MagiStream

Larathen shrugged. "Most of my family would disagree with you, but, well, let's just say they have different priorities. Even most of my friends back home (with one or two exceptions) are rarely more than politely interested when I start talking like this." Valkorian Skybane had been one of the rare exceptions. Being deeply envious of Larathen's ability to move so freely about the world, he'd always listened intently to Larathen's digressions, perhaps as the next best thing to being able to experience the outside world himself.

He glanced over at Kura. "Are you feeling any warmer, now that you've got that blanket?" He didn't think she was still shivering, at least.

Kura shook her head. "I think you're interesting. So you don't have to worry about rambling." She smiled at him, and at his question, shook her head. "I feel much better now. Much warmer." Her skin even seemed less blindingly white now that she was warmer, more of a pale pinkish color. She brushed her hair back and settled more comfortably in the blanket, letting it wrap all around her. "This feels nice."

Larathen grinned. "Yes, it might look like it was designed by someone with absolutely no color sense whatsoever, but that blanket's very warm - it's served me well over the years." Kura looked less ethereal than she had not long ago, to Larathen's relief. "And if you truly find me interesting, then I'll have to be sure to find some good stories to tell you." He glanced up at the stars again. "I have many - about the places I've been, about people I've met, about things that might have happened, about things that never did happen. Even Valkorian hasn't heard all my stories, and he's been one of the few who's actually taken an interest."

Kura giggled and looked at the blanket again. "I like the bright colors, though," she repeated with a genuine smile. "They're warm and...happy? Can colors be happy? Or are they just making me happy?" She shook her head as if shaking away the question and instead dealt with what he'd said about stories. "Well, if you'd want to tell me any stories on your mind, I'd be happy to hear them."

Of course, now that somebody was expressing an interest in what he had to say, his mind had gone blank. Larathen supposed he could always tell Kura about his family, as she'd be meeting them at some point (and how that was going to work, with her looking so human, he had no idea), but the evening was too pleasant for such a difficult topic. "I don't know. There's just so much I could talk about that I don't know where to begin." He glanced over at Kura. "You must have questions I could answer, surely."

Kura chuckled and nodded. "I do. I have lots of questions. But I'm not sure which are the silly ones and which are the ones that make sense." She thought for a moment, staring absently into the fire, before smiling and saying, "All right, how about this. How many humans or dragons or what have you still believe in the Gods?"

"Well, I don't mind answering questions, whether silly or serious." Larathen considered Kura's second question for a moment. "And yours is a very interesting question indeed. I'd say most people - human, dragon, or otherwise - believe in the Gods to some extent. They might not believe all the old tales are strictly true, but they do believe the Gods exist, whether as some abstract concept or as actual beings. Tales of the Gods walking among us are generally regarded as pure fiction, though, which probably has as much to do with fear as anything, when you think of how they're generally portrayed, especially the ones with no particular love of mortals.

"Degree and strength of belief aside, I'd be very careful about telling people that you're really a Goddess. Most people would be willing to believe, say, that there's a Goddess called Kura up in the heavens who seeks to end the war between humans and dragons, but would be very skeptical of anyone who actually claimed to be that Goddess. People who claim to be Gods are often...not entirely sane, as history has proven. I believe you are what you claim to be, but I've always been open-minded - that, and I've had enough proof by now to know you're telling the truth. Others might not be quite so understanding."

Larathen glanced over at Kura. "So, did that answer your question?"

((Whoops, sorry for the delay! Somehow missed that you'd posted. ^^))

Kura nodded, soaking up the information Larathen gave her like a sponge. "Yes, it does," she answered him with a smile. "Thank you. You're very helpful." She snuggled a little deeper in the blanket he'd given her. "Obviously," she chuckled. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."

Larathen shrugged. "And I appreciate having someone I can talk to like this, so I guess we're both benefiting." Kura was looking quite comfortable by now (the vivid colors of the blanket looked far less jarring on her than they did on him), so even though Larathen would normally have been preparing for bed right now, he decided to talk with Kura instead for a little while longer. "So, I'm sure that's not your only question."

((It's not a problem. After getting to make 11 RP posts in one session, I figured I could be patient for a while - no point in being greedy.))

Kura smiled and shook her head. "Of course it's not. I want to know everything, I want to do everything, I want to know what bread tastes like or why it snows, I want to hear birdsong and try to imitate, I want..." She chuckled and shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry. I don't mean to overwhelm you or anything."