Svarik and the company I :)

[Mirach]

"You should have taken it in some cloth..." Svarik shook his head. "May I?" he asked, not wanting to touch the demon without explicit permission.

[VisAnastasis]

" It's better to ruin one's hand, than to ruin one's clothes. " creature replied, to Svarik's surprise, with some humor. " It's easier for hands to heal, than to bother with all the boring sewing. And since you got it doesn't hurt to be polite, yes, you may touch me. " he let king do it, seeming rather used to not letting pain and injuries get to him, since he didn't wince when king touched him.

[Mirach]

Svarik bound his hand with both pieces of cloth that the Sage gave him. "Now you have to remember to return them..."

[VisAnastasis]

" You think I would forget to return belonging to my dear Sage? I am not mean like that. " Creature's melodic voice replied sadly. He slowly retrived his bandaged hand. " I do not forget important. I have three messages for you. Your Fox friend wanted you to know she loves you and hopes you feel better. Your cute friend wanted you to know that there is no rush, that they are both okay, and that they believe in you. "

[Mirach]

Svarik smiled with that. "Thank you. Would you please tell them that I appreciate it? And what iscthe third message?"

[VisAnastasis]

" There was this child. In the orphanage in City of heroes. There years ago.  A jolly little kid,vwith joy in his name, Carol. He had talents of a Seer. I was priviledged to be allowed to take him out of the fire, and hold his hand afterwards. "  demon replied quietly to him. " He just wanted me to tell you something, in case we find each other in the right timeline. I do not know if this is it, but this is what he said..." he paused, before quoting solemnly. " I believe in you, my dearest Master Sunshine. You are one of my favorite from grown ups I never got to know, I know you know that by now. Please, be as kind and gentle with yourself as I would be to you. I know you miss me, but I want you to know I am very proud of you. Please, have those kindest greetings from your little prince, and stay me well! You are my brightest Sunshine, and I believe in you... "  

[Mirach]

Svarik bit his lip, suppressing tears. "I'm trying..." he whispered. "It's hard, but I'm trying, Carol..."

[VisAnastasis]

" I know. " demon replied quietly, still seeming to quote Carol's words, as he seemed to have been told what to say if king replies in certain manner. " I know it's hard right now, and it's okay. It wouldn't be very loving of me to expect you to take it easy. You are flower, and you'll need lot of light and water to grow again to the point you grow green and bright again and bees gather around you. It's okay. I promise you - if you keep trying, my most beautiful beloved ray of sunshine, it will get better. I have died to give you think wonderful new chance, and I am so happy you'll get to experience it fully and use it to grow. Just do not forget to be gentle and have fun, and do not forget to eat well on your way back, and caress our little kitten for me when you get back with your new friends, okay? "

[Mirach]

"I will. And she's not so little anymore... She grew a lot since you last saw her..." Svarik whispered, and nodded to the demon thankfully for giving him the message.

[VisAnastasis]

" I know... But she will always be our little fluff. " Demon seemed especially embarased to use such wording in a message, that was apparently coming from much younger child. " But I won't burdhen you further. I know you have song to play, and I am so happy for you having change to do that. Please, hug Melody and Birdie for me when you get back, I will miss them so much. Good luck to you all, Mister Sunshine. " demon, in a learned gesture, raised a thumb up shyly and looked at king hopefully for his reaction, as he indicated by that gesture that message was over.

[Mirach]

Svarik sighed shakily, trying to cope with the emotions. "That was a very unexpected message," he whispered. "Thank you for bringing it to me..."

[VisAnastasis]

" It felt important, so I memorized it well. I see it was important indeed. " Demon replied quietly. " There was a bit more of it, but he said that I am supposed to say that part only in case his message touches you too much and you burst out in tears and hug me and continue crying while doing so, but I guess we are not in that timeline. Maybe I did something wrong, maybe it's just as it is. I will have to apologize for withholding that remaining bit of message, but I can not go against his wish. He was a dear, fragile little fellow, and I was fond of him, so I have to keep my word to him, you see, even if he is gone. "

[Mirach]

"No..." Svarik said shakily, fighting back the tears. "We are not in that timeline... We are in the one where I will only cry after you leave... unless you stay longer than I can resist it..."

