Goblin Town -- Logs

The next day, Cinnamon and Shane's morning is interrupted by a cheerful Tre. His taxi business has also turned partially messenger business, out of sheer reasonableness. If he's going to be taking a fare two miles toward one end of the street, it just makes sense that if someone happens to need a message taken about that same distance, that he could do that as well! He's smiling cheerfully as he knocks on the cottage door. Cinnamon opens the door at his knock, beaming, "Good morning, Tre! Would you like to come in for a bite to eat, or would you rather have something to go?" Having had to learn this for herself, since she has to trek up and down the street on a daily basis, Cinnamon's quite happy to feed family and friends on the go as well!

Tre beams, "I should take it to go if you have something yummy I can hold and eat while I'm trotting -- it's a busy morning! Market day tomorrow, so people are doing a bunch of last-minute preparations." He shifts a little, smiling as his hoof-bells jingle cheerfully, "I have a letter for you! Well, actually it's for Spice, but she wasn't at Josie's and I haven't seen either of them and if they aren't around, they're usually here, so I thought I'd bring it here for you to pass on!"

Cinnamon nods quickly, "Sure! Let me pack up some muffins for you, and I'm happy to pass Spicy's letter on to her." Shane wanders to the door to say hello to Tre, not having yet bothered to put on a shirt. He often doesn't until he's ready to leave and start his day. He exchanges greetings with Tre and the two young men chat while Cinnamon gets the muffins ready. She darts off into her kitchen, swiftly packing four of her honey-oat muffins into a paper twist that Tre can easily tuck into his messenger bag, and comes trotting back, "Here you go -- enjoy them! I'll give Spice the letter as soon as I see her, okay?" Tre almost whickers with happiness at the muffins, and even gives Cinnamon a quick hug before he trots back off to his cab and heads on about his day. Cinnamon laughs and happily returns the hug -- she loves seeing friends and family thriving! She glances at the letter after closing the door.

The envelope he handed off is thick, rich, cream-colored vellum addressed in beautiful calligraphy. The wax holding it closed is sealed with Caradog's crest. Shane smiles, "For some reason, seeing the name Spice in that handwriting is a little bit amusing. New-fashioned name, old-fashioned penmanship."

Cinnamon grins at Shane, nodding happily, "Right?! Plus, I bet this is her thank you for the money -- isn't that awesome of Caradog?"

Shane's brows draw together, "But... you're the one that allocated all the money. I mean, Spice did a lot of the hacking... but you're the one that knew the kinds of places to look for it. Her job was unlocking the doors."

Cinnamon smiles and shakes her head, "I wasn't the one that did all the hard work, though, Shaney -- that was Spicy and Sparrow and Kestrel and... oh, and Elias and Jaeger, you know?" She sets the letter carefully on the little odds and ends shelf she has by her door, then heads back into her little cottage to finish breakfast with her [eeeeeee deliciously half-dressed!] sweetheart, "Those folks all deserve to be thanked bunches for their hard work and efforts!" As she slides back into her seat and has another drink of orange juice, she cheerfully adds, "I just pointed at things, you know? Like... like on the butte in the desert. It was you and Sparrow that caught that guy!"

Shane sits down across from the little dragon, wincing slightly before his face goes serious, "No. It was all three of us that caught that guy. If you'll remember, you're the one that literally caught him -- you didn't just point at things. Neither Sparrow nor I would have gotten to him in time." He's holding his tea cup in both hands and looking gravely across the table.

Cinnamon giggles and blushes as she looks down at her glass, "I just -- I... I didn't even realize it was a person! Or... or, er, w-what he was, um..." She has a hasty gulp of orange juice again -- she's still mortified that she effectively dropped on a man who was pee-... er, relieving himself!

Shane is still quietly solemn, "But you caught him. Do you realize that you actually told just a tiiiny white lie there, acushla -- that you just pointed at things? You completely negated everything else you did. Yes, Sparrow and I also played a part. All three of us did. Why do you erase yourself like that?"

Cinnamon blinks confusedly at Shane, "What? I didn't lie! I wouldn't deliberately hurt you like that!"

Shane shakes his head softly, "You did... just a little, a ghr�. 'All I did was point at things. You and Sparrow actually caught the guy.' I know it wasn't deliberate... not all untruths are."

Cinnamon frowns thoughtfully, replaying the (mortifying, eeek!) incident in her head... then gives Shane a puzzled look, "Umm... well, okay, I pointed out the tent even though I didn't know what it was, and Sparrow yelled at me to change and get down there, so I did... but... that's all I did, really? It was Sparrow who grabbed him, not me."

Shane nods, "And you're completely erasing yourself from the gifts to Caradog and the trod in Chicago and what you're doing to help the vampire's dependents... my sweet little love... I know not everyone is as transparent as me, but why don't you want them to know?"

Cinnamon tilts her head at Shane, a bemused smile on her lips, "But, umm... I don't think I do? I mean, I want to see the folks who deserve credit to get it!" She considers for a bit before hesitantly adding, "Plus I... I've seen managers and bosses basically, um... steal credit for stuff that folks working for them have done, and... and I hate that! So... so I don't ever want to be like that, you know?"

Shane reaches across the table and laces his fingers with Cinnamon's, voice gentle, "There's a difference between 'our team did this' and 'these people did this, pay no attention to the dragon behind the curtain'."

Cinnamon blinks at Shane... then giggles in spite of herself as she pushes her glasses up with her free hand, "Okay, I know I'm not the Great and Powerful Ozzamon!"

Shane laughs, "No. Everything's not green, for one thing... and you'd live in the Ruby City, not the Emerald one. But you know what I mean. You try to erase yourself. There's a middle path between taking all the credit, and taking none of the credit."

Cinnamon opens her mouth to reflexively deny... but then pauses. Okay, hold on... she knows Shane doesn't lie. He's saying she tries to erase herself... instead of what she thought she was doing, which was making sure credit went to where it belonged. So... should she have told everyone she did this? She winces at that thought -- yikes, no! Everyone would have been staring at her! She frowns again, though this time it's more bemused, "But wait, how can you... take credit without being... well... proud? Er... proud-sounding, at least?"

Shane arches one dark brow, "Acushla, pride is a good thing. Arrogance is what's bad." He leans back a little, and then a slow smile comes across his face, "Think of it this way: most of the month Fraser is proud of the work he does as First Mate and Bo's'un. He keeps the Valkyrie running smoothly, as Arvin's second-in-command. Around the full moon, though, he's an arrogant bastard that most of his shipmates would like to slap, if it weren't for the fact that he's stronger and scarier than all of them."

Cinnamon grins wryly and gets a bit pink at remembering a few smacks she's administered around those times! "Okay, but... but still, how do you, um... how do you take credit without... without stealing all the attention?"

Shane replies, "You say something like, 'our team made this possible,' and then you give credit to each person for the role they played -- including your own role without completely underplaying it! 'Pointing at things' was important in catching that guy, because you're the only one that could see him. You're the one that knew what sorts of places to look for hidden funds -- Spice unlocked them. Kestrel, sadly, is the one that made it possible for us to realize there was something going on. Sparrow and I made the actual capture."

Cinnamon considers that for a long, slow moment. She has a couple of absent sips of her orange juice as she does so. Finally, though, she sighs softly, then glances up sideways at Shane, her voice soft, "S-sorry?"

Shane shakes his head and squeezes her hand, "Don't apologize. There's no need. Just... know that you're worth more than you think you are -- and you are not the bosses that steamrolled you and stole your thunder. You are amazing." Cinnamon smiles a bit uncertainly as she gently squeezes back. She's going to take Shane's words to heart, and try to not... not... hm. Not hand off all the credit? -- but... still. She's... really unsure about herself being actually amazing. After all, she's just herself, right?

As the two are smiling across the table at one another, there's another knock on the door. Shane laughs, "Busy morning!"

Cinnamon giggles as she slips from the table and patters for the door, obscurely relieved to have a moment away from Shane's sometimes too-knowing gaze. Does she really... erase herself? At the door she calls, "Who is it?"

It's a familiar and perhaps surprising voice, "It's Marcus. May I come in? I know it's early. I brought some of chef's pastries!"

Cinnamon looks a bit surprised, but opens the door and smiles, "Hi, Marcus! Come on in." As he steps through the door, her confusion blurts unexpectedly out of her, "Hey, um, M-Marcus? Do I... erase myself?"

Marcus doesn't precisely stumble, but he does stop rather abruptly at the question, pale brows going up, "Erase yourself?" He glances around the room as if that will give him an answer to the question, and his eyes fall on a half-dressed Shane. He clears his throat, "How do you mean erase yourself?"

Cinnamon frowns bemusedly as she closes the door, then turns to follow Marcus back into the cottage's little kitchen/eating area, "Like, umm... like not... take credit when it's due?" She's trying to remember a time when Marcus was there with them, so she can mention that, but it's not coming immediately to mind... and so she misses the elf's slight tension.

Marcus mms thoughtfully and holds up something in his hand, "You mean like this trod that seems to think that the entirety of the bequest they received came from Vater?" That makes Shane snort a quiet laugh.

Cinnamon blinks distractedly up at Marcus, then glances at the object he's holding, "What? Uh, sorry, I mean... um, explain, please?"

The thing Marcus is holding is another thick envelope with a wax seal, this one broken open. His blue eyes twinkle slightly, "The trod that you helped endow with a million dollars... a million dollars they seem to think came exclusively from my father. He was slightly puzzled by that, since he knows it was a group effort."

Cinnamon gasps, her eyes widening in horror, "Oh, no! Who did I forget to credit?!" Marcus looks at her with an expression much like the one Shane wore before: one elegant brow arched and a wry smile on his face, as if he's waiting for her to catch up. It actually takes about three or four seconds of silence... and then the little dragon blushes hotly and facepalms. A moment later she mumbles, "Oh, crabcakes... just... can we just forget I ever said that?!" She's incredibly embarrassed, and feeling quite self-conscious! -so she reacts predictably: she nearly darts into the little kitchen, "Wow I'm a dope here you are just standing and waiting I'm so sorry Marcus come have a seat would you like some eggs and bacon and toast and here's some orange juice okay?!"

Shane murmurs with a gentle smile in his voice, "No, I don't think we ever will, acushla. Not until you start realizing you're doing it. Group. Effort."

Marcus nods, "Vater is rather amused by it, actually. He sent me to tell you that he's going to very politely let them know there was an entire cadre of people involved." He settles in one of the chairs, then discreetly looks Shane up and down.

Cinnamon sighs exasperatedly at herself while she's facing away from both [incredibly beautiful why oh why do I keep coming out like such a doof around them both?!] men, and spooning food onto a plate. She has her 'please forget I'm such a moron and don't tease me about it' smile on her face as she turns around and sets the plate and utensils in front of Marcus, "There you go -- oh! Also, thank you so much for the pastries, too. Um, that... that's fine, about your dad?"

Marcus sets the pastries down in the middle of the table. They're flaky, warm, and filled with some sort of jam that smells sweet and rich. "I'm glad, because I know him, and he'd have done it anyway." His smile gentles, "So yes, you erase yourself. You shouldn't, you know. You have a shine that you should let be seen... what is the saying?" He looks at Shane, "'Don't hide your candle under a bucket'?"

Shane actually laughs warmly, "'Don't hide your light under a bushel' -- but you got close."

Cinnamon sighs as she sits back down, absently pulling two of the delicious-smelling pastries over onto her plate as she replies, "I guess... but... I dunno. I mean... I don't really feel like I am? But Shaney says I do, and now you are too, and..." She sighs again and has a big bite of one of the pastries as she thinks... but then blinks and chews more slowly as her eyes widen. Only once she's swallowed does she add with awe, "Wowsers, Marcus! These pastries are fantastic!"

Marcus nods and beams, "They are, aren't they? They're chef's specialty. It's lingonberry jam." He looks at Shane, "What have you been telling her?"

Shane smiles, "That it's okay to be proud as long as you aren't arrogant... and that you can take credit and still give credit to others at the same time. That tooting your own horn doesn't mean you're stealing the spotlight all the time."

Marcus nods and looks at Cinnamon, trying not to think what it means that Shane is only half-dressed. He's been trying not to think about how far along their relationship might have moved -- physically, as it were -- but having Shane in essentially just his kilt makes it difficult. "An army is made up of soldiers and officers. Good officers know how to delegate and how to shine a light on their troops while still taking the correct share of the credit. Vater taught me that."

Cinnamon rests her chin in one small hand as she sighs again, "But I -- but... I don't, er, really want an army? -and -- and I'm really not sure I... wanna be a manager either? Considering what they're usually like, I mean?" She scowls at the pastry in her other hand, almost as if it is at fault in this emotional conundrum for her... then almost defiantly eats it in big, savoring bites.

Shane murmurs, "Metaphors, acushla. You're already the head of a family. There's a reason Spice calls you Bosslady. You're a Councilor. You've already led several things for the council... all the things with Nusantara. You. Are. A. Leader." Each word is said gently but with emphasis.

Cinnamon sighs once the distraction of the pastry is gone, reflexively hiding her face in her hands, "But I don't... I don't feel like one!"

Shane smiles, "Ah, there we go. The imposter syndrome is strong with this one."

Cinnamon grumbles grumpily into her hands, then sighs... then finally peeks over her fingers at the two men, her voice a bit grouchy, "I didn't ask to be a leader, you know!" She thinks about that for a moment... then sighs again as she starts the second pastry, "Okay, that was... silly. But still. How do you... umm... do the 'good leader giving credit right' thingie... you know?"

Marcus replies thoughtfully, "Well, you can lay out what each person did, including yourself. An officer will often be responsible for strategy."

Shane nods, "Or for logistics. Logistics are more important than you might think they are."

Marcus nods in return, "Talk in 'we' and 'us' and 'our' terms. Speak as a group."

Cinnamon nods slowly, starting to feel a bit better as it looks like she's not going to have to either be the center of attention... or steal all the glory from folks she feels worked harder than she did. She has another pastry as she listens and thinks... then finally gives a tiny smile, "Okay, I... think maybe I get it? Or at least... I'll try?"

Shane beams and leans over to give her a quick kiss, "You'll be amazing."

Marcus watches the easy affection and feels a little twist of jealousy... or no: envy. It's not a venomous emotion; it's a longing. He takes a deep breath before murmuring, "I'm sorry; may I use the restroom?" He's got something for Cinnamon while he's here, after all.

Cinnamon grins with shy happiness at the kiss... then beams as she nods to Marcus, "Sure! Help yourself."

Marcus slips into the restroom and leaves a note tucked into the mirror: "You gleam like rubies in the sun" Afterwards, he visits with the couple for a few more minutes before excusing himself to start the rest of his day. Later, when Cinnamon uses the bathroom just before heading out for the day, she makes a slightly startled/delighted squeak at finding the note! She comes pattering out a few moments later, beaming, "Lookie, asthore! Isn't this nice of Marcus? Rubies, wow... they're so pretty, too!"

Shane mms and smiles a bit, "Very nice of him..." [-and getting more and more obvious just how he feels about my a ghr� all the time.]

The next day a grinning Shane shows up at Cinnamon's office, "Elias is having a small dinner gathering, apparently. He's sent me out with invites for you, Thorn, and Sparrow. I didn't even realize Sparrow was on the street today, but then I went to where he usually stays, and boom -- Sparrow and Kestrel."

Cinnamon brightens, "Oh! Fantastic -- I wanted to ask them if they wanted to speak with Jiajun when he arrives with Tao!" She grins happily as she hugs Shane, adding, "Sure, I'd love to attend! What's it about, do you know?" She adds thoughtfully a moment later, "Actually... I wanna ask Elias something too -- I want to know how to make the anniversary celebration at my place fun and tasty for him too!"

Shane smiles and shrugs, "I have no idea. I think it's likely just Elias wanting to have people over. He's social for a vampire, and it's been a while since he's been able to fuss over those of us he considers his chicks. Oh. That's right -- invites for Josie and Spice, too."

Cinnamon grins at that, "Cool! Tonight?"

Shane nods, "Yup. Short notice, I know."

Cinnamon looks a bit puzzled, wondering what caused Elias to decide so abruptly on a dinner party... but then just smiles and mentally shrugs. If it's important, she'll find out tonight! Elias' invitations aren't very formal, aside from the fact that he writes in calligraphy the way some people write in cursive -- it's just his default penmanship. The invites basically say he misses having people come over, and he would love if they could come visit and have dinner at his apartment. The wording is perhaps odd, as most people would have asked if you could come have dinner with them. Cinnamon giggles at the invite, grinning at Shane after he's handed it to her, "He must be so tired of the 'are we the dinner?' joke!"

Shane laughs and nods, "He said he'd heard that one so many times that he started asking people if they asked because they wanted to be." That makes Cinnamon giggle again! Also, before they leave that evening, Shane tells Cinnamon that he's going to give Elias a little blood. Sidhe blood, even half-sidhe blood, is pretty nutrient packed, so something of a delicacy for vampires. The young man plans on using one of his blades to create a small cut so he can get some blood into a glass or cup of some sort -- an ounce or two, tops. Cinnamon blushes slightly at that information, feeling a bit foolishly embarrassed even as she nods to Shane. She's been telling herself for... wow, several months now? -that she was going to give Elias some blood for Solstice -- yet here she is, still sans test tubes from Iason! She firmly tells herself that enough is enough: she is not going to be intimidated by needles and blood-taking any more, and she is going to see Iason tomorrow!

