Farin shrunk under the gaze of the old God. The one in front of him was obviously ancient, his gray eyes looking so much older than any human's he had ever seen and at the same time as lively as a child's. There was something soothing about the old God being so relaxed, the man's straight back not making him appear intimidating at all.

Still, his age was reason enough for Farin to hesitate. Who knows how many years his senior the God was.
"Good morning", he greeted courteously, his voice betraying his nervosity. "You are... his father?" Farin stopped himself from saying 'Alvarr'. In the first place, that was what humanity called their whole race - he had just started to use it as a name for this specific one.

The old one shook his head with a good-natured smile. "One of his fathers. Come, let's sit at the side. You can ask and I will answer, if I can."
The God's open invitation surprised Farin. He hadn't expected to be treated so kindly, even if he had been invited here by Alvarr in the first place. Even having such a talk in the open was unnatural for him. Their thought processes, the way they acted with each other, it was all so different from human interactions.
Alvarr followed behind Farin, sitting down close enough to touch shoulders and curling his tail on his lap in a relaxed manner. The warmth of his proximity made breathing a bit easier for Farin.

The human looked around. There were other Gods passing them by, some of them calling out in greeting, but most didn't spare them even a glance. They were sitting out in the open - merely at the side, on the roots of the tree - but the whole situation felt more private than in the temple master's rooms. No one was going to eavesdrop here, they didn't care about the topic of their conversation at all. No matter what was said or who was sitting there, it wasn't their business.
He returned his gaze back to the old God in front of him. The grey man was wearing clothes similar to Alvarr's, although he had long sleeves, and was watching him with half-closed eyes and a relaxedly waving tail. Farin cleared his throat, not wanting to keep him waiting any longer.

"My name is Farin. It's nice to meet you." Farin bobbed his head in another greeting and the old God returned the gesture.
"My name cannot be pronounced in your language. Feel free to call me whatever you wish."
While that didn't make it any easier, Farin was relieved to see that the old God wasn't wary at all.

I should try to see how he answers a probably simple question, first.
"Could you explain what you just meant when you said you're one of his fathers?" The old God stroked his short beard before replying.
"We raise the children together. He has his birth-parents and other parents. I helped raise him, so I am one of his fathers." "I see... That is different from how we do it, but I can tell it makes sense." Farin looked around once more. While the children seemed to stick to certain couples, all the other adults were just as open in cuddling with them or otherwise interacting closely. 

"Ah, right, thank you for allowing me to ask you questions in the first place!" Suddenly realizing he was being quite rude with his curiosity, Farin hurried to thank the old God. The man just nonchalantly curled his white tail. "It's fine. Don't worry, go ahead and ask. I won't get mad."

Farin flinched at having his thoughts read. Indeed, he was worrying that his questions might anger the old God. He had spent some time with Alvarr, but he couldn't say for sure that his father would be just as lenient and easy-going. With obvious hesitance, the human asked his most important question.
"How do you know my language? Where did you learn it from?" Alvarr made a small noise at the side, looking at Farin.

"I was taught by my mother, but that isn't what you're asking, is it? We learned the human's language from one of the humans coming in here, long ago. That visitor wanted to talk to us, so he spent a lot of time teaching us your words."
Farin breathed in sharply. "Long ago? Do you know how long ago?" "I don't, but I can tell you that it was the first visitor. That much, I was told."

Alvarr began to lean on Farin when the carrier became obviously agitated. Fidgeting in place, Farin ordered his thoughts.
The first person to come here talked to the Gods? He knew them? Why... why are we bringing sacrifice into the mountain, blinded, if he knew they don't care about it? Did I misunderstand?
"You know about the things the- ...I mean, what the visitors bring. Are they of any interest to you?"

The old God flicked his ears alongside Alvarr. "Taste good", Alvarr purred and his father agreed. "Yes. The fruit and meat you bring are tasty, but we don't truly need them." "Do you know why they are brought here?" "Not at all. The first visitor just started doing it."
Farin placed his hands over his face to think for a second. "I understand. Were there more visitors like me, humans that tried to talk to you?" "A few, not many." "...Have you never wondered why we come into the mountain? Why we are blindfolded?"

The human's voice was laced with confusion but all the old God did was blink. "No."

