Private The Trenches Nowhere To Go But Everywhere

[Asta Dalgaard]

Asta stood on the tips of her footpaws atop the bar of the Thorn in the Side, paws reaching to affix the homemade, painted cloth banner on a forged hook hammered into the ceiling joists.

"Got it!" she cried triumphantly. "Does that look straight?" She turned to the beasts assembled in the tavern for confirmation of her success.

The banner read "Happy Birthday, Caden" in neat, curling script of purple, splashes of red flowers dotted around the letters. Several tables had been pushed together to make a long table in the center of the room, which was decorated with vases of gold and purple flowers. The tavern itself was empty of patrons save for those invited to the small party. Asta and Daniil had been careful to cover their tracks the past several weeks as they planned the event for Caden's birthday, and it seemed the marten was still none-the-wiser.

---

The marten in question had taken some coercing by Daniil to leave their home early that evening.

"I do appreciate that you would take me out to dinner," he said to the todd as they walked through the Trenches. "But given how things seem to go for us whenever we go out, I'm somewhat worried we're pushing our luck, even if we are going to Kaden's tavern. Besides, Asta is gone for the evening, which would give us the run of the house, and all that can entail."

He gave the fox a suggestive smile and lift of his brows, though refrained from any physical contact that would be too indicative of the nature of their relationship.

 

[Daniil Ryalor]

Daniil smiled at Caden's suggestion, blushing a bit and instinctively glancing around to make sure they hadn't been overheard as they walked the streets of the Trenches. The Vulpine Supremacist attack on the Opera House had left him a bit jumpy; he'd been increasingly paranoid of the possibility of being attacked in the street, no matter that things had actually been rather quiet after the attack as both sides licked their wounds and prepared for the next strike. As Caden had pointed out, their luck was such that they'd probably be right in the middle of it.