That night, when people arrive after dark as requested on the invites, Elias answers the door with his broad, happy smile. Everyone there knows him, after all, and no one is a person that's frightened by his mouthful of fangs. Cinnamon waves happily from behind Shane and Thorn, "Elias! Hi, how are you?!" Shane moves in to hug Elias, and murmurs in his ear. The expression Elias gives him in return is avuncular, and the vampire looks very touched.

Cinnamon has brought some of her muffins as a hosting gift, so after hugging Elias tightly, she beams and shyly offers the little basket to him. Tucked in between the muffins are a few jars of somewhat rare kitchen herbs. Elias takes the basket with just as much happiness as at Shane's murmur, and exclaims with pleasure. He picks up the jars and examines them to see what else he's been given, inhaling happily at the herbaceous scents. Thorn smiles, "Some not-so-common kitchen herbs. I sneaked... well, no -- Iason knows, of course. We have some growing in the herb gardens to spruce up some of the food. Good, tasty food can be almost as important as the right medicine for someone healing."

Elias beams at Thorn, "Thank you! Iason is unfairly burdened with talents. Having a green thumb amongst all the others is just one more."

Cinnamon smiles as Elias thanks them all... and then, as they all walk into the house, she curiously adds, "So what's the occasion, Elias?"

As he heads toward the kitchen, the vampire replies, "I haven't had anyone over in quite a while and I wanted to chat with everyone about a few things." Shane doesn't wince, so Elias is apparently telling the truth. The ancient man pauses at the kitchen door, adding, "The two of you may want to stay here for a few minutes."

Thorn blinks and nods, "Oh, of course!"

Cinnamon too nods hastily, "No problem!" She turns into the living room, glancing around to see who's there already. It turns out that the only people there are... them. She and Thorn are left in the combined living and dining area while Elias and Shane disappear into the kitchen. Then again, Sparrow is not known for his punctuality... and they may have arrived slightly early.

Thorn blinks again, "Uh... huh."

Cinnamon glances around thoughtfully, checking to see if there's anything she can do to help make things nicer... are there enough chairs or sitting spots for everyone? Is there some sort of flat spot near the chairs for things like glasses or mugs? She'll shift things around a bit to ensure everyone will be able to see everyone else, once they've all arrived. She straightens a moment later, dusting her hands off, "There we go! That should be enough for everyone. Does that look nice and cozy and inviting to you, Thorn?"

"Oh, definitely yes," Thorn replies, having helped as requested by Cinnamon. He muses, [I wonder what Elias and Shane are discussing?] It's not like he can eavesdrop, though.

Shane and Elias return just at the end of Cinnamon's futzing about. Shane is rolling down his sleeve as the two men speak quietly. Elias looks... considerably less pale than normal -- enough so that he looks almost normally human. Even the veins that are normally extremely visible beneath his skin are almost invisible. Thorn doesn't raise an eyebrow, except mentally. Elias looks healthier, like he just had a nip (so to speak) or nibble of something. It's not Thorn's business, but he thinks Shane just donated a bit of blood to Elias. Which... Thorn likes Elias and Shane both, so he's glad Elias is getting some nutrition, and Shane is utterly trustworthy. Just as they're returning, there's another knock at the door. Cinnamon starts to glance over towards the two men -- but then beams at the knock, "I'll get it!" She patters happily over to the door, "Who is it?"

It's Josie and Spice. Josie is wagging like mad, and launches herself at Cinnamon for a hug. Cinnamon squeaks startledly as she's almost engulfed in happy-fluffy Josie, then giggles as she hugs back warmly. Her voice is a little muffled from the enthusiastic wolf spirit's furriness, "Hi, JoJo! Hi, Spicy! I mean, I can't see you, but you must be there too!"

Spice oofs as she gets tailwhacked in the process, then laughs and steps around her sweetie and her friend, holding up two bottles of wine, "One for everyone to drink, one that I've been told is fuckin' amazing in French cookin'. Hey, Bosslady!" Elias chuckles and moves to hug her, and Spice blinks, "Dude! You're like... all fuckin' glowy and shit!" She waves at Elias' face, "Like, I can barely see the veins and shit...?"

Elias looks amused, "Ah. Yes. None of you have seen me immediately after having, ah... refreshed myself."

Spice's eyes go wide, "No shit? That's what it looks like when you've just had a hematocrit cocktail? Fuckin' cool."

Shane puts a hand over his face and mutters, "Real discreet." At the same time, Thorn unconsciously thinks the exact same thing Shane says!

Of course, that's when there's another knock on the door. Cinnamon giggles into Josie's fur, then cheerfully calls, "Who iiiis it?!"

Elias moves to answer the door, and smiles, "Ah. Sparrow, Kestrel. We're all here." Shane bites his tongue before he makes a comment about Mr. Boddy. Sparrow does a back-clasp hug-handshake with Elias, and Kestrel just hugs... then hands off some kind of sweet-smelling braided herbs to Elias, as the vampire gestures them on in. The apartment smells like something deliciously savory is in the kitchen, as Elias moves around to find somewhere for the braids of herbs.

When Josie moves to hug Shane and Thorn, Cinnamon laughs and hugs Spice, then turns to greet Sparrow and Kestrel as well, "Hi there, you two! Hey, do you want to talk to Tao's friend Jiajun about hydroponics, when they return here? I know the elders of the Akoesdi and the Svnoyi are really interested, after all?"

Kestrel looks quite interested, "That would be wonderful. Some of the water-gathering solutions have been very successful, and parts of the rezzes are doing much better. We'd do good with using some of it in hydroponics."

Sparrow wraps his arms around Kestrel from behind. He was actually wearing shoes when they arrives, but he took them off at the door, "Hell, yeah! Whatever we can do to feed our people better."

Cinnamon beams hugely, almost bouncing on her toes with excitement, "Oh my gosh the water suggestions are working already?! That is so awesome I'm so pleased to hear that yay!" She laughs and impulsively hugs them both again, "Awesomesauce news -- I'm so happy for you all -- oh! How's the credit union thingie going, too?! Is it helping, is it taking off for folks, can I help at all more?!"

Before they can answer, Elias claps his hands lightly, "It's so good to have everyone here! It's been too long. Everyone have a seat and I'll start getting food ready!" Shane offers to help with that, since he knows Cinnamon would if she weren't chatting.

Almost everyone has been there multiple times before, so they end up largely in familiar seats, with both Josie and Sparrow sitting on the floor in front of their partners' chairs. Kestrel removes their long coat before seating themself, revealing a long, flowing skirt and a peasant blouse, and beams, "It's been going so well! We may ask your help when tax time rolls around, but for now, people are trusting it so much more than a whi... than a bank off-rez."

Cinnamon squeaks excitedly, almost bouncing on the loveseat near Kestrel's armchair, "Oh, yay! Oh, wow this is so exciting I'm so happy for everyone that both the water and the credit union is flourishing and yeah totally happy to help at tax time just let me know okay oh!" She pauses just long enough to take a breath, then beams excitedly again, "So hey I was wondering, Sparrow and Josie: would you two be interested maybe in taking on the arctic indigenous North American folks from me? I don't know how you'd like to split that up but I was thinking of inviting Josie maybe to come to Greenland with me to meet the really nice folks there that I was able to help what do you both think?!"

Sparrow and Josie look at one another and it's like there's a brief, wordless conversation before they both shrug and nod, and Sparrow replies, "I figure we'd do it like we already do -- split it along the longitudinal lines. So Josie'd have the ones on her half of the globe and above the equator and I'd have the others."

He arches an inquiring brow, and Josie nods, "That'd give me Greenland and you'd get, like, the Aleuts and all, right?"

Sparrow nods and grins, "I've met a few Greenlanders. I think Josie'd love 'em."

Cinnamon nodnods cheerfully, "Okay! I don't want to rush them, and I want everyone to be happy with the transition, so it may take a bit... but yeah, JoJo, let's go visit Greenland when we have some time, okay?"

Josie beams, and her tail starts its attempts at wagging -- though it can't hurt anyone since it's trapped against Spice's chair, "That would be amazing!" Just then Elias and Shane start bringing out bowls of a thick, savory beef stew with loaves of homemade sourdough bread.

Cinnamon is beaming almost as much as Josie is wagging -- things are going absolutely splendidly, she thinks! She thanks Shane for the food, sniffing happily at it as she waits for everyone to be served before starting, "Wow, this smells absolutely fantastic, Elias!"

Thorn hops up to help with serving, adding, "It does -- it smells fantastic!"

Elias nods and settles, holding but not drinking from a mug of tea -- he likes the various aromas teas have, "Thank you! It's an old recipe and I haven't pulled it out in quite a while... and my sourdough starter was going to riot if I didn't actually bake something with it at some point soon." Cinnamon giggles at that! The vampire leans back in his chair and smiles, "Incidentally, my dear... I received a very grateful thank you letter about the money donation. I did not disabuse them of their erroneous notion that it was 100% my doing, as I assumed you wished to stay anonymous for some reason."