Seeing Farin unable to understand him, he helpfully supplied more information without being asked to. "You visitors are so curious. You wish to know everything. We don't. We don't need to know what's beyond our territory, the mountain. We don't care."
"That's-" Weird. Impossible. Unnatural. Anything Farin had to say to that thought, he swallowed down. No, they weren't humans. Why was he trying to force human concepts onto their existence? Who had ever said that a creature that appeared humanoid and was possible of human speech needed to be similar to them in all aspects? 

The Gods weren't like humans. The inborn curiosity a human had, they didn't have. Compared to humans, the Gods simply didn't feel the need to know everything. They didn't question the visitors. Whether they came or not - it wasn't any of their concern.

Farin exhaled. "I'm sorry. I just realized I was trying to use human standards to make sense of your words." He rubbed his face and brushed back his hair. "Am I correct in assuming that you have next to no knowledge of humanity and the world outside the mountain?" "Correct. I only know a bit about humans from what was passed down to me when the last visitor wanted to interact with us." "May I ask why you are helping... him to learn human language?"

They weren't the one to initiate contact, so they shouldn't care too much about interacting with us. Why, then, is he taking on the trouble of teaching Alvarr?

The answer was dumbfounding. The old God shrugged and laughed, then simply said: "He likes you. Since he wanted to talk to you, I helped." Alvarr nodded in assent. The human needed all his control to keep his jaw from dropping. Had a human said this with his son around, a huge fight would have broken out. Indeed, he couldn't use human standards to judge their behavior.

"I'll just leave it at that..." Farin pursed his lips and then changed his posture so that he could lean on his knees to think for a moment. Now that he had heard one half of the situation from the old God, he only needed the other half of the story - the knowledge of the temple master. He might tell me if I admit to having talked to the old God. I don't think he will try to keep me in the dark forever. Moreover, it felt like he was more worried that the knowledge would harm me rather than that I'd do something bad with it. I will have to try and reassure him. 

"Thank you very much for answering my questions." The old God blinked at him. "Hm? Finished asking already?" "Well... I admit there are a lot more things I would want to ask about, but I don't want to take advantage of your kindness. What I came here to ask, I asked." The man shrugged leisurely at Farin's words.
"Can I repay you somehow for helping me out?", Farin asked, switching his posture back to a more open one. If possible, he wanted to keep a good relationship with the Gods - and that included not one-sidedly taking without giving back.

Alvarr at his side began speaking in their language and the old God turned to look at his protégé. Farin waited patiently as they conversed, noticing how their conversation was an exchange of very short sentences or single words. The carrier expectantly looked at the old God.
"He'd like to ask a bit about you if you don't mind."
That straightforwardness had Farin embarrassed, his cheeks heating up a bit. So direct! Although I'm happy he wants to know about me...

"Of course, I don't mind. What does he want to know?" 
The way Alvarr began to talk reminded Farin of someone reading out a list. The old God chuckled. "The other visitors only come inside for a short time. He's worried you'll stop coming over as well."
Guilty, Farin lowered his head. "I actually can't promise that it won't happen. The situation outside is... quite complicated. I can't actually enter the mountain whenever I wish, right now is an exception that might change any day."

The old God acted as a translator, speaking back and forth to both young men in order for them to hear what the other had to say. "He says that if he can help you, you can ask him at any time. It makes him nervous that you say your situation is complicated."
Knowing that Alvarr was worried about him made a sweet feeling rise up in Farin's heart. "Thank you", he said to the red God next to him, his tone gentle. "I'll remember that."

"I as well", the old God said, patting his chest. "Since you're important to him, you're important to me. You can come over whenever you wish, but make him lead you. You humans are fragile."
Painfully reminded of the scene where the demon beast had nearly killed him, Farin nodded. He wasn't going to ever walk alone into that forest, under no circumstances. "That's true, I guess we really are weak compared to you."

Suddenly, Alvarr tugged at his father's arm. The man translated again. "He wants you to go back. If staying here too long will cause you trouble, he'd rather bring you over again another time and not ask any more questions." Farin thought about that for a moment and then nodded. "Yes, that might be better. Thanks for understanding."

Not wasting any time with useless formalities, the old God said his goodbye and climbed back up to his cocoon. No matter his age, the old man was as agile and strong as any God in Farin's eyes.

"Go back", Alvarr said as soon as his father was gone.
"Yeah. Let's go back to the entrance."

Owl

I need to cut down the length a bit, at least for a while. It's a bit too time-consuming right now D: