The Voices They Are Loudest at Night (Eitan)

[Brenner Dornkirk]

The wee hours of 11 Ash, 121 Steel

Sighing, Brenner Dornkirk sat up on his bedroll. He'd been tossing and turning for what felt like hours and now that his turn as sentry was only an hour away, he figured he might as well give up and start early. At least that way someone else could get an extra hour of rest. He tugged his boots on and shouldered his blanket like a shall as he rose to pace toward the pair of silhouettes huddled side by side in the firelight. Drawing closer, his bleary eyes recognised Angevin and Stechpalme were on this shift. He regarded the doctor with a nod.

"I can't sleep, Doctor, so I figured I'd start my shift early. Why don't you get some rest?" The woman smiled and nodded, excusing herself as Brenner claimed her seat at Eitan's side.

"Sorry I'm giving you the short end of the stick there, old chum, but at least you'll have the privilege of my sterling company." It would have been obvious to Eitan without his saying so, he imagined, that he simply preferred the company of an old friend to a new acquaintance.

Brenner rolled his neck and yawned as he settled in, extending his hands toward the fire.

"So, how are you holding up? I don't think we've had a moment alone since... Ugh, did we even have a moment on the Nachtherr?"

It had been literally days. Privacy was at a premium on a mission like this- especially with Lightborn's emphasis on sticking close together for safety's sake. By and large, the only private moments to be had were during moments like these and Eitan hadn't been paired up with Brenner yet for sentry or scouting duty.

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[Eitan Angevin]

Having Isold Stechpalme on this mission was strange for Eitan, but it was also strategic. On top of her being the right person for the job, having a top secret mission with her gave him some sort of leverage with her. Whereas before, he would have assumed she was his father's creature, now there were things they shared that the Admiral couldn't know—at least not yet.

She had seemed somewhat impressed when he made an educated response to some medical observation she made, though it was difficult to tell with her. He would have to credit some of it from his training with Brenner and Stefan leading into this whole affair, and, of course, he paid attention to her conversations with Orator Beeman and Stefan. But their conversation frequently fell into lulls, so he was more than happy when Brenner replaced her. He bade her good night and bade Brenner good morning.

"Ah, glad to have you, glad to have you." He grinned.

"The flight was so short. I knew the logistics involved, but I suppose a part of me expected adventure to be farther away. And I'm holding up. Nothing's taken a piece out of me yet, so I'm calling that a win. And how is our fearless leader? Our intrepid captain?"

There were things he wanted to say, but he needed more time to sort them in his mind. He had reported the strange hallucinations he and Stefan had experienced, but Stechpalme had found nothing wrong with them so he would just mull over the details for the time being. Then, of course, there were matters back in Zaichaer; perhaps tonight he could broach a certain topic.

Eitan could understand why Brenner might have mixed feelings about his brother finally getting married, so he wanted his friend to be in the know even though Eitan wasn't quite as motivated to marry as the Dornkirk heir had been. Still, he wanted to woo and to move forward with his life. He also wanted to lock Brenner into playing best man when and if the time came. And with the danger surrounding them, talking about a future back in the High City might keep their spirits up through the emotional stress.

[Brenner Dornkirk]

Brenner spread his fingers before the blaze and his eyes remained upon his old friend, who seemed genuinely pleased he'd come to replace the good doctor. Not that he'd expected otherwise, but things could grow tense on missions like these- Set apart from the real world and most of ones connections without a moment to oneself could make the jolliest of souls grow crabby in the sunless depths. It hadn't been that long, but certainly long enough for fraying along the edges even between the closest of friends.

"Agreed." Brenner said of the brevity of the airborne leg of their journey, "A credit to our Stefan's ingenuity, I suppose... Or a censure to our talent for map reading, perhaps." He offered with a quiet chuckle.

"I'm not bad. Just sort of... waiting for the other shoe to drop, I suppose. These haven't been the Warrens I was warned about all these years. I know it's still early days, but I'm just on edge. It's hard to sleep knowing things are like to get tenfold worse, and any minute, at that." He cast his gaze out into the darkness on the fringes of the firelight's reach.

