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Aviere was at least heartened by the prospect of a possible ball. As unlikely as it was she'd get to go, it didn't stop her from daydreaming.

As they approached the building, it became obvious this was indeed the house Coren spoke of. It was.... Magnificent, in Aviere's eyes. Far more of any sort of structure than she'd ever seen. She flew up to Coren's chest, clinging tight against his robe. "It's... Wow. You... Live here?"

Coren glanced down at Aviere. "well, I own the place, but I'm rarely ever here." He informs her, as he guides Torch into the stable.

Coren hopped off Torch and started to remove the saddle and reins from the horse. "Might as well be the housekeeper's house. She spends more time here than I have." He explained, taking the time to pet Torch before leading him to a stall.

"... Housekeeper?" Aviere mentioned. Goodness, how many people were there around here? Though truly with a house this size, Aviere couldn't imagine any house without the need of someone to take care of it.

While safe from the rain under the roof of the stable, Aviere felt free to fly away from the cover of Coren's cloak. She flew to Torch's head, landing halfway down his nose so as to be able to look him in the eyes. She waved hello by opening and closing her fingers in her palm.

Torch snorted a greeting of sorts as Aviere came closer while Coren went through the process of taking care of Torch for the night before walking away from the two for a moment to retrieve a carrot from a nearby bucket to reward him for his hard work.

"Several people are employed to care for my land while I'm away." He informed Aviere. "Although while I'm in town, you'll only see them very early in the morning. It just feels odd having people town about my house, cleaning, while I relax." He said in way of explanation.

Aviere jumped back to the safety of Coren's shoulder. The sight of a horse gnashing teeth as large as her to grind a carrot to a pulp was... unsettling. Once more, she found herself clinging to his hood.

Regardless, she was excited to see the inside of the house... And even more importantly, be able to fly freely again. Downpours such as this were the bane of existence for little Aviere. "I'm sure it looks lovely inside, then, if it's so well looked after." She commented. Her fidgeting hinting just as much at her desire as her choice of words.

Coren lead the now clean and happy horse into a stall within the stable--satisfied that the horse was well taken care of.

"Mhm. Much of the house came furnished be the previous owners." Coren explained. "I added a few personal touches, but for the most part I've just maintained what was given to me. The few I've ever invited inside my home," It was clear from his tone that not many received that honor, "will agree that the former tenets had excellent tastes. They weren't too upset with my modifications, though."

He smirked. "I think they expect a knight such as myself and of my background to be...a bit more barbaric." He explained.

With the journey over, Coren was happy to give into Aviere's hint to take her inside, wanting to change out of the armor. He was used to wearing it, spending so much time on the battlefield, but wearing it here in his own home seemed more like a hassle than anything.

He lead them to the back entrance of the house, which was a service entrance meant to be used by the cooks and servants, but despite his employment of such individuals he didn't care much for the formalities surround them. It wasn't the grand entrance shrouded in fine masonry and tasteful art, but it gleamed with mahogany and didn't carry a drafty chill of lesser homes. He lead her through the hall and into the kitchen, hoping to find a cook to fetch Aviere and himself a meal of sorts after a long journey.

"Silva!" Coren greeted warmly, spotting the older cook cleaned at a speck of dirt on one of the counters.

She turned and smiled at Coren. "Don't think I don't see through that greeting to your real motive... You only like me for my cooking." She tsked playfully.

Coren blushed slightly. "Well, your cook doesn't hurt matters..." He muttered defensively.

Silva rolled her eyes and went to preparing something, glancing curiously at the fey, but didn't question her presence. There were things about the knight that were not meant to be questioned within the confines of their own home...

Aviere held close to Coren's neck, but her eyes were anywhere but close. All over the hallway she looked, exploring every detail of the exceptionally fine craftsmanship. Entering the kitchen only amazed her more. All this... Every pot, pan, dish, bellows, stove, cabinets and cupboards... All for cooking!

And seeing a woman, already there in the kitchen, made her heart race. After all, Aviere was anything but shy. She turned to look at Coren, hoping to get the okay to say hello. In getting no response, she decided simply to wave and give a warm smile.