"Much as I'd delight in that," he remarked, keeping his voice low and quiet, "we don't get out nearly enough, and at least we know Kaden's tavern is safe. There will be other nights for us to stay in together. Just once, I'd love a night out with you." His paw twitched like it might reach to take Caden's, but then stilled itself, resisting the impulse.

~~~

Bezine had thrown herself into decorating with a fervor, her deep appreciation of bright and bold color let loose after decades of minimizing that side of herself. Eirene took care of picking up the flowers, carefully arranging those, while Morgan and Vihma helped with maneuvering the furniture into position, at least when Morgan wasn't busy telling her girlfriend as many dirty jokes as she could think up based on whatever furniture happened to be at paw. Bezine had given up chiding her for it; Morgan was an adult now, like it or not, and was clearly going to do her own thing no matter what her mothers said.

Bezine stepped back, making a box with her pawfingers to examine the banner. "Sì," she confirmed at last, "is good. Well," she amended, "maybe a bit 'igher on ze left, but only... Um, 'ow you say un pollice?"

"An inch, mother," Morgan called, then grinned as she added, "though in the Imperium, I think they call it 'Mar'kan's pe-'"

"Kacha!" Eirene rebuked at last. "Honestly, you are worse dan a teenager sometimes."

"She still is," Bezine pointed out.

"Only for a few more months," Morgan grumbled, her fun clearly ruined. She glanced up at the banner and added, "The banner's fine, Asta. Mum's just a perfectionist, that's all."

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

“Aye, it looks just fine by my eyes.”

With a couple of fastidious twitches Tanya adjusted a small arrangement of her own as she placed the flowers down and moved on to grab a couple more chairs for the long table. Her injuries, particularly from the fight with Sean, still nagged now and again but for the most part the wounds were healed. The vixen’s bruised ego and thoughts on the brewing situation, however, had failed to settle.

Tox was no stranger to violence: the assault had not left her wary of returning to life in the Harbour but it had served to instigate a fresh round of paranoid contemplation. She truly was home. Initially the thought of attending this party had filled her with unease, still uncertain of the delicate relationship with Caden and if he truly had come to understand her, if not forgive. Furthermore, her life on Kutoroka had been a relaxed one with few true formalities: attending a party with a contingent of strangers felt alarmingly foreign. Dinners in the Ministry always had proven so much more torturous than warfare. At the very least she’d managed to get something presentable tailored in by Kinza in time for the event.

“For what it’s worth,” she muttered in passing Morgan as she carried the chairs, “I think they was being generous with the inch.”

 

[Vihmastaja]

Moving furniture was a welcome change from moving things back on the ship – on the Hide. Even after the carnage back on shore, in the opera house just a short month ago, Vihma felt herself dreading the time when she’d have to sail out again. For as many dark memories as the city held, and as much chaos and violence as it could throw at her, it offered so many more things to do, places to go. And, of course, a certain sort of privacy, the kind she’d only recently had a need for again.

The weasel smirked at Morgan’s joke – only just stifling a laugh at Tanya’s addendum, barely heard as it was, though her attention was all on Morgan. She was the reason she was here, after all. Caden and Asta were still beasts she hardly knew herself, Tanya even moreso. Bombings made for poor introductions – what else was new in Bully? At least this party couldn't go nearly as poorly.

Finished setting some of the furniture moved previously (Morgan had surprised her with the depths of her imagination – she hadn’t previously thought much woodwork to be so evocative of certain anatomical details), Vihma made to help Tanya with the stacked chairs she’d brought, idly impressed with how many the older, shorter fox could carry.

“Gates,” she all but breathed, trying to keep within earshot of only Morgan and the vixen, not trying to get her girlfriend in trouble with Bezine again.

“D-d’ye s’pose that’s the length in full, or-”

 

[Asta Dalgaard]

Asta listened to the banter with a smirk before jumping down from the bar. She turned to look at the banner and nodded in approval of her work. The tavern was looking just as she hoped it would. Though she knew Caden would not have been upset had there been no celebration for his birthday, she felt it was important to bring all the beasts together he had connected and reconnected with since returning to what had once been his home. Her adoptive father had been through so much and had been there for her despite his own difficulties; it was the least she could do to make this night a special one for him.

She moved to help with the furniture and caught Vihma's comment.

"Length in full of what?" Asta asked.

---

Caden let out a mock, long-suffering sigh. "Oh, I suppose a night out with you would be nice. One where we don't end up fighting for our lives or getting stabbed or burnt to a crisp."

He ran a finger along the edge of the still-healing burn on his neck and jaw. The doctors said it could be half a year or more before he was expected to be back to most of his usual functioning, and even then it was likely he would not regain full usage of his right shoulder given the depth of the burn and the formation of scar tissue around the joint. He was simply glad it was not his dominant side that had been burned, though shield work--when he could get back to it--was going to be difficult. Pushing those thoughts aside, for he could feel them pulling him in a melancholy direction, the marten warily watched a fox who was passing them by. Ever since the attack, it was difficult for him to trust any fox he did not know. Fighting them on their turf in a tavern had been one thing. Being attacked by them in a large, public space filled with security had struck a paranoia in him that was hard to shake. Now every strange vulpine was a potential threat. But this particular fox went on their way and Caden let out a breath he did not know he was holding.

"I'm excited to introduce you to Kaden," he continued. "I think you'll like him. He's a bit rough around the edges, even more than me if you can imagine, but he has a good heart."

 

[Morgan Liu]

Morgan couldn't help but laugh and then grin as she answered Asta's question. "Full a' fun, if yer doin' it righ-"

"Muogan! Bizui!" This time Eirene's rebuke was stern.

"Mama, ganma?" Morgan's response was churlish, the fun mood soured. "Wo'men dou shi daren, meiyou shenme-"

"Asuta you xie fangmian jingyan," Eirene stated, her eyes briefly glancing toward the marten jill.

Morgan furrowed her brow, then her eyes widened as she glanced toward her older friend. Fortunately Bezine, sensing that her daughter's earnestness might kill the mood even more, stepped in quickly. "Non is matters," she declared, clapping her paws and gesturing broadly toward the table. "We almost are ready! Signora Tanya," she directed to the vixen, "very good wiz ze flowers, you are a natural. Vihma, Morgan, maybe you go to ze window, look out for zem and call if you see zem coming? We do ze 'ide be'ind ze bar and we jump out and yell 'surprise' I zink."

"Mother." Morgan spoke as if it were obvious. "Ya really wanna do that t' a guardbeast 'oo jus' survived a vulpinist attack a few weeks ago? Either 'e'll 'ave a 'eart attack or 'e'll stab one a' us; either way, someone's dyin'."

"Hmm. Good point," Bezine allowed, tapping her chin thoughtfully as she looked around the group. "Ideas?" she inquired.

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

Of all the gifts time had bestowed, a true sense of maturity had yet to catch up with Tanya. Whilst Eirene was occupied speaking in stern tones, she took the opportunity to use the smallest claw on her little pawfinger as a means, by gesture, of answering Asta before tugging at her tunic as though said gesture were never made.

Bezine’s timely intervention was welcomed by the vixen who glanced back to the flowers, tailbrush curling in unspoken pleasure at the praise. So often was she lauded for her destructive capabilities that the thought of creating something beautiful had felt almost unachievable, once; it was enough to make her feel like a bashful youngster again.

She had already started to move when Morgan gave her wise counsel: at once Tanya lowered her footpaw to perform a neat semi-circular step as though she hadn’t herself been about to mindlessly follow Bezine’s suggestion. Pursing her lips momentarily the vixen scratched her muzzle. “In that case d’we have to do anything? Strikes me anything but a military salute might go south.” Green eyes drifted to the tables. “…Or we could always shower ‘im with petals. Ain't a sneezy type, is he?”

 

[Daniil Ryalor]

Daniil, for his part, didn't have the same immediate, visceral reaction to the presence of another fox; it wasn't until he noticed Caden's tension that he scanned the environment for threats, his eyes passing over the fox as if he wasn't even there but taking a moment to examine a pair of burly stoat dockworkers dressed a bit roughly and laughing as they shared a bottle on their break. Once Daniil was confident that there was no threat, he relaxed slowly and refocused on Caden's words.

"Well, if he shares a name with you, he can't be that bad," Daniil noted, smiling at his partner. Again his paw twitched to take Caden's, and this time, after doing a full sweep of the street back and front, he tentatively slipped one small pawfinger to intertwine with Caden's. "I'm so honored to be meeting all of these beasts who make up your family," he told his partner seriously. "It makes me feel like I'm part of your family myself, instead of just a guest in your life and your house. Knowing that you trust me enough to share your past and your future both... Well, it means a lot to me," he confirmed.

 

[Seersha Vorsky]

Is it weirder to celebrate strangers who are family or family composed primarily of strangers?

Seersha thought on that as she kept away from all the rabble by moving or cleaning small items, things that required her to interact with as few people as possible... like hiding an ugly vase in the kitchen or volunteering to dust. She smiled at the the thought of how cursed her efforts were. Whereas Bridger was a kind and communicative soul and taught her to be kind while speaking her mind her biological father gifted her a desire to be introverted. A fly on the wall would be too much company for her in a moment like this.