"I can't help but feeling our obstacles thus far have been little more than tests to gauge our weaknesses, and... Well, I just hope whatever lurks in the shadows finds us wanting for weakness." He shuddered as he felt a chill creep up his arms and riddle them with gooseflesh, as if prompted by the concerns he'd just voiced. After a mere moment's thought, he realised it was far more likely a result of exhaustion at having failed to sleep through the first couple of hours allotted him to rest.

"Anyway." He sighed, "I suppose it's better to be alert than languid. How've you been sleeping?"

[Eitan Angevin]

Eitan smiled when Brenner jokingly allowed for the possibility that they might have misjudged how long it would take to fly to the aperture of the Warrens they needed. But then, they hadn't been able to account for the speed of the Nachtherr, nor the excellent flying conditions. Even Eitan's less than expert handling of the thing while Stefan's man Dienerin took a break hadn't thrown them off course. But he nodded more seriously as Brenner voiced his concerns here where the crackle of the fire would keep them hidden from their compatriots if any of them were not resting.

"My sleep has been less than stellar, but certainly enough to keep me ship-shape." He paused. "Albrecht lost his mother a few days ago. Horrible scene. Keeping an eye on him, making sure those I've vetted play nice with others." He shrugged. "I have not been into these Warrens so I am only going on what we've read and what we've seen, with some more context from our more local Warrens in the back of my head, of course. If we are being tested, then I suppose we must put our tactical minds to work finding patterns to know the mind of our enemy, if indeed our enemy exists or has a mind to speak of."

He didn't know if that was realism or pessimism. Perhaps he would ask Lightborn on the morrow, though he thought the man might be more prone to pessimism than they were. All the same, a bit of paranoia might keep them alive so long as they remained a proper unit and functioned like the well-oiled clockwork machine.

The half-elf who would be human chuckled quietly after a moment.

"I have been trying to counter pessimism with plans for the future. Believing we have a future to return to helps me remain stalwart in the face of all those concerns we struggle with down here. I've a house of my own now. Stef's married. I've been considering my own matrimony. Orilla will inherit, of course, so younger sons must do what younger sons must do, eh?" He rather doubted Brenner would be cut out of inheritance the way Eitan would, but their situations weren't quite the same.

[Brenner Dornkirk]

"Did he?" Brenner knitted his brow, and glanced over his shoulder to the Lysanrin in repose. The small creature looked as though it was sleeping, the slow rise and fall of breath visible beneath the blanket. "How sad..." Brenner wondered if Lysanrin families related the way human families did. He didn't even know whether the creatures were born live or hatched. They might have been born prematurely and developed in pouches, for all he knew. Still the thought of losing a parent was macabre, and he could sympathise even without knowing the full extent of their relationship. Belatedly, something struck Brenner.

"What do you mean 'horrible scene'?" He leaned closer and lowered his voice, "Surely not foul play..." For one who'd slain his share of subhuman creatures, the notion of one he knew having lost a parent to murder felt disturbing. "In Zaichaer?" He clucked his tongue and shook his head.

"We've not just a future, Eitan, but a glorious purpose to realise." He smiled, tacking his own take on optimism onto Eitan's. "I use rather the same technique, I think. It makes life look brighter in my reckoning." He cocked an eyebrow at the turn toward marital matters.

"And you, Eitan?" His face relaxed into a chortle, "I thought it rather unconventional that you took your own household in advance of marriage, but I know you situation is... complicated." He was a bastard, after all, amongst other things. "But it seems meet that you should marry soon after. What sort of man has a house to himself without a family? I'm glad to hear you aren't going to linger in bachelorhood, lest your good repute be besmirched with ribald rumours." He paused,

"I've bandied the notion about, myself." He conceded, finally. "I took tea with Jane Farraway, a few weeks back and- I know, I know. She isn't the obvious choice, but neither was Melchior Dornkirk for Sylana Falkanos. My mother took a risk to her reputation and I think it's paid splendid dividends. I don't think I'd be able to suffer through a marriage with a woman I loathed, and they can be so... chittery and cloying, where Jane is not. She's the first woman I've met whom I can envision... Growing accustomed to." He paused,

"Have any debutantes caught your keen eye?"