Coren smiled at Silva as he watched her start to prepare something for them to eat before walking into a grander hallway filled with gleaming, rose-tinted mahogany. The wood went up a portion of the way up the wall before giving way to a solid wallpaper in a warm, more-blue-than-green wallpaper. Along the wallpapered portion of the wall, there were several paints depicting scenes of battles, elaborate balls, and everyday life.

Coren strolled down the hall at a brisk pace towards a staircase, heading towards the bedrooms. He didn't pause until he got to his bedroom door and sudden realized he didn't know what to do about Aviere during this time. He glanced down at her but didn't speak quite yet. A light blush colored his pale complexion, displaying a lack of experience with how to handle such a matter that hadn't been display around Aviere.

"I am going to change out of this armor. Would you like to be shown to a room where you could fresh up while I do so?" He questioned. "After all, it has been a long day of travel. Once I've changed, I can show you around my home a bit more prior Silva having finished preparations for our meal." He offers before adding a bit awkwardly, "I just don't see the need to wear my armor inside my own home."

Aviere was so wrapped up in observing every intricate detail of the architecture around her, she hardly noticed when Coren began to speak. She had to blink several times and gently shake her head to process the words he said. Of course she ought to let him his privacy in his room, how could she be so clueless? Only natural that he'd want to change. And here she was, awkwardly just expecting to be here in his personal space the whole time.

"Ah, uhm... yes, sure, that's fine, I can wait just out here..." She blushed. "Oh, or or... in another room, like you mentioned. That's fine." She flew away from his shoulder, instead letting herself float in front of him. She wasn't sure how to handle even this, though, as he was to lead her. So she passed over his shoulder once more to be behind him, likely confusing poor Coren with her inability to decide where to be or what words to say. Her face only reddened more as she drooped in the air, embarrassed at herself.

Coren's blush deepened momentarily. "That's up to you... I'm sorry. I'm not used to playing host." He commented and glanced around the hallway looking to see if there was any servant around to lead her to another room, but with Coren's return they'd made themselves scarce--in order to give Coren the privacy he preferred. He held out his hand to Aviere, "I could lead you to the guest's quarters, if you'd like? Or maybe you'd like to stay in my study while I change?" He realized she might like something to do while he changed, opposed to just entertaining herself. If he'd thought of it earlier, he would have left her with Silva, but alas that moment had come and gone.

"Your... Study..?" Aviere looked up at him quizzically. She was vaguely familiar with studying as a thing to do. Fairies weren't normally the bookish type, as they didn't exactly have books. All she knew was it was learning, but more on your own... So what could it mean to have a study.

"What's that?" Her curiosity alone made all embarrassment fall from her face. She landed in the palm of Coren's callused hand.

Coren thought on the question for a moment, "Well, it is a place where people often work on reading and writings, or at least that is how I use it. If people can afford them and have enough of them, it is always were they would store their books, as I do." He explained awkwardly.

He started down the hallway towards the study, "It will make more sense if I show you." He mumbled and pushed open a door on the right side of the hall in the middle of the manor. The three interior walls were lined with bookshelves full of books and bound slabs of paper. A few were specially designed with a series of racks in place with slots to hold scrolls and such.

Straight back, the wall contained an elongated window with a desk centered under it. On one side of the window, a pair of elaborate maps were framed for display. One of the maps offered a look at the continent of land that Xel and six other kingdoms inhabited, while the other was a map displaying a look at surrounding land masses and bodies of water. There were some white, blank spaces that had yet to be filled in on the global map in the further corners from the continent that contained Xel. On the other side of the window, there was a set of framed daggers made of some, black material with a white hilt. The black blades were rather crudely etched with nicks and scratches running along the blade. However, the detail on the gleaming-white hilt showed the etchings of a house insignia--more specifically the house insignia for Xel's royal family, just as Coren's armor had displayed on the left corner of the chest piece. Surrounding the daggers, several smaller, framed items hung, most of them decrees of Coren's new rankings and even the deed to his home.

The desk itself contained a set of quills and several containers of ink. On one side of the desk, a number of leather-bounded books were held upright with bookends. A high-back, wood chair with dark leather cushions obscured the view of the middle of the desk. Other than the desk and chair, the only furnishing in the room was a small ottoman crafted to match the chair that sat off to the side of the desk.