Which of course, felt weird to admit, as someone who had to be the focus of crowds in her past life. Regardless, painting was her escape from such fears. Maybe it was because by painting she could talk about anything but herself or let the art do the talking. The same was true with dance: her own body language no longer mattered for she became something new, something beautiful, powerful, and provoking in its own right. By blending the two, all of her insecurities and fears were no longer her own for she was something more. Plus, it was moments like these where she preferred having her brothers and sisters around to speak on behalf of her.

And now she was surrounded by stranger and desperate to be out of the way, hiding both herself and her soft artist paws.

Seersha almost jumped out of her skin as pots and pans could be heard crashing in the kitchen. There was a few grumpy huffs and curses from Kaden before one of the staff of the tavern was ushered out in a hurry.

For a moment, just a moment, she thought about going to help her father, but then she resumed the fruitless effort of fixing a cliched Felmarian painting of open fields. The darn thing just was not level and her adjustments were laughably too little or too much. Was it on purpose?

Suppose if I just struggle long enough with this painting, the party can start and I can hide somewhere else, right?

 

[Asta Dalgaard]

Asta felt her ears flatten as Morgan and Eirene argued, though she did not know what about, and that made it even more uncomfortable for the jill. She glanced at Tanya, trying to understand the motion the vixen made with her paw and how it connected to the conversation. Asta was glad when Bezine intervened and changed the subject. The jill shook her head and shrugged. She would ask Morgan what that had all been about later.

At the question of how they would surprise Caden when he entered, Asta raised her paw. "I was thinking no big surprise. We just being here when he gets here, maybe I playing some music. Surprise enough there is a party for him with his friends and family, ja?"

She skirted to the edge of things to get her lute from its case. The instrument was new, to replace her lute that had been damaged beyond repair during the attack at the opera. She had commissioned another lute to be built from what pieces could be salvaged from the broken instrument in order to have some connection to the lute her father had crafted for her. While it was still in progress she was pleased the luthier was generous enough to lend her one of their collection. Seersha was beside the case, adjusting a painting. Asta smiled at her, kneeling to fetch the instrument.

"Thank you for coming and helping," the jill said. They had been briefly introduced at the beginning of the set up for the party, and Asta noted that Seersha had taken to keeping away from the main activity and other beasts present. "I knowing you just met Caden--my father," she clarified with an amused wrinkle of her nose, "--but it meaning a lot that you came. He will be happy to have you here."

---

Caden looked down at where Daniil's pawfinger wrapped around his. He gave his partner a warm smile. "Of course, Daniil. It means a lot to me that you'd be here for me to share myself and my family with."

A pang of guilt found its way into the tender moment. Just how much of your past are you willing to trust him with? The thought crept unbidden into his mind. He had told himself weeks ago that he would find some way to tell Daniil the truth about Vaelora and her death, that he owed his lover that much. But then the attack had happened and he had been recovering, and now...well, suffice to say he was at an emotional impasse about how to broach the subject. He felt like he needed to talk to Eirene; there just had not been an opportunity to meet with the jill, as she had been so busy with work at the Guard as security was escalated after the attack.

"Just another block and we'll be there," Caden said, distracting himself from his anxious thoughts. A group of beasts crossed the street in front of them, and he unlatched his pawfinger from Daniil's, letting his paw fall away to his side.

The tavern ahead was brightly lit from within, a beacon of welcoming light in the gathering evening. As they neared it, Caden slowed, squinting at the beasts visible through the front windows. "Hey, is that Eirene in there? And Bezine?" He turned to grin at Daniil. "What have you all cooked up for me, hm?"

 

[Eirene Liu]

Eirene shrugged at Tanya's inquiry. "Caden no is much one for formality; dat is more Lieutenant Ryalor, at least on duty. I tink appaws is good enough."

"Applause, Mum," Morgan called from near the window, looking back to her.

"No, is appaws," Eirene stated, adamant. "You do it wit' your paws." She demonstrated.

"No Mum," Morgan sighed, "that ain't the root a' that word." She turned to back to the window and started violently, swearing. "Caden an' Daniil are righ' outside," she called to the restaurant.

"Good work Morgan," Bezine remarked dryly, returning to stand behind the table. "Great eye, zey should make you lookout on ze 'Ide."

Morgan grumbled something in another language that didn't sound very polite.

~~~

Daniil attempted an innocent expression, but failed to keep the smile from coming to his face. "Nothing more than you fully deserve," he remarked. 'Gates, he wanted to kiss Caden's cheek, but it was still too visible out here. He settled for a paw on the marten's arm. "You deserve a nameday surrounded by friends and family," he confirmed, "by all those who love you. You aren't alone anymore, Caden. You never will be again." Daniil gestured to the door, adding, "Should we go in?"