[Eitan Angevin]

"I think the expedition is a good distraction for him," he surmised. The care and feeding of a crew was a part of leadership, and they both knew that these things weren't taught in the academy; they were learned in the field. "In any case, Lysanrin are isolated so I think I'm the closest thing to a friend he has. 'Twas a murder most foul. The Order is investigating." There were other Watchers who focused on investigations of this sort, though Eitan would look into it when they returned if nothing had come up. His was more military and espionage—finding those among the social elite who thought they were above the law.

"As for the house, well, it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. Grigory Fverard was found guilty of holding Lysanrin slaves, and in enough number to cause serious problems if their powers were developed. Since I uncovered his treason and arrested him, they decided to offer me rather a deal on the place. The Order didn't want to play at real estate, but deemed my position in society to be important enough to bolster their observations of the upper classes..." He shrugged. While he was getting a leg up, he certainly worked for what he acquired. "In any case, they cut me a deal, which allows me to own a home and consider a wife. As you say, it seems as though I ought not to wait overlong."

Eitan nodded. "I like Jane. Spoke to her once after that gala, wasn't sure if she was aiming for Stef the way they went off together, but I suppose things ended up as they were going to. If you like her too, perhaps we ought to invite her out. Bring Stef and Delia, see if she blends well with everyone." Then he paused, wanting very much for Brenner to be in the know, but also wanting to say it all correctly because he still craved Brenner's approbation.

"Do you know Lucrece Esterházy?"

She was younger than Eitan, quite the beauty, though that was somewhat spoilt by her reputation for rebelliousness. Perhaps that was why she seemed amenable to Eitan: he had a name, but he would forever bear the shame of his father's womanizing and fraternizing with lesser races. It could be a social coup for him if he played it right. She too came from a good name and she wasn't the eldest daughter, so if they were going to quietly start a cadet branch of the Angevin name.

[Brenner Dornkirk]

"Mm." Brenner grunted lightly in response to the story about Grigory Fverard. "It's good they put a cap on that sort of thing... Hoarding Lysanrin. Whether held by an innocent zookeeper or some manner of dissident revolutionary, there needs to be a limit lest their strange powers be weaponised for private purposes." Those matters were, in Brenner's opinion, firmly under the auspices of the State.

"Well, I'm fortunate enough to have the luxury of choosing a wife I like. Jane is no meet match for the heir to House Dornkirk, but for the spare? Such indulgences can be permitted..." He wondered, at Eitan's comment, whether Jane indeed fancied Stefan. He could hardly blame her for coveting the taller, tanner, fitter of the Brothers Dornkirk, but he still didn't fancy the notion of being second choice as well as second son. He frowned at the notion, and sighed at himself. It was likely just his insomnia getting the better of him that he was focusing on such things, when there were far more important matters at hand.

"Yes." Brenner said, belatedly. Lost in thought, he hadn't realised Eitan had proposed an outing for when they returned to the High City. "We should do that." He conjured a smile.

"Lucrece Esterházy? Of course. That family always has the best musicians at their events. I asked her where they found them, and apparently they're major patrons at the opera and one of the music academies..." He arched an eyebrow, "That could be a good match for you, I suppose. Serving both of your branding, and all that with her being so ungovernable and you being..." Brenner's eyes darted from Eitan to the fire, "...so unconventional."

[Eitan Angevin]

"I'll make sure to arrange things, then," he said with a smile. Brenner's reactions were mixed; at least, Eitan knew him well enough to read between the lines. But this was hardly the ideal setting to discuss such things. It would have been better done at the club or in one of their homes where they needn't look over their shoulders or lose sleep over their ongoing peril. Still, he wanted Brenner to know now, the better to be prepared for developments in the future.