However, this room felt different than the craftsmanship of the rest of the house. The hues were darker. The artwork and knick-knacks spoke more of practicality and purpose than aesthetics and beauty. The exception to this was a beautiful rug of blue-and-gold design centered in the room, but the darker shading and worn quality of the rug spoke more to Coren's personality and tastes than what would be found elsewhere in the house.

As Coren entered the room, he glanced around, taking in the state of the room before offering a small smile and guiding Aviere over to the desk. It was clear from his demeanor that this was a place of comfort for him. "I'm sure you can find enough to entertain you while I change out of this armor." He wondered for a moment if many fey even had the ability to read, but that was a question for after he was settled. "Or, would you prefer I take you elsewhere?"

Aviere held close to Coren's hand; though only for a few moments. She gasped, her eyes wandering all around the room. So many books.... so many papers! So much to read... As soon as she was led to the desk, she immediately flew out and around the room, examining everything she could see.

"Coren... Coren, this is amazing!" She turned her head sideways at the sight of words along the edge of a book. Her fingers traced the words in the book's spine. "Coren, what does this one say?" Before she'd even waited for an answer, she was already at another book with its title along the edge. "Or this one? ... or this one, here? And all of these have lots of pages with writing in them?" Her excitement evident.

Her attention was quickly taken over by the sight of the maps on the wall. If nothing else, she could look at those as pictures. "What's this a map of? Is it the whole world? It looks really big..." She let herself hover in front of the larger map. "Are these trees? Is there where my forest is?"

It was only then she realized that she was brought here so Coren could go off to change for himself. "I mean... it's okay, you can tell me when you get back..."

Coren watched Aviere from the doorway, where stood leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest. He smiled as Aviere became asking her rapid-fire questions and chuckled softly.

"This is by far my favorite room in the house." He commented and pushed off the wall. "I'd be happy to explain anything once I'm finished changing."

He started to move into the hallway but paused for a brief moment. "I'm sure you'll find more than enough to keep yourself entertained while I'm gone." Even if it meant just studying the maps and pictures. Or, looking out the window to fields and creek that laid behind his home--the stable from earlier laid off to one side.

"I'll be back shortly." He declared before disappearing down the hallway and into his bedroom.

Aviere took a deep breath when Coren left her to herself. There was so much to this room she didn't know... That she wanted to know. It was clear she could spend days here just trying to learn.

Her eyes wandered back to the map. The drawings were nice enough that she could tell what everything was, if not know the name of things. But there was a large open space... As if the map was unfinished, and needed more things to be drawn. Well... she figured Coren wouldn't hang it on the wall if it just needed to be drawn more. Humans must not have been there enough to know how to map it, she figured.

After spending a few moments flirting from shelf to shelf, trying to guess what each book might be about, Aviere was truly starting to feel overwhelmed by everything. She returned to the desk and plopped herself down. How could just looking at things to learn make one so tired?

Coren was only gone for a short while before reemerging on a loose-fitted, white shirt and a pair of loose, dark pants. He had appeared to have washed up some, as the layer of dirt and shine of sweat was gone, leaving him a clean-shaven, youthful-looking man with rather pale skin, especially considering his profession kept him out in the sun most of day. The only part of gun that remained disheveled was his hair, which was still slightly wet and sticking up in all directions. He resumed leaning against the door frame and crossed his arms over his rather defined chest. "Find anything of interest?" Coren asked with an easy smile.

Aviere's head turned in the direction of the voice, and smiled when she saw Coren now dressed rather comfortably. "My, you look lovely." She said with a giggle.

Aviere lifted herself in the air, idly floating to a bookcase with a sigh. "There's so much here I'd love to read and know about... But I've never learned how. Fae don't have a writing system, really." She traced the letters on the spine of a book with her finger. We learn everything by oral tradition." She looked down and gave a somber laugh. "You know, I was slated to be the next wise woman before I... before I left."

"Am I to assume that has something to do with the oral history tradition?" Coren asked wondering over to Aviere. Looking at the book she'd paused at. "This is a collection of poetry from the kingdom to the west." He explained. "They are rather small. Don't even have an military, but they've been allied with us for years now. Went there once when I was just a starting out in the military. They craft most of the mine and make most of the armor and weapons that we use."