EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth laughed towards Fendros. "Well, with three Argonians among us, would you really expect anything different? Especially in a desert like this. The dry air is just so unpleasant. I remember it used to be just torture going to dry places like this before we could teleport. If we found an Oasis like this back then, I would never leave the water until we packed up camp."

"Probably wouldn't be able to bring Leaps at all." Ahnasha added, reaching out to rub the wamasu on the side as he walked past her. "It was hard enough to get him enough water back in Anequina when he was young. With how much more he needs now, he would dehydrate."

Meanwhile, Meesei put her arm around Lunise. "I would not mind a swim myself, but it is her choice if she wishes to join us or not." She said before looking at her encouragingly. "Would you like to relax in the water with us before retiring for the night?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei was smiling along with much of the pack as she was watching Julan. While he was still squeezing her, Meesei looked over and made eye contact with Lunise. "A cute child, is he not?" She commented.

Although Julan was far more bold, and perhaps naive about it, Meesei had to admit that her desires mirrored Julan's assumptions. Ultimately, Meesei wanted Lunise to feel like she could be a part of the family, as strange as that might be to both Lunise and the rest of her pack. Meesei was beginning to understand why Sabine's relationship with Peiter years ago had less of a chance of succeeding than even Meesei had expected. With the kind of lifestyle they lived, it was difficult to live a life where one's lover was so disconnected from their pack. With as close-knit of a family as they were, having a mate who could not be a part of it could ultimately drive them apart.

As Meesei was ruminating, Julan backed away with Lunise's encouragement, but that did not stop him from remaining just as enthusiastic and friendly. "Oh, okay. But...after we eat, we should all go for a swim!" He suggested. Meesei simply looked to Lunise as well, awaiting a response.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Hmm, okay." Julan answered, not quite picking up on the awkwardness in Lunise's response. Lunise already acted unusual by Julan's standards, so any change in her attitude seemed no less unusual than before. But, he was at least accepting of her answer, so he did not dwell on the topic. As such, Meesei did not feel the need to comment, wish would have likely kept them talking about it.

"Well, it's always great to have a bigger family. I guess you're helping the pack with all the dangerous things they have to do? It does make me feel better to know that it's not just the pack or the clans that are helping with it. It makes me feel...safer I guess. The more people that are helping, the less of a chance of our family getting hurt somehow." He paused, looking away for a moment as he realized that he might have started rambling. However, it only took a few seconds for him to look back at Lunise, wide-eyed and smiling brightly. He had the kind of expression that made his joy hard to see as anything but genuine. "Anyways, I'm excited to have a new aunt!"

Enthusiastically, Julan, not being one to hold back his affection, gave Lunise a sudden, tight hug.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Although she contained her excitement, Meesei could not have been happier about how the evening was proceeding. Lunise seemed to feel that their dinner had turned out well, and there was no shortage of topics for them to discuss. Research was an easy topic for Lunise to relate to, but they certainly had more of interest to talk about. As they all still had responsibilities the next day, even Lorag kept his drinking to a reasonable level, for him at least.

Eventually, their feast came to a close with dessert. Much of the pack were easily feeling too full to eat much more, though Julan had ensured he left himself enough room to finish his share of the sweets. Unlike the adults, he had not spoken much at all to Lunise, but he had been listening to them speak to her, so he had gradually been growing more comfortable around her. Even after their awkward and startling introduction, he was curious about her. She was far from the first non-lycan that had been so close to the pack, as there were non-lycans in their clan, but he was particularly confused about her relationship with his aunt Meesei.

After finishing his dessert, Julan worked up the courage to walk right up to Meesei and Lunise. "So you're, um, aunt Meesei's mate, right? I didn't know two women could be mates." He said bluntly. There were other couples of the same gender within the Blackreach clan, but Julan was still young and had never noticed before.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei rubbed her chin curiously. "Hmm, so you would get a view onto the destination without needing to be there personally. It would still have the limitation of needing to form a connection to the destination itself, but...it would be quite useful for viewing a destination before teleporting there personally. We would not necessarily have to step through a portal blind. We could see what we are walking into, if it is uncertain."

"Or..." Meesei started, pausing for a moment as another thought suddenly came to her mind. The idea was starting to seem more and more like a useful subject of research, rather than just a passing thought. "If the portal is visible from only one side, it could be used as a form of reconnaissance. Imagine being far from a location, but still close enough to wee it and create a portal to it. With that type of light portal, one could use it to get a closer look from safety. And as an alchemical concoction, it could be given to anyone, instead of just the two of us." She reasoned.

By this point, Meesei was beginning to stop thinking so much about Lunise and encouraging her to engage with the others, as that seemed to be just happening naturally. The awkwardness that had permeated the camp at first had faded, and she felt they could all speak normally. Meesei took a moment to take a drink from her wine, and start on the fish soup she had been served. It seemed to have turned out well, though unlike Lunise, she did not have anything specific to compare it to.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Hmm, I don't know that I want to go completely into all the details, but..." Ahnasha began as she turned her attention to Rhazii. "Let's just say that your father has a particular sensitivity to moon sugar. You already know how Khajiit are very tolerant to it compared to the other races, but Fendros is especially, say, vulnerable. It only takes a little to affect him in a pretty bad way. I don't really know why, honestly. I was just joking with him; I wouldn't want to give your father any of it, especially without him knowing. It could be pretty unpleasant. Moon sugar is something that can have some bad effects, even for Khajiit, if we have too much. Do you remember that stuff that we told you to avoid if you ever were to find it, skooma? It is made from moon sugar, but is much more dangerous. Even Khajiit do not have that much of a tolerance for it. Your uncle Janius could tell you some pretty horrible stories you probably wouldn't want to hear about it."

