked forward again.

"Hello", he said, setting the basket down, then "Goodbye" before turning around and walking two steps again.

He paused shortly, then came over again without the basket, greeting Alvarr once more. This time, he didn't leave immediately. Alvarr hummed then nodded. His tail drooping in unhappiness he took up the basket, waving to Farin who sighed before he waved back and left.

No matter what, I have to ask Master what he knows when he returns, he thought as he hurried outside. There's no way Alvarr can suddenly know words of my language. In some way, there's gotta be contact with humans. Is this what Master meant by 'I'm not the first one to do this'?

Ives was patiently waiting out of sight of the door, looking up with his usual dazed look when he heard Farin stepping on some branches. "There you are." "Thanks for waiting. Let's go back." "Hmm."
The two of them walked slowly. Ives was not the type of person to walk fast anyway, and Farin was still dragging his robes along.

"A letter from Master came this morning", Ives suddenly spoke up. Farin turned his eyes to glance at the calm man walking beside him. The southerner's bright eyes had a rare solemn look. "Everything is fine in the capital. He also mentioned that the crown prince's youngest brother is dearly missing his friend, often complaining about it during the festivities. It seems he had hoped that Master would bring him along."

Farin breathed in slowly. "I wasn't aware that one of the children here got along so well with royalty."
Ives smiled, relaying the warning in a roundabout way. "Oh, I hadn't known either. It's Cyrille's little cousin, you met him before, right? They're very close, Cyrille is like half a father to the boy."

Great. So I will risk offending royalty if I mess up too badly...

Worry was settling into Farin's mood, but he kept his gentle smile. Ives had had several moments where he could have told him about the message, but the fact that he decided to wait until now was interesting. Was there a reason to make sure he knew about that fact in this exact moment?

There was.

Under the tall, golden gate that acted as a landmark for the off-limits area of the mountain, a tall figure was leisurely waiting. Somehow, Farin had a feeling that Ives had known that this exact scene would happen. The blue-haired young man's smile twitched.

"Good day to you, Cyrille", he still obediently called out once they were close enough.
"Good day", Ives echoed quietly.

"Good day, Ives, Farin. I hope it's fine for me to stand here?" Cyrille's face was professionally friendly, keeping his condescending attitude to a minimum. Ives answered his almost rhetorical question with his soft, almost tired-sounding voice. "Of course. As long as you do not go to the area behind the gate, you are free to move as you wish."

Cyrille let his gaze follow the woven red string leading from both sides of the gate into the forest, attached to regularly placed stone monuments, forming a half circle around the whole mountain area, warning any intruders.
Folding his arms behind his back, Cyrille fell into pace next to the temple master's heir and the current carrier.

"That looks hard to walk in. It's like the train of a dress."
Farin held back a sigh. That was the number one comment of people seeing these robes for the first time. The outfit did have pants, but the way the upper part had long sleeves and a train did indeed remind people of a wedding dress, especially since most of it was dyed almost white. The design certainly didn't suit every carrier, but they were allowed to make small adjustments during the sowing process to keep it from looking ridiculous.
He was used to it.

"It does. Sadly, I cannot tell you why, but this design is part of the tradition, so no one dares to really change it."
"Hmm. You probably keep it up here, since you wouldn't use it out of the sacrificial days." He stopped his words, then turned the direction of the conversation to what truly interested him. "That reminds me, I had wanted to come up with you for the weekend, but it seems you went up earlier than usual?"

Farin debated his answer. He couldn't lie, but couldn't tell the whole truth, either. "Yes, Master asked me to come up earlier. I'm supposed to be up here for as long as he is in the capital."
"Because he needs you to take over some tasks for him?"
"Yes."
"Isn't Ives here as his stand-in? He's his heir, right?"

Ives smiled calmly in response to Cyrille cocking an eyebrow at him, not seeing a reason to answer. Farin opened his mouth, instead.
"Ives did indeed take over most tasks, but some have to fall on me. I believe you understand if I say I can't answer in more detail?"

Cyrille showed his teeth in a wolfish grin. "I understand. After all, I am not part of the temple staff."

You look like you understand, but don't accept it. Farin swallowed the words. He truly felt like hurrying down to the temple, where his mother was waiting for him. It would be great to have her around right now. His mother had a perfect excuse for being rude; northerners were well known for being very direct with their words. Of course she had been in the central country for a long time already, but the excuse still worked well enough.

