Goose-Feathers and Lavender

Life, Identity

Fenneck and Erikur visit Naertho and see a musician which peeks Erikur's interests.

Fenneck ran down to the third layer of the mountain and ran over to Erikur's house and knocked on the door. He waited a few moments before Catherine opened the door. Catherine was in her thirties and she had the same sandy blond hair and green eyes as her brother. Her face was soft and she was generally pretty nice to Fenneck, unlike the rest of their family. "Hey," he greeted her. "Is Erikur home?" he asked her excitedly. "Hey, Fen," she greeted him back. "Yeah, give me a minute," she said, closing the door and yelling for her brother. After a few minutes Erikur opened the door and ran toward Fenneck excitedly. "Oh, thank god!" he said, grabbing Fenneck's hands and giving him an excited smile. He was wearing a baggy dark green tunic and a pair of worn brown trousers. "I'm glad to have an excuse to get out of here today!" he said gratefully. Fenneck giggled. "Well, come on! I want to show you Naertho's shop today!" Fenneck said excitedly. "He said I'll be able to start my apprenticeship soon!" Fenneck told him excitedly. "Okay!" Erikur said, letting Fenneck lead him up the mountain. They got off the stairs onto the first level of the mountain and Fenneck led Erikur toward his uncle's shop. As they made their way there, there was a couple of musicians who were playing a flute and a mandolin in the square. Erikur stopped suddenly and listened intently to the music, intrigued. Fenneck stopped, ran back to him and watched the musicians for a while. "I've never heard music before," Erikur said wistfully. Fenneck gave him a confused look. "Do your parents not sing to you?" he asked him. Erikur shook his head, still entranced by the musicians. They listened for a while until the musicians put their things away. They were two high-elves, a male and a female. The woman, who had been playing the flute, walked up to them. She had long wavy blond hair and pretty pale blue eyes and was wearing a soft lavender gown with beautiful green flowers embroidered along the edge of it, no doubt made by Naertho. On her ears hung pretty white goose-feather earrings. She was one of the most gorgeous elves Fenneck had ever seen. "Thank you for listening," she told them. Her voice sounded like warm honey and she carried herself so gracefully. Erikur looked star-struck. "Is... is it hard?" he asked her, motioning to her flute. She giggled, which sounded like the beautiful bubble of a stream. "Not if you practice," she told him, smiling wryly. "How old are you both?" she asked them quizzically. "I'm fourteen and Fenneck here is thirteen," Erikur told her. She smiled sweetly at them. "You definitely have time to learn, then," she told Erikur sweetly. "My name is Estel and this is my husband, Lindir," she introduced herself and her partner. "We normally perform in the palace orchestra but occasionally we're allowed to play here," she explained. "I'm Erikur and this is my friend, Fenneck," Erikur introduced them. "Well, it's wonderful to meet you both," she told them sweetly. "Have a wonderful day," she told them before walking back to her husband. Erikur smiled and turned to Fenneck. "I wanna be just like her when I'm older," he said longingly. Fenneck chuckled. "You should get a flute, then!" Fenneck told him. "I wish!" Erikur said. "My parents will never let me, though," he said sadly. "Did you see her dress? I like the color a lot!" Erikur said. Fenneck giggled. "It's lavender!" he explained. "Naertho has a lot of that fabric in the shop. Come on! I'll show you!" He excitedly grabbed Erikur's hand and pulled him toward Naertho's shop front. Naertho's shop was one of the nicer ones with beautiful royal blue trim around the large windows that showed off some beautiful ballgowns and dress tunics. There were beautiful silver curtains that framed the dresses and above the shop was an image of a large spool of thread and a needle in a swirl of ribbon. Erikur looked up in awe at the shop. "It's beautiful!" he said as he marveled at the pretty clothes. "Wait till you see inside!" Fenneck told him as he dropped his hand to open the large mahogany door to reveal the beautiful rows of colorful fabric. Erikur looked like he had seen Corellon Larethian in the flesh from how excited he looked. Naertho swaggered into the room from the back curtains that opened into the dressing rooms and workshop areas and smiled at his nephew and Erikur. Naertho was almost seven feet tall and he towered over the small boys in a beautiful yet simple blue tunic that had white rabbit fur lining in it and was held at the waist with a beautiful silver chained belt. His long blond hair hung loose around his elegant face. "Fenny, darling!" he greeted Fenneck with a hug. "Naertho, this is Erikur, my friend I was telling you about!" he said excitedly. Naertho smiled to Erikur who looked like he was having the time of his life. "Welcome, Erikur," he said, bowing to Erikur who swallowed nervously and bowed back to him in flustered confusion. "H... hi!" he said nervously. Naertho chuckled. "No need to be nervous, dear," he told Erikur comfortingly. "Would you like to look around?" he asked Erikur who nodded excitedly. "I'll give you a tour, then," he said, gesturing around the shop. Naertho showed Erikur around and Fenneck followed along, enjoying the look of wonder on Erikur's face. Once they had seen the entire shop Naertho retired to the back to continue his work. Fenneck led Erikur over to a section of fabric with different variations of lavender and Erikur