Meesei gave a wide, somewhat prideful smile towards Sabine. "Indeed, before she had any real knowledge as a mage, Sabine was already an accomplished alchemist beyond her years. I started her training as a mage, but she learned her alchemical knowledge as a part of her upbringing before joining the pack. She still makes all of the potions we use, and has been able to make some rather creative concoctions, I would say. Have you had any progress on any new creations as of late, Sabine? I know that alchemy, despite not using one's own magicka, is still a magical discipline at its core. Have the more exotic forms of magic you have been studying recently given you any inspiration?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha gave a nod. "That is fine. Most of the pack does not take it with their meals either; I just thought I would ask. Apart from me, no one really has a tolerance for it." She said, turning her head obviously towards Fendros. "Especially not my husband." She added with a chuckle.

Lorag laughed for a moment. He had already drank a full mug of ale, and yet still did not seem to be any more affected by it than his packmates who had drank only half that. "Yeah, better hope the enemy don't start tipping their arrows with moon sugar."

Grinning, Ahnasha gave her attention back to Fendros. "Oh, that is a good point. You sure you don't want to try to build up a tolerance, my dear? You know, for safety." She chuckled as she held out a moon sugar-laced sweetroll out to Fendros.

Meesei, meanwhile, had been glad to know that Lunise had been speaking to her pack in her absence, but she also wanted to join in the conversation as well. Fortunately, Meesei had in mind a topic that might interest her. "Did I mention, Lunise, that Sabine helped me to improve the efficiency of my portals recently? When she was practicing her own portals, she figured out that folding over the alteration magicka into itself three times to create the link to the destination is entirely unnecessary. Folding it twice works perfectly fine, an considering how much magicka that part of the process takes, it saves a fair amount for the whole spell. I have always had enough magicka myself to simply force my way through it, but she found an easier way."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Some of what Ahnasha was making took time to complete, so she decided to occupy Leaps with a few helpings of raw meat to keep him from being too curious about the campfire. Being such a large predator, he could eat a rather startling amount of meat in a day. Combined with his water requirements, it would make him far too much of a liability to bring into the desert, were the pack not able to re-supply themselves from Blackreach whenever they wished.

By the time the last piece of their meal had finished cooking, they had a fair amount of variety in their dinner. It was perhaps not a "common" Rimmen feast, since there were dishes that would not usually be paired together, but the ingredients they had on hand had required them to be creative. But, befitting the importance of the occasion to Meesei, they did have a full, three-course meal ahead of them, complete with appetizers, a main course, and sweet desserts. Meesei had even brought mugs to go along with the wine and ale had gathered. Most were Nordic or Breton in origin, but Meesei had found a single bottle of a Khajiit wine. She was not sure from what part of Elsweyr it came from, but her options had not been limitless, even in Blackreach.

As Ahnasha started to serve their dinner, Meesei sat close beside Lunise, leaning up against her. Her entire pack was gathered in the circle around the campfire. Julan had returned to his Argonian form while Ahnasha had been cooking, so he could join with the rest of the pack as well. It was everything Meesei had wanted, and it showed in every part of her demeanor. She had a constant, warm smile, and was completely relaxed and content. Lunise was still not the most sociable of people, but she did not need to be. Even without the Justicar facade, that was not the person she was. Meesei had merely wanted her to feel like she could be comfortable with her pack, and at the moment, Meesei at least felt that was close to being true.

"So, would you like servings with or without moon sugar?" Ahnasha asked as she reached Meesei and Lunise in the circle.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"We raised him from an egg, and neutered him at a young age to curb his more aggressive tendencies." Meesei explained. She was sitting next to Lunise, so she was able to reach out and rub the side of Leaps' head. "I will say, he is a creature that demands respects. Northern men have considered wamasu to be 'dragons with lightning for blood', and that description is not too far from accurate. Leaps is not quite fully an adult, but he is still a massive, powerful being. He is now old enough to be used in battle, and we have done so a few times. But, I still see him as akin to a faithful hound, you just have to respect that he can accidentally harm you."

Kaleeth also chimed in, her tone more encouraging than explanatory. "He is always curious about new people, but he is also smart. He can tell if a new person is a friend just by seeing how we act towards them. I definitely wouldn't want to make him mad, but we've taught him how to behave. He likes being rubbed right under his jaw; just, um, remember that you will get a static shock if you touch him. Every time."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei gave a quick glance to Janius. "Well, no point in doing something only halfway..."

It took a few minutes to sort through everything that Meesei had brought. There were some ingredients that would not be terribly useful, and another few that were missing, which forced them to make some modifications to the meal they planned to make. However, they had enough available to them, according to Lunise, to at least potentially make a recipe in the Rimmen style. Whether or not they would succeed would depend entirely upon their execution of said recipe.

After Lunise had given her instructions and they had started cooking, there was not too much to do aside from let it cook over the fire and hope it turned out properly. They would need someone to keep the flame warded to prevent the heat from escaping, which ended up being a perfect opportunity for Fendros to practice his wards under Sabine's instruction.

Since Lunise had arrived, Leaps had been resting after playing with Julan, but the smell of food in the air caused him to stir. His large, lumbering form slowly strolled over closer to the fire, but as he drew too close, Kaleeth reached out and gave him a somewhat forceful tap on the end of his snout. "No Leaps, that's not for you. You'll get your own dinner, don't worry." She said in a firm, commanding tone.

As strange as it might have seemed to an outsider like Lunise, the massive, powerful wamasu slinked away from the campfire compliantly, almost timidly. However, Leaps did quickly find something else about which to be curious. Even in the sand, Lunise would be able to hear his heavy footsteps walking up behind her, followed by the heavy breaths of him taking in the new scents provided by their camp's visitor.