Cinnamon blushes hotly, at first staring intently at her bowl... but then she remembers Marcus and Shane gently chiding her about hiding. She takes a very deep breath, then slowly raises her head and tries to reply with calm confidence. Her voice only shakes a little -- which she hopes no one notices -- as she says, "I, I am-m-m... sorry? B-but I... I w-was, ummm..." She darts a quick, furtive glance at Shane -- whew, he's smiling at her! -- then continues with a smidge more confidence, "I, umm... sh-should have said it was a group effort I'm sorry I er I s-sometimes f-forget to, t-to mention... m-myself?" She winces as once again her sentence ends with a nervous squeak!

Thorn smiles quietly as Cinnamon explains what happened and why... and Elias nods, "That's a good thing to realize." His eyes are kind as he smiles his slightly-terrifying smile... though even Kestrel is used to it at this point. After all, in their animal form they too have a mouthful of very sharp teeth.

Sparrow chuckles and nods, "Oh yeah. The rezzes that got money from us..." he makes a motion between himself and Kestrel, "were told that it was a group effort and we were just the nominal donors because the rest just wished to remain anonymous."

Shane would have just settled in the floor as well, but since Cinnamon sat on a loveseat, he took the other side. He leans in and nuzzles into her hair, murmuring, "Proud of you." Cinnamon blushes hotly again at the nuzzle, though her nervous squeak is a little softer than usual... mostly because she turns and hides her heated face against Shane's shoulder! Shane slides an arm around Cinnamon and smiles, though he doesn't explain the gentle, loving lecture he and Marcus gave her. Cinnamon gets a bit limp as she relaxes into Shane's hug, and sighs gustily -- that was surprisingly hard to do! It feels like Shane approved, though, thank goodness... and oooh, the stew still smells awesome! She takes a deep breath, then slowly straightens enough to nervously face the room again. Her smile is a little shaky, but no one seems disapproving... whew! Thank goodness again. She'll start eating her stew along with everyone else.

Sparrow is rubbing a hand up and down one of Kestrel's calves. He looks around the room as he asks, "So... we votin' Aoi out or what?"

Cinnamon sighs at that, feeling bad for poor Aoi... even if the beautiful phoenix truly is deeply in the wrong, as far as caring for her people. "I... wish... that I, I... d-didn't feel that... like that would be the ethical thing to do? Though... I guess it really mostly depends on Tao, doesn't it? If he feels he can't or doesn't want the job, then... umm..." She glances worriedly at her friends, "W-what do, er... all of you think?" She adds wryly, "She's in New York right now -- did you know? Something about being able to better defend herself, or something? Which... is not... I mean, it kind of sounds almost... threatening?"

Spice snorts and kicks a foot at Sparrow, proving that everyone knows he wouldn't hurt anyone over something so unserious, "Way to put everyone on the fuckin' spot, you old shit-disturber." Cinnamon smiles at that, obscurely relieved at Spice abruptly lessening the tension in the room. The little dragon has some more stew as she waits for others to share their thoughts as well.

Sparrow arches a brow and grins at Spice, "Chiquita, it's my goddamned job to put people on the spot." Spice looks down to see... somehow, she's now wearing an elf-shoe! She frowns perplexedly at it, wondering where her Doc Martens went. Sparrow winks at her before turning to the room with a sigh, "She's retreated to a space that's got a bigger, more populous Chinatown is what it sounds like. It's also got a small enclave there that Jarek could walk into and come out with somethin' like a small army -- and don't let's get started on the number of Dominicans and Puerto Ricans and such that Nasteexo could rally. It's not solely a stronghold for Her. I think she's sensing her grip slipping."

Elias looks somewhat sad, but nods, "I think... we may have to. I respect her, but she is not doing her job correctly. I once worried that Marcus might have to be voted out, but he's turning out to be an excellent councilor now that he's... ah..."

Sparrow smirks, "Got his head out of his ass?"

Elias nods at that and chuckles quietly. Cinnamon too nods in agreement with Sparrow's comment, though she's unwittingly taking it more seriously than he. A moment later she somewhat confusedly asks, "Though, um... what does it matter that it's not just a stronghold for her, please? I mean... I kinda assumed she just wanted to get more energy for the next council meeting? So... are you saying it's something else?"

Elias smiles at Cinnamon, "What he's saying is that it's nothing to worry about. You said something about it sounding dangerous, I think?"

Cinnamon shakes her head, "No, more that it sounded vaguely threatening. Like... does she really think we're going to attack..." Her voice trails off as she thinks a bit... and then she murmurs thoughtfully, "Ooh, that's right -- she didn't see anything of what happened at the meeting where Qadan had us attacked... so she doesn't know we all worked together on that. So... she might actually not be sure she won't be ganged up on physically -- and I bet she'll feel ganged up on at least emotionally, if folks try to vote her out."

Sparrow nods slowly, "Ah. I see. She's seeking refuge and wants to have some power in reserve when she comes to the meeting. But that's only a temporary placeholder."

Josie nods solemnly, "She's letting her people be hurt and go without." She frowns, "I've actually gone home and helped chop firewood when it's gotten really bad on some of the rezzes!"

Sparrow nods, "Exactly, Jo. But you an' me? We're fuckin' savages, in her eyes."

Cinnamon sighs again at that, glumly wishing she could tell them both they're wrong. Unfortunately... she suspects her saying that would make Shane wince. "I'm so sorry. I wish I had a better answer... but all I've got is Tao as an answer, you know?"

Sparrow smiles wryly and nods, "Tao is a good answer -- an excellent answer, even. He is, after all, The Way." He grins broadly for a second... but then his face goes serious, "He knows about this, right? We won't be springing this shit on him out of nowhere, right?"

Cinnamon shakes her head, "I think he came up with the idea, actu- wait, no. Shane angrily mentioned it, and Tao just nodded like he'd already realized it. Umm... did you know..." She pauses, trying to figure out how to politely say, 'She lied to him about me and Nusantara!' The little dragon doesn't want to sound whiny, after all.

Elias leans forward, brows furrowed, "Know what, draga?"

Shane scowls, "Aoi lied to Tao about Nusantara and my acushla! Caused him to get all irritated and come storming into the office at Currier's."

Cinnamon blushes with embarrassment... but sheepishly nods, "He had Jaw-long with him too, so he knew we were telling him the truth... even if he didn't trust Shane, which would be stupid... and honestly, I think he did?"

Sparrow looks livid, "That's a new low...!"

Josie frowns, looking unwontedly serious, "She... she thought that she could get away with that? Yeah. We gotta get someone on the Council who cares more about her people than saving face."

Elias sighs, standing, "I'm going to get the muffins for dessert. I think those of us on the Council here have made a decision."

Cinnamon nods silently, a bit wide-eyed at a livid Sparrow! "I, umm... think Marcus may agree with us too... considering he was there as well?"

Sparrow's voice is very quiet and very even, "She not only neglected her people... she lied about it?" Cinnamon blinks, reflexively (and unwittingly) leaning back just a little as she gives one small, silent nod. She feels... almost guilty, somehow, even though she knows it's not her fault. Sparrow shakes his head, "Not. Acceptable." Again, his voice is quiet... clipped... even. Everyone here knows Sparrow doesn't get loud when he's angry. Instead he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath... and a smile settles over his features again, "But not our problem for much longer."

Cinnamon is unwittingly leaning back against Shane by now, her eyes a little wide behind her glasses as she squeaks, "S... sorry? I, um... th-think Snow and -- a-and Jalil and Nasteexo... all agree too? S-so that'd be, umm... seven or eight of us right there?"

Sparrow shakes his head, "You've nothing to be sorry for, darlin'." After that, someone manages to steer the conversation away from politics and onto more playful, personal subjects, while people nibble on muffins and drink tea or mead or wine. It's quite late at night when everyone finally heads home, replete and warm with happiness.

The next day Cinnamon is determined to go see Iason and give some blood for Elias! She is! Absolutely! Right after she... makes and eats a hearty breakfast like you're supposed to before giving blood, right... oh, and finishes washing the dishes and putting them all away... oh, gosh, the bathroom is such a mess! Okay, gotta get that cleaned up too... but eventually she regretfully manages to not have anything else that needs doing in her little cottage.

Cinnamon scolds herself for being such a silly little coward, and firmly sets out up the street towards the Currier's Hall end... though she does pause long enough to purchase some more root beer... oh! Fresh apples? Shane will love those in a pie! Wait, wait, she's doing it again, darnit! Onwards... absolutely, yes! Oh, wait, there's Sparrow -- she pauses to cheerfully tell him that if he's okay with it, she'd actually rather remain anonymous, regarding their new credit union, so nobody worries about a white person being involved, okay? Sparrow nods seriously as he listens... then arches a brow with a bit of a smirk, "Darlin', what is it you're avoidin' by tellin' me somethin' I already know and you know I already know?"