[VisAnastasis]

" I don't want you to leave you to suffer in tears.. But you only need tell me a word, and I will leave. " demon replied to him quietly. " I am sorry it turned out like this, and I can't comfort you. I felt that in that timeline, you liked me much more. I wished you liked me more than you do. Something went wrong. " he looked away, seeming somehow sad and baffled. " Maybe I should had met you yesterday morning... I really desired to, but Sage said it would be dangerous for all of us. I regret it. You are sweet... " creature shook its head, as it glanced at his hand Svarik had bandaged. " I wished you liked me enough to get us to that timeline. I really did try. I even put on my best form. Humans like humans, do they not? Humans are not scary, and all kids loved my stars and shiny glowy bits... Falcon used to love it, I thought for sure that you would like it too. " he spoke with some bafflement, pointing at his tamest humanoid form in way poor people would when they would shyly try to point out that they're wearing their best most presentable clothes.

[Mirach]

Svarik smiled a little through tears. "I like your form... It's very nice. Please don't be sad that we are not in that timeline. It's not your fault. I just need to be alone now, but we can still get there later."

[VisAnastasis]

" Carol said that timeline was safer bet. I don't know what it was safer from, but I still wished I got it right for us all. I am really bad in this... comforting and in first meetings. I was always bad in it no matter how much I tried. I could never even land a proper date... " creature sighed sadly. " I know we just met, and that it is crazy... But you did give me this... " he looked at his bandaged palm timidly. " It would be rude to offer you nothing for that kindness. I think I will offer you two things. Who cares of timelines, anyway, anymore, am I right? Let's just do what we want to do. Humans require hugs when they are sad. Do you require a hug? And if you do, does it really matter if it's from friend or just well meaning stranger? " he asked him quietly. " I offer it to you, and I offer you piece of my hair, so you can call me, if you desire some rain, or if Sage is not here yet and you need a ticket out of here. You can have both, one of those, or neither. So... What will it be, Nightingale? I only need your word, and your wish is my command... "

[Mirach]

"You already gave me my flute... but I think I would like both things that you offer..." he smiled at the demon shyly, seeing his good intentions despite the awkward first meeting.

[VisAnastasis]

" In that case, I would please bid you to leave above mentioned flute aside on top of those stones for a moment... Just as to not burn me to death with it, heh... " creature replied shyly, and it slowly opened its arms toward Svarik, timidly, apparently not as used to initiating touch often, but invitingly.

[Mirach]

Svarik laid the flute aside, and stepped into the embrace. But like he said before, it was already longer than he could suppress the sobs, and he started crying with the sad and bittersweet memory of Carol.

[VisAnastasis]

Creature was not best in first impressions, but its wish to bring good seemed really genuine. It enveloped king around his shoulders, and let him lean and hide his troubled head into soft furry clothing around his chest. King could feel a lining of a bad scar underneath the tunic, and pulse of one heart beating and one part of the chest being silent and without blood, but other than that, it was apparent why this form many people he knew considered safest, since it felt powerful, yet trustworthy. Demon's sense of time wasn't human one. For him, a year was but like a minute - and he did not rush meadow king, holding him in the protective embrace and letting him weep in it as long as there were tears in him, seeing he had a baggage he needed to ease through a good cry, rubbing his back lightly with his healthy hand to help him get the tears out.

[Mirach]

Svarik wept for some time, but outside of the Heart it was just a few minutes. The messages from Carol were always a painful reminder of his death, but still it was like stealing one more moment in time to be with him, and the mixed joy and grief of it together will allowing himself to open up at least a little to a stranger were softening some of his barrieres a little.

[VisAnastasis]

Demon was holding him gently - unlike being awkward at human talk, gestures of affection or kindness seeming much more fit for his one heart. Moreover, he seemed to like Svarik, or at least, like the fact king was nice enough to worry about his injured hand when, for fast healing demons themselves, small injuries were more trivial that serious matter. That little act of attention seemed to have generally improved his opinion of Svarik quite a bit, and with time, his hug got more free and relaxed too. He gave king all the time until he felt Svarik was calming down a little, before he dared disrupt the silence between them.

" Nuances of timelines... " he started. " They evade me. Does this count as getting to right one, or not? Did I hug you or did you hug me? I do not know... " he whispered to his ear quietly when he felt king stopped sobbing and was calmer, continuing to rub his back reassuringly. " But I do know one thing. You are a little lost and sad, and I feel you deserve some encouragement, and it feels like a right time, at least. " he added with certainty. " Do you think it is alright for me to say it, then? Would you like to hear last tips he told me before we parted, or would you rather not hear them, little Nightingale? I see you, and you are sweet and cute, and what I feel is, that he would want you to be happy and know this, even if the timelines get mixed up. So whether to tell you or not tell, I need you to tell me what would make you happier. Only you know what your heart prefers, and I do not - but I want to know... "

[Mirach]

"I don't know if it's the right timeline... but every word from Carol is precious to me. I would like to hear them," Svarik whispered with a voice hoarse from crying.