reached out a hand and gently caressed them. "This place is so beautiful," he told Fenneck wistfully. "Maybe when I learn how to sew I can make you an outfit in this color!" Fenneck suggested. Erikur gave him a sweet smile. "I don't know, I'm probably not allowed to have anything so pretty," he said. "Why not?" Fenneck asked him. Erikur shrugged. "I only ever wear stuff from the tailor down on my level of the mountain," he said, holding his arms out to show Fenneck his frumpy tunic. "He doesn't have nice fabrics like these and my parents don't really get new clothes for us." Fenneck shrugged. "It will be a gift, though! That way you can't say no!" Fenneck told him. Erikur giggled. "I'm really glad we're friends, Fen," Erikur told him. "Me too!" Fenneck said. "Come on, I promised mum that we would make it in time for dinner!" he said, leading Erikur to the door and back down to his house. Fenneck walked in and saw his mother and father sitting on the couch talking. "Hey mum! Hey dad!" Fenneck called out to them. "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Frostears," Erikur waved to them. "Hey guys!" Leonid called out. "We'll be in my room!" Fenneck yelled to him as he ran into his room with Erikur and closed the door behind them, not waiting for his parents to respond. Erikur laid down on Fenneck's mat and bundled up in a blanket. Fenneck laid down next to him. "Are your parents thiramin?" he asked Erikur who looked at him quizzically. "What's that?" he asked Fenneck. "My parents said that when they met they knew they would fall in love," Fenneck explained. "Like... soulmates, kind of." Erikur pursed his lips in thought. "I don't know," he said. "They've never talked about it before." Fenneck shrugged. "My mom said it's like finding your best friend," he said pensively. Erikur shrugged. "But we've already met," he said. "I know," Fenneck agreed. "I guess it's only with someone you spend bedroom time with," he said thoughtfully. Erikur gave him a quizzical look. "Do you mean... sex?" he asked him, giggling at the word. Fenneck nodded. "What do you know about it?" he asked him. Erikur shrugged. "I've seen the animals on the farm do it before to make babies. I've heard my parents doing it too and it sounds painful," he said, scrunching his nose. Fenneck nodded in agreement. "My parents make weird noises too," he agreed. "I guess it's only okay for boys and girls to do it together." Erikur nodded. "I've never met two married men before," he said. "I wish I could marry you," Fenneck said thoughtfully. "Then we could live together!" Erikur giggled. "Me too! We could have a bunch of pets!" he said happily. Fenneck nodded. "We can just play all day together with my toy dragons! It would be so much fun!" he said. Erikur nodded. "It would be way more fun than having to live with a girl!" he said. "Catherine is annoying!" he complained. Fenneck giggled. "At least you have a sister!" he told him. Erikur shrugged. "I guess," he said. "Dinner's ready!" Faina called into Fenneck's room. "Coming!" Fenneck yelled back. "Come on!" He huffed as he stood up. Erikur got up and followed Fenneck into the dining room with the blanket still wrapped around his shoulders. They sat down and Faina said an elvish blessing over the meal of bread, mashed potatoes and sautéed vegetables. "We met a couple musicians today on our way to Naertho's shop," Fenneck told his parents. Erikur nodded. "I want to learn how to play the flute!" he said wistfully. Faina smiled. "I'm sure you'd be great at it," she told Erikur. "The woman - her name was Estel - was really pretty and she had feathers hanging from her ears. She said they were members of the palace orchestra," Erikur told them. "Do you know how to learn how to play instruments?" he asked Fenneck's parents. Faina shrugged. "I'm sure my brother knows quite a few of the orchestra members. Maybe I could ask him?" she suggested. "Really?!" Erikur asked in surprise. "Of course!" she said. "Learning an instrument would be a great skill to have." "Indeed," Leonid added. "My grandmother used to play the violin. It was so wonderful hearing her play." "I had never heard music before," Erikur explained. "I loved it, though!" Fenneck smiled. "I like singing the songs you sing for me at night," he told his mom who smiled sweetly at him. "Me too," she told her son. "Can I hear some?" Erikur asked. "Sure," Faina said. "I'll teach you some when we finish eating," she told him, sending a beaming smile across his face. They finished their meal and Faina led them over to the couch and Fenneck and Erikur sat down next to her and listened as she sang beautiful elvish folk songs to them with Leonid and Fenneck jumping in on the ones they knew. Erikur seemed mesmerized and he quickly learned some of the simpler songs. Fenneck loved singing with Erikur and his family. Erikur had a beautiful voice and he learned the songs quickly, seeming to have a knack for musical skills. After a while Faina finished with a lullaby and Fenneck was leaning against Erikur, trying to stay awake as his body tired and he started longing to meditate. "You wanna stay the night?" Faina asked Erikur who nodded. "Fen!" He nudged Fenneck who blinked from being startled. Erikur giggled at him. "Can I stay in your room tonight?" Erikur asked him as Leonid and Faina went back into the kitchen to clean the rest of the dishes. "Yeah," Fenneck nodded sleepily. He and Erikur went into his room and settled down next to each other on his meditation mat. "Goodnight!" Erikur told him in elvish. "Goodnight!" Fenneck told him, closing his eyes to meditate.