Cinnamon blinks, then pushes up her glasses with a bit of confusion, "Umm... what? I just thought... it'd be polite to let you know I'm glad you did what you did?"

Sparrow mmhmms and nods, "It is polite. It's also extraneous, since we've already discussed it. Also, you're jittery as fuck, darlin'. What's goin' on?"

Cinnamon blinks again, "We did? I thought it was just you and Kestrel saying you kept things anonymous... so I thought it'd be polite to, um... sorta verify that was fine, if that makes sense?" She abruptly realizes (a) she's doing it again, darnit! and (b) she has absolutely no desire to be teased about this either, even if by a friend! So she hastily adds, "B-but, um, yeah! Ok-kay, if you already got it just fine then no problem thanks again I w-won't pester you any more have a nice day!" -- and waves as she hastily patters off!

A few heartbeats later Cinnamon sighs a bit exasperatedly at herself... this is just too much. [Really, girl... you are a great big scary dragon, remember? Time to grow the heck up!] She sighs again as she comes around the corner and spots the pub, which is always quiet at this time of day... almost as quiet as Tao's response regarding Aoi's old, or former secretary. Honestly, he said he'd drop her a note before he left, and that was... what, a day or three ag- oh! Wait, wait -- what if he left the note as a letter here? Oh, gosh, she'll be so embarrassed if she's been thinking such horrible things about the poor man, and all this time it was she who was the one who fell down on the job! The little dragon abruptly veers into the pub, anxiously asking: are there any letters for her, please? It turns out there is a letter for her... or rather, a scroll. Which... is a letter.

Cinnamon gasps, "Oh, thank goodness!" with relief, then beams and thanks Jack as she accepts the scroll. She heads into the pub itself, planning to... hmm, is it too early for lun- ack! Nonono she is not stopping! Not! She can... she can read as she walks! She'll just walk slow enough that she doesn't run into anyone -- she'd feel terrible if she trompled over some poor soul! Firmly, she makes herself walk back out the door, then continues at a far slower pace, so she can both read and not run into anyone. Mentally she's crossing her fingers that the secretary is well, and didn't do anything drastic in order to sort of... like, give Aoi her 'face' back!

The letter is sealed with wax and ribbons. When opened, she sees it is written in lovely calligraphy, in Mandarin. Happily, the secretary is alive and has been sent back to China now he's no longer part of Aoi's retinue. Tao has arranged that the man will be well taken care of, too. Admittedly, the former secretary wasn't living in poverty or anything horrible like that... but the Celestial Dragon feels the man deserves more for metaphorically falling on his sword. >Cinnamon sighs in great relief at that! She neatly re-rolls the scroll, sort of hugging it happily to herself for a moment before she carefully tucks it into her bag and continues on her way. Well, yay! Ooh, she's gotta tell Thorn and Shane too -- definitely! She'll see Thorn at the Infirmary, of course... maybe Shane will come home for lunch? Oh! She... wasn't she going to make a taste test for Shane and Marcus? What was... oh, that's right: apple tarte tatin and mille-feuille, yes! Awesome -- wait, no -- she's got to make some purchases first! Oh, dear, let's see, where is she on the stree- oh, whew! Right, she can get some of her goods at these shops here -- thank goodness she remembered in time!

About half an hour later, Cinnamon happily patters out of the stores with several purchases tucked into her bag. Thank goodness she remembered! She heads back towards her house, humming happily to herself. She should send out messages to Shane and Marcus about the desserts... would this evening work for the taste test? Hmm... probably! Excellent; she'll send messa- oooh! Maybe Thorn would like to try some too! She should- wait. Thorn -- at... the Infirmary! That's where she was going! ...and... now she's going the wrong way, darnit! Cinnamon stops in the middle of the street and nearly clutches her head. What the heck is wrong with her?! It's just a smidge of blood -- it's a gift! Why is she such a scaredy-cat dunce about all this?! Oooooh! The little dragon straightens up, fists clenched and a look of determination on her face. Gosh darnit! She is not going to be scared about this any more no no no not at all! She is... she's going to 'oo-wan-ga-lema' it! She whirls with righteous indignation at herself -- and runs smack into Shane, "Oof!"

Shane is looking quite cheerful this morning! He too oofs, then laughs warmly, wrapping his arms around Cinnamon to steady them both, "Well, hello there, beautiful!" He leans down and kisses her forehead, then tips his head, "You're looking exceedingly determined about something." The cut he made to feed Elias is far more healed than a human would be.

Cinnamon yeeps startledly, grabbing at Shane so she doesn't topple over. She blinks confusedly up at him... but then beams at the kiss. Eeee it's her Shaney he says she's beautiful that is so cooool! She pushes her glasses up and continues beaming for a few seconds... until his question registers. "Oh! That's right: oowangalema!" She grins, taking his hand as she adds, "This way, please? Oowangalema!"

Shane happily takes Cinnamon's hand and goes with her, "Where exactly are we going... and what are you saying?"

Cinnamon giggles and cheerfully explains, even as she keeps pattering onwards, "Sure! So I wanted to give Elias some blood for a Solstice gift which Iason says he can do while I'm a dragon but I, er, I..." she blushes, "am, ummm..." her voice gets a little small, "k-kinda scared? B-by... n-needles?" Hastily she continues, so she doesn't dwell on that scary mental image, "B-but anyways! So, um, s-so I decided it was time to put on my big girl pants and just go but I was like totally distracted by everything oh that reminds me Tao says the former secretary is fine and in China now and Tao's making sure he's okay so that's good and we can tell Thorny that too and also I have all the makings now for the dessert taste test for the anniversary dinner for you and Marcus and maybe Thorn too if he wants to try and I even got distracted by talking to Sparrow but see there was this record I had as a kid with Danny Kaye telling children's stories on it you know who Danny Kaye is right the vessel with the pestle and the brew that is true and all that? He's hilarious! -and one of the stories had a magic tree that wouldn't drop its fruit unless you said the magic word and the village was starving but only a guy way off up on a mountain knew the magic word and so first the rabbit went and the hermit told Rabbit, 'That tree is called... oowangalema!' and Rabbit runs back but trips and tumbles and loses the word so they send Crow next because he can't trip and he gets the word too but he pauses to chat with friends and then he loses the word too so the village is despairing and then Turtle says he'll go and everyone scoffs but he does go and he gets the word and the whole way home he's saying 'oowangalema!' to himself like when a friendly person offers him a drink of water and when he almost falls off the log over the creek and even when all the villagers come running up though they're yelling and chattering so much that he almost loses it -- but then he gets to the tree and thinks real hard and remembers! And he says the word: oo-wan-ga-leh-ma! -and the delicious fruit falls and the village is saved and here we are at the Infirmary, whew!"

Shane nods and smiles, "Think that might have more to do with the fact that your distraction this time was walking with me in one direction and not with saying the word to yourself over and over?" He's teasing a little bit as he walks with Cinnamon toward the doors of the infirmary.

Cinnamon giggles up at Shane as she walks in with him, "I was thinking it, though!" She grins at the little daemon behind the desk, adding, "Good morning, Nikos! Is Iason available by any chance?"

Nikos nods and smiles, "Well, he will be in about fifteen minutes. Do you want to wait for him?"

Cinnamon hesitates, then opens her mouth to tell Nikos not to bother Iason... but then glances at Shane. [Oh! Right! Oowangalema! ...thank goodness my asthore's here to remind me...] "Y-yes please!" She immediately plops herself down into a seat -- can't wander off by 'accident' if she's seated, right!

Shane sits with Cinnamon, fingers laced with hers and looks at her very seriously, "Iason is the best medic around -- or one of them, anyway. He's not got what Thorn has, but he's got experience. And I'll be right here with you." He doesn't say 'no one likes getting stabbed' or anything like that because he -- unlike Cinnamon -- knows there's a such thing as needle play. Cinnamon nods a bit tensely to Shane, her eyes wide behind her glasses... and her fingers curl tightly around his. Her Shaney isn't laughing at her, so she's fine! Totally fine... everything's f-fine -- and he gets it! ...and... and oolonga- no, angala- er, w-whatever it was! Shane is calm and quiet, occasionally stroking Cinnamon's hair or giving her hand a squeeze while they wait for Iason.

When the centaur arrives and sees how very serious and, well... pale... she looks, he trots over, looking worried, "Are you unwell?"

Cinnamon glances up startledly, then reflexively squeaks, "Yes, hello!" She sighs at herself, takes another breath, and tries again, "N-no, sorry, I, ummm... I... I w-was hoping you could -- c-could m-maybe... d-drawsomebloodformeplease?!" Darnit! There's that stupid squeak at the end again she is getting so embarrassed!

Iason's heavy brows go up, and he nods, "Of course. Are you needing a test of some sort?" He motions for her to follow him, so she can answer in privacy back in one of the infirmary rooms.