They both were staring into the fire for a moment when he mused aloud, "Perhaps our children will have nice, normal ears."

He blinked when he realized what he had said, pulling his hand down from running along the artificial curve of his own. He didn't look at Brenner for a while, hoping he hadn't noticed.

"In any case, if it's Luca or another girl from a sufficiently respectable family, it's something on the horizon. Whenever the time comes, though, whichever the girl... I hope I can count on you to stand at my side when I make my vows."

When Brenner's time came, he expected the man would single out his brother just as Stefan had done. That was right and proper, of course, but if Eitan had anything like a brother it was Brenner. Stefan was beginning to become like a brother to him as well now that the age gap mattered less, but Brenner had always been there, as long as Eitan could remember. Through rough times, they had still come out closer. And if Brenner couldn't help but see the sharp ears that had been there, at least he believed that Eitan had risen above his muddled parentage.

[Brenner Dornkirk]

Brenner's eyes darted to Eitan's ears at the mention of them. The doctors who'd performed the operation did a commendable job. If Brenner hadn't known him prior, he probably never would have noticed the slight seam... Or perhaps that was just something he projected, because he looked more scrutinisingly at Eitan's ears for knowledge of their alteration.

Brenner nodded along, approving of Eitan's pragmatism. These things often fell through for any number of reasons, so it was unwise to put to many eggs in any particular maidenly basket. He pitied those who actually fell for one another before the deal was sealed. They were so often torn asunder by family politics or other circumstances beyond their control.

He blinked, as he belatedly registered that last bit.

"At your side?" He repeated, for clarity's sake... "Old boy, are you asking me to be your best man?" He might have properly exclaimed the query, were they not sitting a few feet from their sleeping cohorts. Instead it was an excited whisper, his eyes glistened slightly- Touched at being entrusted with such an intimate role in Eitan's wedding. Oddly, his position in Eitan's wedding was more secure than that of the bride, based on how the other Air Commander phrased the offer.

"Of course I wholeheartedly accept!" He beamed so brightly one might have thought him the bride being proposed to, rather than the Best Man.

"To be wholly honest, I thought you might ask Stefan. You two have been getting on like a house on fire, lately, and... Well, I've been so wrapped up in the prep and planning for this daring detour of ours I don't feel I've been quite myself. I've seen you both more than I had in months prior, but... It's always been about the endeavour..." A bit of vulnerability reared itself as his eyes darted away from Eitan's.

"I think that's why I was so taken aback by Stefan's engagement, when I should have been present enough to have seen it coming."

[Eitan Angevin]

Eitan beamed back and then the pair of their faces was brighter than any of their lanterns for a while, warmer than the campfire. But he just reached over to punch Brenner lightly on the knee.

"I suppose I ought to kneel and request the honor of your presence, but people might get the wrong idea." Their glee was contained, of course, out of deference to their sleeping companions. Everyone needed to be as rested as possible so their party was prepared for whatever came at them.

"Seriously, thanks, Brynn. That's one of the most important things knocked out, at least." He continued to grin. "And if Stef and I have grown closer, that's largely due to you and the endeavor at hand. I can't speak for him, but I'm proud to be here with you. If it's been a preoccupation, well, it ought to have been considering its import. And you've had the heaviest burden so it only seems natural you would have had less time to think of yourself and your future outside all this.

"And, of course, I'm pleased to have the pair of you as in-laws now. The closest thing to brothers I'll have in life, I think."

His smile went a little tighter for the admission. There had been times growing up that he had envied Brenner or even Stefan. He was so close to being what his father wanted, except for the inescapable bits about which he could do nothing.

"But we'll take care of this business in the Warrens and be home in no time to plan domestic bliss after the victory march." Properly Brenner's victory march, but he knew the man would spread the glory around. If things went well, there would be more than enough to share.