"But that means you won't be going back to the village anytime soon?" "That is correct." "Then I will be seeing you around rather often. I reckon you help out with the children, too? My cousin is one of them."
I know, Farin answered only in his head. Out loud, he said, "Yes, I will help out with teaching them sometimes."
Especially since he had gotten attached to Lori in this short time, Farin had decided to help the slower learners with additional lessons. Lori was a bright and lively child with a great will to learn, but she had her fair share of troubles with writing the delicate letters of their language. Since Farin didn't like seeing her downcast and was used to helping his little siblings with lessons anyway, he had already talked to Ives about the situation. Sadly, Cyrille was planning on using those hours.

They sound like friendly inquiries, but he keeps on asking for details about a carrier's work. From what Lori told me, he even asks around under the children.
That sort of behavior wasn't anything too strange for a noble, as many of them were curious about the mountain, the Alvarr, and the Farin. If his master hadn't warned him, he wouldn't have been as suspicious about Cyrille as he was right now. Even the dark glints in the other's green eyes were fleeting, well hidden behind a friendly facade. The noble wasn't too different from any other at first glance.

Cyrille kept Farin engaged in a quiet conversation, continuously changing the topics while mixing in questions that could be quite troublesome if answered wrongly. The carrier had to put his whole focus on everything that was said in order to not hesitate on his answers but also not give away too much info.

Not an easy task considering he also had to watch Ives, who, under the beautiful weather, was dazedly walking and often steered towards trees or other obstacles. Troubled, Farin tugged him whenever he was about to walk into something, lamenting that he couldn't just grip the man's shoulder and steer him down the mountain safely.   

He held back an exhausted groan when the temple was in sight. "I shall excuse myself now, if you don't mind. I wanted to show my mother around."
Farin turned to face Ives, who chuckled. "Please go. We wouldn't want her to think we are being rude."

The carrier's face brightened at being excused before he bowed to Cyrille and Ives, quickening his steps to enter one of the outer temple areas, where a flower garden was blooming. His mother sat in between the flowerbeds, enjoying the sight of a few domesticated birds hopping between the blooming buds. When she heard Farin approach, she gave a small wave before patting the space on the bench next to her. Farin sat down with an exaggerated breath that made her laugh. Gently, she brushed over his hair.

"I didn't see you when you went out. It looks good on you." She carefully touched the soft fabric, smiling. "This would have been popular up north. I think everyone would have loved it."
Farin hummed quietly, looking at her face full of longing. His mother was missing her home. "Maybe you can go back there someday. If you keep some of the money, you should have enough soon." Farin flinched when his mother's gaze twitched up to his, seriously looking at him.

"You are my son. Farin, don't forget that your mother can make decisions on her own. We can manage even if you leave the house." He was old enough to find his own home, but then the money would be given to him directly. His parents would have it easier rejecting it when he couldn't use the excuse of their living situation affecting him as well. He hesitated. "Mom..." "Stop it. Don't even pull that puppy face. I appreciate what you are doing, but I want you to have a life on your own and not be tied down by us. You don't need to feel like you have to raise your siblings."

Farin began fidgeting, looking at his hands. How could he not know what she was talking about? But, wanting his family to live a better life, wasn't that natural? It wasn't like he was suffering from helping them. It wasn't even like he had a family on his own with which he wanted to start a new life. It was fine to postpone it all a bit.

"Skari and Eylir are thinking about moving out of their homes, soon. You three could find a house to stay in together for a while. No mother and father nagging you to help with work, no siblings wanting you to play with them." "Mom, I really don't mind helping at home. It's okay." "Being fine with something and being happy with it isn't the same thing, Farin. There is tolerating and accepting."

The young man pulled a face, wondering how to get out of the discussion. "Right now, I have enough to think about. There are lots of noble children running around in the temple, and I've got an important job." His mother's eyebrows were rising when he switched the topic, but she didn't stop him. "Let me settle a bit first, alright? I promise I won't ignore my own well-being."

"I get it. Is there any way I can help you, at least?" "You are actually helping with just being here. There's a high-ranking noble very interested in the inside of the mountain." "How exactly am I helping with that?" "I had an excuse to leave him behind." Farin began grinning again, talking with his mother in lowered voices. She pulled his cheek in amusement. "What, am I an excuse now? Just show me that guy, I will make sure he leaves you alone." "Gosh, no! He's got connections to royalty, I just heard. I'll have to be nice until he loses interest or finds another topic that he can be obsessed about, since I don't think he is leaving anytime soon."

Two callused hands pulled him into a hug. "Is that so? Poor baby."
Being patted and cuddled like a little child, Farin trembled with laughter. His mother was making cooing sounds and caressing his head with overly large motions. Her voice was delightfully evil as she spoke.

"If someone is troubling you, then just bid your time until you get ahold of something that will force the other to obey to your wishes."

Owl

Theatre

Spoiler

Mother: "Alright, back to the important things in life."
Mother: "Any people you're interested in around?"
Farin: " "
Farin sweats: "Uhh"

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