"N-nooo..." Cinnamon rises obediently, pattering after the huge centaur as she adds, "Ummm, y-you said you... you could draw some for me to g-give to, er... t-to Elias?" She still has her fingers nervously entwined with Shane's, though if he tugs she'll remember and release! Fortunately, Shane just gets up and goes with Cinnamon. He's not about to let her hand go after she admitted how anxious she was about needles!

Iason ahhs and nods, "You did mention that. You wanted to be in dragon form, yes?"

Cinnamon nodnods, her eyes still wide behind the glasses she absently pushes up on her face with her free hand. She wonders absently: how has she dealt with needles previously? Hmm... well, she got all her vaccinations as a child long before puberty... maybe her skin wasn't as, er... as thick? Sturdy? Hmm... thinking about it, she realizes with a bit of surprise: actually, she's never had problems with her skin! Almost no acne issues, no skinned knees or elbows... she can't remember ever cutting herself... huh! Glancing down at her free hand, it hits her: she... actually has kinda nice skin! Smooth, clear, warm... kinda like her hair -- she thinks that's kinda pretty too. Not too much, of course -- she doesn't want to be vain! -- but... yeah... she thinks she has nice, soft-feeling skin... the little dragon doesn't realize she's distracting herself quite successfully from panic... but she's certainly doing her best!

Iason nods and smiles, "Then we'll need to do this outside, I think. I'll gather up what I need and we can do this outside in the courtyard. I think having Shane with you, and maybe Thorn... he's hereabouts somewhere... might help you... and I assure you I am very good."

Thorn seems to hear his name, and a minute later he pokes his head in the door. "What can- oh, hi, Cinnamon, Shane!"

Iason reconsiders, "Though I think I originally suggested on top of Currier's Hall. Somewhere private."

Cinnamon is pale, and clutching Shane's hand... but also nervously resolute! She waves shyly at Thorn, not quite trusting herself to speak yet -- she doesn't want to word-blurt all over the place! She tightly nodnods to Iason, whispering a tense, "Yesplease!"

Iason nods, "I'll meet you there as soon as I can, then."

"Hhhookay!" Cinnamon turns and patters right back out of the Infirmary, still clutching Shane's hand as she adds, "Shaney, Thorny, c-can you guys come with too p-please?!"

Thorn remembers now: Cinnamon wanted to draw some blood for Elias. He doesn't laugh, knowing even some soldiers who were uncomfortable with needles. "Of course!"

Cinnamon sighs in relief -- thank goodness! She's pretty sure she can do this when she's in private, and with dear friends. She heads for Currier's, quietly muttering, "'M good all good oowangalema we're good not scared oowangalema big scary dragon oowangalema..."

Shane adds firmly, "I have no intention of leaving you alone for this." He has no intention of releasing Cinnamon's hand, unless she voluntarily does so herself -- and even then he'll reach right back for it again as soon as possible... though fortunately she's still clinging nervously to his fingers. He also keeps up a steady stream of chatter about things other than drawing blood as the three of them head to Currier's Hall. Cinnamon sighs in relief again as they head up the stairs... because oddly enough, Shane's voice is incredibly calming! Plus it means she doesn't have to mutter to herself, which means she can breathe more... she wonders if he knows how calming his voice is... he's so brave, too -- good bet he's not afraid of needles, darnit! Well, darnit at her, not at him... Shane seems to know his talking helps -- or at least, he doesn't mention that he's using animal-training techniques on his acushla! Spooky horses always do better when someone talks to them in a gentle, calming voice.

Eventually they're on the roof of the hall where Cinnamon takes off for so many of her trips. The little dragon looks around a bit nervously... then sighs and relaxes when they're the only ones there. "I... I... okay. Okay. Dragon. Right. I can do this." Deep breath, "Okay! Is, ummm..." she glances around again, "I-Iason? Is he... almost here? Hmm... I, um... I think I'm gonna change right away, ok-kay, guys?"

Shane nods, "Of course. Change right now and I'll pet your nose until he gets here, 'kay?" Cinnamon's nose pad is so soft and nice to pet -- and she always seems to get all kittenish and happy when he does it.

Cinnamon beams shyly up at Shane, unwittingly squeaking, "Okay!" A heartbeat later she's a dragon, and she neatly curls her tail around all three of them, and rests her chin on her forepaws. Shane laughs quietly and gets to doing what he promised, stroking Cinnamon's nose pad with both hands.

It's not long before Iason arrives, carrying a bag with him. He smiles at the sight of the dragon curled up with two of her special people. Cinnamon's eyes are half-closed, and she's making small, happy rumbling noises... though at the sound of hooves on the roof, her head pops up nervously! "Oh! H-hi, Iason!" Thorn smiles, seeing Cinnamon thoroughly at rest. She has sharp hearing, too -- he didn't twig that it was Iason coming up the stairs until Cinnamon greeted him.

Iason didn't sound too horse-like coming up the stairs because he's got rubber covers on his hooves to protect the marble. Also, Cinnamon's hearing is quite excellent in dragon form. The big centaur smiles, "Many dragons like having their noses stroked. It's not exactly a vulnerable point, but the hide is a different texture..." He's pulling some vials and such out of the bag.

Cinnamon blinks big eyes down at the centaur, "Oh! Is that it? Huh... cool, learned something new!" She grins with shy nerves at Shane, "Umm... h-hope you don't m-mind doing that...?"

Shane tips his head, "Petting your nose?" He seems truly perplexed.

Cinnamon nods earnestly down at Shane, her tufted ears pricked forwards towards him, "Y-yeah?"

Shane laughs quietly, "I enjoy doing it." The scarlet dragon sighs softly in relief!

Iason seems happy with what he's preparing, so he moves around to Cinnamon's front and rumbles gently, "This may feel strange, but the good thing is you will not be able to see the needle. Also..." He holds up an empty but gloved hand, "If you want, I brought a numbing agent. The downside is that it will carry over when you transform back, and your tongue will be numb for a couple of hours."

Cinnamon thinks about that, glancing at her friends as she does so... then hesitantly asks Iason, "D-does it, umm... h-hurt?" Then she blinks again, her ears tilting back suddenly in huge embarrassment -- she is a great, big, strong, scary dragon! She's n-not scared -- not at all! Why... why, she's been shot in the face, right? Yeah! So... so no, she doesn't need any, uhh... whatever-numbing-thingie! She takes a big breath... then firmly adds, "N-never mind! I'm fine! Let's -- l-let's do this thing!"

Iason shakes his head, "No more than any other blood draw, but it feels a little odd since it's in an unusual place." He smiles in a kindly manner and nods, "Okay. I need you to open your mouth wide as you can and raise your tongue all the way up."

Cinnamon's eyes widen a little as she reflexively draws her head back a bit... but then she breathes in deeply again. This is a gift! For a dear friend! Something Liam did too! -and... and if Liam can do it, then... then so can she! She nods and lowers her head, glancing at her friends again -- oddly reassuring to have them here -- then puts one fisted forepaw on top of the other. That makes a steady chin-rest, so she won't, er... slide away or anything? Okay, now... now tilt her head back as she opens her mouth really wide... yikes, don't yawn! Must be nerves... okay, and tongue way up too... this is reallyreallysca- nonono it's not really eeek was that it was that the poke no wait that was just a touch okay okay deep breaths count to, to... one hundred? Yeah -- and in, um... in Japanese? Okay, got it she can do that -- ichi! Ni! San! Yon...!

As she gets settled, Shane climbs up onto Cinnamon's shoulder so he can keep petting her and murmuring reassurances to her. Thorn watches silently, though he keeps his hand on one of Cinnamon's fingers to let her know he's still there. Iason too is reassuring, telling her she's doing really well. When she's finally got her mouth in the right position, he says, "Very good. Now, hold very still, please..." Strong, competent hands reach into her mouth, gently pushing her tongue out of the way a bit more. "A small pinch..." Surprisingly, it really is just a very small pinch -- but then, Iason has been doing these sorts of things for centuries. There's a warmcoldhotcold sensation as Iason murmurs for her to stay still just a moment... there's a shift and a small pop, "Just changing vials. Going to get two..." -and in just a handful of seconds, it's all done. Iason steps back, smiling.

Cinnamon blinks, still wide-eyed from nerves as Iason steps back. Can she -- wait, just ask! Without really closing her (admittedly very toothy must not bite Iason by accident!) mouth she asks, "'Ahn Ah kwohh 'a 'ouhh ngh'ou?"

Iason chuckles, "All done. Yes, you can close your mouth now." He holds up two vials with blood so dark it looks nearly black, adding, "Dragon blood can almost be considered ichor."

The scarlet dragon sighs and relaxes, closing her mouth and running her tongue around the inside of her mouth, then over her lips. She feels almost limp with relief! She blinks down at the tiny (to her) vials, her tongue flickering curiously to catch any scent/taste, then asks, "What exactly is ichor anyway?" A moment later she realizes her hammering heart is slowing down too... and her voice is quite heartfelt as she adds, "Thank you guys so much! -for being so patient and helpful with me!"