[VisAnastasis]

" I can see he was important to you. For my kin, it would be considered a sin to keep from you something you deem so precious. " demon agreed quietly. He made sure Svarik was comfortable in his hug so he could have support in him while taking in the words, and then, slowly reminiscing the right words of long important message, he started to quote Carol's words.

 " My dearest Sunshine... I long to speak with you, but every time I do so, I know it will bring both joy and suffering for losing me. I watch you cry so many tears, my Sunshine, and my heart hurts for you... But I hope this once, if future aligns correctly, I may bring you a lot more pleasure than grief, this once. This time, I won't give you just warm wishes. I will give you advise. I picked it out from countless conversations from alternate timelines, and shaped it in something I felt you needed to hear right now. I hope it is not confusing, for words of many different nice people you befriended through various timelines linger on my lips now. Listen well, my Sunshine... I believe in you. I know you will give your very best- but for that to happen, I must say this out loud to you. Land of your soul is trembling under this truth. I can see through your eyes, how deeply you are wounded, and I share your pain. But now is not time for giving up, my beloved. It is time for healing. You have protected your soul well. You have grown a lot since you was hurt, and it's good - it's nice you got tougher,  so that when something wishes to hurt you now, you will be more confident in dealing with it. But you did something bad for you - you grew too afraid to share yourself with the world at all, not just with your enemies, but with everyone, even yourself. Your true self is neglected under pretense of its protection. Bad people have used your flesh for their pleasure despite your repulsion and cries, and you became afraid that whenever you share something intimate of yourself, that it will be unbearably vulnerable... But aren't you vulnerable now, and isn't it nice, to trust someone to hold you gently and comfort, instead of violate your wishes? Yet, your heart resists and fears this safety is nothing but lie, no matter how good it feels. Instead of letting your waters flow from deep within you to surface, you buried them deep, in fear anyone that would touch your true self will again misuse you and bring you suffering. You know what scarred you deeply. It was a voice that mocked you as a frail flower, powerless to close its petals from a cruel honey seeking bee. But you need to breathe... Breathe through it, my pure sunlight. Confront that image with your song, and allow real gentleness to exchange those cruel mocking touches. Allow yourself to see that you are most beautiful, pure flower in the world, and that their cruelty spoke ill of them, not made it shameful act to be a flower. You closed down your petals, in fear of what dangers may stain them anew... But you are born of the sun and water, and most wonderful thing in the world is to interact with it and share your true self by your own volition with those you like, without fear of being mishandled through it, my dear Sun. You feel it already, slowly forming, a first step to sharing your true self with others without fear - a desire to again be one with yourself, a desire to make your soul a welcoming soil. The pressure of a flower bud remaining pressed by the layers of closed petals, it is already more painful to you that fear of opening up your petals to the world once more. I believe in you, my dearest Mister Sunshine... I know it's going to be a big hurt, but through the pain, you will be reborn and finally start to bloom anew. Play for yourself, my dearest, the most powerful song your hands can weave, till your heartstrings can take not a melody more... And when all is done, when you are left raw and weak, let your friends look after you and tend you to bed. The night will be long and needy for you, but the morning and life of healing that comes after it will be worth it, you need to trust me. If you do this and allow yourself to be gentle with yourself, your barren soul shall breathe freely again. Hang in there. I send lot of love and warmth to you to help you do this - and through this nice's demon's strong trustworthy hands, my beloved, I am sending you my most sincere heartfelt hug to enjoy in right now and to give you strength... I do not care for anyone's thoughts of you - you will always be the prettiest purest flower in my eyes... "

[Mirach]

Svarik sobbed and returned the hug firmly, feeling like he could embrace Carol across time for a short precious moment. "He shouldn't have seen that..." he whispered. "It is wrong for a child to see that... But it's good that you brought the flute. I know I need to play for myself, l have delayed it long enough. But l wasn't sure if this is the right place for it, and if l will dare to play the whole song. Playing for youself is like setting your own broken bone... but only you can feel how it's broken and how to set it right..."