Iason smiles, "Technically, the blood of the gods in Greek mythology. But dragon blood is powerful stuff -- much sought after -- seriously powerful magically."

Cinnamon looks momentarily worried, "But it's still good for vampires, right? Like Elias will be able to even store it for a while too?"

Iason's brows go up again, "Good? It's amazing for vampires. It doesn't go 'dead' as quickly as most blood. It can be stored for a very long time under the right conditions. Even a quarter of one of these vials will probably allow Elias to go... well, let's just say that Vlad Dracul had the dragon as his symbol for a reason."

Cinnamon sighs gustily in relief, and warm air eddies around the three men, "Oh, yay! Okay then... let me change and then I should take them right away to Elias, right? Or... do I need to do something to the b-bl-b-... uh, v-vials first?" Thorn opens his mouth to ask about Vlad Dracul... then closes it. He'll ask Iason a little later.

Iason smiles, "No. I brought vials with a little bit of a safe preservative in them. Just herbs... nothing that will harm Elias. You don't need to do anything to them, but getting them to him quickly will be good."

Cinnamon sighs again in relief, "Okay! Thanks so much, Iason -- thank you to all of you!" She beams toothily, leaning to give Shane and Thorn happy tongue flickers on the tops of their heads... then grins shyly at Iason, "I really appreciate your patience w-with me too, Iason!"

Iason smiles and pats her shoulder in a paternal sort of way, "Of course." He packs up his paraphernalia and heads down the stairs.

Shane smiles and grabs the sheet they use for Cinnamon to change, "I'm so proud of you!"

Cinnamon sighs gustily in relief again, "Ohmygosh I'm so glad that's over with!" She beams and chirps happily to Shane, "Thank you, asthore!"

Thorn smiles at the tongue-flick, laughing softly, "Very glad to help, Cinnamon. You handled that really well!"

Cinnamon grins shyly at Thorn too! "Awww, thank you, Thorny!" She wryly adds, "I was really-really scared, honestly... I d-don't really, um... don't l-like needles much?"

She whews as she changes on the first try, pattering out from behind the sheet to tightly hug both men, and Shane returns the hug happily, "You did so well! I'm truly proud of you." Cinnamon squeaks happily again, and her hug for Shane lingers!

Thorn grins wryly, "Oh, I don't know anyone who likes needles."

Cinnamon giggles nervously, nodding, "Right?!" She sighs gustily again, feeling a bit limp still... but then remembers: "Whoops! Gotta get the blood to Elias soonest! You guys wanna come too?"

Shane keeps his mouth shut, since he knows several people who like needles... though they may not like them medically. Still, he also doesn't want to give himself a headache. He just keeps holding onto Cinnamon as long as she wants, until she remembers they need to be expeditious, "Sure! He'll be happy to have it!"

Thorn adds, "Sure, I'll be glad to!" Cinnamon is soon pattering briskly along Coblyn with her dear friends, chattering breathlessly to them both when she's not cheerfully waving and greeting other friends. The two precious vials have been carefully tucked into her bag!

There's no way Marcus was able to find out what went on atop Currier's Hall, but the Germanic elf does know Cinnamon was there with Shane, Thorn, and Iason. It's consequently quite easy for him to 'bump into' them on the street not long afterward. As that happens, Cinnamon continues almost without pause, "-ven though I know they're really important for vaccinations you know hi there Marcus what's up with you?"

Marcus blinks, "Vaccinations?"

Cinnamon nodnods cheerfully, "Needles -- they're icky!"

Marcus muses, "Well, if they're steel, yes... though I know people who have found piercers that use titay... nn... ummmm.." He looks at Shane (who's shaking his head), and smoothly adds with a bit of a chuckle, "I've missed something."

Cinnamon gives Marcus a confused look, "I've never heard of... 'piercers'? -to give shots? Do they hurt less than regular needles?" She loyally adds, "Though I gotta be fair and say that Iason was really good at drawing blood. It was just a tiny sting!" She nearly glows with happiness, unwittingly beaming directly at Marcus as she enthusiastically adds, "Elias is gonna be so pleased, I hope, with his late Solstice gift!" He smiles back, slightly stunned (as always) when the full force of Cinnamon's joy is turned on him!

Thorn interjects diplomatically, "I think he means, like, people who give other people piercings? Like pierced ears." He knows people pierce other things -- he did time in an ER, for heaven's sake -- but he is so not going to mention that to Cinnamon just yet!

Cinnamon blinks at Thorn... then brightens, "Oh! Piercings! Oh, yeah, okay -- I know about those!" She smiles a bit ruefully as she adds, "Yeah, d-don't think I want any of those either, honestly... they s-s-... er, they kinda... w-well... they scare me a little bit too?"

Marcus ahhhs! "I see! Even those sorts of needles need to be titanium for a lot of species -- and, yes, if you don't like having blood drawn, you wouldn't like having your body pierced." A moment later he inquires, "You were headed to see Elias?"

Cinnamon nodnods happily, "Yeah! Wanna come along? Hopefully he'll be really pleased to see us!"

Marcus smiles and nods, "I'd love to." Shane doesn't even flinch, so it must be true. Shane does give Thorn a glance like 'Is this as odd to you as it is to me?' but he doesn't object. Thorn returns the glance and gives a slight raise to his shoulders -- maybe? It's certainly different.

Cinnamon happily resumes pattering towards Elias' home, easily including Marcus in her cheerful chatter until they arrive -- at which point she trots down the stairs, raps on the doorframe before entering the open door, and calls, "Hellooo, Elias! It's me and Shaney and Thorny and Marcus come to visit!"

Elias calls from deeper in the apartment, "Come in! Come in! I'm in the kitchen!" He sounds quite cheerful... and if he's that far back from the door, there's no danger of any light reaching him.

Cinnamon patters in and leaves her bag on the loveseat, then heads on into the kitchen, "Hi! Can I help?" If his hands aren't full, she'll give the vampire a greeting hug.

Elias has several carboys on the kitchen counters, along with what looks like gallons of honey. Shane and Marcus both follow along into the kitchen as well, as the vampire hugs Cinnamon back and greets the three young men with her, "You'll need to wash your hands really well and put on gloves. I've just sterilized everything."

Thorn blinks at the honey. "Making mead?" he asks, heading for the sink.

Cinnamon beams up at Elias, "Do you have a moment before that, maybe?"

Elias nods, "Indeed." He motions at bottles of pineapple juice and pomegranate juice, "Some plain, some pineapple, some pomegranate." Thorn rolls that thought through his head for a bit: pineapple... mead. Well, why not? Elias is still looking less-pale than normal... which is perhaps why Marcus' head is tipped to the side as the elvenvolk councilor curiously studies the vampire. Elias pauses at Cinnamon's enthusiasm... then smiles toothily, "Of course."

Cinnamon nearly bounces on her toes with excitement, "Yay! Okay okay, let me get it-" Elias and Marcus both watch her bounce away and back with slightly bemused expressions. The rest of her words trail over her shoulder as she dashes into the living room, calling, "-it's your Solstice present sorry it's so late but I just -- I, I g-got cold feet but-" and then her voice Dopplers back with the rest of her, "Shaney helped he's so calming it was great and Thorny and Iason were there too and here!" She holds out her hands to Elias, with the two vials resting on her palms, as she adds very sincerely, "A very happy late Solstice to you, Elias, and thank you so much for being you and being so kind always to me and I hope you like them!"

Elias takes off his gloves and reaches carefully to take the vials, handling them as though they are something far beyond precious, "Child, are these what I think they are?" His nostrils flare slightly -- and then something happens to his eyes -- something between a widening of his pupils and eyeshine, such as is sometimes seen in dangerous animals at night. Marcus blinks and takes a surprised quarter-step back. To the young elf, for a flash of a second, Elias looked precisely like what he is at his very base: a truly dangerous predator!

Cinnamon nodnods excitedly up at Elias... then blinks interestedly, "Oh, wow, Elias -- your eyes just did something really weird and cool, there!" She does not consciously realize it, but she is herself also a predator, and Elias is one of her beloved father-figures... so even despite having previously seen Elias in violent action... it simply doesn't occur to her just how dangerous he is/could be... any more than she realizes that about herself, honestly.

Elias laughs quietly and pats Cinnamon on the shoulder, "Consider it the vampire version of my stomach growling. Fresh dragon blood is rather the treat!" Marcus is too well-trained in diplomacy to nervous-laugh... but he does think to himself that he'll be quite happy to never see that look in a vampire's eyes ever again -- other than when they've been handed the equivalent of a $50,000 jar of caviar! Elias smiles, "Give me just a moment and I'll be right back! I want to put this in storage." He doesn't add that it would be uncouth to drink it here and now.

Cinnamon nods cheerfully, "That's fine! I'll just wash up real quick while you do, okay?" As Elias heads off, she nearly glows with happiness at her friends, giving each of them a warm hug, "Oh this was so awesome I'm so glad he liked it this is so really-really really cooool!"

Shane grins and says, "It is cool! And you did so well!"

Marcus washes up after Cinnamon, after she hugs Shane, adding, "That's where the talk of needles came from, then? The only times I've given blood was for rituals. Of course, that was less medical and more..." He hesitates... and Shane chuckles, "Less medical and more medieval? Yeah, I get that."

Cinnamon giggles at that, as she dries her hands, then glances around for gloves like the ones Elias was wearing, "Yeah, needles just..." She shivers, then grins sheepishly, "Sorry, I know it's silly, but... well, needles just kinda ick me out?" There's a box of very mundane nitrile gloves on the counter. She pulls on a pair, then offers the box to her friends.

Marcus nods, "That whole conversation comes completely into focus now." He too takes gloves, as does Shane.

"It's not silly, like I said," Thorn says, pulling on a pair of nitrile gloves as well. "Lots of people don't like needles."

Cinnamon grins at Marcus... then beams shyly at Thorn, "Thanks, Thorny."

By the time Elias returns, they're all gloved up -- and it's immediately obvious why dragon blood would be such a boon to him. Shane's blood made him look less pale and the sight of veins under his skin faded... but the Elias who returns from the cellar could pass for a healthy human. There's even a slightly rosy tint to his cheeks, and his dark hair looks lush and shiny. Suddenly, it might be easier to understand how he was able to pass in the human world as a teacher once upon a time. It's only when he smiles that the illusion once again breaks, "Ah! I see everyone is washed and gloved up!" The vampire moves to the sink to wash his own hands and glove back up, humming under his breath.

Cinnamon brightens excitedly, "Oh, wow, Elias -- you look really great!" She beams at Shane as she adds, "Thank you so much, Shaney, for helping me realize I should just get over myself and donate the blood, too!" She laughs, then adds, "Hopefully doing this every couple of years, or whatever it should be, will help me not be so panicked by the needles too."

Elias smiles again and chuckles, reaching to touch his face, "I sometimes forget the difference it makes. When I was moving among the humans, I would use a glamour amulet for my teeth... but it could get very tiring, and making excuses for why I couldn't be out in daylight meant my job options were exceptionally limited. Not to mention having to work around the council..." He shrugs, "It's just easier to live fully amongst non-humans for now."

She may have been speaking to Shane, but it's Marcus who replies to Cinnamon, "I'm sure you'll do whatever you put your mind to -- you have with everything else so far. You've a strong heart."

Cinnamon nods thoughtfully to Elias, "How, umm... how..." -- but then Marcus speaks and distracts her. She blinks, staring wide-eyed and a bit pink-cheeked at Marcus... then grins shyly, "Oh, that -- y-you, I mean... um, w-wow, that's really nice of you, Marcus?" She's blushing hotly by the time she turns back to Elias, hastily adding, "Ho- er, h-how d-did you, umm... that, I mean, uhh... was, w-was that when you were still traveling to Europe sometimes?"

Elias smiles, "Partially. But I also taught night classes to humans in the 1900s."

Cinnamon hmms consideringly as she follows Elias to help with the carboys... then finally asks, "If you wanted to travel to, say, Europe now, Elias... how would you go, please?"

The vampire stars pouring things into the carboys and instructs folks on what to put into each one -- how much juice or water or honey. He's meticulous in wanting careful measurements done. "If I were to travel to Europe? Well, I suppose now I would speak to your werewolf friends to see if they could take me. I traveled by ship before. Or I suppose if we went mostly overland, you could take me across the closest point between Europe and Iceland... but that's still well over a thousand miles. I could also go via a normal cruise ship if I could manage to stay belowdecks during the day."

Cinnamon nods slowly as she thinks, and considers Elias' words. Finally she adds, "Oh! I almost forgot -- sorry, Elias. I was going to ask you what you wanted to get done at the dinner yesterday, that didn't get done. Shane said you had something you... wanted to do or ask or something?"

Elias pauses and looks thoughtful for several heartbeats -- and then his eyes light up, "Ah! Yes. It was about divisions of peoples. If you're going to be putting out global fires, I think giving the arctic peoples back to Josie and Sparrow would be an excellent idea. Giving Josie more folk to be pack would absolutely delight her, after all. Sparrow would be happy to take the Aleut and Inuit folk too, I believe."

Cinnamon grins and nods happily, "That's what they said too! Yeah, I'm totally going to take JoJo to visit that nice Grandfather Shaman as soon as I can." She pauses, her gaze getting thoughtful as she glances at her friends and then back at Elias... and then she adds, "So, umm... are you friends -- or... penpals, maybe? -- with any European supernaturals?" She mentally crosses her fingers that maybe one or two are southern Europeans... and Elias has seen the change in Marcus, and might maybe be willing to mention it once or twice... and then Cinnamon can try finagling a council meeting in Europe so the southern Europeans can actually meet Marcus again! The little dragon isn't willing to 'foist' a new councilor on nervous people who're coping with the loss of Liam, after all... but if they're happy with her suggestions of a new councilor then... well, yay!

Elias smiles at the term 'penpals,' replying, "I have a handful of people with whom I correspond, though I wouldn't exactly call them penpals. After all, my demesne is Eastern European countries. Why do you ask?"

"Umm... well, I was thinking of maybe asking someone to arrange for a council meeting in Europe some time soon." Cinnamon smiles up at Elias as she adds, "I'm still working out in my head, though, what it is exactly that I want to get done, so... I don't want to go too much into detail past that, please?" There -- that shouldn't put any pressure on Marcus, nor give Shane any twinges!

Elias nods, "I'll see what I can do. We can talk about it more in-depth later, if you'd like. I'll have a better idea who to contact then." He moves between each carboy, happily adding yeast and checking to make sure all the other ingredients have been added properly.

Cinnamon brightens excitedly, "Yay! Thanks, Elias!"

Thorn almost certainly added the ingredients correctly -- he's well aware chemistry requires exact measurements, and meadery is just a form of applied chemistry... though also very, very delicious applied chemistry! Cinnamon hadn't intended to spend the afternoon with friends, making mead, honestly... but this is surprisingly interesting! She giggles as she adds, "Also, Elias, I wanted you to have something you could eat too, during my upcoming anniversary dinner... though also: is there anything else I can do or have to hand for you, for then?"

Elias thanks Thorn for being so meticulous and happily notes everyone is being extremely careful. The teacher in him is obviously having a ball showing everyone how to do something. He considers Cinnamon's question, replying, "I'll have a mug of tea or something to sit and pretend to nurse... social niceties and all. I won't need anything to drink or eat for a very long time."

Cinnamon silently congratulates herself on getting inspired by Shane and finally getting over herself and getting the donation done! Now all she has to do is work up the nerve to talk to Brynn... about trauma! That one, though, she thinks she'll leave until after her anniversary dinner, since that's coming up soon and she still has to have her dessert-testing done by the guys tonight -- which means she needs to make the desserts this afternoon, right! She beams at Elias, "Okay, sure! That's easy." Okay, good, good... everything's on schedule. She cheerfully adds to the three younger men, "Hey, are you guys up for doing a dessert test for me tonight, too?"

Marcus offers, "I too can see about perhaps having something set up in one of my countries, if nothing else works out, Cinnamon. I think you might really enjoy some of the parts of France that are under my care."

Cinnamon brightens at that, "Oh, wow -- yeah, that'd be great, Marcus -- er, if you're okay with that?" That's even better, as far as she's concerned: Marcus will be on his best behavior... and maybe a short side trip or something can be arranged into southern Europe, so they can see him and how he is now, too?

Marcus smiles brightly, happy to be able to help Cinnamon. This is something to definitely get on her good side, "I'm more than pleased to help out. It will require some planning because, well, transporting everyone, of course. We'll likely have to do another sea voyage."

Thorn says dryly, with a smile, "Oh, horrors."

Cinnamon giggles at Thorn, then nods cheerfully to Marcus, "Oh, sure -- the Valkyrie is always a pleasure. Plus maybe, if Elias wants, by that point I'll be more confident about flying!"

Thorn says, "As for dessert testing, sure, that sounds great!" Shane too is more than happy to help test desserts. He's also happy to help with making them. Marcus admits he has to do some things beforehand, but will be happy to help with taste-testing if he's invited.

Cinnamon beams, "Yay! I'm making an apple tarte tatin and a mille-feuille, so we can pick the neater one for the anniversary dinner." She grins with shy happiness at Shane, "Thanks! Help would be lovely, dath�il -- and Marcus, of course you're invited! Remember, I told you the other day you were welcome to come? When we were shopping, and you gave me that lovely footrub? So... let's see..." She thinks a bit, then names a time for everyone to gather at her little cottage.

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Last modified: 2025-Feb-25 17:51:49

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